Just like a house, there are a lot of items that you can buy that add to the comforts, style, and functionality of your new camper lifestyle. And, there are some things you have to let go . . .
First, no lawn care is an awesome plus in the camper/rv world! You do not need a mower, blower, clippers, weed-eater, etc! My husband and I like to garden though, and we have grown our veggie garden in mobile pots. We homesteaded for two years once, and, luckily, our great landlord allowed us to create a raised-bed garden. We were even able to build a small deck next to our camper!
When it comes to decorating, the sky is the limit! I love decorating for the holidays, and you can still have your Christmas tree, . . . just maybe not a six foot tall one! We purchased a two foot tree complete with a cute little tree skirt and raised it off the ground on a TV dinner stand to put the presents around. I recommend a stand up TV dinner table for hosting! Usually, we all pile into the kitchen area and, though our table extends out, people sit on our couch and I provide them a TV dinner tray for their plate and drink.
Most importantly when hosting, you will spend so much time outside. It’s the whole point of camping. Get yourself some good patio chairs and a grill. We went all out when buying lights and rugs and a raised fire pit. We have so many great memories from our time around that fire and in those chairs. . . .
At first I was told that I should not buy glass cups or plates since they may break while moving the camper. I obeyed this rule for a year, and then as life happened, glass found its way into my camper. I can say, at least for my fifth wheel, nothing has broken after several moves! This may not be the case for your camper, so just keep that in the back of your mind. I have spruced up my living area up with glass framed pictures and have a whole kitchen of glass bowls, coffee mugs and even delicate wine glasses. I simply put them back in the cabinets without even any form of bubble wrapping or cushioning, and I may still cringe when we hit a big bump on the road, but, nevertheless, they hang in there and do not break.
The lack of a dishwasher has been one of the bigger changes for me. I spend a lot of time washing, so a drying mat and dish drying rack are a must-have for my camper kitchen. If you are super disciplined, you can dry them with a towel and put them away as you go, and this will help significantly with the clutter because you arein a tight space.
As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I did not buy the camper washer and dryer, though I have hook ups for them in my bedroom closet. They just are not worth your-bang-for-your-buck; they can only wash a few things at a time. I do have camper friends that keep a constant cycle everyday and that works for them. I prefer to have a wash day like in olden days, I suppose, and tote my clothes to the washing mat. Almost everywhere we have gone, there was a laundry mat. I do keep washing detergent and lots of quarters around, and I really enjoy the chore, ironically. I have met some cool people at the washing mat, and it gets you out and about, which, for us, is one of the main points of being in the camper community. I have even had people fold my clothes for me if I leave them in the dryer too long! (That can be awkward when it comes to your intimates, lol!)
As for the refrigerator, we have a large double door and a double door freezer. I have learned many RVs have very small ones that do not offer a lot of space like a traditional home refrigerator, so you may have to downsize there. I have no ice maker which I have not seen in any camper yet, so I simply bought a bunch of trays and fill them up every time I use ice. One of my neighbors bought a separate ice-maker, and it was pretty awesome, so you can go without the old school trays if you want. Our fridge has an awesome feature that allows for automatically switching from electric use to pulling from our propane tanks when we are traveling. If you ever have to store or put your camper in the shop without having electricity for a while, it is a real pain, I must confess. You have to defrost the freezer and remove all the contents and wipe the entire unit down, or else when you return and there was any amount of food particles left, you will have maggots or nasty mold growing in there.
I do have a normal microwave, but my oven top and baking oven are small, so you may have to purchase smaller baking pans to fit. My oven operates off of propane, and I do not keep the pilot light on after cooking because it heats up the small space quickly. The camper came with a carbon monoxide detector, and it was so sensitive that even fog from outside would set it off. We decided to disable it from time to time, but if it is very easy to bump a knob on the oven and have carbon monoxide fill your camper, so I do not recommend doing this for long periods.
If you decide to buy a camper brand new, they usually come with a camper mattress in the bedroom. These mattress offer very little support and are super hard. We used a mattress topper for awhile, but we eventually cut up an old Tempurpedic mattress we had from our old house, and it has been wonderfully comfortable. Camper mattresses do not come in traditional sizing such as twin, full, queen and king, so if you go out shopping for a mattress or sheets at a non-camper store, measure you surface area first and try to match it the best you can. Most foam-type mattresses can be easily cut to your preferred size.
Keeping a camper clean is one of the greatest things compared to a house; while you need all the traditional cleaning supplies, you do not have a lot of surface area to cover. I can do a very detailed cleaning of the whole home in about an hour! We mostly have wood floors and carpet in the back, so my mother bought me a little cord-free, hand-held vacuum to hit the carpet quickly, and I Swiffer the rest. Having mats inside and outside the door is a must for me because there is a lot of foot traffic through the one door and because camping naturally leads to places where rock and sand are literally at your doorstep. At the beach, I usually sweep twice a day because sand and dust pile up quickly. Having a large patio mat outside does wonders!
Happy camping!
~Lesley
