I need some caravan help please

[Oppositioblue]

We are off to a sporting event next year and have managed to hire a 4 berth caravan which will be on site for us when we arrive. We are staying 5 nights and once we are onsite, we aren’t allowed to leave with the car so we really do need to be prepared in advance. This is what they’ve sent as an itinerary of what will be in our caravan. We have an electric hook up.

Apart from clothing, toiletries and food what else do you suggest. I have already noted down bedding, towels, BBQ and smaller things like loo roll, cleaning stuff and fairy liquid. There is an onsite pop up shop I believe for basic extras such as milk and bread and the daily papers. Expensive though.

Decent knives! Matches or lighter. Fairy lights for evening.

Check the rules of the event, most will not allow barbecues for safety reasons (there may be a designated communal area though)

And take money, contactless and phones can be iffy with lots of people in one place even if it's normally good. If you are taking kids, take treats and snacks as they will be pestering you to buy stuff

Thanks. They do but gas only and the gas bottle has to be a certain size or smaller.

Camping chairs and table for sitting outside the van.
Power banks for charging phones as there may not be many sockets in the van.
Use the microfibre type towels instead of your regular home ones as they dry much quicker.

Thank you. Table and chairs and awning are provided. Power banks are on my list. Good idea about microfibre towels. Will get those.

Don’t forget a pack of cards, board games and pen & notepad.

Spray oil for cooking. Much easier to transport and less likely to spill.

Added to my list. Thanks.

Those pancake pre-made shakers are good for camping/caravan king too and there should be plenty of them in the shops this week.

Our best camping find last year was Lidl's Organic Prosecco. Best bit about it is that you don't get a hangover

Head torches
Warm clothes
Teabags

We always take some fleece blankets for wrapping up on when you're sitting out at night or early in the morning.

Camping lights in case the lights fail. Will the caravan be on electric hook up? I very much doubt it at a sporting event, if it isn’t none of your normal electrical items will work as you’ll be on 12v. In that case power banks and plenty of them, and think about how you’ll work around not using 240v items.

Wet wipes are extraordinarily good at clean ups in caravans. Other than that food, booze?

And hot water bottles unless you have a naturally high body temperature, maybe additional bedding? Medication too.

Thank you. I am taking notes. Yes, we do have an electric hook up thankfully. I’ve added blankets to the list. Oodies are already on it.

Extra cutlery
Insect repellant
First aid kit
Paper plates
Bin bags
Disposable gloves (for emptying the loo if you’re going to use it)
If you’re not washing the dishes in the van you’ll need something to carry them to the dishwashing station.

A cafetière for fresh coffee.

Plug adaptor (the lead type ones)

A travel kettle.

Depends on the level of 'cooking' you are doing but I always take cornflour and OXO cubes when camping. And something to drain pasta and/or rice.

Morning. I am coming back to this as our event is in July so not far away. Bedding, what do you take? I was just going to take the bedding off our beds but DH says we will be too warm and all we will need is a sheet and possibly a blanket.

It’s got a fixed bed and a double which is formed from the front seats. That will need more than a sheet I think to make it comfortable.

Given the variable British weather, I would definitely take sheets & duvets. Our DD just uses a sleeping bag on the non fixed bed and says it’s really comfy.

If you have them, I would recommend mattress toppers as the caravan beds I've slept in have not only been slept in by many other people but the mattresses are paper thin! Then a fitted sheet and a duvet on top. Kids will be fine with sleeping bags.

The loo roll to use in a caravan is different, you can't use normal toilet paper. I think the one we use is thetford.

If you can afford it, I would get some of those collapsible bowls & colander, ideal if you want to mix up a batter, make a large salad, you can bet there won't be a colander. Some battery lights as well, you can use them outside or inside. Have some Crocs for early morning or late at night visits to the toilets or showers & those reusable carriers from the supermarket are ideal for going for a shower to put wash bag, clothes, towel etc. Definitely take some bin bags, some cheap disinfectant to wash the toilet & cassette from the toilet, don't buy expensive thick toilet roll as it doesn't dissolve in the toilet cassette, get the cheapest 2 ply you can find. If they aren't providing toilet chemicals, take biological washing tablets, not capsules to put in the cassette with a splash of water, they do exactly the same thing & cheap fabric conditioner for the flush tank. Take some disposable gloves for when you empty & clean the cassette. Don't forget drinking water, don't drink the water from the taps as you don't know if the caravan pipes are cleaned regularly, we always used a large plastic jerry can with a tap on it & took water from home.

Bedding wise, take either duvets or sleeping bags, if you have any spare duvets, use them as toppers, when you make up the double bed from the sofas, make sure you turn the cushions face down to make the bed as flat as possible. An electric coolbox is a good idea as you will probably only have the equivalent of an undercounter fridge.

Love them or hate them I've recently bought a dry robe type coat. Best thing I've ever bought for camping. Light, warm and wind proof and great for going across to the showers/ toilet blocks and sitting outside in the evenings
There's even a fb group called dry robe wankers!