Yesterday, the three things I had planned for the next few weeks all got cancelled in the same 24 hours due to the COVID-19 crisis. A conference, a concert, and a mini cave excursion for my dad’s birthday. That was a blow. Just a few days ago I was bragging that I had nothing to cancel because I was an introvert. I had no idea cave tours would be cancelled, or that a conference six weeks away would be affected.
We figure we still need to use our time off even if everyone is social distancing or isolating themselves. But isn’t that the exact definition of a camping trip?
It looks like campgrounds are staying open… for now. So we’re getting ready.
We inherited a fellow camper’s inventory last fall, which was super helpful, but it meant we had to purge and merge it with ours. As we were going through our stuff, I realized there were a few non-negotiables that needed to be with us on every camping trip. Note: these are especially great if you can’t be on a full hookup at the campground.
1 | The Mr. Heater Basecamp Shower System. You guys, I had no idea there was a way to have a hot shower without a showerhouse. But this is it. If you have a pop-up shower tent, a propane tank, and a big water container on wheels, you’re all set. Easy to hook up and easy to use. Disclaimer: we use the showerhouse when at an actual campground, but when we’re boondocking (like at AirVenture), this is a true luxury.
2 | A plastic indoor/outdoor rug. You never know what the weather will be like or where you’ll be parked sometimes. We bought one of these big “rugs” and staked it down outside our camper to help keep the dust off our shoes and give us a dry place to land when stepping outside. This was especially helpful when the campground at Oshkosh turned into a mud rally last year, and we were trying to stay as dry and clean as possible.
3 | Jordan insists we have to include our solar power system in this list. We’re solar amateurs but we successfully installed this system on our camper. It’s a 300 watt system that on a sunny day produces 14.6 amps per hour or more. It was more than enough to top off our 200 amp hour battery. For reference, our LED camper lights pull .6 amps per hour and wide open our Maxxair fan on the roof pulls 2.8 amps per hour. This system includes the inverter/charger, the MPPT solar charge controller, flexible Renogy solar panels, and the batteries.
UPDATE (1/15/21): We added some new components to our solar setup! We now have a new solar charge controller as well as a smart shunt, both from Victron. Together, they give you info via Bluetooth about solar charging and power usage, all without having to put holes in the camper for a display.
4 | The aforementioned Maxxair fan on the roof. It saves us energy and keeps us cool day and night. We haven’t even had to turn on our swamp cooler. On high it does get a tad noisy, but it helps drown out some of the campground bustle when you’re trying to sleep.
5 | An electric tea kettle. Any kind. I recommend one that’s plastic on the outside, not glass, especially because you want one that will survive road trips and heavy use. It made coffee in the morning, noodle cups for lunch, and gave us hot water for doing dishes in the evening. That is, if you have access to electricity.
6 | Our super efficient Alpicool refrigerator. I named it the Mary Poppins refrigerator because it seems like it never stops running out of space, and I always marvel at how much I can actually put inside for such a small unit.
7 | And finally… a rechargeable water pump. We filled a five gallon water cooler jug with our favorite water (from home) and put it on our countertop. This pump makes it easy to get water without pouring and will even stop when your bottle is full.
If you’re thinking about renovating a camper or starting a family camping tradition, I can say from experience these made our trips way more comfortable. Got any favorites you recommend?
Convergences of Reverie 