I’m really excited to share this RV Checklist for Travel I designed with you today!
I chuckle when I think back to how it took us two hours to hitch up the first time we moved the RV. Thankfully, it’s been two years of owning this baby and almost as long living in it, and we’ve towed it to Alaska and back safely! You could say we’ve got travel days down to a science. We break up our move day prep into categories: the day before, the morning of, ready to go, and setup. I’m not about last-minute travel preparation!
Even still, it’s so easy to forget something essential in the chaos of packing up your RV to travel. Whether it’s because we’re on a time crunch or the kids keep interrupting us or we’re simply under the weather, I always feel like there’s one (different!) thing that slips our mind as we pack up. That’s why I absolutely never skip using our RV checklist for travel. Never.
So I thought I’d use my RV packing expertise and combine it with my love of designing printables to create an RV checklist for travel that’s really adorable. Voila!
Stay safe and organized with our adorable printable RV checklist for travel days! Checklist is broken down into four categories: day before, morning of, ready to go, and set up.
I designed this with the idea that you can download it, print it double-sided, and laminate it. Then it’s reusable with a dry erase marker for as many years as you need it! Bonus points for attaching some velcro to secure it to the inside of an RV cabinet. Then it’s easily within reach for you (and a partner!) to make sure you’re not forgetting any safety or sanity items as you get ready for a travel day.
I hope it’s helpful and the pretty design makes you smile like it does for me! Feel free to ask questions or leave a comment with your most hilarious RV travel day hiccup.
If you’re looking for more writing and resources on RV life, check out these posts we’ve written:
Living tiny is a skill, and the key to mastering that skill is practice…and creative RV storage ideas! It comes up so often in RV life forums that I figured I’d share what we’ve learned about staying organized in an RV.
We’re no strangers to living in small spaces — we’re from NYC, after all! We’ve lived in apartments ranging from 500-1,000 square feet all of our adults lives. That prepared us well for living in an RV, where the square footage is even less, but the space is utilized better.
Of course, before we dive into all of the tips and tricks for keeping your things organized in an RV, I should note that it’s impossible if you simply have too.much.stuff. Before moving into your RV, you will have to massively downsize your possessions. Then do it again. Then once you move in, give away or sell anything you haven’t used in three months that isn’t seasonal or sentimental.
Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to organize EVERYTHING. Seriously, absolutely everything needs a place when you live in an RV or you’ll have cluttered counters and tripping hazards.
That’s where these storage ideas come in. Here’s the whole list if you want to see all of the product images together, but I’ve broken them down by category below:
Stay safe and organized with our adorable printable RV checklist for travel days! Checklist is broken down into four categories: day before, morning of, ready to go, and set up.
I hope this list was helpful! Feel free to leave more ideas in the comments below.
Disclaimer: Product links in this blog post may be Affiliate links, and I will earn a small commission for each purchase made through these links at no extra cost to you. Affiliate income helps fund our family travel and allows me to keep creating inspiring family travel content for you. I so appreciate when you use my links to make purchases you would have made anyway.
For more tips and tricks for RV life, check out other RV posts we’ve written:
In our years of full time travel, finding RV gift ideas for our kiddos has been a challenge! Those of us who are living tiny know how carefully we have to think about every item that comes into our home, so I’m extremely careful about what we buy. In the past, I’ve searched for RV gift ideas lists for the kiddos and come up pretty empty! So today I’m sharing a list of RV gift ideas that have been tested, tried, and true for our family.
December is a wild ride for us, with three kid birthdays (!) and Christmas all within a few weeks. I save gift ideas to wish lists all year long and hoard extra money for months so that everyone has a magical December. Last year, our oldest told me unprompted that I make Christmas magical, and it was just the sweetest thank you for all of the effort. I know you’re putting in so much effort to make this time of year special for the kiddos in your life, too. From fall clothes shopping to Halloween costumes to holiday gifts and seasonal parties. I see you!
Hopefully this list will give you some RV gift ideas that you haven’t already considered. I’ve separated gift ideas into categories for easier reading, but if you want to see my whole list of recommendations, head here.
Indoor Toys
Our kids own about a quarter of the toys that they did when we lived in an apartment, and they are totally satisfied. But when you have fewer toys, you want to make sure that they’re open-ended toys that can be played with in many ways. That’s always our goal when bringing in new indoor toys, and these are our favorites:
Our kids are big into crafting, so we dedicate a fair amount of our storage space to craft supplies. Craft supplies are the perfect RV gift ideas item because they’re consumable and won’t take up space forever!
We have way expanded the number of outdoor toys we own since living in apartment. We’re outside so much more thanks to RV life that it makes total sense! Plus, these items ride in the bed of the truck or toy hauler room on travel day. So they don’t take up too much inside space!
We spend so much time hiking now that hiking gear had to make the RV gift ideas list! Plus, kids are always outgrowing their gear. I resisted getting our kids fancy hiking boots for a long time, but it has been totally worth the investment (have you read our hiking with kids tips?).
When you’re traveling and out in nature all of the time, there’s so much to learn (even for grownups!). These are some of our favorite books for learning about the world around us.
Traveling kids spend long days in the car. So items to help pass the road trip days are the perfect RV gift ideas for kids! These have made our travel days so much more enjoyable. Especially the Yotos. Worth every penny.
Traveling families can take incredible advantage of museum memberships that have reciprocity agreements. We have visited at least a dozen science museums with one science center membership, thanks to the ASTC reciprocity program. This makes a membership the perfect addition to the RV gift ideas list.
I should probably add that if you’re buying a gift for someone else’s traveling kids (how sweet!), you should always check in first. Space really is so limited, and you want to make sure their kids need the same things that mine do. I also want to note that it’s totally okay and maybe even necessary to scale down how much you buy for RV living. Don’t let this RV gift ideas post make you feel like you need to buy all the things. Your kids will be totally happy with less, as you’ve probably already learned <3
Don’t miss our RV gift ideas for grownups post, too:
Disclaimer: Product links in this blog post may be Affiliate links, and I will earn a small commission for each purchase made through these links at no extra cost to you. Affiliate income helps fund our family travel and allows me to keep creating inspiring family travel content for you. I so appreciate when you use my links to make purchases you would have made anyway.
We spent four months turning our hideous 2007 toy hauler RV into a gorgeous tiny home on wheels, and I learned SO MUCH! Here are my best RV renovation ideas from everything I researched and learned on the job!
First, I want to share with you a little before picture to give you hope that no matter what your RV currently looks like, you can make it beautiful. Check out what I like to call grandma hunting cabin chic:
Isn’t she a beaut? Don’t panic, this is fixable. I knew this RV could be a beautiful home because the layout was good and the bones were solid.
Cost Breakdown
I always appreciate when folks are transparent with their costs, so I did a renovation cost breakdown for you! This includes absolutely everything, including tools we needed, closet organization from IKEA, and a brand new set of 6 tires.
I also logged hours worked, including the hours others spent helping me. I tracked 820 hours, not counting the hundreds of hours I spent googling things and watching YouTube videos 😂 I definitely think I could cut that by at least a third if I did another RV. It also includes unexpected water damage repair to the bedroom slide floor.
We spent more on this renovation than you might want to, and that’s because we wanted to buy an older RV so we could own it outright and we knew we’d be living in here so it would be worth making it feel like home. The money we spent was WAY worth it to us because even with the renovations, we spent about a third of what a new toy hauler would cost.
If your budget is lower, though, you can still make a MASSIVE difference with just a few DIY modifications. If I were limited to just three RV renovation ideas, I would choose painting the walls, installing vinyl click flooring, and replacing the window treatments with curtains and/or blinds.
List of RV renovation ideas:
Paint the walls
Paint the cabinets
Install vinyl click flooring
Replace the window treatments
Consider a wallpaper accent wall
Swap lighting fixtures for residential ones
Glue lace or fringe to existing LED lighting fixtures
Switch room divider or closet curtains
Change drawer and cabinet hardware
Replace dinette and couch
Recover benches
Paint and epoxy countertops
Add a peel-and-stick backsplash
Add hanging kitchen storage
Create a flip-up counter with a cutting board
Paint or replace shower
Update ceiling fans
Replace slide trim
Replace door trim
Buy new appliances or bathroom fixtures
Add shoe storage under the stairs
Add faux wainscotting to walls
DIY a new fabric headboard
Add custom storage organization
Hang wall decor
Replace stock door locks with keypads
Consider adding a washer and dryer
Update safety features like smoke detectors and tires
Paint the exterior
O’Phalen RV Mood Boards:
One of my best pieces of advice for anyone considering more than minor RV renovations is to create a mood board before purchasing a single thing!
