Packing List of Clothes for Full Time RVing

Packing List of Clothes for Full Time RVing

Full time RVing affords one a lot of freedom. However, it also takes away some of your available closet storage space. If full time RV living is new for you, or you’re just exploring what changes go along with a full time RV lifestyle, you might struggle when deciding on a pack list of clothes for full time RVing.

Planning how to minimize what you’ll take is an important planning step before moving full time into a camper. One of the toughest things for many to learn is that they’ll need to start eliminating some of their stuff to create a workable list of clothes for their full-time RV adventure. One of the hardest lists you’ll need to make and that’s also why it’s one of the most important.

Follow our list here on minimalist fashions and you’ll not only have a great starting place for your clothes list regardless of the size of your camper’s closet, but you’ll also have a few extra great storage location ideas. Be sure and read to the end for bonus tips on some great RV clothes storage ideas.

It’s common for many people to get stuck trying to decide which clothes to take for full time RV living. After all, how will an entire wardrobe fit into that tiny RV closet? What are the must have items, and what items are optional or not needed at all?

If you’re one of those struggling to create your full time RV wardrobe, then continue reading here. Below you’re going to find a collection of best practice tips to ensure you end up with everything you need without a lot of space taken by things you may never use. This is very important when you’re ready to hit the road full time.

The Basics – Clothes for Full Time RVing

Planning always starts with the basics, and in this case that means items like socks and underwear. You’ll want to think about your average laundry cycle when deciding how many it takes to the next wash day.

That said, it’s probably a good idea to make it 8 to 10 pairs of each since you never know when you’ll shift a day or need an extra clean pair.

Another thing to consider is that these products are often sold in 5 or 10 packs so it would be easy to grab a 10 pack if you decide to buy new clothes for this new RV lifestyle adventure. Now that you have these basic items taken care of, its time to move to items like pants, shorts, and shirts.

Focus on Day-to-Day Living

Let’s begin this process by planning for your day-to-day RV life. If your plans are to be traveling full time, it’s probably safe to say, you probably won’t be heading for an office or other professional work situation. For that reason, formal business attire is probably not something you plan to bring into the new RV lifestyle. It’s probably safe to say, you’ll be wearing more jeans, sweatpants, or shorts and more casual t-shirts.

Once again, set your focus on about 7 days’ worth of favorite casual dress attire. You’re going to place these in the most accessible storage area for your clothes.

Hold Onto Some Dressy Attire

Even though we discussed not needing business attire, you’re still going to want something to dress up a little occasionally even when living the RV lifestyle. Think of times like, weddings, funerals, or the occasional formal invitation that might come along. While picking your dressier attire, focus on a few versatile pieces you’ll be able to mix and match or even layer if the weather happens to get cold. Thinking in terms of combining a few pieces while keeping the total number of pieces down is the key to covering all your bases when planning your RV lifestyle.

Consider a Capsule Wardrobe

You might want to consider what called a capsule wardrobe to help keep your total wardrobe pieces to a minimum while still giving yourself an assortment of outfit options. In order to create a capsule wardrobe, you’ll want to choose your base color. This might be a tone of black, gray, brown, blue, or another favorite of yours. You’ll use this base for items like jackets, pants, and shoes, and then you’ll add varied color with tops and accessories. The capsule concept makes it easier to mix and match your clothing choices.

Shoes Choices for Full Time RVing

Shoes seem to be that topic that can ruin an RV living clothes checklist quickly. Especially if you’re going to need to purge your current collection to find space in your camper. In general, there are 6 different types of shoes you should make room for in your RV.

These include:

Flip flops or sandals (for the beach, pool, and shower)

Casual shoes (for everyday wear)

Hiking shoes (for hiking)

Tennis shoes (for active wear)

Boots (for cold weather)

Dress shoes

Flip flops are good to have around for a day at the pool, lake or maybe the beach. They can also be handy if you plan to use a public shower at the campground. You might think as you’re planning that you’d never use a public shower, but it’s handy to keep them just in case. What happens if you end up at a site with no water available and your only option is that public shower house, or maybe you just get tired of constantly cleaning your own RV shower.

Even if chances are you never end up using that public shower, you’re bound to end up near water sometime during your travels. By having flip flops available, you’ll be able to keep sand out of your regular shoes and hopefully your camper. Last point is that flip flops don’t take up any real space, so just stash them out of site.

Hiking shoes or boots can be used for a variety of purposes including general hiking and dealing with snow or rain. They can also be a fashionable option during fall and winter seasons. We recommend including a pair of lightweight hikers that will add a flexible option to your footwear.

Consider bringing a pair of trainers, these are great for workouts, and they’ll double as walking or jogging shoes. Match them up with a pair of jeans and you’ll be able to wear them when you’re touring around town.

A comfortable pair of casual shoes are a good alternative to your trainers. While deciding what to wear you’ll be able to rest the trainers while wearing these casual shoes.

If you select a neutral color for these shoes that is also different than your trainers, you’ll also add a new dimension to diversify your wardrobe.

Many consider dress shoes to be an optional add, depending on personal preference. If your future plans include fine dining, the occasional business meeting, or the unexpected funeral, then these might be an important addition to your full-time wardrobe.

We’re reminded here that not everyone going full time has waited until retirement. If you already own dress shoes, then be sure to bring a set along before you begin your travels.

Another option when you’re just starting out would be to leave the dress shoes behind with the option of renting a pair if you ever need them. Maybe you opt for a pair of leather trainers as an alternative to the dress shoes.

Keep Weather in Mind

Your plans may be to head south for the winter as you begin your full time RV adventures. The common thought is to bring an entire wardrobe based around warm weather. This might include more shorts and t-shirts with just a couple pants or jeans and a jacket included. Many think that because summer clothing is lighter and easier to pack, they’ll devote the majority of their RV space to light-weight clothing.

It’s important to remember that the weather patterns have been changing and even the deep south has been seeing occasional cold snaps that one should plan for. For this reason, it’s important to bring along some sweatshirts, sweaters, jackets, and maybe even a coat to be prepared for a change in the weather or unforeseen trip up north.

At a minimum, consider at least a single sweater or sweatshirt, along with some form of rain jacket and a fall weather jacket. If your RV travels are still open to all regions, then consider adding one winter jacket.

With this combination, you’ll be able to layer a combination of sweater or sweatshirt with one of your jackets to create the best outfit for your current days weather.

If space is at a real premium for you, then consider buying a rain poncho to store in place of a separate rain jacket. You can pick one of these up at any dollar store and tuck it away until you need it. You’ll thank me when the day comes, you’re stuck outside working on your RV in the rain and you’re able to at least stay dry.

Here’s a handy storage tip: consider storing small items like lip balm, sunglasses, and lighters in your jacket pockets rather than limited drawer storage places. You’re more likely to use them while outdoors and they’ll already be with you in your jacket.

Go with Layers

Another trick that I’ve already touched on when creating your personal RV lifestyle clothes collection is to layer up. For many, winter coats are bulky to store and can be avoided with the right combination of layered clothing.

Rather than devoting precious space to heavy coats, consider using your wardrobe space to hold a combination of clothes that layer together well. This way, if you end up somewhere cold or during a cooler morning, you’ll be able to layer up and then remove layers as the day warms up.

So, keep in mind that jackets, leggings, and sweaters are all good choices as you build your list of clothing for full time RV living. This is because they all layer up nicely.

Don’t Be Afraid to Re-Wear Some Items

In your home, you probably had a washer and dryer always ready, so it was tempting to toss everything in the laundry after each day, even if some things weren’t dirty. Laundry when your living in an RV will probably be different. You may have RV laundry equipment but if you do it will be smaller, meaning smaller loads that take longer to run. Many others will elect to visit a laundromat in order to save space in their RV.

One option during RV life is to stretch your scaled down wardrobe and limit your laundry trips by re-wearing some items. Jeans come to mind as something that can be worn for a couple days before they begin to show signs of wear. Your outerwear like jackets or sweaters will tend to be good for a couple wearing’s as well.

Create a new habit once you begin the RV lifestyle. Try checking a article of clothing to see if it’s actually dirty before tossing it into the hamper, you might get one more use out of it before wash day.

Accessories You’ll Be Glad You Remembered

Accessories for your RV clothing list can get a little carried away. Probably because most won’t take up much space, so you might be compelled to bring more than you’ll ever need. Accessories like hats, scarves, gloves, and even jewelry or watches need to be reduced to just one or two each.

Consider this accessory list when planning:

2 Hats

2 Pairs of Gloves

1 Watch

2 Belts

Hats come in handy for both sun and cold, so consider one for each purpose. A wide brim hat and a winter hat or stocking cap will have you covered year-round.

The hat or cap you choose for winter use can be stored in your winter coat or jacket pocket and a wide brimmed hat can be hung on a wall somewhere.

You might consider warm winter gloves if you plan to be removing snow or any very cold weather, but you’ll want something lighter for around town or working around the RV in warmer weather.

It’s important to protect your hands, especially if you’ll be out in cold weather. Consider a thin pair of leather or even cotton gloves which will easily store in a jacket pocket. You might also consider storing these in your tow vehicles glove box.

In today’s world, almost everyone has a cell phone that includes a time feature. So, a watch is not necessary. Consider it more of a jewelry piece than anything. When you’re planning your RV lifestyle, why not consider a smart watch that can also help you track your health and fitness. This way it serves many purposes besides telling time.

Owning a standard watch will act as a piece of jewelry and tell time, but a smart watch can do that and so much more.

Many consider belts to be optional unless you need one to hold up your pants. They can also be considered for their fashion accessory contribution but limit them like all other accessories.

Multi-Purpose Items

Multi-purpose items are a great add to any full time RV clothing wardrobe. Consider these items that can serve more than one purpose in daily life. (Disclaimer: I've included a few Amazon links below if you'd like to visualize what I'm describing. Each link shows several options for the general item.)

4 Season Jackets

Aquatic Hiking Shoes

Smart Watches

Reversible Belts

A four-season jacket that comes with multiple layers can be a great addition to your wardrobe. You typically will have a spring jacket that also rain resistant that zips together with a fall jacket in order to create a winter coat. What a space saver that makes.

Aquatic shoes can be a good replacement for hiking shoes, shower shoes and waterproof shoes. These are often referred to as water shoes and can be worn to places like the pool, beach or even hiking where you’ll be crossing shallow streams during warm weather.

Smart watches are versatile as jewelry, smartphone connections, and fitness trackers. RV enthusiasts who own smartphones or even standard phones will find this helpful.

Finding a two-tone reversible belt is one of the easiest ways to get versatile use out of a single belt.

Where to Store Clothes When Full Time RVing

So, now you’ve compiled your clothes for full time RVing, it’s time to figure out where you’re going to store everything. While many RVs are equipped with a closet and a few drawers, there are some that are not. If you have chosen an RV that’s not equipped with built-in storage you might have to get creative. Even if you have storage, here are some tips for additional storage ideas.

Boxes Under Furniture

Check out space under the bed or a couch and see if you can find bins or under bed boxes that will slide under those spaces. This is a good storage space because everything is neatly organized yet clothes are easy to access.

Closet Organizer in Tall Cabinet

Are there tall bedside cabinets in your unit that are not well suited for much of anything. Check out sweater organizers as a great way to store many different things in there. These are smaller cubby spaces that stack well and provide very flexible storage alternatives for smaller clothing items.

Over-the-Door Shoe Organizer

Shoe storage is problematic for many RVers. One solution is to hang an over-the-door shoe organizer to hold all of the shoes. These organizers are also great for things like socks, underwear, and even t-shirts.

Find places for shoe storage can be a challenge for may living full time in their RV. Consider an over the door shoe organizer as a great way to store shoes out of the way. These can also be used as a creative way to hold a variety of things like t-shirts, underwear, and socks.

RV Laundry: How Will You Wash Clothes?

Have you considered how you plan to do weekly laundry once you begin the RV lifestyle? One option is purchasing an RV washer/spin dryer combo that you can install or have installed in a closet area. This is a good option if you’re dead set against using a laundromat. Many people just choose to make the trips to the local laundromat so they can get all the laundry done as quickly as possible.

Regardless of how you decide to do your laundry, you’re going to want some type of good RV laundry hamper. You might also consider investing in an RV laundry drying rack so you can avoid the dryer and just look at a compact washer.

We hope you find this article helpful as you begin the process of downsizing your wardrobe to create your own list of clothes for full time RVing. We also wanted to include some ideas on how you can store and care for your RV wardrobe. Keep in mind that once you’ve created your full time RV clothing list, you’ll be one step closer to the adventure of living the full time RV lifestyle!

In Conclusion

As you enter the world of full time RV living, you need to be prepared to downsize and decide what clothing you’ll need and what you can leave behind. This way you won’t find yourself giving up anything you’ll need to enjoy the full time RV lifestyle.