Sweet and simple. And wet.

Just a quick post today and no pictures, for reasons which will become obvious.

Poll results are still trickling in and it seems (understandably) that a lot of people want to know about how to save money while travelling – and – gadgets/goodies that make bus life easier.

There is a simple little item we bought last year (inexpensively) that definitely comes under both these categories.

A solar shower.

Just in case anyone is unaware what a solar shower is; it’s basically a very durable, large, black plastic pouch which can be filled with water and placed in the sun. It can then be hung up with the cord provided and the small sprinkler head attached to the tap/outlet ready for use. With just a few hours sunshine the water is noticeably warm and if you can leave it in the sun all day then a very pleasant shower awaits you. Kind of.

The shower head, if you can call it that, is pretty small but does release a fairly good spray.
You then need to ensure you can get someone tall to tie it up somewhere high enough otherwise you have to bend and crouch in quite an undignified manner.
That’s if showering outside is not undignified enough for you anyway.
If you are lucky you will have a shelter of some sort to shower in. I have seen, in a DOC campsite, a purpose-built shower cubicle with a high bar to hang your solar shower on. Good thinking. Apart from you need a stool to reach the high bar.

Some times you may have to hang it on a tree branch while staying in an avocado orchard and try to discretely shower behind the dappled screening of the foliage. Or is that just me?

You may rightly presume that we have no fitted shower inside the KiwiBlogBus, there’s just a toilet and tiny hand basin in our  bus bathroom.
If we are away for any length of time we will usually go every few days to a low-cost campsite or somewhere that has showers; but as we often stay at free sites, with zero facilities, our solar shower has been a great purchase.
Be it for washing sandy kids returning from the beach or simply washing hair – it’s a great gadget that’s saved us money.

Sweet and simple. And wet.