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dont45 · 12-24-2016, 02:45 PM

I just purchased my first camper, a 28' International Serenity. I now have the tasks of preparing for travel across country on an expedition reminiscent of old.
I have lots of experience doing this over the years with many different perspectives and they were all very successful. My first was backpacking high in the Colorado Rockies for two weeks. My most complicated was a motorcycle camping trip from Kansas to Baja California at Christmas time. I remember the great detail of where every little thing was packed so that I could find it without digging. We did trial camping runs into Colorado to make sure we never forgot anything. The trip was phenomenal and others at the campsites could not believe that we had 'all that stuff' on a motorcycle without a trailer. My last large adventure was a kayak trip for 10 days down the Allagash River in Maine. This too was sort of like backpacking but without the physical effort.

In preparation for the long travels in the Airstream I plan to first work on outfitting everything without going overboard yet covering my interests..cooking, camping, writing and photography. Next will be learning the camper management of site hookup / disconnect and safe travel.

In all my years of camping, hunting trips, and photo travels, I have maintained checklists, and they are a good start. I know there a lots of similar checklists here, more oriented toward camper travel, which I intend to study at length. My multi-tab spreadsheet shown here begins with the various categories in the first tab, followed by a tab for each category to fill in all the detail.

I'll post my results along the way. I know one final result will be some laminated lists which I can check-off and erase for repeated use, as seen described here in other threads. It's really hard being so anal...LOL.

travelczar · 12-24-2016, 04:48 PM

I think this has great potential, and for those that haven't traveled for a thousand years, a convenient listing and checklist would be appreciated. After all, all classifications of pilots use checklists, regardless of the experience they have, so why not all of us RVers?? My wife and I are about to embark on our first journey in our AS (45-days taking the southern route across the US), and we've spent many of coffee hours wracking our brains to cover the stuff we THINK we need, which can likely include things that we really DON'T need. Having a convenient checklist helps to ensure we don't miss anything and maybe to ensure we don't over-think the so-called requirements. Absent seeing future posts, please take a moment and note my Forum name, and please consider sending updates as you go along.

dont45 · 12-24-2016, 05:25 PM

travelczar, I am going to add another tab to my spreadsheet to keep track of members interested in receiving an 'update' when my list nears completion.

I have added another tab to keep track of anything I see from other lists, which I called unclassified. I am going to move these items onto my pages if I think appropriate. One big problem is that we can easily go way overboard, I know I do. That was the nice thing about motorcycles and kayaks. You really trimmed things down, yet I took two cookstoves 4 pots and even a skillet. You have to keep things that are useful and make camp life enjoyable too.

I too am planning a Southern route trip. Nothing firm yet but from Massachusetts down the east coast to Alabama and finally across the south, I-20, into Texas and finally to Ft Davis Texas park and Big Bend National Park. After that I'll go up through NM to Mt Rushmore and back a Northern route home. May be around 45 to 60+ days. Not bad for a first real run. I traveled this area extensively on my motorcycle in the early '70s and it (Big Bend, Ft Davis, and lots of NM) are simply wonderful. I could go a million times.

Troutboy · 12-26-2016, 10:08 PM

I'd like to see your list/spreadsheet when done....

Thanks!

Thx
Troutboy, aka Rich

mimiandrews · 12-27-2016, 06:57 AM

I'd suggest a few short "trial run" camping trips to places near home to refine your checklists and your skills. There's nothing like a few days and nights in the real world of RV camping to sort things out.

I thought I was good at backing trailers until that big aluminum bubble appeared behind my truck and blocked all the references I'd been using for years. Learning curve all over again. I'm still working on that one.

Keep revising the checklists until they run with a natural flow. If a checklist is making you back up or run around needlessly, it needs to be changed. One slow walk around the exterior of the trailer and one slow walk through the interior should take care of most of your checklist items.

Professional pilots use memorized "flow patterns" to accomplish their cockpit items and then read the checklist as a backup. In other words, it's a check list, not a do list.

dont45 · 12-27-2016, 11:05 AM

I am planning on a long trip to Texas, leaving mid March. Due to local weather (Massachusetts) I won't have a chance to do any real trial camping. I plan to find a few good days to run down to Virginia winterized, then on to SC to hopefully warm weather. I'm traveling solo so I don't care about convenience, just safety. My brother-in-law is an experience camper so he will be helping. I have borrowed his camper a couple of times so I have that experience. I certainly understand that some short trial trips would be a big advantage and may actually do that but weather is a big factor. I don't want to wind up in Big Bend and points South in NM in the heat of the summer.

The purpose of my list at this point is more of a 'cover all bases' design list for any and everything I can think of, and of course gather input from this forum and other sources. In the end I will break out some specific lists, such as 'departure' and 'supplies', etc. to make useful laminated check-off lists. I have a lot of work on all the tabs but by no means complete. I think the main 'Categories' tab is mostly getting there so here it is: