Skip to main content
About

Curated by nomads, for nomads.

VanLifeKitchens was started by three frustrated van dwellers who got tired of gear recommendations written by people who'd never lived in 80 square feet. Every product on this site has been tested on the road — not in a lab, not by an affiliate farm.

Cooking dinner in a van kitchen at golden hour

Our mission

Help people cook real food on the road with gear that actually works. That's it. No hype, no sponsored rankings, no “best of” lists stuffed with whatever Amazon is paying to promote this week.

How we review

We buy most gear with our own money. When brands send samples, we disclose it in the review. We test every product for at least 30 days in real van-life conditions: heat, cold, washboard roads, and intermittent power.

  • Minimum 30 days of real-world testing
  • Power draw measured with a Victron BMV-712 shunt
  • Every review scored across the same 8 criteria
  • We update reviews when products change or firmware breaks

Meet the editors

ML

Maya Larsen

Senior Editor & Founder

Six years full-time in a Sprinter 144, formerly a mechanical engineer at a renewable energy startup. Maya runs every power-system test on this site with a Victron BMV-712 shunt and writes the deep technical reviews. If a number is in a Maya review, she measured it twice.

12V refrigerationpower systemsinduction cookingelectrical builds
TP

Theo Park

Field Editor & Recipe Lead

A former line cook turned full-time van dweller, Theo lives in a Promaster 136 and has cooked roughly 1,800 meals out of it. He covers cooktops, cookware, and meal prep — and writes the recipes that actually fit a single-burner reality.

cooktopscookwaremeal prepkitchen ergonomics
CB

Cassidy Brooks

Gear Reviewer

Three years of weekend and shoulder-season trips out of a Ford Transit 148. Cassidy approaches the site from the part-timer perspective — what works without a full electrical system, what survives storage between trips, and what's worth the upgrade later. She covers water systems, storage, solar cooking, and budget builds.

water filtrationkitchen storagesolar cookingbudget builds

Affiliate disclosure

We participate in the Amazon Associates Program and the Walmart Affiliate Program. When you buy through our links, we earn a commission at no cost to you. It keeps the lights on and lets us keep reviews independent. Full disclosure on our affiliate disclosure page.

Contact us

We answer every email. If you have a question about a product, want to suggest gear for us to test, spot an error in a review, or want to send us samples to evaluate, get in touch: