Camping safety is an incredibly important part of RV travel. After all, you certainly wouldn’t want your fun family road trip to remember to turn into a dangerous disaster you’ll never forget. Fortunately, you can easily reduce the risk that something might go wrong by using some basic camping safety tips.
Not sure where to begin? Here are our top tips.
Always Tell Someone Your Plan
First and foremost, it is important that you always communicate your plan with a loved one. Let them know where you plan to go, what you plan to do when you get there, and when you plan to return home. If you don’t return when you say you would, your friend or family member will know something is amiss and can do something about it.
Check the Weather Forecast
Severe weather is especially dangerous when in an RV or out hiking. Make sure you check the weather forecast before you leave home to make sure you won’t be caught in tornado weather, ice and snow, heavy winds, or heavy rain. All of these things have the potential to be devastating, and it’s better to postpone your camping trip or head elsewhere than to take the risk.
Learn First Aid
You never know what might happen while out exploring. While you might have access to doctors and hospitals most of the time, all it takes is one injury out in the middle of nowhere to create a major catastrophe. Prevent this by learning basic first aid so you can take care of most injuries on the spot no matter where you happen to be.
Just be sure you have a first aid kit with you as well so you have the correct tools to use your first aid knowledge!
Have a Way to Communicate
Cell phones are amazing and will allow you to communicate with family and friends and/or contact emergency services if necessary in most places. Unfortunately, there are some areas of the country that are completely devoid of cell service. For this reason, we recommend always carrying a second way to communicate.
Starlink Internet is great for this if you have a generator or battery bank to run it. Satellite phones are also good in emergency situations.
Never Approach Wildlife
Wild animals are…well, wild. You never know what they may do, and even those animals that seem docile and friendly could turn on you. On top of that, when you’re out in nature, you are in their home, not the other way around.
Respect these facts and keep your distance when viewing wildlife. This will help ensure you return home injury-free, and will also help keep the animals safe.
Know How to Make Repairs
If you’ve been RVing for any length of time, you probably know all too well that things are going to break from time to time. When you’re camping in the middle of the city, you have access to all kinds of supplies, mobile techs, and shops that can help.
That said, when you decide to escape into the wilderness, you don’t have such conveniences. Because of this, it is always a good idea to know how things in your RV and vehicle work, and how you might fix them should they break.
Of course, you’ll also need to make sure to have a good basic tool kit to accompany your knowledge.
Carry Roadside Assistance
Last but definitely not least, it is super important that you carry good RV-specific roadside assistance. Coach-Net Roadside Assistance will be there to help you, even if you happen to find yourself on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Knowing this is definitely reassuring as you head out into the great unknown, and you’ll appreciate the service even more if you ever have to use it!
About the author: Chelsea Gonzales
Chelsea has the amazing opportunity to take part in full-time RV living and traveling with her tiny tribe. She homeschools her five-year-old son as they travel, and takes full advantage of their unique situation by using the entire world as her son’s classroom. A group of total Disney fanatics, Chelsea and her family often find themselves in the Orlando area in order to visit the Disney parks, but they have also visited over 25 of the 50 states with plans to see many more along the way. No matter where her travels take her, Chelsea enjoys riding bikes, gazing at beautiful sunsets, finding new coffee shops, Irish dancing, and sitting around a campfire with her family.
You can join her adventures through her blog, Wonder Wherever We Wander.
Lynn B. ~ “Coach-Net was excellent from beginning to end. I highly recommend this service!”
