When my husband had the idea of going on a family RV trip I thought it would be such a great idea, but I didn’t realize how much planning and prep would be involved. We had an incredible time, and made lots of great memories. Keep reading to discover my recommendations, tips and what I learned from my first family RV trip.
Step 1: Finding an RV
We don’t own an RV so the first step in the process was trying to find the right RV for our family. After reading lots of reviews, we decided to book through Outdoorsy as it has lots of options, and honest reviews. We also loved that it includes a rental agreement, roadside assistance and RV insurance. As we searched for the perfect RV, we wanted to find something fully loaded with amenities, sleeps 5 comfortably, and within driving distance to our home so we could pick up the RV ourselves. We discovered Sunny Road Rentals and highly recommend renting from them. We booked the “Sunny” 2019 Entegra Odyssey 25R which includes 200 miles per night. Cody, the owner, was very easy to communicate with, and overall, the RV was great. They also have other fleet options (I think next time we will book something slightly bigger and newer (we wanted the “Sonoma” or “Poppy”, but they were both reserved).
Step 2: Finding RV Camping Sites
Since this was our first RV trip with three young kids, I didn’t want to mess around with “boondocking”, and many of my friends who regularly RV camp highly recommend that we reserve camp sites that have “full hook-up” campgrounds, which means you will have sewer, water and electric hook ups to your RV. Many of the RV camp sites also have full showers and bathrooms available to use so that’s an extra bonus. We wanted to visit Paso Robles, Big Sur, Monterrey, and Santa Barbara so we ended up booking stays at Cava Robles, Marina Dunes RV Park, and Ocean Mesa RV Resort.
Step 3: Research RV camping basics and other frequently asked questions for beginners.
Here are the resources I used to help prepare for our trip:
Step 4: Plan Your Itinerary & Meals
Click here to check out my post on our California RV Trip itinerary, tips and recommendations of RV campsites. I recommend planning out your trip by seeing how long it will take to get there using Google Maps, create a list of sites you want to stop on the way there, and take note of weather and highway conditions. I also created a very basic meal plan so I could estimate how much food to bring, and when/where we could possibly eat out. Each location we stayed at had restaurants, and meal kits for purchase upon arrival.
Step 5: Packing for your RV trip
I created a comprehensive RV Travel Packing List (see below) and a shopping list of RV essentials.
Shop The Post
Step 6: Cleaning and Returning your RV
If you have ever rented a car, you know you have to fuel and tidy up. The same holds true when renting an RV. This means fuel up the RV, emptying all the grey water and sewage tank. You will also want to allocate about an hour to unpack all items from the RV, sweeping out the floor, and wiping down all surfaces.
I hope this post was helpful, and encourages you to give RV camping a go!
Some of the product links on this site may have affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you. The affiliate links allow me to earn a very small commission should you decide to make a purchase by using the link. Commissions from affiliate links help support this site so I can continue to share free information and resources for you.
