Outland Adventures

 Hey Y'all! Brand collaborations really make us feel like we're doing something right... like we've "made" it on social media .   That said we vow to only take sponsors/collabs that:  1) Make sense for us (and you). For example we recently got an offer for a milk frother, but we don't drink our coffee that way, so it didn't make sense for us. We also have limited room, so we can't say yes to just anything. 2) Are a product we have used/will use regularly. All the items we'll mention today we are currently using. We like all of them! 3) We can be honest about. Integrity above all else. We will let you know if something doesn't work, isn't as great as other products in the category, or isn't as expected in general. In no particular order: 1) Viking Bags- https://www.vikingbags.com/ collections/motorcycle- backpacks   We're working on getting a promo code for y'all! We were sent the bag to test out, in exchange for mentioning it in...

 Hey Y'all, Hey Y'all! This one is gadget #vanlife specific, but the items from that  top 5 blog  are definitely some great products we love too! TOP 3! 1)  Collapsible Tub : We picked ours up at Aldi! Such a great find. At the time we purchased locally it was just under $10 USD. We use it for doing dishes, or washing fruits/veggies, or anything else you'd use a sink for. 2)  Folding Table/Tray : We found two of these, sitting in the floor of the furniture aisle of our local Walmart & knew we should grab them up for under $20 USD each. We have used them for working on the laptop, coloring/art, eating, outdoors to hold the radio or phones & drinks. Such a useful purchase! 3)  Lights! We upgraded our lights to these, and love them! We like the brightness adjuster and the color selector. Much better and brighter than what we were using previously. We don't ever use the music feature, or the app. The remote is more than sufficient for our needs. ...

 Hey Y'all! We shared our recent purchases, in a previous blog here: https://outlandadventures.blogspot.com/2025/01/van-life-amazon-edition-recent-purchases.html Unboxing Video: Today lets review those items! 1) Our new mattress, best purchase in recent memory.    It's thick and fluffy, and oh so comfortable. All while still allowing plenty of head room for sitting up on Chris' side of the bed.  LOVE IT! 2) Tire Cover- Came out great. Fits the spare well, QR code works, A+ 3) Window tint, not much to say here... it's the right shade and it sticks.  4) Double Sided Tape- it does the job and is thinner than most, but I'd like even thinner. The backing is a bit hard to remove, but not impossible. It's better than most, but not perfect. 5) Headphones- I like them, they fit over ear nicely, sound is good, and they're comfortable. 6) State Map- Exactly as advertised as far as we can tell. It's been too cold to put it on. 7) Binoculars- Chris used them for phot...

 Hey Y'all! How is it already July?!? Blog & Video Schedule: 2nd Tue- Blog Schedule 4th Thur- No Blog, Happy 4th Video-  Will be late, Our 4th of July! 9th Tue- Current Van Storage Solutions 11th Thur- What Are We Doing While In NE TN? Video- Day In The Life 16th Tue-   Update on Our Favorite Gadgets 18th Thur- David Crockett Birthplace State Park Video- David Crockett Birthplace State Park & Campground 22nd Tue- Sharing About Craftin Wife's Creations 24th Thur- Updated Van Life Fails Video- 5 Things We Don't Love | Van Life 30th Tue- Sharing About ShadowWolf Studios 1st Thurs- August Schedule Thanks, The Outlands

 Hey Y'all! Bottom 3 more?!! In this blog we're talking about a few more products/items we don't love. First, our previous blog on the subject: https://outlandadventures.blogspot.com/2023/11/gadgets-we-hate-top-5.html This time the list is items that worked well in a house, but just don't transfer over well. These are our opinions and experience, if something is working for you, that's awesome! We're glad you made it work. 1) Keurig - I loved mine in house life, don't get me wrong. However for van life it's far to power hungry, a bit large, and there are so many ways to make coffee the Keurig just didn't make sense. We currently have this: Presto My Jo 2) Air Fryer - We loved ours, similar to the one above. (So much so it's in storage, for the future.) It cooks things so much better, and faster. But again, it's just far too power hungry and way to larger for van life. We're finding the Blackstone & Bottle Top Burner are working out gr...

