Packing Tips

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While we love planning trips, we don't love packing. One advantage of being retired is that we can pack slowly and methodically over the course of several days instead of cramming everything into one designated day. Regardless of how much time we have before a trip, we have created a few ways to make packing for both our RV and international trips a bit less onerous.  We hope some of these ideas will help you too! 

1. For RV travel, to minimize how much we need to pack for each trip, we try to keep as much of our stuff in the van between trips as possible. For example, we leave our bedding, kitchen items, and some clothing in the van. This means having duplicates of everything in both our sticks-and-bricks home and our RV. Luckily for us, when we purchased our used RV, the previous owners included all of their stuff in the purchase price. Furnishing and outfitting an RV can be expensive but can also save a lot of packing time.  

2. For both RV and international travel, we have created several packing lists using the Reminders app on our iPhones to help keep organized. Some of the lists have specific sections; others contain one long list. Using the Reminder app allows us to check off items on the list as we pack. But once we start packing for another trip, we can reinstate the list items, making it really easy to start again. Here are some of the lists we have created:  

   • RV packing: includes clothing & personal, food & kitchen, hiking/biking/outdoors, etc.)

   • RV preparation: includes tasks like plug in the RV, run the fridge, check the smoke alarm and carbon monoxide units, check the tires, install the TPMS system, etc. 

   • International packing: in addition to clothing and personal items, it includes reminders to take our passports and other important documents. 

3. This might sound small, but for RV travel, we make our bed before leaving on a trip so that when we arrive tired at our first destination, our bed is all set. 

4. We also pack our fridge the night before leaving. We always cook some meals in advance and bring a lot of food with us to minimize shopping on the road. And being vegan, finding healthy food we like to eat can be a challenge on the road. 

5. Because our fridge/freezer is the size of college dorm unit, we purchased two items to help us out, that we also pack in advance: 

   • A portable 12v fridge/freezer that can either freeze or refrigerate our food. This has proven invaluable for longer trips. 

   • A EcoFlow River Pro (600 Watts) lithium block  power source. This can power the portable fridge/freezer, as well as many of our other electronics while boondocking. 

While we try to be organized and comprehensive in our packing, the good news is that in most places we travel, whether in the US or abroad, we have been able to purchase items on the road as needed. Knowing this reduces some of the stress of making sure we have EVERYTHING we need as we hit the road.