Lists are important for various things in life.  You make some when you packed for vacation or for a going to the hospital to have a baby.  You make one when grocery shopping or to make sure you don’t forget someone for Christmas.    Like it or not, our memory is sometimes forgetful and lists help us keep our sanity sometimes.

If you are RVing, you also need lists to make sure you do not forget anything for a trip or ensure you bring back all you need for home.  A list is also something we rely on when we are closing down the RV at winter.   You see we learned the hard way through the years.   Once I forgot to bring underwear for my husband and my first born for a week-end a camping.  Yeah!   Not fun….    Fortunately it was just for a couple of days, still I have learned to double check every time I packed now – especially with six people in a family and the first thing that goes in are definitively the underwear!

We also forgot one important step one wear while closing the RV which was a costly error when spring came around as we had to replace a part in the RV that had busted during the winter.   Not a fun error to do trust me…

But I think our most important list is our RV Going Home Check List for when we leave the campground we are parked at to go home.   We have forgotten a couple of things in the past that wasn’t fun when we got back… things like forgetting to dispose the garbage (you should have seen the fruit flies after a week!) or  forgetting to empty the black tank (not a pleasant smell!).  We have also added a couple of things when we saw the damage done to the awning of a neighbor after strong winds or when my husband forgot his personal black bag once.

We used to write the list on paper but quickly misplaced it.  That’s when my husband started to use his iPhone as a resource…  Not only does he have a list for when we go back home there but there is also a list for the winterization of the RV  and he also uses it to take pictures of the fridge and freezer content so that we know what is there when we go back.

Here’s what our RV Going Home Check List contains:

• Vacuum
• Empty black and gray tank
• Put anti smell in black
• Close pop out
• Bring and dispose of all garbage
• Lock all doors and the BBQ
• Close hot water tank switches
• Close indoor lights
• Close outdoor light
• Bring perishable food home
• Bring fridge temp down to 3
• Take picture of fridge content
• Wash all the dishes
• Bring dirty clothes
• Turn air conditioner to off
• Close water
• Lower awning
• Don’t forget Rob’s black bag

Like it or not lists can be a life saver when you are planning a trip or making sure you do not forget something at the RV when you go home.     We even use it when planning a shopping trip to make sure we do not forget an essential ingredient for a meal at the campground…   And let’s admit it, with the technology existing nowadays we have no reason whatsoever not to take advantage of it and make lists.    For us as parents and partners in life, we find list also help us avoid some tension between each other as well as possible harsh words when one of us forgot something in our to-do list.   We have learned through the years that we can’t live without the lists when we pack and go back home.   They have helped us tremendously and will continue to do so as long as we stick to them.    And the beauty of using lists on the iPhone is that every now and then it’s easy to update it to remove or add a step.

What kinds of list do you use while camping or rving?  Have you experience a not-so-fun forgotten step in one of your to-do list while rving?

Don’t know where to start for a list?  Here’s some sites you can check out.

http://www.rvchecklist.info/ ^[1]

http://www.thecampingjournal.com/RV-CHECK-LIST.htm ^[2]

http://www.vacation-lists.com/rv-packing-list.html ^[3]

http://www.packinglistplace.com/rvlist ^[4]

Last 5 posts by Canadianladybug

• Fun Game for Rainy Days at Camping ^[11] - February 21st, 2013
• Woodall’s Guide to Good Sam Ratings ^[12] - February 13th, 2013
• Hit the Trail ^[13] - January 28th, 2013
• AIRTABS ^[14] - January 15th, 2013
• How to avoid tire blowup while RVing ^[15] - January 7th, 2013

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