RV Camping Tips for Beginners
RVing is a fun and exciting way to spend a vacation. It helps you see more of the great outdoors while providing the amenities needed for a comfortable experience. However, it’s important that you know what you’re getting into before you head out, and a few tips might make your life much easier when you finally get on the road. This short guide will provide you with some of those tips and help make your first RV trip a success.
Planning
The importance of planning can’t be overstated for first-time RVers. To begin with, it can be helpful to divide up your packing list into different categories so you can be more thorough in thinking through the different elements you need for different aspects of your everyday routines. For example, you can make a personal checklist for your clothes, hygiene products, medications, and favorite recreation activities.
A kitchen checklist will allow you to bring all the equipment and ingredients you need to make healthy, tasty meals. You’ll also need to make sure you reserve your campsites months ahead of time. This will help to ensure that you don’t find yourself scrambling for a last-minute place to set up camp because the place you wanted to stay at was full.
Packing
As you pack, remember that you probably won’t be able to bring everything you think you want. RVs tend to have a finite amount of space and hauling capacity. Make sure you don’t exceed your vehicle’s gross combined weight rating, or GCWR, which refers to the total weight of your tow vehicle, camper, all your passengers, and cargo combined. Not only can exceeding this number get you in trouble with the law, but it can also make your vehicle more dangerous to drive.
Some people choose to have separate cooking equipment, recreation gear, linens, and other supplies just for camping that they keep in their RV. This is helpful and can make packing easier, but make sure you confirm that you have all the must-have items because you might accidentally leave something behind if you took it out for some reason and never returned it to the camper.
Organizing
Try to establish a system of organization that will work in the long term to make sure your trips always go smoothly. Packing lists and itineraries can be very helpful. It’s also useful to simply go through your camper and figure out ways to get more out of the available space. The addition of some simple drawer organizers, a coat rack, or a few storage tubs can help to keep your RV organized.
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