While the trend towards bigger and ever more luxurious vans continues to gather pace, there are some grey nomads who continue to question if, sometimes, less might actually be more.
For Ian and Jenni Frame, the realisation that they actually didn’t need a full gas cooker in their van came about 18 months ago through a bit of misfortune.
The WA couple, who are both in their 70s, noticed a gas smell in their Millard van – which they had bought new in 2007 – and a plumber quickly confirmed there was a leak in the stove, and then a repair shop advised the stove needed replacing.
“After we baulked at the initial quote of around $2,500, he revised it shortly after to around $1,700,” said Ian.
Jenni gets plenty of use out of the Weber Baby Q
The oven is now used to store pots and pans.
“At this stage, we asked him to have the gas line to the stove sealed and certified, which he did.”
The Frames freely admit they were in a bit of a panic as they were due to head off on a big trip the following week, along with their travel-loving, three-year-old cat, Ashley.
As it happens though, they needn’t have worried.
“By necessity, we decided to make do with a Weber Baby Q which we already had, and purchase a butane single-burner gas stove,” said Ian. “We also purchased a double electric element hotplate for cooking inside if necessary … these two items cost just under $60.”
On the first three-month trip from Perth to Darwin and back, the weather was conducive to cooking outside but the couple were still amazed at how well they coped.
Ian says they have no plans to replace the old cooker.
“We were able to cook under the awning and used the electric hotplates no more than half a dozen times in the three months,” said Ian. “We did use caravan park barbecues on a couple of occasions though … and we did eat a lot more salads!”
Ian and Jenni – who use the redundant oven to store pots and pans – say they won’t bother replacing the cooker until they decide the time is right to sell the caravan.
While the van’s cooking set-up may be slimmed down, the couple still like to travel with a few mod cons.
“Our van has a Queen bed, awning, shower/toilet, gas hot water system, air conditioning and washing machine, plus TV and radio,” said Ian.
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Yep, we pulled out the washing machine, what we wanted was somewhere to put our dirty clothes till washday. Also gave us extra storage.
Also our caravan was overweight so helped in removing 12kg
We’ve never had an oven in a van, just 4 burner gas cooktop and grill, we cook outside all the time doesn’t matter what the weather us like awnings are sp goid these days to keep weather off you
Yes we do tend to want to take simply everything with us but I had the most fun in a small pop top caravan that was about 16 feet long.
When my stove blew up I was using an electric frypan and I bought a single burner induction hot plate and that is the best ever gadget but you do need to have 240 volt power. Not so good for free camping but then it’s time to get out the Weber.
Yeah well we can make do without having simply Everything and yes we did go holidaying in a tent in the early days.
We did not have an oven in our first van. We used the gas hot plates, an electric frypan and a small bbq. Our one extravagance was a glass oven bought for $70. We spent 3 years continuously and never missed the oven. Our second van had an oven already fitted and I used it once in the 2 years we were away in that. Ovens are not necessary as there are plenty of other options.
Dale Ford.
Hi only have cooktop three gas burner and 1 electric and grill don’t use it slot have a Ziggy cooker for outdoor I find the facilities at most caravan are very good don’t have a ensuite. So weight isn’t a problem.
Hi. We use the gas cans with our all4 adventure pan. You can cook everything in it. We have a lot of stir fries. We have two of them. Really easy when you have 4 boys to feed.
We had a big van with an oven for years and never used it. When we removed it to put in an extra fridge it still had the plastic wrap on it. The other thing we don’t take any more is the TV. Don’t miss that either but all these things are a personal choice. If you want them take them if you don’t want them leave them home.
When you removed the oven, did you sell it ?
How did you dispose of it. Thanks
How does your cat go with travelling (on the road) and being on a leash?
He’s brilliant. We put him on the leash when we got him 3 years ago. Now he just accepts it as part of life.
As for travelling he has half of the back seat and in between sleeping checks out if we’re there yet.
We’re still trying to work out how he can tell the difference between a fuel stop and a caravan park. Fuel stop -not interested. Caravan park – climbs all over the car trying to get a better look at it.
Thanks Ian, that’s really cool, thank you for responding
Hi there. He’s not interested at the fuel stop because of the smell
We do most of our cooking outside using a double cast iron ring burner stove.
We have a Coleman folding camp oven which sits on top of one of the burners.
Its basically a tin box with a shelf & a temperature gauge on the door.
They’ve been around for 40 years, a fantastic piece of gear that weighs very little.
We can do a full roast in it.
We have a 3 burner gas cook top but no oven. We bought an oven/air fryer combo device from Aldi. It’s ok and does the job but, I’d never settle for a van without an oven again. My must haves, washing machine, oven, toilet, shower and satellite TV dish.