Taking enough clothing???

[JoAnn]

We are going to Fl. for 3 months this winter.  We will go on a 7 day cruise while down there.  We'll be there for the holidays and we will also go to Daytona for the races.  How the heck do I get enough different clothing in the motorhome.  We have a 33' which always had plenty of room until now.  Also, I like my clothes and I like Jim dressed nice when we go out anyplace.  I did ok last winter for 7 weeks (no cruise or holidays).  But so many times I thought, darn, wish I had this or that that I didn't pack.  Also, we don't have a washer and dryer so I have to use the laundromat at the campground once a week.  We will be about 40 minutes from Orlando.  Last winter we had some  cold weather.  I didn't have enough warm clothing with me.  That's probably the biggest problem, sweats and jackets and my heavy winter robe.  These items take up a lot of closet space. 

I'm thinking if I switch clothing around as needed and put them in space bags will help.  Then I can put our dressy cruise clothes we won't be using in them too.  I'm also thinking of bringing a couple of those plastic tubs to put those space bags in.  I probably can either keep them in the trunk of the car or leave them outside, tucked under the motorhome.  What do y'all think of this plan?  Anyone have a better idea?  LOL Other than taking less?

JoAnn

 

[SeilerBird]

One of the things you must give up when living in an RV is a full wardrobe. There simply isn't enough room to bring everything you want. I have been full timing for years and one thing I did many years ago was to discard every bit of clothes that is white. All my clothes are grey or dark colored. That way I don't have to separate whites and colors when doing laundry. 

 

[Ernie n Tara]

Hi,

Don't know what you have for a MH, but we keep our dress clothes (which rarely get used) in a hanging bag(s) under the bed. Otherwise we have shorts, tee shirts and bathing suits (mostly these live in the shower). If that doesn't suffice, we head south.

Ernie

 

[bertnspike]

OTHER THAN taking less?  LOL!  No.  Your ideas about cover it.  Space Bags and tubs.  Obviously you'll need to take suitcases for the cruise... store your cold weather wear there until you need it.  Pack things thoughtfully.  You don't want to have to drag out 6 tubs and 24 Space Bags to put together one outfit!  You could put any formal wear in suit bags under the bed. 

I have a few wonderful pieces of clothing that can be rolled up and squashed into a corner and then worn without ironing, but the 3 pieces cost me over 400$ 4 years ago.  The rest of my clothing is tees and shorts.  You'll have to seriously rethink your wardrobe if you ever choose to fulltime.

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

Well, since you won't take less, you are going to have to wrinkle more! We have given up sartorial splendor for convenience.

We use space bags for everything except the dry cleaning, and probably should for that, too, no more than we use that stuff. We just did an Alaskan cruise with winter cruise clothes and that was a disaster, and all I took was a dress shirt, slacks, and a blazer. If we had dressed like the Caribbean cruise and the captain's dinner, one of us would have had to stay on the dock.

For the 365 days a year we travel, we just had to get realistic. We don't need, can't carry, and don't want a bunch of clothes. And we are ten feet longer than you, coach size; you'd think we would have room.

You'll figure it out, but sooner or later, you have to decide - simple or complicated? and then deal with it.

It's still the best life ever, even in shorts!  8)

 

[ArdraF]

On the rare occasions when we need to carry something like cocktail dresses or nice suits, I pack them up and put them away (usually in an underbay bin) as soon as we're finished with them.  Jerry usually has enough hanging space to keep his suit in the hanging closet, but I like to free up my hanging space ASAP.  I tend to do the same thing when we leave for the summer.  This year I stored the heavier clothes when we got to Texas and never brought them out again until we got home.  I should think fulltimers might like those storage bags where you suck out the air to compress volume but I haven't found a need for that - YET! 

ArdraF

 

[odie1234]

Faced with a similar dilemma when preparing for a cruise, followed immediately by a wedding, DW had a special cruise/wedding suitcase shipped to herself to arrive just as we were getting ready to leave. She has since decided that that was silly and we choose cruises without the formal requirements anymore. Guys can normally get by with much less - you can rent a tux on the cruise ship if being a penguin is important. DW still travels with a lot of clothes - she is a consultant and travels worldwide even when we are traveling on our six month journeys in the motorhome. DW actually has more problems with shoes than the clothes - she is a bit of an Imelda Marcos shoe aficionado but has, through the years, found a way. A lot of stuff stays packed in the suitcase, some gets stored under the bed and some put in the closet. I travel with a "funeral hangar", ie a suit, dress shirt and tie. We winter in central Fl, not far from Daytona. Our winter weather wardrobe is a pair of jeans, one sweater and a jacket (referred to now as a hoodie) that we bought at Disney during a cold snap. If that's not enough, we stay inside.

