One of the first questions I get asked by most people when I mention living in a van is.. “Sooo where do you shower?” It’s a valid question and one that we all have to think about at some point during the build. Do you want a full shower in the van? But that can take up some serious real estate in a small space. A gym membership? You’ll have to hope there’s one everywhere you need! Thankfully, there’s a lot of options. Consider where you’ll be traveling and honestly, how often you’ll need one. Some people are cool with 2-3 a week and others want the choice to shower every single day. Take a little time to think about it.. But in the meantime, here are all of the most common options and solutions that vandwellers use to shower!
The easiest and most common option of them all.. Sign up at a gym that you know will have locations everywhere you go! You can read this full post about various gyms best suited for van life, but I will give a quick run down here as well.
Most people that I’ve met on the road, including myself, have signed up with Planet Fitness because of the low cost and high volume of gyms. It has over 1,000 locations and only charges $10/ month per person. Each location has a full gym and nice, clean showers. There are very few areas around the US that don’t have a PF around, but one of them is Southern Utah. So you do need to keep in mind when planning some of your trips when you’ll be able to shower next. But a bonus with PF is that there are almost always a couple other vans in the parking lot that you can make friends with! It’s pretty popular amongst travelers.
YMCA also has a great program because you can purchase day passes or do a monthly membership. The great thing about YMCA is that almost every gym is unique so you’ll constantly have different activities and workouts available if you like switching it up!
You will definitely need to do a bit of planning to see what gym will be along most of your routes and what budget you want to stick to in order to figure out what gym is best for you!
If you do want to have an option for showering in the van, I totally understand and I honestly encourage it! There will be times when you get a great campsite and don’t want to leave for a week or so. Or maybe you go swim in some hot springs and want to shower off afterwards. You still don’t need to install a full shower your van to do this. Solar showers are a great option.
These work by filling up the shower bag with water, laying it out in the sun for the outer material to begin retaining the heat and warming the water, and then simply hanging it from a tree or somewhere off the van to shower! They have hoses and shower heads so you can rinse off well and around 5-7 gallons on average. This allows plenty of time to wash off whenever you need.
Prices can definitely vary but they are typically less than $50 and can be stored away really easily. If you want a more heavy duty shower that you don’t have to mess with, you can look into the RoadShower which mounts to the roof of your van and heats up just by being up there. (It is definitely a more expensive option!) See image above on right.
I’m also a big fan of the electric showers because they’re inexpensive and super easy to use. There are a bunch of different options but all of them are fairly similar. Some will allow you to plug into the cigarette plug in the van before using and then you simply push a button. You have a collapsible bucket at your feet that you fill with water and place part of the device in, and then suction your shower head to the window (suction piece comes with) and shower! Others work the same way but you actually just charge them before/after use so they wouldn’t need to be plugged into anything during use.
Try to get one with a water filter so you can use any water to shower and it’ll filter before coming out.
Unless you have the extended version of the Sprinter or Transit, I always really encourage people to not do this. It makes sense with the extra space but if you’re working with the 144″ or 148″ (depending on your van), you do not need to build in a shower. I completely understand that it seems very important because we are so used to having one in our home. If you know you’ll only be comfortable with it there, go for it. But it isn’t hard to get used to showering outdoors with the previously mentioned options and just going to the gym most the time. Not to mention, you would need to fill 20+ gallons of water every time you run out which will be a bigger pain than you think.
If you do definitely want this, just know that it will be more expensive than all of the other choices with material and especially labor if you’re having it built out. They do look amazing and it is incredibly convenient to have a working shower in your home. So there’s no debate on that. But it’s a permanent choice so I just want you to make sure you think it through!
Showering is a major question when it comes to van life, but in reality it’s so easy to figure out what will make you most comfortable. If budget is a factor, I recommend a cheap gym membership and an easy portable shower. Going to the gym will give you an excuse to work out frequently and have a hot shower that you don’t have to set up an entire water -heating system for in the van!
That said, I completely understand why you may want to build in a shower for convenience reasons. This is your home after all and you want to feel like a home. You know you better than anyone so make the best decision for yourself!
I have a tip for you and other people who live in a van full time. If you want free showers at some truck stops like Pilot/ Flying J, Petro/TA, or Loves get some truck driver friends. They can be Facebook or someone you talk to on phone or whatever and they can get you free showers. Some have unlimited free showers because of the amount of fuel we get. All you need is a phone number of a driver or an ecard on an app from Loves and take to fuel desk. Ask for a shower it’s free. The driver doesn’t need to be there with you. Sometimes you can ask drivers for a free shower at a truckstop while they are fueling and they’ll get you one
This is a pretty awesome idea!!