Tag: rv living

RV Mail Service Options: What to Do About Mail When You’re RVing

By: RV Wholesale Superstore
Last Updated: March 24, 2023

When you’re sitting around the campfire enjoying the RV life you want to be nibbling on s’mores not biting your nails wondering how you’ll get your mail. Fortunately, there are a lot of RV mail service options so you can plan ahead and eliminate worrying about your mail while you’re gone.

How to Handle RV Mail Service

Option #1: Don’t Worry About It

This is the easiest option and works especially well if you are only taking a short trip. If you’re a weekend warrior or even take extended weekend trips it isn’t necessary to arrange RV mail service options. If your mail stacks up for a few days, it will be okay until you return from your trip.

It is wise to refrain from shopping online prior to your vacation. A couple of days’ worth of mail in your mailbox isn’t a big deal, but having packages sitting at your doorstep isn’t the best idea. Ideally, arrange for them to be delivered prior to your departure.

Option #2: Ask a Neighbor or Family Member

When you plan to be on the road for an extended period of time, a good option is enlisting the help of your friends, neighbors, or family if they live nearby. Having someone you trust pick your mail up while you’re away means you can avoid the headaches of lost or stolen mail. There’s no cost involved for you; they simply hold it until you return. You can offer to return the favor, or maybe bring them a small token of your appreciation from your travels.

This is a great option, but in order to avoid straining a relationship, make sure it’s only something you do once in a while. If you travel for long periods fairly frequently, one of the other RV mail service options may be a better fit.

Option #3 P.O. Boxes

Renting a P.O. box is a good way to forward your mail, especially if you regularly stay in the same area while you are away from home. P.O. boxes are safe and economical. This reliable RV mail service option allows you to forward your mail with a temporary change of address through the USPS or utilize a mail forwarding service for your mail.

Option #4: RV Mail Service Forwarding

Another option are the many RV mail services which exist specifically for forwarding mail for RVers. Some services provide images of your mail and scans of the contents. One of the biggest conveniences for full-time RVers (or avid online shoppers!) is providing a physical street address where packages can be delivered.

Like any private business, it’s important to do your due diligence before choosing an RV mail service. It can be tricky. Asking other RVers for suggestions is a good way to find a reputable option.

No matter the type of RVer you are, from short-term trips to full-time life on the road, knowing your RV mail service options means you’ll always be in touch with what’s going on at home no matter how far down the road you may be.

Contact RV Wholesale Superstore 

The professionals at RV Wholesale Superstore are ready to help you find the perfect RV for you and your family. Visit us in-person at 5080 W. Alexis Road, in Sylvania, OH or call us at (419) 786-1126

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How to Make Your RV Feel Like Home

By: RV Wholesale Superstore
Last Updated: March 24, 2023

Whether you prefer long trips or you’re a weekend warrior, your RV is home base. It doesn’t matter if you spend your entire vacation within a few steps of your RV or prefer to get out there in the open on your toys or just hiking and exploring, but when you come back to camp you want to make your RV feel like home, even though you’re away from home.

An RV That Looks Like a House Feels Like a House

Get Decorating

One of the great things about RVs is that there is plenty of space for decorations. Even a small RV is like your own little house on wheels, so you can give your RV a few custom decorations that reflect you and your tastes. When you freshen up your RV with a few items like pictures or artwork, your RV gets a new look and you make your RV feel like home.

While you want your RV to look and feel like home, if you are partial to fine collectibles, your RV may not be the best place to display them. Keeping your decorations safe, especially during travel, is something to be mindful of when you are choosing your decorations. Those who take extended trips and stay in one location for long stretches of time – like snowbirds – may prefer to have more fragile items that can be packed safely away while traveling but displayed for the duration of their stay. If you generally take quick weekend trips, there are less extravagant ways to decorate that still make your RV feel like home. Little tricks like double-sided tape can keep small pictures and other décor safer and help them stay in place while you’re on the road. That way, you won’t have to spend time setting up your decorations once you arrive at your destination, they’ll have travelled safely right where they’re displayed!

Customize It!

When you think of your RV as a canvas, you can see how they are perfect for customizing to your liking. You can customize everything! Make the floor your own with custom flooring. A peel-and-stick backsplash or countertop can make the kitchen a reflection of the master chef of the house. There isn’t much that can’t be altered or upgraded to make the interior of your RV feel like home. When you step into your RV you want it to be inviting. After a long day of hiking, swimming, boating or fishing, you want to feel like you’re coming home. Even if you spend the day in a lounge chair under a tree at your campsite reading a book, when you step inside your RV for a snack, it should feel like home.

Depending on the size of your RV and what you choose to customize, there could be added weight, so keep this in mind as you customize. Be sure to know your RV and tow vehicle weight limits to ensure that you’ll be safe on the road.

Don’t Forget to Make It Personal

What is it that really makes a house a home? It’s that personal touch! So, decorate your RV with the things that say “home” like family photos or your child’s artwork on the fridge. Whatever you surround yourself with at home should extend to your RV. Do you love houseplants? There may not be room in your RV for your prize ficus tree, but a small succulent on the kitchen counter won’t take up a lot of space and can still bring a little slice of your enthusiasm for plants to your RV. There are also myriads of artificial plants that could add a nice touch without the worry – even for those without a green thumb!

