Packing up a motorhome or campervan? Undecided what you want or the place to place all of it so issues are secure? Don’t fear, we’re acquired you covered- right here’s every part you might want to 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 widespread questions I get requested (other than ‘what does motorhome payload imply and the way do I examine?), 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 is just not all the time simple! Not solely do it’s important to work out what to pack in your camper, however you additionally must study 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 greatest noisy/ annoying and at worse harmful to drive.
(In the event you’re nonetheless caught on the WHAT you want, right here’s a listing of important motorhome equipment we extremely suggest you carry)
Nonetheless, after you have 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 may rattle and shake round if not saved appropriately. Not solely is it annoying and distracting to take heed to that noise while driving, however issues may break, shake unfastened and even trigger imbalances to the automobile. Subsequently, it’s actually vital 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 tips to pack a motorhome, and we’re sharing all of them under. Once we purchased our first camper, we knew nothing. Completely nothing. We packed our first van fully improper! Boy did we all know it once we set off on our first trip- there have been creaks, bangs and noises EVERYWHERE!
We needed to study find out how to cease rattles within the motorhome, find out how to pack heavy issues low and find out how to prepare 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 will see that you’ve got ‘good lockers’ and ‘unhealthy lockers’ inside your camper. Good lockers are simple to entry, simple to see inside and simple to maintain organised. Unhealthy lockers are arduous to entry/ arduous to see inside and enormous sufficient for issues to get thrown in with none thought in anyway, which makes them inconceivable to maintain tidy!
Unhealthy lockers can even have heating duct pipes/ wires/ switches and so on inside them, which implies you might want to take into consideration the kinds of objects you place into them.
Begin by figuring out your good/ unhealthy lockers, then accumulate your gear and RV package collectively.
Take into consideration if 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 preserve these in a extra accessible locker.
What’s going to you want when? If the youngsters are asleep, is there something below their bunks which you would possibly want within the night/ morning? What if considered 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 understanding the place to begin.
TOP TIP: Do NOT begin along with your fairly throw cushions or blankets or bedding… you’ll be transferring them out of the best way consistently 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 gadgets, which may’t be put anyplace else, like a motorhome generator when you’ve got one or instruments/ spares.
- Begin along with your heavy/ awkward package (Turbines, out of doors furnishings, tables, snow chains and so on) When you’ve got a storage or out of doors storage field, this is perhaps pretty simple, however for a lot of motorhomes, it requires serious about your lockers fastidiously
- Attempt to preserve related gadgets in the identical place, so yow will discover issues simply.
- Subsequent, collect all of your kitchenware/ crockery/ utensils/ plates and so on collectively. Attempt to put them in locations which make sense, however retains issues safe.
- Shield your heating ducts. You don’t need to retailer any sizzling/ perishable meals subsequent to those pipes, as they are going to get very popular. You additionally don’t need heavy gadgets 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 the event you’ve acquired/ 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 often and placing them someplace simple to get to.
We hope you discovered the video helpful. In the event you did, we’d like it if you adopted us on Youtube. New movies with ideas for motorhoming and campervanning within the UK and Europe are launched weekly.
Packing Motorhome Suggestions- don’t panic!
Okay, if you start placing issues away, there’s a excessive likelihood your camper might be utter chaos. Don’t panic- we are going to get by means of this within the subsequent hour or two and it’ll begin to really feel much more below management.
That is NOT the time to begin shoving stuff into lockers and hiding all of it away- that can solely trigger confusion and frustration afterward and also you’ll discover vanlife a lot harder. That is if you ship the youngsters, canine (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 every week/ month/ full time. (These are our favorite street journey songs to sing alongside to!)
Take into consideration weight distribution
Completely different to payload, it’s vital to contemplate 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 a lot of unfastened issues like that in a locker with one thing you might want to take out often, like out of doors chairs or a BBQ. You’ll discover having to take away 50 tins to get issues out a ache within the bottom!
What do you have to pack in a motorhome kitchen?
Fortunately, many of the issues we use within the kitchen within the motorhome are precisely the identical belongings you’d use at residence. As a really temporary information, you want:
Plates, bowls, mugs, glasses, cutlery, condiments, utensils, TIN OPENER, BOTTLE OPENER, tea towels, washing up stuff, bin luggage (doesn’t should be the massive 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’d contemplate fundamentals (although clearly, your checklist might nicely differ.) We additionally discover the next helpful onboard:
- Poachpods (have I discussed I’m hooked on poached eggs? This stuff are a superb invention and I exploit them just about every day)
- Plastic containers 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, sizzling chocolate and so on
- Nutritional vitamins or any tablets you require
- Spray oil for frying- private desire but it surely’s simpler to get rid of slightly extra oil than an entire lot!
- Chopping boards
- Sharp knives, together with steak knives in the event you’re keen on pink meat
- Soup spoons (in the event you eat (drink?) soup!)
RV Packing Suggestions for beginners- the kitchen/ meals
As soon as the annoying and heavy stuff is stowed away safely, and the kitchen pans and utensils have largely acquired houses, I begin meals. We don’t do a whole lot of detailed cooking in our motorhome, however we wish to preserve the fundamentals like flour/ sugar and so on in hermetic sealed containers like these. We discover it makes them last more and stops any little bugs getting in.
Attempt to preserve 1-2 rolls of paper towels simply accessible, however retailer the remainder in lockers below 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.
Make certain sharp knives and different kitchen instruments are safely stowed. We used to retailer ours in a drawer, wrapped in delicate cloths to allow them to’t unintentionally reduce anybody, however now now we have a magnetic strip on the wall which works MUCH higher than I assumed it will!
Probably not meals associated (though it type of is- sorry!), however don’t neglect 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 secure to be disposed of in septic tanks or fosse, that means now we have extra choices to get rid of our rest room responsibly.
Maintain issues secure 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 face up to extra vibration than a ‘regular’ TV, however they’re nonetheless vulnerable to wreck if banged and knocked round. Guarantee 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, many of the lockers might be filling up, particularly those below the motorhome seats. It’s time to consider garments. Attempt to cut up your garments into belongings you’ll need every day (underwear, socks, t-shirts and so on) and belongings you won’t use each week (snow gear, climbing boots, bikini and so on) Clearly, it will rely solely on the place you might be street tripping and what you get pleasure from doing there!
We are inclined to retailer sneakers and boots for out of doors and water actions in a separate locker or within the wardrobe, and garments within the wardrobe and now we have one small cabinet every.
It’s REALLY simple to overpack your garments, particularly for ladies, however that is one place the place you might want to be fairly ruthless. In case you are solely travelling in your camper for every week, then pack in keeping with the climate (though ALWAYS deliver a jacket/ heat jumper, even when the forecast is ideal. You’d be amazed what number of occasions we’ve been caught out!
This primary checklist goes to differ wildly from individual to individual and likewise due to the realm you might be visiting. However to get you began, here’s a guidelines for garments to hold in your camper.
What do you have to 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 be capable of discover a drawer for this goal (fortunate you in the event you do!) We now have a ‘bits field’, which sits inside considered one of our cabinets and holds batteries, tape, string, playing cards, pens, notepad and 1,000,000 extra issues.
Once more, try to preserve belongings you assume you’ll want often simply accessible, and put different issues in the 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 youngsters on street journeys (take a look at these street journey kids’s video games)
- Chargers for telephones/ laptops/ ipads/ wifi/ bike headsets/ moveable radios… you get the concept! We use a combination of 12v chargers (to be used whereas we’re driving) and different chargers which we use on an inverter if essential, however we attempt to keep away from this. Annoyingly, I’ve simply upgraded to a Macbook Professional, which is superb 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 material if you want. We don’t use these indoors, however we do use a desk material if we’re organising a desk outdoors.
- Motorhome Cleansing gear- we preserve 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 perhaps known as into an pressing assembly and must get on a aircraft 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 neglect van bedding! Pillows, quilt, bedsheets and so on. We now have correct bedsheets- we’re not a fan of sleeping luggage. 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 neglect when packing our camper:
- Large 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 so on. (Don’t drink faucet water in Europe- purchase bottled.)
- Laundry stuff. In the event you wash your laundry whereas travelling, most laundrettes throughout Europe require you to supply your individual detergent and so on. We deliver 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 supply two 6kg ones. Beware the problems with getting fuel in Europe.
- Hose pipe for filling recent water.
Motorhome packing- extra ideas and tips
Listed here are some extra of our greatest ideas and tips that can assist you pack your RV or motorhome.
- Put heavy gadgets as little as attainable
- Attempt to place belongings you don’t use very recurrently (like snowchains) within the locations that are annoying to get to (at the back of lockers, below mattress, in center of storage and so on.
- Attempt to put heavy gadgets over the axles as a lot as attainable, and take a look at to not put ALL the heavy gadgets in the direction of the again/ entrance. You need the motorhome weight unfold over every axle as evenly as attainable
- Retailer tins/ heavy issues which may roll as little as attainable, and put them in luggage or containers to cease them rolling
- Attempt to not carry many extras for plates/ mugs/ glasses, and put the extras in safe containers to allow them to’t rattle round.
- In the event you’re attempting van life with children, be certain that they study packing securely so issues don’t get damaged in lockers.
Cease the noise! The best way to cease rattles in your motorhome
My husband HATES rattles, bangs and noise within the van. We now have been identified to cease 5 minutes right into a journey and repack once we’ve acquired issues improper.
It’s so unhealthy, I’ve written a complete publish on HOW to cease rattles in your motorhome, campervan or RV, stuffed with ideas that can assist you have a extra peaceable, calmer journey.
Don’t forget- rattles come final. There’s no level losing a whole lot of time stopping rattles in your motorhome, when an hour later you resolve to maneuver every part round anyway!
So, these are our greatest ideas and tips for find out how to pack a motorhome. We hope you’ve discovered them helpful. Most of all, don’t panic. So long as you will have the proper paperwork, your keys and a credit score/ debit card, just about every part else may be purchased en route if you might want to.
Except you’re going someplace actually off-grid. During which case, possibly panic – and please ship me photographs so I can get pleasure from your street journey adventures!!!
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