Travelling with a campervan can be a fun, flexible, and cost-effective way for families to tour all the places without having to make bookings in advance. However, it’s also a unique travel experience that comes with its own sets of challenges and considerations. The “perfect” family campervan road trip can bring you a once-in-a-lifetime experience, though that comes with a lot of advanced preparation and research, especially when you’re travelling with children.
So, here I give you some tips and tricks in order for you and your family to have the best campervan road trip ever!
Choose your site and pitch carefully
The campsite is the most important factor for you to consider. It determines whether your campervan trip will be a success or not. When choosing a campsite to stay at, remember to choose a family-friendly campsite.
The types of facilities and services provided will tell you if the place is going to be suitable for the kids. For a family campervan trip, you should look for campsites that have a decent number of play areas. You can even look for places that provide smaller toilets and private washbasins if you travel with a toddler.
Campsites with a natural setting can be a good place to stay because of the amount of space and activities for kids to explore while still in sight of their parents. This way, it’s easier for the kids to play on their own, and you are still able to take care of them. Make sure you use your smartphones and/or laptops to do advanced research on places to stay before heading off to your campervan trip.
Find a site that has local attractions
There is nothing worse than finally setting up the camp and decorating the van, only to find out that you have to pack everything up and move the campervan only to take a trip to a local coffee shop. You would not want to waste your precious playtime on remoting from place to place. That’s why you should pay attention to the choice of the campsites and ensure that it’s convenient for you to visit attractions that are outside of the campsite.
Pack light and simple
I know that sometimes it is super hard to pack light when you’re travelling with kids. The number of gears that they need in normal life is more than what we need. However, when you have a campervan, limited storage, you would want to plan your packing, right?
Whether you’re travelling with teens or toddlers, there are some “must-have” items that you should bring along the way. Raincoats, walking boots, sunscreen, toiletries, medicines, and first-aid kits are some of the most important things that you should pack first. After that, you can think about what kind of clothes, hats, and other stuff you should bring.
Make sure to pack plenty of entertainment options for the kids to choose from. Letting the kids be on smartphones and tablets all day might not be a good idea to spend time. So, make sure to bring some board games and crosswords books for them to play, also a portable speaker for them to dance to their favourite songs.
Another tip for packing for a family holiday is to use packing cubes. These are saviours to us parents since they make packing become more organized and easier. Packing cubes are also handy in the van when kids don’t have their own drawers.
Get your kids involved
One of the best tips for campervan trips with kids is to get them involved in different processes of the trip. Kids love it when they get to decide, and we as adults should listen and respect their opinions. In the end, we want them to have the best time on this road trip.
While planning the trip, you can ask for the kids’ opinions on things such as activities they want to do or food they want to eat. Those simple questions can make them feel excited about the trip and will save you a ton of time and effort trying to figure out everything on your own.
Once you arrive at the campsite, you can take your kids to set up the camp with you. Simple tasks like getting the chairs out of the bags or filling up water bottles allow them to be active, as well as give them a sense of responsibility and independence.
Do not overschedule your trip
You may plan to take a full 1-month campervan trip and expect to make the most out of every single day of the trip. However, campervanning can be a very relaxing and fun experience if you and your family go with the flow. Of course, planning in advance is also important, but do not force yourself to do lots of activities each day. Overscheduling your trip can leave both you and your kids exhausted. The kids would have to do too many activities, and you would have to spend too much time and effort preparing for all the plans.
A trip is a perfect time to sit back, grab a drink and relax. After all, the beauty of camp life is to have a different routine than your ordinary life. Travel slowly, enjoy being in nature, and let yourself be surprised with whatever comes along.
Conclusion
Going on a campervan road trip with family is always a fun and unique travel experience. I hope the suggestions above can help you in preparing for your campervan road trip. Remember to check and be updated for any new COVID-19 restrictions that might be applied to your chosen campsite.