What To Do When Camping Season is Over

Aww, the camper is put away and winterized, but you still have the ‘camping blues.’ For me, I struggle with this every winter season. Living in Kansas we never know when our camping season starts or ends and what ‘old man winter’ will bring us. If you’re like me, your will miss your vacationer and all the pleasure that comes with it. But how do you keep the camping year alive through the colder months?

I do a few things throughout the winter to maintain my popup camper and ensure I’m ready for the camping season. I get even more excited if I’m still revamping or changing things up in the camper. I love a good organization Pinterest pin and get most of my ideas from there.

I would say I’m fortunate to have the popup camper stored indoors and have room to do any major renovations. But for those who must keep the camper outside all winter or stored in another location. Typically painting and remodeling your popup in the winter is out of the question, especially if you live in the middle of the United States. Winter can be brutal. I have a list of items you can do during the winter, inside the comforts of your own home and it all starts when you winterize the camper.

The final day I winterize my popup camper I pull out everything but the cabinets. All linens, cushions, food/ paper supplies, kitchen accessories, and storage bins out and do a detailed cleaning. I tend to wash all items again and put them in a larger storage bin outside of the camper. Doing this seems daunting but after years of doing this and I have gotten this down to 30 minutes. I take my time throughout the winter season to wash all items and reorganize them. This also allows me to see if I need more supplies like paper goods, seasonings, broken utensils, and fix torn curtains and dirty rugs. Here is a list of items you can do while waiting for camping season to start and get a head start to be restructuring once again.

Linens

My linens containing curtains, blankets, towels, and sheets all get washed and put in a plastic bag that gets airlocked. I usually throw in a few dryer sheets to make them smell fresher. In the past years, I have created new curtains for the popup camper and used this time of the year to complete it.

Curtains

You can make or purchase curtains inexpensively. If you have the original curtains, you can cut and sew on the old backing that contains the old tracking system to the new curtains or try these hacks. I buy premade blackout curtains for my popup camper. I have purchased them at Biglots, Walmart, Amazon, TJ Maxx, and Burlington all for a bargain.

• Add new curtain rods to the camper but gluing or attach it with screws
• Use command hooks and a curtain rod
• Sew on buttons (1/4 in.) to back of curtains every 6 inches and slip it into a pre-existing tracking system
• Buy and attack old tracking clips to a new curtain

 I have purchased them at Biglots, Walmart, Amazon, TJ Maxx, and Burlington all for a bargain.

Blankets and sheets

This is the time of year to buy new blankets and sheets if you want. Remember cotton is not your friend if you camp in moderate to high humidity areas. Using a 50/50 blend or higher of polyester will help with the feeling of damp linens. I have a post on The Right Bedding for Your Popup Camper

Towels

This is the best time to clean them well from grease and mud. I also have a few every year that have rips or tears in them. I usually replace them at this time or reuse them as racks. During the holidays, towels go on sale for Black Friday sales.

Cushions

I pull out my cushions to deep clean and wash. A few years back I used this time to redo my cushions covers. I have a post on How to Make Sofa Cushions for Your Popup Camper There are many ways to reupholster your cushions from purchasing premade ones to creating your own. Here I show you a quick sew way to cover cushions and the type of fabric I used.

Organization

Such a big word but means so much to those who have a popup camper. We have such little space to work with and store our items. Keeping track of all nonperishable items like utensils and bedding to items that we use for cooking like seasoning and condiments must be organized in such a way that it could kind of make us crazy. I use sites like Pinterest to help with creating a cohesive place. I take this time of the year to find bargain deals to help systemize our camper.

Ideas:

Plan

Planning is a big part of camping and although we like to fly by the seat of our pants, we all know some sort of planning needs to be done for each camping trip.

• So, it is time to plan for next year’s camping season. As we all know you can’t just show up to a site and expect it to be open and available, you need to reserve your camping spot months in advance. Those trying to get a spot for Memorial Day, the fourth of July, and Labor Day must reserve them months in advance and typically for 4 nights. In Kansas and Colorado campsites fill up at the beginning of the year and as they sometimes open the website for next year, a week before January.

Location, location, location! Finding new spots to travel is exciting, I suggest asking family and friends for advice or turning to Facebook Forums for guidance. We love to travel to places that have full hookups and services. Some like to boondock, plan your trips appropriately.

Planning your reservations can be nerve-racking especially when you discover they are sold out. But finally deciding where you are wanting to travel is exciting. Planning the upcoming camping year well in advance will help you get a good start on next year’s trip and will help you budget for those longer ones. Good luck!

• Schedule maintenance for your camper is also essential. Whether you do it yourself or have a professional look at you can be more prepared for little hiccups on the way. Check out my Waterproofing Your Pop-Up Camper Canvas post, Popup Camper Propane Tank Guidepost, Upgrade: How to change your campers’ bulbs with LED replacements post, and Roof Lift System Maintenance post for help. I will also have more Maintenance posts coming soon, so be on the lookout for that.

• Meals are a great way to switch up your normal routine. Looking at new recipes or ways to cook your food is exciting, well to me. If you have kids, let them in on the fun too.

All in all, there are plenty of things to do before your next camping trip that doesn’t involve renovating the camper out in the cold. Did any of these suggestions help you? Or do you know of any other items to add to the list Comment below?