Taking the First Trip with Your New Campervan

Whether you’ve started from scratch and renovated the entire thing yourself (bravo!) or you’ve just bought yourself a new campervan, taking it out on its first trip is an adventure full of excitement and possibilities. You get to test out all its features, see if anything needs tweaking, and then you are ready to set off whenever and wherever your heart desires. Soon enough, you will be living the dream. But before you set off, here are a few things to consider when planning that first, long awaited outing. 

The Basics

Before you go anywhere, you need to make sure that you and your campervan are road legal. These are all the technical and boring, but essential, bits and bobs. Make sure that your driving licence covers the size and weight of your van. Your MOT needs to be up to date, and you need to have paid the road tax and got the correct insurance. So that you can spend your time doing more exciting activities, use a simple comparison sites to compare insurance prices from different companies all in one place. Comparison sites do what they say. They provide an unbiased comparison of all types of campervan insurance, from self builds to VWs and under 25s. This means you can get the best deal on insurance that is perfect for you and your van in a quick, easy and secure way.

Where to Go?

For your first ever trip, it’s usually a safer bet to stay fairly close to home just in case anything happens. Of course, you still want that authentic van life experience, but choosing somewhere that isn’t totally off grid would be sensible, for now. It’s easy to find a campsite or caravan park that hosts campervans, since there are several apps and websites where you can check the facilities available to you. In the UK, it’s rare and expensive to find sites with pitches that have fresh water and waste services but there will be at least some to choose from. Now you just need to decide what sort of landscape you wish to have your first campervan experience in. Do you want to be close to the sea for a daily swim, or up in the hills and mountains so you can go out hiking every day? The freedom of the campervan gives you the freedom of choice!

Photo credit Sébastien Goldberg via Unsplash

Packing Essentials

You will need the usual camping essentials: a first aid kit, pots and pans, a washing line, and toilet roll. But there are a few other items that you will probably need at some point when travelling or holidaying in a campervan, like levelling ramps, a water hose and an extension lead. But do not fret, the point of this first trip is to find out what you do and don’t need. Start a list to note down all the things that you’re missing on this trip, so you can get them ready for the next one. Of course, plastic wine glasses should definitely be added onto that list.

By following this guide, your first trip in the campervan will be as smooth as possible. Expect the small hiccups, since it is only the first time, but take them in your stride and have the best time.

This is a collaborative post.