Packing up a motorhome or campervan? Undecided what you want or the place to place all of it so issues are protected? Don’t fear, we’re received you covered- right here’s every part it is advisable know, in addition to a FREE motorhome packing checklist so that you can use.
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Packing a motorhome- the issue
One of the vital frequent questions I get requested (other than ‘what does motorhome payload imply and the way do I test?), is about packing a motorhome, campervan, or RV. As I’m positive you’ve realised, attempting to place ALL THE THINGS right into a small house isn’t all the time simple! Not solely do you need to determine what to pack in your camper, however you additionally must be taught HOW to pack it.
It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re going touring round Europe for six weeks, or heading to the native campsite for a weekend, a poorly packed motorhome is at finest noisy/ annoying and at worse harmful to drive.
(In case you’re nonetheless caught on the WHAT you want, right here’s a listing of important motorhome equipment we extremely advocate you carry)
Nonetheless, upon getting every part you assume you would possibly want/ need piled in your spare bed room or storage, it’s time to begin placing all of it away.
The issue with not doing this correctly is what number of issues there are which might rattle and shake round if not saved appropriately. Not solely is it annoying and distracting to hearken to that noise while driving, however issues may break, shake free and even trigger imbalances to the automobile. Subsequently, it’s actually essential to pack your motorhome correctly.
Motorhome Packing Errors
After residing and touring in our motorhome for a number of years, we’ve learnt some nice ideas and methods to pack a motorhome, and we’re sharing all of them under. After we purchased our first camper, we knew nothing. Completely nothing. We packed our first van fully improper! Boy did we all know it after we set off on our first trip- there have been creaks, bangs and noises EVERYWHERE!
We needed to be taught the right way to cease rattles within the motorhome, the right way to pack heavy issues low and the right way to organize lockers so we didn’t should empty them simply to get one thing within the again!
How do you load a motorhome? Assess your storage
You can see that you’ve ‘good lockers’ and ‘unhealthy lockers’ inside your camper. Good lockers are simple to entry, simple to see inside and straightforward to maintain organised. Unhealthy lockers are laborious to entry/ laborious to see inside and enormous sufficient for issues to get thrown in with none thought by any means, which makes them not possible to maintain tidy!
Unhealthy lockers may have heating duct pipes/ wires/ switches and many others inside them, which suggests it is advisable take into consideration the varieties of objects you place into them.
Begin by figuring out your good/ unhealthy lockers, then gather your gear and RV package collectively.
Take into consideration while you would possibly want the ‘stuff’ you’re placing away. For instance, you’re unlikely to wish a whisk or video games in an emergency, however you would possibly want some instruments, so maintain these in a extra accessible locker.
What is going to you want when? If the children are asleep, is there something beneath their bunks which you would possibly want within the night/ morning? What if certainly one of you will get up early (me!) and the opposite likes a lie-in (whereas ready for his bacon butty…!)
The best way to pack a motorhome or campervan – the place to begin
One of many hardest issues is realizing the place to begin.
TOP TIP: Do NOT begin together with your fairly throw cushions or blankets or bedding… you’ll be shifting them out of the way in which always while you do every part else.
I like to recommend you begin on the backside and work your manner up. By that I imply begin with under-seat lockers and begin with the most important objects, which might’t be put anyplace else, like a motorhome generator when you have one or instruments/ spares.
- Begin together with your heavy/ awkward package (Turbines, outside furnishings, tables, snow chains and many others) When you’ve got a storage or outside storage field, this is likely to be pretty simple, however for a lot of motorhomes, it requires fascinated with your lockers fastidiously
- Attempt to maintain related objects in the identical place, so you will discover issues simply.
- Subsequent, collect all of your kitchenware/ crockery/ utensils/ plates and many others collectively. Attempt to put them in locations which make sense, however retains issues safe.
- Defend your heating ducts. You don’t need to retailer any scorching/ perishable meals subsequent to those pipes, as they are going to get extremely popular. You additionally don’t need heavy objects to fall inside a cabinet or locker and squish the duct- that may be an costly restore.
Watch us packing a motorhome…
Some time in the past I filmed me packing our motorhome fully from scratch. (In case you’ve received/ are getting a brand new van, or fancy some spring cleansing, you would possibly discover it helpful to observe.)
Within the video, you’ll see me beginning with the issues I’ll want most continuously and placing them someplace simple to get to.
We hope you discovered the video helpful. In case you did, we’d find it irresistible if you adopted us on Youtube. New movies with ideas for motorhoming and campervanning within the UK and Europe are launched weekly.
Packing Motorhome Ideas- don’t panic!
Okay, while you start placing issues away, there’s a excessive probability your camper can be utter chaos. Don’t panic- we’ll get by way of this within the subsequent hour or two and it’ll begin to really feel much more beneath management.
