Before we even saw our caravan in person, before we knew the exact size of its cupboards, the layout of its kitchen, the depth of its storage compartments, I was already mentally packing it. And unpacking it. And repacking it again.

Fitting a family of five into a caravan is not a logistical challenge. It's a philosophical one.

The Minimalism Mindset (That Didn't Come Naturally to Some of Us)

I had to go somewhere I'd never really been before, true minimalism. Not the pretty Instagram kind where everything is white and calm and there are three objects on a shelf. The real kind, where you hold up a jumper and ask yourself honestly: do we actually need this? And then you put it back anyway because what if.

Clothing was the first battle. Five people, all seasons, all occasions, some level of dignity, and it all had to fit into spaces roughly the size of overhead lockers on a plane. The solution? Frequent, very regular visits to public laundromats, which honestly became one of the unexpected social rituals of our caravan life. One set of bed linen each. One towel each. That's it.

Then came the kitchen. Every pot, every pan, every cleaning product, every bottle of olive oil had to earn its place. We invested in a compact pot and pan set that stacked neatly and took up as little space as possible, one of the better decisions we made before leaving. For dry food and pantry storage, stackable plastic storage boxes were an absolute lifesaver, they let us organize every compartment efficiently and stack items without anything sliding around on the road. Picnic furniture, dry food storage, water bottles, all competing for the same small compartments.

A set of luggage organisers also became one of our most-used tools throughout the year, keeping clothing and accessories sorted in our limited caravan wardrobes without everything becoming one impossible tangle.

Me being me, there was one non-negotiable.

I bought the smallest Nespresso machine I could find before I packed anything else. Priorities.

Making It Ours — Light Weight Portugal Is Born

We took a couple more days in Covilhã, where we had stayed for the past month, to properly nest. We cleaned every corner of our new caravan, scrubbed it top to bottom and gave it a thorough going over with our mini vacuum cleaner that became one of our most-used caravan tools throughout the entire year, made the beds, organized our belongings, and slowly started to feel like it was ours. There is something surprisingly powerful about making a small space your own. By the time we were done, it felt like home. A very compact, very efficient home.

During those days we also made a decision that felt important: we were going to document this whole adventure properly, to share with our loved ones back home. To do that, we needed a name.

We called it "Light Weight Portugal."

It captured everything, the physical reality of squeezing our lives into a caravan, and the spirit we wanted to carry with us: light, free, present. We had custom stickers made and fixed them to the Jeep and the caravan, and just like that, we were official.

And then we drove away.

The First Night — Better Than We Dared Hope

Our first campsite was just minutes away, perched above the city of Fundão, tucked into a peaceful forest. It was mid-July, a summer weekend, and I had braced myself for noise and chaos.

It was none of those things.

The campsite was calm and peaceful. The kids fell asleep easily in their new beds. Hagi and I lay there in the quiet and looked at each other in the dark with that particular look that means we actually did this. The excitement carried all five of us into a surprisingly deep, peaceful sleep.

Morning Coffee and the First Real Test

The next morning was gentle. Simple breakfast outside at our folding camping table, settled into our camping chairs, sunshine, birdsong.

And then my first cup of coffee from my trusty Nespresso machine in the caravan, outside, in nature, no rush, just the way I had dreamed of. If you know me at all, you know that this specific moment, coffee in hand, outdoors, unhurried, is my version of perfect. I sat with it for a long time.

Later, when the heat of the day crept in, we took a dip in the campsite pool, played some games in the shade, and then lunchtime arrived and it was time for me to face my new reality as the family cook.

The Tiny Kitchen and the Big Problem

I want to be honest about that first cooking experience: it was humbling.

The kitchen was tiny. The gas stove was also the prep area, there was no separate counter space. The fridge held roughly one and a half family meals worth of food. And there were two burners. Two that only one pot would fit over. Even with my compact pot and pan set neatly stacked in the cupboard, the space simply wasn't enough for the way I wanted to cook. For a family of five, this was a problem.

I stood there looking at it, pasta in one hand, ingredients for sauce in the other, and did the maths. This wasn't going to work. Not long term. Not for the way I cook, the way our family eats. I needed a solution.

The Pressure Cooker That Changed Everything

The solution I found was an electric pressure cooker, and it turned out to be one of the best discoveries of our entire caravan year.

Good sized bowl, multiple cooking functions, and the thing that changed everything for me: I could make the pasta and the sauce at the same time. One in my new appliance, the other on the gas stove.

I use it to this day. We have a full, modern kitchen now, proper stove, oven, the works, and that pressure cooker still lives on my counter and still gets used very often. Some habits are just too good to let go of.

It's funny, the things that end up mattering. Not the big dramatic moments, though there were plenty of those. Sometimes it's a small electric appliance that fits on a caravan counter and makes a mother feel like she can actually do this.

That counts for a lot.

Plan Your Visit — Fundão and the Covilhã Region

Where to stay

Our first campsite was perched above Fundão, tucked into the forest. For those who want a proper bed with the same mountain air and cherry country surroundings, there is a lovely range of rural accommodation near Fundão and Covilhã, from simple guesthouses in the village to mountain retreats with forest views above Covilhã. Compare all options before booking.

What to pack for caravan life or long-term travel

The items that genuinely made our caravan year possible, every single one worth its weight:

A Nespresso machine, because some things are non-negotiable.

An electric pressure cooker, the single appliance that transformed our tiny caravan kitchen from a source of stress into something genuinely workable.

A compact pot and pan set that stacks flat and earns every centimetre of cupboard space it occupies.

Stackable plastic storage boxes for every dry food and pantry item. Absolutely non-negotiable for caravan organisation.

A mini vacuum cleaner that keeps a small space liveable. More used than any other tool we owned.

Luggage organisers for caravan wardrobes and storage compartments. The difference between organised chaos and actual chaos.

A folding camping table and camping chairs, because outdoor breakfasts with coffee in nature are what caravan life is actually about.