We pulled into our first RV camping spot in Georgia back in 2018, feeling pretty smug about how prepared we were. Tony had printed a checklist. We had packed for three days. The site was beautiful, right on a lake, and we were ready to relax. Then we tried to level the rig and realized we had nothing to put under the wheels. No blocks, no boards, nothing. We drove around for an hour looking for a hardware store, finally found one closing in ten minutes, and bought overpriced lumber that we still have in our storage bay today because we never want to feel that stupid again.
That was the first mistake.
By the second night, we had also discovered we had no way to hang wet towels, no decent pillows, no surge protector for the power pedestal, and no trash bags. We made it through the trip, but barely. And the thing is, we are not alone. Every single person we have talked to over the years has a version of this story. The rental company hands you keys and a two-minute walkthrough. The online checklists are 47 items long and include things like “emergency flares” but forget to mention you need something to block the sun so you can actually sleep past 6 AM.
You do not know what you do not know until you are standing in an RV camping park at sunset realizing you forgot the one thing that would make the next 48 hours bearable.
The Items That Aren’t Sexy But Stopped Us From Turning Back
Leveling blocks saved that first trip once we finally got them. Your fridge will not work right if the rig is tilted. Your sleep will be terrible. You need them, and the cheap plastic ones work fine for most RV camping situations.
A water pressure regulator is the other one. We blew a fitting on our second trip because the campground water pressure was set to “fire hose.” Cost us $80 and half a day at an RV repair shop in Tennessee. The regulator costs $15.
Wheel chocks matter more than you think. We watched a fifth wheel roll backward into a tree at a camping RV site in North Carolina because the owner trusted the parking brake alone. It was not pretty.
A surge protector is the last one we will mention here, and it is the most expensive on this list at around $300 for a decent model. But we have seen what happens when bad power fries an RV electrical system. One guy at an RV camping park near me in Ocala lost his air conditioner, his converter, and his microwave in one surge. We have been using the Southwire Surge Guard 30A Portable since that trip, and it has saved us twice already.
Other basics like a sewer hose, fresh water hose, and a few extension cords matter too, but these four are the ones that actually prevented us from abandoning trips or paying for expensive mistakes.
The Comfort Stuff We Thought Was Luxury Until Day 2
Our third RV camping trip was in Alabama in July. We thought we were ready. We had the functional stuff. We had food. We had Maggie’s travel crate. What we did not have were the things that make an RV feel like a place you actually want to be instead of a hot box you are trapped in.
The first night, we could not sleep. The RV came with these thin foam pillows that felt like folded towels. Tony woke up with a stiff neck. The blackout curtains that came with the rig were a joke. By 5:30 AM, the sun was blasting through every window and it was already 78 degrees inside. We were exhausted and grumpy by breakfast.
On the drive home, we stopped at a camping store and bought real pillows. The kind we actually use at home. We also ordered blackout curtains online that actually block light, not the decorative garbage that RV manufacturers install. The next trip, we slept until 7:30 and woke up in a good mood. That is not a small thing when you are spending three days in 200 square feet with another person.
We also grabbed a small portable fan that clips to a cabinet and a set of decent sheets that fit the weird RV mattress sizes. Those helped. But the pillows and blackout curtains were the game-changers. Comfort is not luxury when you are trying to enjoy a trip. It is the difference between coming home refreshed and coming home needing a vacation from your vacation.
One more thing we learned the hard way: bring your own coffee setup. The RV had a coffee maker, but it was terrible. We now pack our French press, our favorite beans, and a hand grinder. Starting the day with bad coffee sets a tone, and it is not a good one.
What Experienced RVers Know That Rental Companies Won’t Tell You
We were at an RV camping rental site in Oregon a few years ago and got talking with a couple who had been full-timing for a decade. They walked us through their rig and showed us things we had never thought about. One of them was keeping a full set of pots, pans, utensils, and dishes permanently stored in the RV. They never moved that stuff back and forth from the house. Food and clothes.
That changed everything for us. We bought a second set of kitchen gear and left it in the fifth wheel. No more forgetting a spatula or realizing we packed three forks for two people. It lives there. Done.
The other thing they showed us was their water filtration system. Not the cheap inline filter you screw onto the hose. A real countertop filter that makes campground water actually taste good. Rental companies do not include this because it is one more thing to maintain, but once you taste the difference, you cannot go back to drinking water that smells like hose rubber.
They also kept a small tool kit with RV-specific stuff. A 12-volt tester, a few fuses, electrical tape, zip ties, and a headlamp. We have used every single one of those items at least once. The National Park Service has great resources on campground etiquette, but they do not tell you to pack a headlamp for when you are fumbling with a fuse panel in the dark.
These are not in rental RVs because they are personal preferences and they cost money to stock. But once you know, you cannot unknow it.
How We Pack Now: The Pre-Trip Ritual That Actually Sticks
The night before we leave for any RV camping adventure, Tony walks through the rig with a printed list. Not a 47-item monster. The 12 things we have actually forgotten before. Trash bags. Lighter. Clothesline and clips. An extra towel for wiping down wet gear. Foil. The water pressure regulator. Surge protector. Leveling blocks. Wheel chocks.
We keep a bin in the garage with duplicates of things we always forget. Canned food, basic spices, paper towels, dish soap. If it is in the bin, it goes in the RV. If it is not, we add it to the list for next time.
The kitchen gear and dishes live in the RV permanently now, so we do not even think about them. We load food from the fridge into the RV fridge the morning we leave. Maggie’s food and bowls stay in the rig too. One less thing to remember.
We also do a test drive before every first RV camping trip of the season. Around the neighborhood and onto the highway for ten minutes. Make sure the weight is distributed right, make sure nothing is rattling, make sure we remember what it feels like to tow 10,000 pounds. It sounds paranoid, but we watched a guy at a gas station in Florida crash his trailer into steel poles because he had not towed in six months and forgot how wide he was.
We have put together more detailed guides and resources based on everything we have learned over the years living on the road full-time. The mistakes we made early on taught us what really matters versus what sounds good on a checklist.
Before Your First RV Camping Trip, Do This One Thing
Find one person who has been RV camping for at least five years and ask them to show you their packing system. Not their checklist. Their actual rig. Where they store things, what they keep permanently, what they learned the hard way.
We learned more in 30 minutes talking to that couple in Oregon than we did reading a dozen blog posts. Real people who have made the mistakes will tell you what actually matters. The RV Industry Association has good technical resources, but they will not tell you that forgetting a decent pillow will ruin your trip.
If you do not know anyone personally, spend an hour on a forum like iRV2 or Forest River Forums reading threads about what people forgot on their first trips. The patterns show up fast. Water pressure regulator. Leveling blocks. Trash bags. Surge protector. Real pillows. A way to filter water. A basic tool kit.
We still use the overpriced lumber we bought in Georgia in 2018 as backup leveling blocks. Every time we pull them out, we remember that first trip and how unprepared we felt. You do not have to feel that way. Learn from people who already made the mistakes, pack the unsexy essentials, and your first RV camping trip will be the start of something great instead of a story you tell about everything that went wrong.
