What facilities do you need?

I’ve already discussed sleeping arrangements in another post but there are other facilities to look out for.

For many of the home comforts you’ll want a mains electricity hook-up, so you can run everyday appliances in the motorhome. These are pretty much a standard feature these days but something you shouldn’t overlook.

Also, do you want an onboard toilet and shower, or are you happy to use the campsite’s facilities? Even some small motorhomes now provide a toilet, albeit without a great deal of privacy, but if you also want a shower as well you’re really talking about a small wet room. That’s going to influence the size of the vehicle you go for.

There are also portable chemical toilets that can be placed pretty much anywhere. I’ve seen one right next to the kitchen sink, which I didn’t think was a good idea. But if you have an awning or separate tent, the portable toilet could go in there (though noises will tend to travel across the campsite).

The best toilets collect waste in a removable ‘cassette’ that can be easily removed from the van and emptied into the site’s chemical disposal point. You’ll need special chemicals to put into the cassette to dissolve solids and some sites will only allow ‘green’ chemicals to be disposed of in their facilities. I am taking the precaution of carrying both types to suit the site once I know their requirements.

Quick-dissolving toilet paper is also a good idea if you use a lot, but it’s much more expensive than the usual stuff.

You may also want a toilet cleaning brush, but think about what you’re going to do with it when you’re travelling. You can’t just leave it standing on the floor, it will fall over the first time you go round a bend. Equally, once it’s been used you may not want to put it in a cupboard. I got round this by fashioning a strap (fashioned from the strapping often used on heavy parcels), attached to the toilet wall. This is just the right diameter for the toilet brush holder to fit in, so that it can be removed simply by lifting it up through the strap.

You may have been accused of taking ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ when packing for holidays, but in the case of motorhomes you’ll almost certainly want the sink as well. Ideally this will have a hot and cold water supply, so that means having a water heater and a water pump as well (also needed for the shower). Water heaters may be gas fired or electric (only when you’re hooked up to the mains); some motorhomes have both.

Clearly, for these things to work you need a fresh water tank and a ‘grey water’ tank. Grey water is the waste water from the sink and shower. Some people just discharge this anywhere but a more responsible approach is to use the site’s special area for this. To that end, it’s sensible to carry some hose that can be attached to the outlet of tank to feed the water to the disposal point.

That’s enough on ablutions, how much cooking do you think you’ll be doing? A couple of gas rings and a microwave oven are enough for most people but we’ve also invested in a small toaster and electric kettle. If you want to push the boat out, the more luxurious motorhomes are equipped with a grill and oven as well.

Also think about where you’re going to store pots and pans, cutlery, plates and other things you might want to leave in your van, like condiments. If these are in cupboards they’re going to rattle around unless you make sure there’s no room for movement, so cupboard packing becomes a bit of an art. You can also buy small containers and screw these to the bottom of the cupboard, then put your jars etc. inside them.

You’ll probably also want a ‘fridge. Most motorhomes are equipped with a small ‘fridge that runs on the 12V leisure battery, mains electricity when you’re hooked up and also on gas – these are called 3-way for obvious reasons.

With 3-way ‘fridges you needs to choose the best option for what you’re doing. When you’re travelling the 12V supply is clearly going to be the only option as it’s not sensible to driving around with the gas supply turned on (and you can’t hook up to the mains when you’re on the move).

On site, the choice is then mains or gas, depending on the site’s facilities. Given that a pitch with mains hook-up will include the cost of mains electricity that’s usually going to be best option.

Given all of the above, storage space is also important. Most motorhomes are equipped with plenty of cupboards of various sizes so that’s unlikely to be a problem, other than for large items (like an awning). For general stability it’s advisable to store heavy items at floor level.