Here are the ones I created for the different spaces in our RV to give some inspiration:
Keep in mind that an RV is a small space and you will likely see your various rooms from anywhere in the RV, so make sure they coordinate well and don’t clash! I pulled every color used in the whole RV from the livingroom wallpaper so they all would match.
If creating your own RV renovation mood board feels overwhelming — good news! You can hire me to create one for you. Click here!
O’Phalen RV Renovation Ideas Results
Here are a few pictures of how our RV turned out! If you want to see more of the RV, click through to my Instagram reel or take a look at my RV Reno highlights that detail the complete process. Links to the products we used below these pics.
O’Phalen RV Room-by-Room RV Renovation Ideas and Links:
For more details on each and everything we did in every room during our RV renovation, click through to the room-by-room details. If you’re interested in the products we used, the links will be in these posts:
Disclaimer: Product links in this blog post may be Affiliate links, and I will earn a small commission for each purchase made through these links at no extra cost to you. Affiliate income helps fund our family travel and allows me to keep creating inspiring family travel content for you. I so appreciate when you use my links to make purchases you would have made anyway.
When you’re brand new to RV life, there is a whole list of must have RV accessories you’ll need to be comfortable and safe! It’s an expensive investment up front, but skipping out on these items can end up costing so much more in damage and repairs. After a year and a half of living in our fifth wheel full-time, I feel much more confident about what gear is a must have and what you can do without. We’ve also product tested all of these items and know which ones are built to last! So today I’m going to share our favorite must have RV accessories for full-time RV life.
Power
You’ll need all these items to get power into your RV and monitor it. If you buy new, it may already come with a power cord! Our used RV needed a new one, so I’ve linked it here. Your RV is likely either 50 or 30 amp, but you will want adapters to be able to plug into the various types of plugs you encounter. Newer RVs may have fancy battery monitors included, but if yours doesn’t like our vintage fifth wheel, I highly recommend adding one.
Getting water into your RV seems simple, but it actually has a bit of complexity. Beyond needing a drinking water safe hose, you’ll likely want an interior and exterior water filter. I also highly recommend using a water pressure regulator to protect your RV from high water pressure and a hose elbow to keep the weight of your hose from damaging your valve.
Draining your black and grey tanks is a bit gross, but relatively straightforward. These sewer hoses aren’t indestructible, but they’re the best we’ve found. Having a sewer hose support helps it drain thoroughly, and treating your black and gray tanks regularly is a must.
You’ll want to be prepared for anything that comes up in a far-flung national park, and that includes sealant and heavy duty repair tape. X chocks and a leveler kit will help you park safely. Inflating your tires adequately is a safety essential, and a king pin wheel plate saves you from lubricating the king pin frequently. A bottle jack and multi-meter will help you make some of your own inevitable repairs.
You may not need these items if you’re planning you always have full hookups, but if you have off-grid plans, you’ll need a way to replenish your water supply and empty your tanks.
This 10-page guide will assist RVers in learning the basics of boondocking, or camping off-grid! We share everything we’ve learned as a family living off-grid and boondocking in our RV.
None of these are absolute must have RV accessories, but they’re at the very top of our nice to haves. When your home is tiny, it’s really nice to have the comfort items that make the outdoors feel like an extension of your living room.
Stay safe and organized with our adorable printable RV checklist for travel days! Checklist is broken down into four categories: day before, morning of, ready to go, and set up.
Disclaimer: Product links in this blog post may be Affiliate links, and I will earn a small commission for each purchase made through these links at no extra cost to you. Affiliate income helps fund our family travel and allows me to keep creating inspiring family travel content for you. I so appreciate when you use my links to make purchases you would have made anyway.
We drove just about everywhere you can drive in Alaska and spent all summer RV camping in Alaska, both in paid campgrounds with full hookups and in roadside boondocking spots.
The views everywhere were incredible, but these two spots had some of our favorite views, combined with other benefits like usable cell service (with AT&T) and solid overall camping experience.
