Well-defined routines make traveling easier

by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.    

We (my wife and myself) have often asked ourselves what it is that draws people to camping.  We’ve done no surveys, however, we think (for some) it is a sense of adventure, finding a more “inexpensive” way to see the world, “change,” and, perhaps, a safer way to travel (as opposed to staying in motels).  The reason we even ask this question is that camping — especially if people regularly move from one campground to another — is not easy.  It takes work.  We have discovered, however, that with well-established, well-defined routines, it takes some of the work out of the process.  Maybe the word “thinking” can be substituted for the word “work” in this context.
    
One set of routines involves food.  When we travel for long periods of time (3-4 weeks), my wife prepares food in containers that hold food enough for just two people.  She freezes these, and they are pulled out a day in advance of when we plan to eat it.  But that isn’t the strongest feature of how routines affect camping.  Each of us eats exactly the same food for breakfast everyday.  Although different from what we eat for breakfast, we eat the same food everyday for lunch.  This means that packing cereals, fresh fruits and vegetables — and even stocking up along the way — becomes easier.  (We can pack enough cereal for a month’s trip before leaving home.)
    
When on the road, I make the lunch for the car the night before. I put just the right number of small carrots, grape tomatoes, and grapes we need in small, sealeable, plastic bags.  There is one yogurt, one-half a banana, and the sandwiches are cut into halves for easy handling.  For dessert, we have 2 small or one large cookie each.  I place the bread, cookies, and napkins in one large sealable plastic bag (easy to retrieve), and all the other things into another one.  I have coffee that I make in the morning along with my morning coffee, and my wife has milk.  Except for my coffee, we put this into our refrigerator the night before and transfer it to a “Lil’ Oscar” using two, small, frozen, blue-ice packs.  The “Lil’ Oscar” goes into the back seat of our truck to be retained whenever convenient while driving.  It saves time while we make time on the road.
    
Why such detail about our lunches?  Because it is the same every day: easy to prepare, easy to remember, easy to eat, and nutritious.  That is precisely how routines can be beneficial.
    
Another set of routines is our daily ritual when traveling.  We take showers at night when camping which allows us to break (or leave) camp earlier in the morning.  Also, with two mirrors and two sources of bathroom water, we can get ready to go (e.g., shaving and putting on make-up) at the same time.  In addition, morning coffee (a drip coffee maker), toaster/broiler, dishes, and cereals are all set out the night before.
    
Whenever we break camp, another set of routines come into play.  We have never actually discussed the division of labor necessary to prepare to leave a campsite; however, it has always been the same, and it has always worked effectively and efficiently.  My wife takes care of all matters inside the fifth-wheel, and I take care of all matters   outside.
    
In addition to making certain everything is clean (she washes basins with anti-bacterial sprays, wipes off the table and placemats), she puts away any remaining dishes, silverware, and kitchen utensils.  She then checks all windows and vents, makes certain the security locks are on cupboard doors and refrigerator, turns off lights, converts the refrigerator from electric to gas, brings in the slideout, sets out the trash, and locks the door.
    
Trying to coordinate my activities outside with hers, I must prepare the truck to receive the fifth-wheel (unless we have had a “pull-through” campsite where unhooking was unnecessary).  I must collapse our awning, clean and put away outside rungs, and remove all of our hook-ups and store the hoses and cords.  I ask my wife when I can unhook the water, and directly following that, I unhook the sewer (but only if we have it and only when wearing plastic gloves).
    
I leave the four corner jacks down until our slideout is in (the jacks give it support when opening and closing), but directly after it is in, I wind up the rear jacks, I slide the truck under the fifth-wheel coupler and then, using the electric power of the campground, I lift the front jacks and put them into their traveling position.  Pulling the 30-amp plug is, generally, the last thing I do, unless we have used boards in front of, under, or behind our wheels (for leveling) which requires me pulling forward off the boards, then storing those.  In general, my routines for handling all the outside chores get accomplished at about the same time as when all the inside chores are completed (about one-half to three-quarters of an hour altogether), and we are ready to leave.
But, the point here, once again, is the importance of routines in finishing the work.
    
Another important set of routines that make traveling this way enjoyable is that we totally depend on each other for cleaning up after ourselves.  For example, we help each other prepare the dinner meal, and we clean, dry, and store our own dishes immediately when finished eating.  If there are cooking pans, dishes, or utensils that need to be cleaned, whoever is there (or finishes eating first) cleans them, puts them into the drying rack, while the other dries them.
    
Dirty clothes go into a “dirty-clothes shoot,” and when the laundry basket below is full, I wrap the clothes in a kitchen garbage-sized bag, and drop the bag into the trunk in the bed of the truck or under the front couch in a storage area there.  No dirty clothes are left around to be picked up, and things, in general, are left clean, neat, and organized.  Routines make this possible.
    
When on the road, there is yet another routine useful to traveling, and that involves navigation.  I do all the driving, and that is simply because my wife does not drive the Ford F-150 truck (although she could), but having a twenty-six-foot fifth wheel attached makes that likelihood zero.  My wife navigates, and her word is law.  She plans the routes, arranges the stops for gas and restrooms, decides what places we’ll see, and chooses where we’ll spend the night.  Often, we consult and discuss while sitting on our bed at a campsite the night before, but it is difficult to tell how far we will get in a day, how tired I will get, or what the weather, construction, or traffic conditions will be.
    
Now, these are some of our routines that make traveling in a fifth-wheel enjoyable.  I am certain others have different sets of routines, but it seems clear that well-defined routines make the whole process easier and more efficient — especially considering the fact that traveling requires a good bit of work.  In trying to answer the question, what draws people to this form of camping (or even, what draws them back to it year-after-year!), there have to be a number or routines that help reduce the stresses and strains of this form of travel.  These are some of ours.
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At About.com: Senior Living, John Noble has an article, “6 RV Travel Tips for Beginner and Seasoned RV Enthusiasts:
These RV travel tips will make your first—or 50th—RV trip safer and more fun,” that offers great practical advice.

At 1000TipsforTrips.com there are over 25 links to articles that offer travel tips.  These are great links that cover most areas of travel from packing to traveling with pets.
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Copyright September, 2011, by And Then Some Publishing, L.L.C.