That is NOT the time to begin shoving stuff into lockers and hiding all of it away- that may solely trigger confusion and frustration afterward and also you’ll discover vanlife a lot tougher. That is while you ship the children, canines (and presumably husband!) out for ice cream or a looooooooooooong stroll.
Then put some music or a podcast on, take your time and picture residing within the campervan for per week/ month/ full time. (These are our favorite highway journey songs to sing alongside to!)
Take into consideration weight distribution
Totally different to payload, it’s essential to think about stability while packing.
When you’ve got a generator or one thing actually heavy, don’t retailer it in the identical locker and even on the identical aspect as all of your tins.
Speaking of tins, don’t retailer numerous free issues like that in a locker with one thing it is advisable take out continuously, like outside chairs or a BBQ. You’ll discover having to take away 50 tins to get issues out a ache within the bottom!
What must you pack in a motorhome kitchen?
Fortunately, a lot of the issues we use within the kitchen within the motorhome are precisely the identical stuff you’d use at house. As a really transient information, you want:
Plates, bowls, mugs, glasses, cutlery, condiments, utensils, TIN OPENER, BOTTLE OPENER, tea towels, washing up stuff, bin baggage (doesn’t should be the large black ones- we discover the smaller pedal bin dimension are sometimes higher), kitchen roll, frying pan, saucepan, kettle, teaspoons. Different Street journey necessities
These are what I might think about fundamentals (although clearly, your checklist could properly differ.) We additionally discover the next helpful onboard:
- Poachpods (have I discussed I’m hooked on poached eggs? This stuff are an excellent invention and I take advantage of them just about every day)
- Plastic bins within the fridge to carry issues in place
- Bottle bag (one of many wine carrying ones from a supermarket- these maintain bottles and cease them clinking)
- Tongs
- Oven mitt
- Dishdrying matt (we don’t use a rack- takes up an excessive amount of house)
- Tea, espresso, sugar, scorching chocolate and many others
- Nutritional vitamins or any tablets you require
- Spray oil for frying- private desire but it surely’s simpler to eliminate a little bit extra oil than a complete lot!
- Chopping boards
- Sharp knives, together with steak knives should you’re keen on pink meat
- Soup spoons (should you eat (drink?) soup!)
RV Packing Ideas for beginners- the kitchen/ meals
As soon as the annoying and heavy stuff is stowed away safely, and the kitchen pans and utensils have principally received houses, I begin meals. We don’t do numerous detailed cooking in our motorhome, however we prefer to maintain the fundamentals like flour/ sugar and many others in hermetic sealed bins like these. We discover it makes them last more and stops any little bugs getting in.
Attempt to maintain 1-2 rolls of paper towels simply accessible, however retailer the remaining in lockers beneath the seats. You don’t need to take up all the great lockers with issues like paper towels or rest room rolls, which you solely want entry to each few days.
Ensure that sharp knives and different kitchen instruments are safely stowed. We used to retailer ours in a drawer, wrapped in mushy cloths to allow them to’t unintentionally reduce anybody, however now we’ve got a magnetic strip on the wall which works MUCH higher than I assumed it might!
Not likely meals associated (though it form of is- sorry!), however don’t overlook rest room chemical compounds. We use a product known as Solbio natural rest room fluid, which is pure and doesn’t include dangerous chemical compounds. It’s additionally protected to be disposed of in septic tanks or fosse, that means we’ve got extra choices to eliminate our rest room responsibly.
Hold issues protected whereas travelling
There are some issues in a van that are designed to be rugged and durable.
And others which aren’t.
When you’ve got a motorhome television, they’re designed to resist extra vibration than a ‘regular’ TV, however they’re nonetheless vulnerable to break if banged and knocked round. Ensure that issues that are ‘fragile’ are saved securely and may’t break while travelling. Both wrap them correctly or pack them in between different issues.
The best way to pack a motorhome- garments
By now, a lot of the lockers can be filling up, particularly those beneath the motorhome seats. It’s time to consider garments. Attempt to break up your garments into stuff you’ll need every day (underwear, socks, t-shirts and many others) and stuff you may not use each week (snow gear, climbing boots, bikini and many others) Clearly, it will rely totally on the place you’re highway tripping and what you take pleasure in doing there!
We are inclined to retailer sneakers and boots for outside and water actions in a separate locker or within the wardrobe, and garments within the wardrobe and we’ve got one small cabinet every.
It’s REALLY simple to overpack your garments, particularly for ladies, however that is one place the place it is advisable be fairly ruthless. In case you are solely travelling in your camper for per week, then pack in accordance with the climate (though ALWAYS convey a jacket/ heat jumper, even when the forecast is ideal. You’d be amazed what number of instances we’ve been caught out!
