Enjoying the RV without Hitting the Road

Have you found yourself challenged by not being able to hit the road with your RV?  It is time to do your DIY camper projects and embrace new ways of enjoying the RV. How are we getting a camping-fix without hitting the road?

I don’t know about you, but in previous years, Papa Joe and I have pulled the camper to do our pre-season test run in the snow. This year, it just isn’t going to happen for a multitude of reasons.

I don’t really enjoy camping in the snow and have found DIY projects to be a good distraction until camping weather comes. Here are a few ideas that will help with your camping-fix. I am confident you will have lots more ideas to add to this list!

Let’s hit the big items first.

Papa Joe has been itching to get our car rigged up to pull behind the Class C. With the current recommendations against travel, this is a great time to put the car out of commission and satisfy his camping-fix.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a small DIY project. This is a huge camper project.

So far, he has spent an entire weekend working on installing the wiring harness, braking system, and other related parts. He likely has at least 8 more hours of work to do. The project will cost around $2,000 (or more).

Yep, a major camper project, but the satisfaction when we can get be enjoying the RV again – immense!

I have DIY projects for enjoying the RV too.

When we upgraded from the 5th Wheel to our Class C, we moved all our old household items into the new Class C. Now, I’m a cheap-skate, to begin with, and many of those items from the 5th Wheel were starter-model quality at best.

So, this spring when I couldn’t be enjoying the RV at our local RV park, I decided to upgrade our kitchenware. I replaced our old table settings with Corelle. The nasty plastic glasses were replaced with a slightly better upgrade.

Hopefully, the new ones won’t bounce everywhere as we drive down the road as the old ones did. We aren’t done with the project yet – we will be building a divider into the cupboard to help keep things in place.

What other DIY projects have helped with our camping-fix?

Papa Joe is a stickler for having vent covers over vent holes, that was a DIY project completed the first spring we had the Class C. Sometimes, just working on the camper helps us enjoy the RV when we can’t be going down the road.

Other DIY projects have included adding electrical outlets and phone charging outlets. We added a combo outlet last spring and have another to add this spring. It was hard to get a good pic, this one is on my side of the bedroom – the space is a little cramped on that side.

Papa Joe has a couple of pet peeves in RV quality. He almost always upgrades the sound system. The other pet peeve is the shower.

The Oxygenics Shower system was one of the first items he upgraded on our Class C, and it requires a little tweaking every spring.

What else can you do to enjoy your RV without hitting the road?

Have you optimized your water pressure yet? Adding an accumulator to improve water flow and even out water pressure changes was another of Papa Joe’s spring-time projects.

It sure helped satisfy his camping fix – for a week or two anyway.

One more DIY camper project for you.

I anticipate Papa Joe will be writing a full story about IT and networking capability in the RV. That whole IT and networking thing is his jam.

One thing that has not been completed yet, is securing all that networking equipment he painstakingly installed.

I anticipate either a net or door will be in place before we head down the road. A piece of equipment slides out of this cubby on almost every trip. There is no better time than now to fix that!

Working in the RV has become a big deal.

I’m no different than many of you. I am working on at least 1 computer (sometimes 2) while Papa Joe drives down the road. That means I need the power to charge my computer(s).

Papa Joe has done a great job of setting up our supportive technology, but we still have inverter challenges.

This inverter works great, but it could be better. One of our last DIY projects for this spring is to wire the inverter into a more permanent solution.

Do any of our ideas get you thinking?

These are just a few of our DIY projects.

I don’t know about you, but as soon as the ice is off the road, we are wanting to get out and enjoy the RV. That isn’t always possible, and we have tried to find creative ways for enjoying our RV in the off-season.

There is one thing I am confident of. You have your own list of DIY items you have completed – or that are on the wish list. Is there a better time than now to get those camper projects done?

I think not. This is the time of year many RV’ers go stir crazy, wanting to get out and hit the road. There is no better time than now to take advantage of your pent-up energy.

Place an Amazon order, and get your DIY wish list done! If all else fails, roll out the awning, grab your lawn chairs and enjoy the RV in your back yard!