Match Your Home

Looking for a simple way to bring a taste of home life with you when you’re on the road? Try matching décor! You can buy matching blankets, comforters, and pillows for beds. Bring an extension of your home with you when you match rugs, curtains, even kitchen towels! Whatever you love about your home can have its match in your RV. Replicating your home’s style in your RV can truly make it an extension of your home. It can also be a comfort to children who are new to RVing to have the same bedding in their RV bunk as they do at home.

Get Seasonal

Seasonal decorating is another way to bring the energy from your home to your RV. Do you enjoy decking the halls of your home for every season? Try bringing some of that flair to your RV and feel the warmth of home settle in as you extend your seasonal savvy to your home away from home. Keep it simple if you have a holiday weekend trip planned. If you will be on an extended stay over more than one season or holiday, think about where you’ll store the decorations. Shopping post-holiday sales or clearance sales can be a great way to stock up on some extra decorations, especially if you need to scale down to fit your space.

Now you know how to make your RV feel like home so you can start planning your next trip, with no chance of homesickness!

Contact RV Wholesale Superstore 

The professionals at RV Wholesale Superstore are ready to help you find the perfect RV for you and your family. Visit us in-person at 5080 W. Alexis Road, in Sylvania, OH or call us at (419) 786-1126

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Do You Need to Bear Proof Your Camper?

By: RV Wholesale Superstore
Last Updated: March 24, 2023

Unlike Yogi the bear and his sidekick, Boo Boo, who scurry around snatching food and trying to hide from the park ranger, having a bear try to eat out of your picnic basket (or cooler) is no laughing matter. But the fact is, if you are camping in bear country and have food, it’s a recipe for a bear visit.

While it may be an amazing experience to see a bear off in the distance, it’s quite another thing to have a bear rummaging around your camper for a snack. Let’s look at some things you can do to get as close to a bear-proof camper as possible and still enjoy your camping trip.

Do Bears Really Get Into RVs?

This is like asking if kids really eat cookies. Absolutely! Bears may live in the wild, but they are quite intelligent. They are also nosy by nature and when it comes to getting into things like tents, coolers, and even RVs, these animals are extremely capable.

Because of bears’ ability to figure out how to get into trash cans, buildings, and yes, even RVs, there can be a certain struggle with the bear population. (Hint: they can’t read, so “Do Not Enter” signs don’t help.) The driving force is, of course, food. Bears have an incredible sense of smell! They are like giant, curious bloodhounds with claws. If you think the bacon you’re cooking smells good, so do the bears. And if bears think the coast is clear, they might try to get into your RV for a little snack.

A surprising fact to many is that it isn’t just the smell of food that attracts bears. Many non-food items have scents that bears are drawn to investigate. Keep this in mind when packing for your trip. That scented body lotion you love? Probably not a good idea to wear it when you’re camping in bear country! That goes for sunscreen, too.

Even scented candles have the potential to lure curious bears to the source of their olfactory overload. Surprisingly, those citronella candles you might be using to keep the mosquitoes at bay can actually draw bears in! Hmmm, ward off bugs or attract bears? Might just be best to leave the candles home.

How to Bear Proof Campers

The number one thing you can do to reduce the chance of bears trying to get into your RV is to cut down on scents. Remember, any scents inside your RV are scents that bears can smell outside your RV. And, the curious sort they are, they will try to figure out a way to get inside to the source! So, scaling down on scents means less interest from bears. Try sticking to unscented or scentless toiletries for the duration of your trip and forgo any air fresheners or other “smell good” items.

Start by using travel containers to seal your food tightly. These containers can help you with portions and planning to make sure you have enough food for your trip. In addition to lessening the chances for spills, they pack and stack well, making them a great camping hack.

When it comes to your trash, be meticulous about cleaning up. The smallest crumb or wrapper can smell intriguing to a bear. Your trash is their treasure of tempting treats. Leaving anything out that could bring a bear by your campsite is bad news. Use the appropriate dumpsters whenever possible to dispose of your garbage.

Finally, don’t forget to keep your camper locked. Bears are like burglars, searching around looking for easy targets. Bears can be deterred from investigating an appealing scent emanating from your RV if there is no easy access because you’ve got it locked up tight.

Staying Safe at the Campground

When you are camping in parks and forests that frequently have bears, food lockers are often provided. These are generally made of metal and designed to keep bears out. They can hold your cooler and dry goods and are separate from your RV so they not only help keep your food safe from bears, they keep you safe from bears because all the yummy smells are not coming from your camper. It’s a big step toward a bear-proof camper. So, if the park you are visiting has food lockers, use them!

If you are boondocking and no food lockers are nearby, be extra vigilant about storing and disposing of trash. You can also check with the park you are visiting. Many national parks have food storage requirements such as bear canisters or hanging a bear bag. Check with the park where you are planning to stay for their specific rules.

Another way to bear-proof your camper and discourage bears from hunting around your campsite for food is to thoroughly clean up outside and especially after eating at picnic tables or around the campfire. The more trash you throw away and food scents you clean up, the less likely you’ll be to attract hungry, curious, nosy bears. You’ll be much more likely to safely enjoy your vacation in a bear-proof camper and campsite.

Contact RV Wholesale Superstore 

The professionals at RV Wholesale Superstore are ready to help you find the perfect RV for you and your family. Visit us in-person at 5080 W. Alexis Road, in Sylvania, OH or call us at (419) 786-1126

Connect with us on Social Media! 

Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Pinterest