One of the best parts of living and travelling in a van is the time it affords you to be able to read. You can while away hours with your sliding door open and your kettle boiling reading a good book; and what better to read about than vans. Whether you’re just starting out your van life adventure or you are a seasoned veteran here’s our list of the best van life books with something to suit everybody
Best van life books
How to live in a van and travel
For those of you who are hoping to start your van life there really is no better or more comprehensive guide than Vandogtravellers book detailing how he learned to live everywhere, be free and have adventures in his campervan. It covers topics ranging from how to find the perfect van for your campervan conversion all the way to earning a living online so you can work from anywhere.
What makes this book a useful for you is how well the author Mark Hudson relays his own experiences so you can see practical steps you can take to get to your end goals. Read it all in one go or pick it up and read only the relevant chapters based on where you are in your journey. Either way you will find something in this book to help you live a better van life.
The Camper Van Cookbook
You may be a great cook in your kitchen at home but cooking in a van is a different kettle of fish. Limited space to prepare food as well as lack of storage for cold or frozen foods means some of your normal recipes simply don’t work in a van. This is where The Camper Van Cookbook comes in.
With over 80 recipes designed specifically for cooking on only two hobs; there is a wealth of ideas and options for you, all designed around the limitations of a van without an oven. Not only that it includes useful asides, stories and tips for all things campervan. The first book you need as a food lover living the van life.
The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services
This book truly is a hidden gem for anyone driving in the UK. The author Alistair Sawday grew frustrated with the quality and options provided by the UK service stations and so set about finding more interesting and better options all within one mile of the services exit. Minutes away from the standard McDonald’s and M&S Express are a wealth of local coffee shops, tea rooms and restaurants all offering local produce at reasonable prices.
Using The Extra Mile as you guide you can enjoy more of what the UK has to offer, which after all is one of the reasons why you wanted to live the van life in the UK after all. I can’t stop raving about this book and I think you will too.
The Culture of Vanlife
If a coffee table book is more your thing then the masters of this for the UK vanlife scene are The Rolling Home. Their first book self titled The Rolling Home was the inspiration for many starting their journey to vanlife and was filled with tonnes of photos of their from their 80,000 miles travelling around Europe.
The Culture of Vanlife takes this formula and expands it outside the doors of their own beautiful van to take inspiration from more of the UK’s favourite vans. With stories and photos from many vans you might recognise from Instagram; this book will provide you with hours of inspiration and awe at what some people have been able to create. As with everything the Rolling Home produce the quality is wonderful and you would be proud to have this sit atop your coffee table, dashboard or bookcase.
Take the Slow Road: England and Wales
If you’re a fan of guidebooks such as the Lonely Planet series then you will love Take the Slow Road. A guide book specifically written for campervan driving in the UK. If you’ve already read our best campervan driving routes in the UK article and are hungry for some more routes then this could be the book for you.
With a selection of well written and informative place guides you will know whether you should be stopping for a cup of tea, a photo or to actually stay for the night. If you want to start your planning in advance on a rainy day or sort out tomorrows adventure the night before then look no further than Take the Slow Road.
So there you have it, our list of the best vanlife books. We hope that there’s something in there for everybody but if you think we’ve forgotten something let us know and it might make it onto the list!