This primary checklist goes to range wildly from individual to individual and in addition due to the world you’re visiting. However to get you began, here’s a guidelines for garments to hold in your camper.
What must you pack in a motorhome- the ‘bits’
When you’ve organised every part else, it’s time for the ‘bits’. All of us have these- the issues that go in that particular drawer in your kitchen in a home. It’s uncommon you’ll have the ability to discover a drawer for this goal (fortunate you should you do!) We’ve a ‘bits field’, which sits inside certainly one of our cabinets and holds batteries, tape, string, playing cards, pens, notepad and 1,000,000 extra issues.
Once more, attempt to maintain stuff you assume you’ll want continuously simply accessible, and put different issues in direction of the underside/ again. Some ‘bits’ to recollect are:
- Video games/ playing cards or no matter you select to do to loosen up
- Issues to do for the children on highway journeys (try these highway journey kids’s video games)
- Chargers for telephones/ laptops/ ipads/ wifi/ bike headsets/ transportable radios… you get the concept! We use a mix of 12v chargers (to be used whereas we’re driving) and different chargers which we use on an inverter if needed, however we attempt to keep away from this. Annoyingly, I’ve simply upgraded to a Macbook Professional, which is wonderful however my 12v charger for my outdated laptop computer doesn’t match! I’ll have to attend for them to launch one for mine.
- Placemats/ desk fabric if you want. We don’t use these indoors, however we do use a desk fabric if we’re establishing a desk outdoors.
- Motorhome Cleansing gear- we maintain cloths, duster, moist wipes and vanish spray all simply accessible. We additionally carry an iron and an ironing board as Mr WB is terrified that he is likely to be known as into an pressing assembly and must get on a airplane right away… it’s not occurred but however I simply know if I take it off the van we’ll want it! So it’s staying (for now).
While I give it some thought, don’t overlook van bedding! Pillows, quilt, bedsheets and many others. We’ve correct bedsheets- we’re not a fan of sleeping baggage. We’re fortunate sufficient to have a drop-down mattress to retailer the bedding on, however you would possibly must sacrifice a locker to retailer yours in.
Different issues we attempt to not overlook when packing our camper:
- Huge digicam and lenses
- SD playing cards
- Drone
- Tripod
- Mini tripod & microphone for vlogging (watch our journey movies right here)
- Laptop computer/ iPads/ telephones
- Wifi dongle
- Medical box- primary requirements like plasters, nurofen, diarrhoea tablets, water purification tablets and many others. (Don’t drink faucet water in Europe- purchase bottled.)
- Laundry stuff. In case you wash your laundry whereas travelling, most laundrettes throughout Europe require you to offer your individual detergent and many others. We convey a small quantity of ours so it’s prepared if we’d like it.
- COINS within the native forex. For parking, ideas, tolls- you’ll all the time want them!
- Gasoline bottles- we stock two 6kg ones. Beware the problems with getting gasoline in Europe.
- Hose pipe for filling recent water.
Motorhome packing- extra ideas and methods
Listed below are some extra of our greatest ideas and methods that will help you pack your RV or motorhome.
- Put heavy objects as little as potential
- Attempt to place stuff you don’t use very commonly (like snowchains) within the locations that are annoying to get to (at the back of lockers, beneath mattress, in center of storage and many others.
- Attempt to put heavy objects over the axles as a lot as potential, and check out to not put ALL the heavy objects in direction of the again/ entrance. You need the motorhome weight unfold over every axle as evenly as potential
- Retailer tins/ heavy issues which may roll as little as potential, and put them in baggage or bins to cease them rolling
- Attempt to not carry many extras for plates/ mugs/ glasses, and put the extras in safe bins to allow them to’t rattle round.
- In case you’re attempting van life with children, make sure that they find out about packing securely so issues don’t get damaged in lockers.
You possibly can try extra storage concepts right here:
Cease the noise! The best way to cease rattles in your motorhome
I HATE rattles, bangs and noise within the van. I’ve been identified to cease 5 minutes right into a journey and repack.
It’s so unhealthy, I’ve written a whole submit on HOW to cease rattles in your motorhome, campervan or RV, filled with ideas that will help you have a extra peaceable, calmer journey.
Don’t forget- rattles come final. There’s no level losing numerous time stopping rattles in your motorhome, when an hour later you determine to maneuver every part round anyway!
So, these are our finest ideas and methods for the right way to pack a motorhome. I hope you’ve discovered them helpful. Most of all, don’t panic. So long as you have got the precise paperwork, your keys and a credit score/ debit card, just about every part else could be purchased en route if it is advisable.
Except you’re going someplace actually off-grid. During which case, perhaps panic – and please ship me pictures so I can take pleasure in your highway journey adventures!!!
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