After You Get Back Home – Part 7 of 7 in a series about Traveling With a small Travel Trailer

How To - Traveling with a small travel trailer - 7 part series
Back Home
As of December 31, 2023, we are no longer camping much and I an no longer updating this website. I have left it online for the time being, knowing that people still find their way to my articles and find them helpful. Please note, however, that as time goes by, some of the information presented here (particularly on specific products) may become outdated and links may no longer work.
 
I've enjoyed eight great years of interaction with thousands of other small travel trailer owners. Thanks for all your support, and hopefully a few of us will meet again somewhere in the woods or on the road! - Denny

This is Part 7 of a 7 part series on traveling with an RV or travel trailer. It's all about what has worked well for Fay and me over the last several years of traveling through the U.S. and Canada.

The 7 articles in the series are (click to view):
- Planning Your Route
- Finding Places to Stay
- Preparing For a Trip
- On the Road
- At the Campground
- Leaving the Campground
- After You Get Back Home

Much of the information on this site is only my opinion. Use it at your own risk.
The use of this site and the information provided is done at your own discretion and risk and with agreement that you will be solely responsible for any damage that results from use of the information, and related products or services. Information provided on this website is the opinion of the author based upon his or her own personal experience, but is not guaranteed to be accurate or without errors. Recommendations of products and services are based upon the results when used by the author, and do not indicate that you will have similar results. Links to products offered for sale by others are advertisements, and not an offer from SOFTRITE Technology, Inc. to sell the product or service. The entire tinyTowable.com website is intended to make the reader aware of things that have worked well for the author. They may or may not be useful when used by others. In some cases, use of information or products mentioned here could be dangerous. In all cases, before using the information or any recommended product or service, the reader is encouraged to do further research to determine whether it is appropriate and safe for them.

It's over and we're back home again...already!

We spend a lot of time looking forward to and getting ready for each trip. Unfortunately, it always seems like it's over way too soon. While it usually feels good to be back home, we try to make sure everything will be ready for our next trip before we get too busy with other things. Here are the basic items we try to address.

  • Put the trailer on jackstands

    If it is going to be a while before we take another trip, we put the trailer on jack stands to get the weight off the tires. Allowing it to sit on the tires for too long can develop flat spots. We won't bother with this if we are going to camp again within the next few months, but anything longer and it's really a good idea.

  • Empty and Cleanup Inside

    We remove everything that we don't keep in the trailer, then vacuum and clean it up well inside.

  • Clean items used outside

    This includes a good cleaning of our gas grill and portable stove, as well as chairs, tables, etc.

  • Wash/Wax Outside

    Our small travel trailer is fiberglass and it's stored outside, in the shade, with sun beating on it a good part of the day. We try to wax it twice a year. It's a 2007 model and still looks good enough for an occasional upscale RV park when we find a good deal! (We've stayed at some really nice upscale places for half price using Passport America. I wrote about it in my article here on How We’ve Stayed at 17 Decent Campgrounds with Hookups for $20 or Less)

  • Work on our "To Do" list*

    See below
checklist

The "To Do" list

We always come up with little things to fix or improve while we are traveling. We keep a "to do" on a clipboard hanging in the trailer where we write things down before we forget them. Once we're back home, we look it over and make a shopping list if there are things we need to acquire. We order things on Amazon if we can, or pick up the needed items locally. We take our time, but try to get started on the things to do pretty soon, so that we don't get rushed when we're ready our next trip gets close. By the way, I've put copies of all our checklists in my free Beginner's Guide to help you get started creating your own.

The End!

Well, this is it. The last article in this series on Traveling With an RV or Travel Trailer. Time to get thinking about what to write next. Be sure to send me a note if you have any suggestions for me to consider. I hope you picked up a few new ideas from these articles. Please browse my website for other articles and information that you might also find helpful. And as always, drop me a note if you have any questions. - Denny

Are you a newbie?

