Are you thinking of joining the large number of travelers who are caravanning in Australia? After all, it is a fun way to travel and best way to spend quality time with family. Not to forget it is a great way to be close to nature and spend some stress-free time on the roads.
Caravanning allows you to spend quality time with your loved ones, including pets, and discover new wonders every day. However, whatever perks it comes along with if the caravan packing itself is stressful, won’t you prefer to stay away from it?
Even if you are an old hand at caravanning, you could use some fresh ideas to make it easier for you to pack the caravan. The less hassle the packing, the more exciting your getaway is.
Do a practice run at home before your trip
This is more useful for first-timers. When you plan a caravan trip, you must take things like a full toolbox, spare tires, etc., but when it comes to packing, it may be a bit confusing.
First of all, it isn’t easy to guess what and how much of everything you will need. Secondly, if there will be family members of different ages traveling together, it will require more careful planning.
The need of travelers varies, and accordingly, preparations have to be made. By doing a full practice run, you will be in a better position to understand your needs and what is possible in the caravan.
If you are a frequent caravanner, it makes sense to have one extra set of everything from the kitchen utensils to cleaning supplies and bed linen. A full set of toiletries with enough supplies of toilet paper is a must.
Make a checklist of the steps taken to pack down
When you start packing for your caravan trip, you have a lot of time to plan everything and make sure everything is packed properly. However, after every stop, when you are ready to start moving again, you may be in a hurry or tired and miss something important, spoiling the whole trip.
You may go around trying to close all vents, down the antenna, secure everything, and keep going around in circles, or you can have a checklist. It could be either a list on paper or your mobile. It may still take a lot of time, but you could at least drive away feeling confident and not leave anything important untended. With a checklist, you and your fellow travelers could be allotted duties and work together like a well-oiled machine.
Only take out items you are definitely going to use
Experienced caravanners know how important it is to make the simple mistake of taking out everything at every stop. If you plan a trip, you must also plan for short stopovers and make sure that you only take out what is required.
When you stop by a riverside, do you need to take out the deck chairs, folding table, awning, support poles, bikes, ice cooler, etc.? Yes, you do, if you stay there for a day or two, but not if the stop is for only a few hours.
Talk to each other and make sure that you only take out the stuff you need. Unnecessary taking out and then packing back may take too much time and effort.
Designated locations for every item
If you have random bits and pieces all over the caravan, you will spend a lot of time searching for them after every use. It is rightly said, a place for everything and everything in its place’. This is important in our homes but even more so in a caravan with limited space.
When you designate a space for everything, it will make your life easier while traveling, and it will be easier for anyone to find stuff. Using Velcro to stick small things such as remote controls or pens, etc., or hooks to hang chargers or iPod can make the caravan look neater apart from letting you find things easily.
Put things away when you are finished with them
We keep telling our children all the time, ‘when you finish playing, put everything away.’ This makes a lot of sense in a caravan. There is only so much space, and if you were to leave things all over the place, it might soon become cluttered and inhospitable. After washing, if you are doing the dishes, wipe them and put them away in their rightful place and not leave them piled up either clean or dirty. The same for anything and everything else in the caravan.
Conclusion
A caravan trip can be an opportunity to create lasting memories, and you should not waste it in packing or rearranging the whole time. If you are aware and careful about planning and packing correctly, your trip will become more enjoyable. More importantly, once your trip is over, clean the caravan thoroughly and put everything in place so that it is ready for your next trip.