I mean…come on…look at this view from our yard:
It was honestly really challenging to pick just two camping in Alaska spots, but here they are:
Favorite campground: Paradise RV Park in Palmer, Alaska
Paradise RV Park in Palmer, Alaska is appropriately named! This park has unbelievable 360-degree mountain views in an idyllic farmland setting. The owners are super friendly, and the park is immaculately maintained. The price is right, too! Campgrounds in Alaska are definitely on the pricier side, but this campground was more affordable than some of the other Palmer, Alaska campgrounds and it was definitely the nicest.
Check out this drone footage that Dan put together of Paradise RV Park on his Instagram.
Favorite boondocking spot: Upper Trail Lake in Moose Pass, Alaska
Upper Trail Lake is Alaska camping at its best (and most authentic!). It’s a big gravel lot with room for dozens of big rigs that’s right off the Seward highway, but not visible from the road (so the road noise is basically non-existent!). Every spot has mountain views and many are lakeside, which makes for AMAZING early morning kayaking. I even just sat in my kayak one morning floating and drinking my coffee. The other cool perk is that you can watch float planes from nearby Moose Pass taking off and landing. Our kids loved that the Alaska Railroad train to Seward was visible, too. Locals love this spot during the summer, which can be a fun way to meet some new Alaskan friends. Be aware that Alaskans like to take full advantage of the summer midnight sun, and this spot may be noisy until later in the evening.
The photo of our RV at the top of this post was taken in this boondocking spot, and so was this picture of me kayaking Upper Trail Lake literally steps from our front door:
Disclaimer: Product links in this blog post may be Affiliate links, and I will earn a small commission for each purchase made through these links at no extra cost to you. Affiliate income helps fund our family travel and allows me to keep creating inspiring family travel content for you. I so appreciate when you use my links to make purchases you would have made anyway.
If you’re looking for Alaska vacation ideas, you’ve come to the right place! This guide features 20+ pages of what we learned throughout a summer RVing Alaska with Kids.
Alaska is the land of epic adventures, but it’s also the land of needing to be epically prepared! With that in mind, I thought I’d share an Alaska packing list summer must-haves for any RV family planning to make the journey! This isn’t an exhaustive packing list, just some of our most important gear for staying warm and keeping our RV functional in Alaska. If you want the complete packing list (along with Alaska RV itineraries and money-saving hacks!), please check out our RV Alaska with Kids e-book. If you want to skip the chatter and get a quick link to my Alaska packing list gear, head to my Amazon affiliate storefront Alaska list. Otherwise, read on!
Kid Clothing
Summer in Alaska is probably colder and wetter than you expect. At least, it was for us! Here are a few Alaska summer packing list kid must-haves:
Quality rain gear (we didn’t have rain pants, but they sure wouldn’t have hurt to have!)
Keens hiking boots (Alaska is one place where it’s worth splurging to make sure everyone, even the kids, has good hiking footwear)
Adventure Gear
Nowhere is it easier to have a bucket-list style outdoors adventure than in Alaska. There is some gear that we either brought with us or bought up here to take advantage of all of the fun.
Inflatable kayak (I’ve been raving about mine because it’s affordable, packs up small, and has allowed me to see so much more in Alaska!)
Drone (if you want amazing footage of giant landscapes, this is the place to nab some drone footage, and this drone is AMAZING)
Alaska field guides (for identifying all of the flora and fauna on your adventures!)
Fishing rod and tackle (when the salmon are running!)
RV Supplies
An Alaska RV trip is worth all the hassle, but your RV will take a beating in Alaska. Be prepared to “rescue” yourselves because you might have RV trouble miles from cell service or a sizeable town. For these reasons, I’ve included some emergency supplies we actually used on this Alaska summer packing list!
Bottle jack (we’ve had to jack up our RV twice on this trip)
I hope this Alaska packing list summer RV trip essentials guide was helpful to you! I know I spent a lot of time researching what we’d need, so I thought I’d pass that knowledge on. Don’t forget to check out our guide to RVing Alaska:
If you’re looking for Alaska vacation ideas, you’ve come to the right place! This guide features 20+ pages of what we learned throughout a summer RVing Alaska with Kids.
Disclaimer: Links in this blog post are Amazon Affiliate links, and I will earn a small commission for each purchase made through these links at no extra cost to you. Affiliate income helps fund our family travel and allows me to keep creating inspiring family travel content for you. I so appreciate when you use my links to make purchases you would have made anyway.
For more of what I’ve written about our adventure in Alaska, head here:
