RV Essentials

We've been traveling in our RV for almost six years and are about to embark on our first international road trip. Today we are back on the road, heading to Canada to explore Alberta and British Columbia with some of our RV friends. Cell service will be spotty, so I've drafted several posts to keep this blog alive while we're away. As you might remember, we took a trip to Glacier National Park last fall and yes, I have finally written about that wonderful trip. I plan to schedule those posts (all 22!) to go live while we're on this new trip, but due to lack of connectivity (or simply because we'll be busy having fun), I may not get to your comments in a timely fashion. My hope is to approve the comments when I can, but my replies may be delayed.

Kicking off this series of posts, I'll begin with photos of some of our travel essentials. 

This power supply is great when we're are boondocking (dry camping) and need to charge our phones, camera batteries, or run a fan (when we can't run the generator for the A/C). We keep it at home and it's come in handy during power outages, although it's not powerful enough to run a refrigerator. (And especially not an air fryer. Ask us how we know...) We use it for lights and keeping our devices charged.

Our daughter gave us this oscillating heater a few years ago and it's been great to have with us on our trips. The RV has a furnace, but it runs off of propane and since our electricity is free (while camping at a site with full hookups), why use up our propane if we don't have to? We never run this heater while we're sleeping, but it's great to take the morning chill off, especially in the bathroom.

Over the years, we've experimented with using an Instant Pot, a toaster oven, and an air fryer. The air fryer wins hands down. We prefer to grill outside, but when the weather is uncooperative, I can still get similar results with the air fryer. It's great for burgers, pork chops, salmon, chicken, and even steak. It's also good for tater tots, Trader Joe's hash brown patties, or simply reheating leftover pizza, nachos, or french fries.

We use an RV-specific Garmin GPS device, which takes into account the size and weight of our RV. It warns us of low bridges, steep grades, sharp curves, and traffic delays or accidents. I have our trip planned in RV Trip Wizard, but we rely on the GPS for the actual drive, which may differ slightly in the routing.

I've talked about RV Trip Wizard in other posts, but I have to mention again how helpful it is for planning our trips. Not only does it provide options for routes (and calculates the mileage, as well as when we need to look for a gas station), but I can also research campgrounds & RV parks (with reviews shared on RV Life Campgrounds), and points of interest for the entire trip.

I might have mentioned this book in the past, but it's worth adding to this list. It's been a lifesaver when it comes to having an awareness of steep grades and mountain passes that may or many not be suitable for RV travel. I've annotated my copy with reminders of how our RV handled a particular pass/grade, as well as notes from RV bloggers warning of dangerous situations and roads to avoid.

We used to haul (or buy) firewood & kindling every time we went camping, but the wood was often damp and we would wind up with a smoky fire. This propane fire ring is perfect! It puts out a lot of heat without the annoying smoke, and we can usually use it even where open fires are banned. 

We each have our "work stations," which we can easily stow away when it's time to eat. Rod has a new book contract, so it's important for him to have a place to write, even when we're on the road.

No explanation necessary. 

I'm sure my husband can add dozens of other essential items to this list, but these are my personal favorites.