RVing tends to slow down during the winter months, but just because camping season is over, for the time being, doesn’t mean you have to forget about your RV entirely. In fact, now is the perfect time to start thinking about the camping season ahead, so you can get ready for truly spectacular RVing trips with friends and family. But what do you need to think about?
1. Dream Up Fun Destinations To Travel To
The RVing community is an active and supportive one, so if you’re struggling to think of new destinations to travel to, start asking around! One thing that’s true of EVERYBODY in the RV world is that we like to talk about our trips. So, put a simple question on an RVing forum asking for recommendations in the areas you’re interested in, and you’ll be inundated with responses from people willing to help you out.
Even if you just ask friends, you know they’ll have advice. And of course, there’s always the internet. Just start researching fun destinations now, so you’re ready for camping season when it rolls back around. This is a great way to make it through the slow winter months.
2. Start Making Reservations
And don’t just leave it at the research stage either. Many campgrounds will allow you to book in advance, so make those reservations where you can! If you have your heart set on a destination, then reserving a spot on the campground now for your RV will help avoid disappointment later. Besides, it’s always good to have something concrete to look forward to, rather than a dream.
3. Maintenance, Maintenance, Maintenance
When your RV is off the road, it’s the perfect time to think about your annual RV maintenance check to make sure it’s road-ready when camping season is back in full swing. Haven’t thought about your maintenance check yet? No problem, you can always book it with us here at Sky River RV by following this link to schedule your RV maintenance check.
Don’t forget, you can also keep busy with some deep cleaning and basic service and maintenance tasks.
4. Think About Packing
This is the time to start thinking about the things you forgot to bring with you the last time you were RVing. Maybe you forgot to pack party games for the family, or some of your favorite movies for the kids, or it might just be something as simple as leaving spare sunglasses at home.
Whatever the thing is you’ve forgotten or missed out on in the past, now is the time to add it to your RV. There’s nothing worse than forgetting something after you’ve already hit the road, so get together a list of the things you can’t add to your RV right now, and pack up the things you can. That way, you know you’ll have a stress-free first trip when you’re out in the RV again.
5. Upgrade Your RV
It doesn’t have to be huge upgrades. Maybe the showerhead is old and a little tired, or it might be that the carpets that came with the RV when you first bought it years back need replacing. This is the perfect time to make the upgrades to your RV that you’ve been meaning to do. No matter how big or how small the job is, winter is the perfect time to get it done because you won’t need your RV on the road anytime soon.
6. Research New RV Apps
Just as new technology is always improving for RVs themselves (making those upgrades in the section above necessary), so too is technology around RVing. Specifically, we’re talking about new RV apps. There are plenty out there available, and if you haven’t tried any of them out yet, then you’re missing out. They make your RVing experience much easier by taking away the stress and leaving you to have more fun. Here are just some of the top apps out there for you to consider, but do your research too, because there’s plenty more besides the ones in our quick list below:
- iOverlander
- Boondockers Welcome
- Gaia GPS
- Harvest Hosts
- AllStays Camp & RV
Most of these apps have ways of booking into campgrounds, finding alternative routes, and exploring new locations, as well as offline access to maps which can come in handy when you take a wrong turn in the middle of nowhere. Plenty of the apps offer similar things, but it’s worth getting comfortable with a few different ones until you find the interface that works best for you and your RVing needs.
7. Create A RV Recipe List For The Road
It’s time for, perhaps, the most important thing of all: the food! Lots of people in the RVing community will have a bunch of recipes that are tried and tested and perfect for cooking up in RVs, so if you’ve found yourself reaching for the same recipes time and again (yes hamburgers, we’re looking at you) then get online and search for new ones to mix things up on the road.
Type in ‘RVing recipes’ to a search engine and a bunch of results will come up for you to look into. This is a great way to guarantee you’ll have good food, as well as good company and beautiful scenery.
Is it time for a new RV?
If you started to notice that your RV wasn’t meeting your needs last camping season, it might be time for an upgrade. Maybe you realized that your family has outgrown your current RV and you need the room that the Heartland Elkridge 38MB offers with the capacity to sleep 11 people. Or, maybe you realized that now the kids aren’t traveling with you as much and it’s time to downsize into something like the 2022 Winnebago Minnie 2201MB.
You may have realized you just want something new and upgraded or that there are other desires you have in an RV that your current setup isn’t providing for you. This is a great time to make a change as you get ready for the upcoming RVing season.
Just because camping season is over doesn’t mean you can’t start the prep work early for a great RVing trip. After all, preparation is the key to success when you take your RV out on the road, so make sure you use this time between camping seasons wisely to guarantee an awesome first trip back when camping season returns!
