Essential Packing for a Campervan Holiday

As followers of PackThePJs will know, we recently spent 5 days touring the Highlands of Scotland in a rental mid-sized campervan. It was the first time we’d done anything like it before. Yes, we’re used to towing our touring caravan, and living within the space inside that (and the awning), but we’d not ‘lived’ in anything this compact before. But we chose the camper on purpose: anything larger and we’d be restricted as to where we could drive; and anything smaller would be silly for a family of 4 with two dogs! The Ducato Swift Select 184 was the smallest camper that ‘worked’ for us. And the freedom it gave us, once we were on the open road, was amazing.

When you tow a caravan, or go camping, one of the first lessons you learn is to ‘keep tidy’. Keep on top of the washing up. Tidy things away once finished with. Dispose of litter as soon whenever you see a bin. Space is at a premium and you cannot afford to clutter. Staying at an RV park with facilities really helps keep things manageable. During our 5 days in Scotland, living in the campervan, we learned a lot about making use of the space we had available. We also realised that we had all packed far, far, too many clothes.

Maybe you are considering hiring a campervan this summer? I’m writing this article with you in mind … hints, tips and suggestions of what to pack, so you don’t spend the week tripping over bags.

Clothing

We packed a holdall each. So, four sports holdalls each full of changes of clothes. The truth is, most clothes came back unworn. You need some PJs, clean undies for each day, a t-shirt for each day, and trousers that can be worn for 3+ days each. On top of that you need a jumper, or hoodie, and a waterproof jacket. Every day while away Toby wore a camo-print hoodie from TeenzShop, who offer a range of hoodies for teenage boys. It kept him warm – he even wore it one night-time when the temperature plummeted!

Each person should have two pairs of shoes – walking shoes/boots or wellies, and a pair of sneakers/trainers. And that really is it, for clothes!

Toiletries

I took a huge amount with me … shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, soap, razor, hairbrush, deodorant, face cream, make up, tooth paste, toothbrushes, sanitary towels – and a travel hairdryer. Tweezers, nail clippers, teeth floss, hand cream … I packed WAY too much. You have a small bathroom where you can clean your teeth, but not a lot else. I successfully managed to wash my hair over the campervan sink but I really didn’t need 80% of the toiletries. So, in future I’ll calm down – pack small!

Bedding

If you’ve read our overview/walkthrough of the actual campervan you’ll have read that we ordered a bedding pack. This consisted of two double duvets and a pillow each. If the campervan had fixed beds, this would have been perfect. However, we had to pack the beds away each morning, and the bedding was too cumbersome to store away anywhere. Therefore, next time, we’ll each take a sleeping bag as these will be easy to stow).

Food and Drink

• Snacks
• Tea bags, coffee, sugar/sweetener, hot chocolate
• Milk (fridge)
• Plan for 3 main meals, using the facilities you have available

Travel Tech

• Sat Nav – not all campervans have one built in
• Tablet – so you can watch some TV if you fancy
• MiFi – allows you to check your email and surf when you’re away from a WiFi zone.
• Charging cables for phones, tablets, cameras
• Camera and range of lenses
• Small pair of binoculars
• Make a good music playlist – either play through your phone, or via the campervan’s audio system if it allows

Other Essentials

• Travel games and a book or two
• Torch
• Map (and Sat Nav if your camper doesn’t already have one built in)
• Water carrier (this could simply be an empty fizzy drink bottle, though you can get some good collapsible containers). We use two 2-litres bottles from the Big Bottle Co

• Mosquito repellent (especially in Scotland in August)
• Hot water bottles
• Wet wipes/baby wipes – fantastic for a multitude of uses!
• If travelling with your dogs, don’t forget their leads or harnesses, poo bags, food and water bowls, wet food and biscuits, dog towels, dog bed/blanket, and their toys/ball! We keep all our pet ‘stuff’ in a purpose-made oilskin travel bag from Poppy & Rufus. It has pockets in it for everything you need to carry

Additional suggestions

I asked my blogging friends for their ‘essential’ must-pack items for a campervan holiday, and this is what they told me …

I always make sure we have some hand gels for when we may stay somewhere that doesn’t have running water. Lucy from Momma Mack

Shower caps to put on the bottom of dirty wellies when they need to come inside ? Emma from The Money Whisperer

Packing cubes are a genius way of keeping smaller items tidy, when space it at a premium. Eileen from Your Money Sorted

Shampoo and conditioner bars are a great toiletry space saver and great for the environment as they don’t use any plastic. Christy from Welsh Mum

Light easy to fold and non-iron clothes such as leggings and tops. You can roll them up small and there’s no messing about with irons. You will then have room for spares if you get muddy or sandy. A pack of cards for rainy days. Don’t take up much room but can easily keep everyone entertained. Nicola from The Merralls Home

We always pack really minimally, but essentials for us are a futon duvet which we put on our bed as it makes it so much comfier, a laptop and charger so we can watch some downloaded Netflix snuggled up in the campervan before going to sleep (this was particularly useful in late October when we camped and it was freezing at night!), flasks to keep our hot drinks warm for hours, toilet roll incase they’ve ran out, an all-in-one shampoo and shower gel so we only need one bottle, dry food and snacks and easy to cook tins like baked beans for our camping stove, a couple of folding camping chairs and a blanket.

That along with a couple of changes of clothes, towels and pillows and we’re sorted for a few nights exploring in our camper. Oh and some sort of bin bag for rubbish! ? Victoria from Travel Vixta

Dry shampoo, wet wipes and coffee are my absolute essentials. As long as we can clean in the morning and I can have my coffee fix we are happy. Kate from Modern Mum

I used to have a VW, so essentials included an entire toolbox, spare distributor, push rod tube seals, brake cables, RAC card and a trailer with a spare engine 🙂 Old-fashioned flannels have a multitude of uses, including washing, and a washing up bowl can also be a milk and beer fridge when you fill it with cold water and put it underneath the van. Jenny from The Brick Castle

Personally, my essentials during a campervan holiday would be assorted munchies for the kids like chocolates, biscuits and fruits. I would also like bringing 1 or 2 big baby wipes for emergency purposes. Veronica from My Parenting Journey

Do you have any essential ‘must-pack’ items to add to this list? Let me know and I’ll add it! x