Motorhome Tips and Tricks Everyone Should Know

The motorhome life is wonderful, isn’t it?

Packing your bags, hitting the open road, exploring new places. It’s a fascinating experience, even if it’s only a short trip you’re embarking on.

It has its limitations, sure. Space being the main one. Space and sometimes comfort. But these are tiny issues, and ones that can be ironed out with experience.

Over time, you’ll learn how to make things certain things easier and more convenient. In the meantime, we’ve got a few suggestions.

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or new to an itinerant life, these motorhome tips and tricks will help you make the most of your next journey.

Use a Yoga Mat to Keep Warm at Night

This may seem a little unusual, but bear with me.

When sleeping, particularly if the weather isn’t too great, you might find that you get a little cold.

The obvious answer might be to throw another blanket on, but the cold is actually coming from underneath the mattress.

So, the solution here is to put something underneath the mattress, as another layer of protection.

We recommend a yoga mat. If you don’t have one, they’re quite cheap, and are thick enough to keep the cold out.

But there are other things you can use. If you have any flat pieces of cardboard lying around, this should do the job.

Just remember to replace it every now and again, as cardboard can attract mould.

Another option is bubble wrap – but you might get a shock if those bubbles start popping in the middle of the night!

Useful Ways to Keep Your Kitchen Equipment Safe

Obviously when you’re driving around, one of the most important motorhome tips is to make sure every loose item in your motorhome is secure.

Not only to stop things from breaking, but to prevent them from knocking together and irritating you.

This is particularly important for kitchen equipment, which can be quite fragile. Simply putting things in a cupboard is not enough.

Here are a few quick motorhome tips:

• Separate glasses and cups with coasters
• Put paper plates between your regular plates
• Put paper plates between frying pans to prevent erosion
• Get a big plastic bottle, cut it in half and use it to store jars and bottles
• Foam and bubble wrap are excellent protective materials

You may still hear the odd rattle, but these tricks will prevent anything from getting smashed or damaged in any way.

Protect Your Furniture From Your Pets

We all love our pets, and want them to join us on our travels.

But sometimes they can be a little bit of a pain. Especially when they’re climbing all over the furniture, with their sharp claws and indifferent attitudes.

During the day time, this isn’t really an issue for most, as you can simply tell them to stay on the floor (those that will actually listen, anyway).

But at night, whilst we’re sleeping, they often feel they have an opportunity to roam free.

You’re probably not going to be able to stop this from happening. But what you can do is protect your seating.

One motorhome tip is to use a duvet cover. An old one, that you don’t use anymore and don’t mind getting dirty (or animal hairs all over it).

Another is, again, to use flat pieces of cardboard. Keep it stored away until you go to bed, then lay it out on the seats.

Our final suggestion is to take all cushions, and turn them upside down. This way, the dog (or cat, or other pet) doesn’t damage the ‘good’ side.

Prevent Damage to the Carpet During Bad Weather

If it’s wet outside, or you’ve just been on a long walk and have mud and dirt on your shoes, then you should be careful of treading it into your motorhome.

After a while, all the wet and mud will begin to damage the carpet. So make sure to take precautions.

Now, the obvious solution would be to keep a mat by the door, where you can dry your shoes before stepping onto the carpet.

But a regular old mat isn’t normally good enough – and over time, they too will begin to suffer damage.

Once again, the solution we’re suggesting is to use a yoga mat (you might as well buy them in bulk, at this point).

They’re thicker, much more resistant to damage, and can be easily wiped clean when you’re finished.

Create Lists So You Never Forget

To guarantee safety, there are a number of “checks” you need to perform before you go to sleep, and before you set off driving.

Even the more experienced motorhome owners can forget the odd thing every now and again, so we recommend keeping a list.

You can include things like:

• Making sure everything is fastened down and secure
• Turning off the gas and all appliances
• Disconnect the mains
• Close all windows and the skylight
• Secure the roof

You could have a whiteboard set up somewhere, with a little check box next to each item, ticking each one when you’ve done it.

This gives you peace of mind. You don’t want to be half way down the motorway, only to learn you haven’t sorted the roof out properly!

Once every box is ticked, you can begin your journey.

We’ve compiled a free downloadable PDF with more tips in – click here to download it today

Have you got any top tips for motorhome living? We’d love to hear from you! Just drop us a note in the comments.