Bug out to North Carolina

By Joseph Parish

We decided to mix pleasure with work and combined our winter Bug Out exercise with visiting my youngest son in North Carolina. This particular outing with the Dolphin motor home revealed many weak spots revolving around our trip planning. With that fact understood I started to investigate a better method of packing the RV. RV’s can be a great source of fun or as in our case a lifesaver when needed for survival but the key lies in packing it properly.

Being married and having my grandchild as my responsibility, I have to give adequate consideration to both my wife and my grandson’s needs when packing for any sort of Bug out trip. Family Bug out exercises can often prove to be a challenge but it can be turned into something tangibly easy and simple by merely planning the trip properly.

I am sure that many new BOV RV preppers have no idea as to what they should pack when planning their trips. In the event your trip experience has been mostly staying at Holiday or Ramada Inns then you are certainly in for an interesting awakening.

Let’s start with the RV Kitchen items and see what we have learned. You should start by getting all your necessities together such as paper plates, cups, bowls, and plastic utensils. Make sure you purchase a sufficient quantity to ensure enough for everyone on the trip. You may be asking why not use regular dishes in the RV. First off the added weight of the usual home type dishes tends to accumulate after a whole. Less weight means less gas consumption. Secondly, not having to wash dishes while in the RV often saves you a considerable amount of time and effort. You may be roughing it but you don’t need to create an abundance of unnecessary work for your wife or yourself in the process.

Don’t do as I did and dash off without a single pot or pan in the RV. Reusable items such as the pots and pans should definitely be stocked permanently in the RV kitchen. We purchased an 8 piece camping kit at Wal-Mart’s and it seems to be good for use in the RV. You may wish to include such things as a “Smore’s” kit to your supplies as well. Remember you have to take into consideration the children’s desires and needs.  

In the way of food it’s important that you keep in mind the value of long lasting or non-perishable foods being stored in the RV. I include coffee, instant oatmeal, hot chocolate, and the little packages of drink mix that you open and add to a bottle of water. As for condiments the individual packages of mayo, mustard, etc are the perfect solution for storing in the BOV RV. Snacks made up a great deal of our food supplies before we purchased the cooking set.

Let’s move on now to the sleeping secti0ons of the RV. Linens and blankets are of absolute necessity. These are some of the never leave home without it things. You will want to have several sets of bed linens when planning any long trips. The linens tend to protect the coaches which turn into beds. Actually, you may not be able to do laundry as frequently as you can at home so a change would be appreciated. The facilities simply may not be available. Stock up on towels, wash clothes and other bathroom supplies as well.

Keeping the RV clean can often be a challenge. You don’t need a lot of cleaning supplies with you on the trip but a few would not hurt in the least. Things tend to get dirty or messy in the RV more so then in the home. Keep a broom or a small 12 volt vacuum readily at hand. From personal experience I have found that the 12 volt vacuums are not too reliable. Have a dustpan and several sponges and a select few cleansers ready to keep your RV clean and fresh.

In addition to my usual first aid kit I have a larger tote that contains items such as aspirins, sunscreen, bug repellent, cotton balls and band-aids along with other miscellaneous items that you may require when in the wild. Make sure to keep some emergency cash somewhere hidden in the RV.

My grandson was bored. He had his netbook and could get on the internet however he needed other attractions as well. A few board games would be a good addition to the pastime ideas. I would recommend the special versions since there can be a considerable amount of bumps involved in the back of the RV. He is above the toy age but if your children are of that age try to keep some appropriate toys available for them.

Since my grandson is home schooled his education continues when we travel. He takes most of his classes online and I am there to guide him and explain any rough spots he doesn’t understand. Education just doesn’t take a vacation. LOL

Copyright @2010 Joseph Parish

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