 

[JoAnn]

Thanks for the encouragement and advice.  We have a 2004, 33' Simba by Safari, with 2 slides.  It just doesn't have a nice big clothes closet in the bedroom.  There are 2 seperate closets each about 22" wide but one is just high enough to hang a pair of Jeans the other I can hang a sundress if isn't long (I'm 5'1")  Then there is a closet in the "hall" which is about  14" wide and about 3 1/2' high.  We try to put the jackets in there but it is tight.  We replaced our bedroom TV with a flat one on a movable bracket so that gives me some space behind for sweatshirts and a couple of beach towels.  I think I'll be ok once I actually start packing it.

I KNOW I should reduce what I bring and at some point I probably will.  But, right now I have all these clothes (mostly casual and lightweight) and I want to use them.  AND Jim's tshirts, jeans and sweatshirts take up soooo much room too.  I have reduced the shoes I bring by a LOT LOL  Thank goodness sandals and flip flops don't take up much room.  Again, Jim's sneakers, shoes and boaters do. 

As far as the cruise clothes, normally Jim wears a suit and me with cocktail dresses or formal gowns.  I told our friends this year I was packing light.  Jim will leave the suit home and wear black slacks with a dress shirt and tie on "Elegant" night, as it is now called.  Every year the cruises seem less and less formal anyhow.  This will be the first year for us to go less dressy.  I have a few sundresses and 2 lightweight wrinkle resistant  cocktail dresses, both of which I can wear the same shoes.    For luggage I'm really  cutting back.  No rolling garment bags this time as they don't nest.  I have a 24" and 22" suitcase.  and 2 medium size duffel bags.  All will store inside the 24" and will store in the trunk of the car unless we need the room for something.  But that eliminates storing much else inside the luggage. 

Today I picked up 2 plastic bins and some space bags, both the vacuum kind and the roll kind.  I think that will be more than enough.  I don't want a bunch of bins hanging around.    I found one of the hanging space bags too.  That will help with the dresses and dress shirts.

I never thought of hanging things in the shower.  Great idea.   I'm mostly concerned with keeping cruise clothes from wrinkling before we leave on the cruise.  So that would work well.  Now I have to get a tension bar.  Plus, I'm thinking once we take the chairs and mats out from the compartments I should be able to put the plastic buckets in there.  I think I'll be good.
 
From Camping World, we got 2 of the shoe bags that wrap around the bottom of the bed. So they go around the foot and the side of the bed not seen from the living area.  That's a big help. I cut up a cloth shoe bag and hung it at the back of one of the closets. That takes care of shoes.  Oh and I keep the hairdryer and curling iron in one of the shoe pockets around the bed.

I also went through all the cabinets and took out everything we never seem to use.  I do this every fall after our last trip and before our winter vacation

I'm sure it will all work out, but right now I feel very overwhelmed.  Thanks for helping!

JoAnn

 

[Roamin Estate]

I recently discovered a packing lifesaver! Eagle Creek sells rather pricey suitcases, but they also have a "packing system". Looking at it, I couldn't really figure out how it would do anything beyond keeping me organized but on a whim I bought their Packing Folder 18. Well. It's 18" x 12" and has a plastic piece that you use as a folding guide, and I managed to fit 6 shirts, a sweater, and a pair of jeans in it with room to spare. It all ended up being maybe four or five inches deep. AND it has a handle! 

I used it recently when we bought our RV and we weren't set up yet, so it was great to toss the folder in the over cab bed and then pull it out and have everything nice and neat when I needed clothes. The folder was $27.50, but well worth it.

Angela

 

[PatrioticStabilist]

My husband travels all the time.  He takes a 2 gallon plastic bag, folds his shirt, shorts, socks, handkerchief and jeans really flat and puts a days worth in it.  If he is going several days he packs and flattens them much as possible in individual bags. Also he will put his hygiene items in a quart clear plastic bag so airport security can see them and he doesn't have to dump them out.

I do the same thing for a cruise and did that for DD when she went to camp.  You can stick them lots of places and you have everything you need for that day.

 

[JoAnn]

Thanks Angela, I will look into that. 

 

[JoAnn]

My husband travels all the time.  He takes a 2 gallon plastic bag, folds his shirt, shorts, socks, handkerchief and jeans really flat and puts a days worth in it.  If he is going several days he packs and flattens them much as possible in individual bags. Also he will put his hygiene items in a quart clear plastic bag so airport security can see them and he doesn't have to dump them out.

I do the same thing for a cruise and did that for DD when she went to camp.  You can stick them lots of places and you have everything you need for that day.

I have often packed for cruises like this.  Ziploc bags are a lifesaver.  Thanks.  J

 

[JoAnn]

Just an update on the packing situation.
So far so good.  I used space bags for extra linens and blankets which saved a lot of space.  I also used them for extra sweatshirts.  I'm bringing extra to put our winter coats and any heavy clothing when the weather is warm in Fl..  I found hangers themselves take up a lot of space.  I used those nice flat ones with the fuzzy coating on and saved even more room by making a "chain"  out of large paper clips.  I put one over the hanger and put another hanger in each "loop".  Sort of my own version of the thingies they sell. This saved a lot of space as I fit 6 tops in the space 2 would have taken up.  I used the hangers that hang 5 pair of slacks for my capris and our jeans, again a big space saver.  I had a lot of the skirt hangers that have clips and a little hook on the side to put the next hanger on, for our shorts.  This left the drawer space for t-shirts and other folded clothing.  I've gotten everything packed with room left over to put what I will use of our cruise clothing.  I also bought one of the hanging space bags which will store my dresses and be folded in the suitcase, after the cruise.  Thanks everyone, it looks like I've got it under control now.

JoAnn

 

[JoAnn]

Hi everyone, just a post 2012/13w update. 

All in all, I was happy I  brought everything I did. Just about everything got used.

As it turned out, I was grateful I brought enough warmer clothing with us.  As traveling from NY, we broke down 4 hours south of home, in PA.  We were stuck there for 4 days IT WAS FREEZING COLD!.

We ended up being gone for 4 1/2 months instead of 3 , I love retirement!  This year we are going a little farther south to the Vero Beach area, for almost 5 months.  House is going on the market next spring, we're ready to full time

The cruise packing went well.  Jim did end up deciding to bring his suit, which packed nicely with my dresses in the hanging space bag. After sucking the air out, I folded this at the top of the larger of the 2 suitcases.  I used the small rolling suitcase for the toiletries bag and the wine we brought on board.  Ended up using only needing to bring one duffel bag for shoes (his and mine).  We ended up picking up another 4 day cruise in Jan. when I got an email they were offering it for $119.pp for inside cabins with free upgrade to an ocean view.  Can't beat that.  We also made 3 other 4 day trips to visit friends and family in other parts of FL.  So luggage was well used.  It all nested and was put in one of the storage bays where outdoor items were removed.  After the first cruise, the suit and dresses once again got "sucked" and lay flat under the bed for the rest of the trip, we didn't take dressy clothes on the 4 dayer.

The way I packed the closets worked out great.  I'm going to give you an update on a few more things I've done. 
We ended up putting a shelf up in the closet behind the tv in the bedroom.  It made that area much easier to use. I put it only 8" down from the ceiling and angled an inch lower in the back so things don't go flying.  It's about 9" deep.  I was able to fit a couple of beach towels and a couple other items there leaving the lower area for sweats and bulky stuff.    I also put up 2 longish coat hooks to hold Jim's hats and my visors, on one side, which worked great. 

I put  2 large 3M hooks on the door of one closet and used this to hang my bras on (this saved a lot of drawer space and didn't take room from anything else.  Inside another closet door, I put a couple of the pockets I cut from a shoe bag and my panties got folded small and put in there freeing more drawer space.  We have this golf umbrella, which we could never find when we needed it.  I had an old webbed belt, I cut it strips and used a staple gun to attach 2 loops coming from the inside of the bed base, but so the loops were long enough to fold to the outside and slide the umbrella through.  (to do this you have to actually put the umbrella in first to be sure it will fit)  That worked out great, now it always has a home and is easy to get at.  I am only about 5' tall so I always struggled to get into bed as it's pretty high.  I found a small, rectangular footrest with a padded top and it opens for storage. (it's about 15"x10" and about 10" high. (no way was I wasting space for just a stool LOL.  It fits perfectly on my side of the bed and socks and other small items store perfectly.  

I made clear plastic "pockets" and stapled them to the inside the bathroom medicine and storage cabinets.  They hold small items that we never could find in the cabinets.  I did this to the inside of the pantry door also. Just be careful that the staples aren't too long for the wood.  I did a few with heavy duty velcro also.  That works too.

Well my friends, I hope some of these things help someone out there in RV cyberspace

JoAnn

I hope a few of these