Hello its me again!! OH is right now in the process of hitching up our new caravan to bring home this evening & tomorrow we are off to Chertsey C&CC (nothing like striking whilst the iron hot!!). OH is a bright spark and packing is definitely one of his strong points but can you give me some quick pointers to help him along his way for the first pack. Obviously we understand about watching noseweight, heavy stuff over axles, nothing in top lockers & not exceeding payload etc (OH has a spreadsheet where he will be studiously logging the weights of everything as they go in) but any nifty tips would be greatly appreciated.
There's no such thing as quick packing in our household. Van lives on the drive and OH makes packing and unpacking a perpetual activity. Its just a continual cycle.
We do leave a lot of stuff in the van like cutlery, crockery, sunhats, a selection of books, the telly, cd's, dvd's, utensils, pots pans and the like.
The only things we tend to pack on a trip by trip basis are clean clothes and fresh food & wine in the fridge and dog food under the fixed bed.
You get into a routine and after the first pack, on return you will work out what can stay full time in the van and what you will take out, we tend to leave tv sky box, cuttetlery crockery,books BBQ aquarolls ect,the towels and bedding get washed but as soon as they are dry they go straight back in.so the only things that need packing is food stuffs and clothing ,then the final bits go in like the porch awning and two folding chairs,which go over the axel,then we shut the door lock it and ready for the off.
Ditto both the above plus one of the most useful things I have is a small collapsible basket that sits in a corner of our kitchen (in the house). Anything that needs to go in the caravan goes straight in the basket. It gets taken to the caravan (on the drive) periodically. This means we don't forget so much in between trips !!!
Yes, same for us. Most things are stored in the van, so just food, drink and clothes to pack. We have a porch awning, three Outwell folding chairs and a folding alu table. I also keep basic foodstuffs in the van (condiments, cooking oil, kitchen roll etc). These are in a folding crate ready to put into the cupboards when we get there. Toiletries in a smaller box in the bathroom. All the above, plus a couple of travel games, cards etc Even some binoculars! Ive never bothered with lists and spreadsheets. What we need is already in there. Only other things for me to remember are my hairdryer and makeup!
I also always make sure to have a quick meal for the first evening, even if we have planned to eat out or go to the local chippy, as even the best made plans can go wrong! If we dont eat it, it does for another night. Once got caught up in a traffic jam, by the time we got to the site nothing was open for food for miles.
We quickly found that if we over complicated the packing, it makes the whole "lets get up and go" thing a nonsense and just makes the whole trip too much hard work.
After the first trip, you'll find what suits you best.
The quickest way of packing the van is to leave everything in except the stuff that needs washing (clothes, towels, bedding). Even during the winter months the are are the only thing we take out of the van ans have not had problems in 20 odd years.
I leave everything in the van.
I stick to the same set of towels for the caravan, and bring them home for washing ,then they go straight back in a bag ready for next time .
I have cut right back on the amount of clothes we take . if we go on a friday and come home sunday ,I only take one change of clothes for the saturday. I leave a fleece and waterproof jacket for everyone in the caravan too. The fleece only comes back for washing every few weeks as it mainly just gets worn in the evening for a few hours.
I always leave a spare set of pyjamas and underwear in the drawers and the swimming gear, armbands, goggles, rubber rings etc always stays in the van too. crocs and wellies for the kids live in a basket in the van.
we never know which of the grandkids will come with us , so its no problem if one or two extra of them arrives saturday morning , they have swimming kit, pjs , suitable footwear and a warm jacket , even if they havent brought any clean clothes we manage.
They often come up for the day and want to stay the night . We always have spare sleeping bags and we have an annexe if we need extra sleeping space.
very often I will decide on Friday lunchtime that we will go that evening so we are always prepared.
Just stop on the way to pick up food .our van is in storage on a local site so we can just collect the kids and go if they have a pitch available.
We keep all the outside/awning/car stuff in the car except for the aquarolls and the waste tank, and anything else that doesn't live in the caravan. This is mainly to minimise the shifting of stuff in and out of the caravan. Most of it stays in the car boot for the duration of the trip - eg tool box, jack, bike stuff, spare cable, chocks, blocks, levelling ramps etc. It also means that we don't have to put the awning up immediately if we can't be bothered as the awning, chairs and table are in the car and not in the way in the caravan. This might be a problem if you need the back seats though !!!
While I have no argument with all who replied I have found it so easy to go over the MTPLM substantially. weigh your van with mover,battery,gas bottle ect first & then weigh everything extra you put in Iv foud that the quoted MIRO can be as much as 40kg over on some vans
Like others we keep most of the things we need in the van all year; including basic foodstuffs. (Each year we make sure we take out and replace things so that the new item goes in the van and we use up whatever is left at home).
So for each trip we take food & clothes.
In the car we put the electric cable, wheel clamp, chocks etc plus 'outside items' like folding chairs which vary from trip to trip.
We only use lightweight awning and that normally goes in the van.
We have a packing list which we use as a tick sheet to make sure we don't forget anything.
As others have said you get into a pattern which works for you.
We tend to leave the car boot as free as possible - just car stuff - tools and things. There are things we keep permanently in the car e.g. a couple of folding chairs (the sort that fild and fit in a long bag [we use these if we go out for days and need a seat whether we are away in the van or not - our caravan chairs are kept in the van, so these will also serve as extras if needed on site]; a large umbrella; coats; we also keep the c'van corner steadies brace, the motor mover brace and remote handset, the towing mirrors, and the electic lead which converts the grey and black car hookup sockets to the 13 pin caravan lead - these stay in the car perminently, so we will never forget them when we leave home for the storeage; and BBQ (because I'm yet to find an appropriate space for it in the van). Most of these are small so don't take up much space.
The rest of the space is always kept free. We then have room, if we have to pack away wet, to leave the awning loosely 'gathered up' in the boot so it airs better, ready to lay out in the conservatory when we get home.
Our van is in storage about half an hour from home - everything lives in it (aquarolls, wastemaster, chairs, tables, BBQ, non-perishable food, cutlery, crockery, pots and pans, books, games, toiletries, porch awning, etc. When we go away, we pack a clothes bag (Lady P packs her own, as she has her own tent, also kept in the caravan) and the food - these go in the car along with the dog's bag of bits (food, lead, treats and Rescue Remedy) and we're ready of off - I can actually be ready to leave home an hour after we decide to go, if I put my mind to it (and that includes shopping time!).
We keep everything in our van but when we are ready to go away we put the telly and microwave in the car along with freash food and cadac, we leave our fleeces and shorts, undies etc in the wardrobe and take them home to wash and replace them as and when. We leave aqua roll, wastemaster, awning, folding chairs, windbreaks, EHU, kettle etc oh spare wheel (under fixed bed) plus all assorted cutlery, cups plates etc in bottom cupboards, the only thing in our front bunker is handle for aqua roll, landing nets for fishing, steadys winding handle, waste pipe and filler pipe, leveling ramps. (I reserve the right to have forgot anything )
atb Bill
------------- Bill n Kay
............................
when the going gets tough... get someone else to do it.....
I smile besause I have'nt a clue whats going on... appreciate everything in life especially your friends...
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Quick packing tips
