RV travel days can be stressful. Not only do you have to tear everything down and drive (sometimes) a long distance, but you also have to get everything set back up again when you arrive at your destination.
Here are 7 ways to prepare for your trip the day before to help things go as smoothly as possible!
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Clean the RV the night before your RV travel days
I like to have the RV clean the day before. Not only does it make the morning go easier, but you’ll also have a clean RV when you get set up again!
I recommend doing at least the following:
- Clean the bathrooms thoroughly (I usually do this right after we’ve dumped the grey and black tanks)
- Clean the kitchen (including appliances and countertops)
- Vacuum and mop all of the floors (What better time to give your floors a good deep clean?!)
- Use a cleaning checklist
I have always been a list person…crossing an item off of my to-do list is one of the most satisfying things I can think of haha!
I’ve created a free RV Cleaning Checklist for you to download and print. You can snag yours here! ⬇️
Put away all loose items
Indoor items
Countertop decorations, things that need to come off the walls, plants…If it’s loose and doesn’t ride where it is, go ahead and put it up! For me, most of the decorations go in a cabinet, the plants go in the shower, and the wall decorations go on our bed.
I try to do everything, except for the wall decor, the night before. It’s one less thing you have to worry about doing the morning of a travel day!
Outdoor items
Put up lawn chairs, ground mats, grills, and any other outdoor items. If you have bikes put them on your bike rack. Also, pick up any of your kid’s toys as well.
Dump and flush all of your black and grey tanks the night before your RV travel days
No one enjoys this stinky chore, but it’s still something that has to be done! If you need to fill your fresh water tank then you can do that as well.
After you’re finished dumping your tanks, put away all of your sewer hoses and any water hoses that you won’t need in the morning.
Pull in extra slides that aren’t needed
Do you have any extra slides that you could pull in the night before? If you use all of your slides every day then you might not be able to do this.
In our 5th wheel, we have a slide-out in the back that we are able to close up in advance. We get the back room situated, pull in the slide, and have one less thing to worry about the next day.
Check your tires the day before your RV travel days
I actually recommend checking all of your tires 24 hours before your scheduled departure. If you find any unexpected issues, this gives you time to get them fixed and not interfere with your travel plans. Always be sure to double-check your tires on the morning of as well.
If you haven’t yet done so, we also highly recommend investing in a good TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) for your rig.
We use the Tire Linc TPMS by Lippert and it has saved us from tire problems multiple times! You can watch our tire nightmare story on our YouTube channel here.
Fuel up your vehicle
You’ll want to start your trip off with a full tank of fuel. Not only is it easier to fill it up without your RV, but it will allow you to travel as far as possible before needing to stop for fuel.
We like to use the “Gas Buddy” app to check and see where the cheapest fuel is nearby.
Make a quick and easy lunch and snacks for during your RV travel days
Finding somewhere to stop and eat during a long travel day can be frustrating. You will likely be very limited on where you could stop and grab a bite to eat because of the size of your rig.
Preparing a quick and easy lunch in advance eliminates that problem! Here are a few easy lunches you can prepare in advance:
- Cold turkey sandwiches with chips or fresh veggies
- Egg or tuna salad (on bread or crackers)
- Fresh veggies (carrot sticks, celery sticks, cherry tomatoes, etc.)
- Salads
- Fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, apples, etc.)
I also like to make a batch of cookies to snack on during our travel day if I have extra time.
Use a pre-travel checklist
It’s easy to forget about important things, especially when you’re in a hurry. We have a checklist that we go over every time we move the RV to make sure that we’ve done everything we need to.
It’s well worth the few extra minutes that it takes to go over a checklist to ensure you haven’t forgotten something that could be dangerous or cost you a lot of extra time in the long run.
I’ve created a free printable of our RV pre-travel checklist that you can grab below. ⬇️
Doing these things will hopefully help your RV travel be smoother and less stressful.
Do you have any additional tips for preparing in advance for travel days? Drop them in the comments below!
These are such great tips!! We usually end up pulling over at rest stops vs gas stations, so having snacks in the truck is important so we (mostly me 😂) don’t get grumpy.
Haha! 😂 Tucker likes to snack while he’s driving too!
Janae!!! I have to get better about making sandwiches when we travel! Just the other day my husband said, “Why do we keep eating on the road when our fridge is directly behind us?!” Hahah this was a great post and I learned a lot from your experience! Thanks Janae!
Haha! I have to get better about remembering in advance instead of last minute lol!
This is so good! I love the cleaning checklist thank you!
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Wow Janae! This was so helpful girlfriend! I’m loving all these tips before our big trip and not I feel like we will be so prepared! Plus we have a bad habit of leaving later then we should so I’m hoping this gets us on the road earlier too!!
We can be the same way sometimes! My biggest hang-up is if I don’t get the kitchen cleaned the night before so that’s the main one I make sure I get done!
Janae, this is such a helpful checklist!! I wish I had this on our first trip!!
Thanks Laura!
These are amazing tips! We always make are to fuel up the day before and have designated jobs we do each day to make the process seamless 🙂
That’s great!
This is so helpful! I never would have thought to pull in an extra slide the night before – genius! I am definitely using that checklist!
Thanks Jen!