 Hey Y'all! Today we're going to share our best tips & tricks we've found over the past 2+ months FT van living. Feel free to leave yours in the comments below! Top Five: 1) There is no "right" way to travel. We find we like travel best when we drive for a few hours and stop for a while. We also don't really like driving at night (and missing all the scenery). We don't follow the 222, or 333, or any other rule, but we typically stop around the 3-4hr mark, and stop for 1hr to 1 day. We have noticed stopping more with closer destinations the gas milage isn't as great as it was that first big trip, but it's still pretty good. What's your travel rule? 2) What works for others may not work for you, and that's okay! We find we love travel centers, and regular old touristy stuff just as much as (if not more than) the off the beaten path/ hard to find locations. We like doing a little research about a place, then really digging deep once we arr...

 Hey Y'all! We've been full time for about 6 weeks now, and we've got more great gadgets to share! Just a reminder of our previous picks: https://outlandadventures.blogspot.com/2023/10/gadgets-we-love-top-3-for-daily-life.html https://outlandadventures.blogspot.com/2023/09/our-top-5-van-life-must-haves.html https://outlandadventures.blogspot.com/2023/11/gadgets-we-hate-top-5.html We've got three more to add to the list! 1) Power! We chose this one: Eco Flow Delta Mini- https://us.ecoflow.com/products/delta-mini-portable-power-station?variant=39976376434761 Delta is little (roughly 15x7x9), fairly lightweight at 23lbs, doesn't take up a ton of space, has plenty of power for our needs (1400W), and got great reviews. So far it's serving our needs very well, and charges quickly. We also liked the price point on this one, and got an even better deal than the sale price on eBay.  We've yet to use our 220W solar panels, so there's no mini review on them yet, bu...

  Hey, y'all! In this video, Chris replaced the fan motor on the cooler. It was a pretty simple job. I just needed a screwdriver and soldering tool and about 20 minutes. All in, we're at about $20 on this thrift store find. Now we just need to clean it up, and it's ready to go. If you'd like more detailed, or written instructions on How-To just leave a comment below. Thanks, The Outlands

 Hey Y'all! Each of these items made the list for either cost, function, or personal preference. If you love one of them, great! We're glad it's working for you.  For us the top 5 (or should it be bottom 5?) are as follows... 1) Starlink-  https://www.starlink.com/roam For us this was a combination of cost and the devices limitations. We are "home" in mountainous forested northeastern Tennessee, and travel the east most often currently, so the wide open space starlink needs is not easily found where we are currently traveling/plan to travel. So far we've had great success with visible and the unlimited hotspot for just $25mo. 2) Van Specific Bug Screens- Link is to the mid tier (price) on Amazon:   https://www.amazon.com/TUBENRY-Essentials-Mercedes-Campervans-Accessories/dp/B0BYN3C65J/ref=sr_1_145?keywords=van%2Blife%2Baccessories&qid=1700059318&sr=8-145&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc&th=1 On amazon if you search v...

 Hey Y'all! We're back, and we need your help! In the comment section below give us some blog ideas. This can be anything van life related or something else entirely. Anything goes! For example do you want more reviews, how tos, get to know me stuff, challenges, etc. Let us know! Thanks, The Outlands

 Hey Y'all! This one is gadget #vanlife specific, but the items from that top 5 blog are definitely some great products we love too! TOP 3! 1) Collapsible Tub : We picked ours up at Aldi! Such a great find. At the time we purchased locally it was just under $10 USD. We use it for doing dishes, or washing fruits/veggies, or anything else you'd use a sink for. 2) Folding Table/Tray : We found two of these, sitting in the floor of the furniture aisle of our local Walmart & knew we should grab them up for under $20 USD each. We have used them for working on the laptop, coloring/art, eating, outdoors to hold the radio or phones & drinks. Such a useful purchase! 3) Lights! We actually had these before the van (pretty sure ours were from Ollie's  several years ago), for emergencies since our power would go out so often. They worked great for that, and they're very useful in the van too. They're bright without being blinding, and last forever. We also like that we...