If you are new to the world of Small Travel Trailers, here are the three most popular things for most newbies, here on my website. Please check them out and see if they aren't helpful to you:

  • RV Surge Suppressors – What you need to know.
    It's really important that you understand the risks and know how to protect yourself against bad electrical problems. Not only can these they cause a lot of damage to your trailer and electronic components, they can also be dangerous.
  • A list of products we use and like.
    All the camping and RV accessories can be overwhelming when you're first getting started. After trying lots of things, these are the items that have really worked well for us. The list may save you a few bucks on buying something you don't like or stuff you'll never use (I don't publish my long list of things we've purchased and wish we hadn't!).
  • My free Beginner's Guide to Small Travel Trailers
    Over 100 pages, this guide is all about what we've learned since we got started owning and traveling with a small travel trailer.
Denny Johnson

Denny Johnson

After having spent most of our adult life in Orlando, my wife Fay and I moved to Knoxville, TN in 2020. We are loving the change of seasons and being near the mountains. Plus, this part of the country is loaded with great places to camp. 
 
We camped years ago with a pop-up camper, but got serious about it when we purchased our Casita in 2014. There was a lot to learn as we started traveling with it, and a lot of conflicting opinions on line. That's when I decided that creating a website would be a good retirement project. I started tinyTowable.com to share things we've learned along the way that have worked well for us in hopes that the information would be of help to others.
 
However, since moving to Tennessee, I've gotten involved with new hobbies (you can check some out on my personal website at https://www.softrite.com) and we haven't camped very much. So, at the end of 2023, I made the tough decision to stop updating this website.
 
Small Travel Trailer Products We Like Small Travel Trailer Articles

8 thoughts on “After You Get Back Home – Part 7 of 7 in a series about Traveling With a small Travel Trailer”

  1. The hardest part for me is bringing all the food items back in the house and finding cupboard space or fridge space for all of it.

    Reply

    1. Nothing on our checklist and nothing I can think of Patrice. We do plug in the trailer at home to charge the battery and run the A/C once a month.

      Reply

  3. Do you use the jacks on the trailer or do you have additional jacks you rest it on? Ours has jacks on each corner and that’s what we use. Really enjoyed your articles. Wish they had been longer and more detailed! I’m a detail oriented person! Thanks for all the information.

    Reply

    1. I use separate jackstands in order to get the body up a little higher and less weight on the tires. I have the ones we use listed on this page of the website: https://tinytowable.com/accessories/

      Thanks for the positive feedback Donna. Since I’m addressing a pretty wide audience, It’s hard to know what the best level of detail is when I write. Be sure to drop me a note anytime you have more questions.

      Reply

  4. Thank you for your great articles. I was wondering if you recommend a particular wax. We bought a 5 year old TT, and we haven’t been too impressed with the Meguiar’s Mirror Glaze Cleaner Wax that we applied. It’s a lot of work to not be happy with the results!

    Reply

    1. Our Casita is 13 years old Geri. We got it 6 years ago. I hired someone to professionally detail it about 4 years ago. They got it looking great. Since then, I’ve been using Meguiar’s marine Pure Wax. It’s pretty easy to use as long as I don’t wait too long between waxings, and it does a good job.

      Glad you enjoy the articles. Be sure to let me know anytime you have questions.
      – Denny

      Reply

  5. Hi Denny
    I haven’t really done much camping or owning a RV until recently so I really appreciate your insight on pulling, camping, and having a good list to go by. I can’t seem to find the right small RV as I have bought 4 and now I’m owning a fiberglass truck camper but find it too small so I will be looking for a 17/19 ft rig. I’m planning on making a trip to South Carolina from Nebraska so your 7 steps really helped. Being 76 I want to see other parts of this great Nation but it looks like my wife of 50 years would rather stay at home so I will be traveling solo but would like to invite family for short stays within a two day travel arrangement so with your 7 steps I plan to do both. Thanks again for taking the time and effort to educate others on traveling with a small RV.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *