Here are 12 great RV travel tricks and tips that are sure to make your RV life even better. Why? Because they make things easier! Give these easy tips a try… you can thank us later.
Breathe easier
- Auto vents. If your car, truck, or motorhome has that stuffy, closed-in smell, this tip is for you! Grab some dryer sheets and put a few under each car seat. You can also fold a dryer sheet so that it fits between the slats of your vehicle’s air vents. That way, when air comes through the vent, the fresh smell will come through, too!
- Scented candles. Recycle those almost-used-up scented candles. Just pop them into a container. Poke holes in the container’s lid and securely fasten it to the container. Place the container into your vehicle cup holder. That way, when the summer heat “cooks” the inside of your car, the candle wax will soften and leave a nice scent behind.
Corral things easily
- Trunk baskets. Instead of cramming items into your trunk, put the items inside clothes baskets first. Then put the clothes baskets inside the trunk. You’ll be able to unpack so easily! Just grab the basket and take it into the RV. No more back-and-forth trips when everything is inside a basket. Bonus: Your things won’t roll all around the trunk either!
- Carabiners. Our truck pulls our fifth-wheel RV. On travel days things get tossed into the rear truck seat, making it difficult to find them when needed. Now I use a carabiner to keep things organized and at hand. I clip the carabiner around the truck seat headrest post and then clip my purse, umbrella, and other items to the carabiner.
- Shoe organizers. Here’s yet another great hack for the shoe organizer. (This one works well. Just remove the top metal hooks.) Use a lightweight rope to fasten the organizer to the back side of your vehicle’s front seat. You’ll do this by tying the rope to the headrest and then the organizer. Cut the organizer to the desired length. Then fill the pockets with snacks, maps, or other travel necessities.
- Rubber band. Keep your phone well within reach with this easy, inexpensive hack. Use a rubber band to fasten your cell phone to one of your car vents.
- Paper towel rack hack. Keep that roll of paper towels handy as you travel. Prepare a wire (or plastic) clothes hanger by cutting the longest wire. Then slip a roll of paper towels onto the wire. Hang the paper towels on your vehicle coat hook to keep the towels within reach.
Easily keep things clean
- Wiper socks. Dirty windshield wipers can scratch your windshield. Use a pair of socks to keep your wipers clean when parked. Just slip a men’s sock onto each wiper to keep dust and dirt off of them.
- Cupcake liners. Cup holders collect all kinds of dirt—from soda spills, to snack crumbs, to everyday dust and grime. Keep your cupholders clean with this easy tip: Place a silicone cupcake liner inside. The liner will catch all of the drips and mess and you can simply remove the liner for cleaning. Learn about six more ways to use cupcake liners in your RV here.
- Lidded containers. Use small plastic containers with lids to corral your loose change. You’ll love not having to pick up all those coins when it’s time to vacuum the car. Bonus: After a while, you’ll have enough accessible change to buy yourself a snack reward.
See easily
- Tinted window sheet. We use this one to cut glare when driving into the sun. Static electricity holds the sheet to the truck window. Bonus: It also shields the baby’s eyes from bright sunlight.
- Picture it. When attending large venues, we stop to take a quick photo of where we parked the car. It helps us easily find our car when we want to head back to the RV.
Do you have some favorite RV travel tips and tricks to share with us? Please comment below.
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I had to chuckle when I read the one about sock wipers. Being vertically challenged at 5’2″ I can barely reach the wipers on our F350 4-wheel-drive truck, much less put socks on them!
If you use GoogleMaps, when you park you can tap your location, and an option appears to Save Parking. Easy to see just where you parked.
At home, we collect our quarters in a jar. If we are going to be RVing for over a week, we transfer the quarters to a lightweight, quart-size ziplock bag. Then we put the coin bag and bags of detergent pods and dryer sheets in the basket, Then everything “laundry” is in one place when we wash clothes. We don’t have to search for anything or forget anything when doing one or two quick loads at an RV park or in-town laundry.
BTW, we travel with only 8 days of clothes and do laundry once a week. Then everything fits in our limited closet and drawer space and the clothes basket, which is our dirty clothes hamper.
A tip for washing a few items at a time. Buy a plastic tub with a locking lid, put a gallon of water, the clothes, and some detergent in, and lock the lid. Put the tub in the shower and drive. At lunch time, dump the soapy water and add 2 gallons of clean water. By the time you get to your campsite, the clothes will be clean. Just hang on a shower bar to dry overnight!
Our large, metal, refillable coffee cups would rattle in the cup spaces of our truck’s console. Put neoprene beer cozies in each slot to pad each – no more rattle.
Refuel before calling it a night. Beats looking for fuel in the early morning.
In lieu of clothes baskets, we’ve been using cube shaped plastic milk crates in various colors and available in many stores…they’re sturdy, nest together well, and by using a color code their contents can quickly identified.
Great idea, Bill Tucker