Over the last couple months we’ve taken three practice trips for two primary reasons: first, to learn how to work all the trailer gadgets and gizmos; and second, to figure out all the things we’ll want to bring onboard with us for the BIG trip. We’ve made sure to do all the “real life” activities we could think of to make sure we’d accounted for everything, knowing we’ll miss stuff, but at least we can minimize the missing items. We’ve cooked, cleaned, watched movies, set up our “yard,” worked on our computers at the table, and showered, in addition to the basics of leveling and stabilizing the trailer, unhitching and setting up camp; emptying tanks; winterizing; and unhooking from shore, hitching up, and breaking camp. As we’ve gone through all these activities, we’ve kept a list of what we need to bring, what we can poach from home, and what we need to purchase. These last couple days we’ve been loading everything up and getting ready to hit the road!

In the hopes that it might help someone else with outfitting a new trailer and preparing for a trip, here’s a genericized copy of our list. I’ve left in the columns for where the items are coming from as they were very helpful to us. We also kept a separate list of what goes back into the house after the trip–things like the crock pot and duvet, that we didn’t want to buy another version of just for the trailer. As you look through the items, keep in mind that storage is limited, and weight is restricted; also, food-wise we’re just packing items we might not easily find on the road, and a few staples, with the idea that we’ll be going food shopping pretty frequently. Let us know if you’d like to know specifics on items we purchased, like the nifty paper towel holder that suctions to the counter.

View the checklist here; copy it, and customize it as you’d like!

• Click the link above to open the google sheet. The master spreadsheet is not editable, so:
• In the menu, select File, Make a Copy
• Now you have your own copy that you can customize!