It’s been a long trip, but you’ve finally made it home. Now to just grab all your stuff out of the RV and relax at the thought of sleeping in your bed tonight.
Except your work isn’t done quite yet.
Even though you’re home from your camping trip, there are still some important tasks to take care of before you collapse onto your couch.
After each trip, some key items need to be properly taken care of to obtain longevity out of your RV. At the moment after a long trip, it’s the last thing you want to do but in the future, you will be grateful you did it.
Empty the water system
You do not want to leave water in the tanks to stagnate until your next trip, make sure you turn off and drain the water heater, open the water line drains, and empty the tanks. Then turn on the pump to flush out the rest of the water, and finally close the drains. If you didn’t do it on the way back to town, make sure you visit the Sani-dump as well.
Check over the exterior
Do a thorough inspection of the RV’s exterior seals around windows and roof. The last thing you want is to find any holes for rodents or moisture to get in. Also check for rust, cracks, dents, and other damage the RV may have taken during the trip.
Clean the interior
Now would be the ideal time to do any small repairs of anything that broke during the trip. It’s also a great time to clean out the fridge, sweep and mop the floors, and check if any pantry items have gone bad so they can be tossed. Be sure to crack the windows a bit to air out the RV from any camp funk that may have built up during the trip, but don’t forget that they’re open in case it starts to rain.
Get under the hood
While you were out and about on your adventure, you likely used a lot of battery power, so you’ll want to check and make sure your RV battery still has plenty of juice. Also, check the connections for any wear that might give you trouble next time. Other things to look at under the hood? The oil level (an oil change after a long trip is a good idea), coolant levels, air and fuel filters, and topping up the gas tank.
Once all this is done, then you can go relax. Sure it’s a few extra steps added to your time away from home, but you will be glad you did the next time you want to hit the road. Taking care of a business post trip will mean avoiding hiccups before your next voyage.
