Col and I decided to not have a toilet and shower in the van. This was a big discussion, but ultimately I think a good decision. We have a hot water shower on the outside of the van and use a privacy tent. We have both a single and a double one that can have the port-a-loo on the other side. You can open up the adjoining wall between them if you prefer.
This offers a little more privacy than being in the van and reduces the cleaning. It is still located close enough that it is not an inconvenient walk to get to it. It also meant that we could get a smaller, cheaper van too, which suits our off-road needs.
The double tent has a zip between the two sections. When showering I usually set up a table in the toilet section to put your dry clothes and towel on. Keep the middle section zipped while showering as you will likely spray the hose in that direction. There are also handy pockets on the tent to put your shampoo, conditioner and soap etc. Make sure you set the tent up far enough away so you don’t block the vent, as this is a fire hazard.
We also have a small tarp floor that we put down which helps to keep your feet clean, but it is not shown in this photo. The idea with the outdoor shower is to wet yourself, turn off the water then soap up and we then use the water we are standing in as a bath and use it to rinse off a bit as well. This helps to reduce your water usage when water is not readily available.
We don’t use the hose hung up like this, just handy for when not in use.
If you are worried about the challenges of folding up the toilet tent when you have finished, try watching the video on an easy folding technique for these that saved us hours of frustration.