Messiest Things RVers Forgot to Secure on Travel Days

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An RV driving on the highway with unsecured items inside.

Forgetting to secure items in your RV on travel days teaches you a hard lesson. Unfortunately, for some, it takes experiencing this tragedy multiple times before they do something about it.

These incidents can cause severe damage to your rig and create a messy situation. Trust us, you want to do whatever it takes to avoid them.

Today, we’re sharing some of the messiest things RVers have forgotten to secure during travel days.

Let’s get our hands dirty!

Fellow RVer Polls Community About Messy Travel Days

You can get angry or laugh at yourself when you make a mistake. Luckily, one fellow RVer chose the positive route and laughed off the situation. They then asked a full-time RVing Facebook group with more than 100,000 members about the messiest mistakes they’ve made on travel days.

The conversation that the post generated is a reminder that mistakes happen. You’re not alone in the struggle when something doesn’t go as planned. While RVing can be messy in many ways, how we respond to those messes is what matters. 

How Can You Avoid Messes During Travel Days?

Avoiding messes during travel days requires extra effort on your part. Take your time packing and securing your rig.

Get everything off your counters and in a safe place. Anything you need to secure will get tossed around while moving down the road. We created an RV Departure Checklist that we use to help ensure we don’t overlook anything.

Another critical step is confirming you’ve closed your cabinets and drawers. If not, the force of items shifting during transit could cause them to open and send your stuff flying. Unfortunately, this is a common mistake. We’ve been there, done that.

To prevent the contents of your refrigerator from spilling out, use these double RV refrigerator bars. You can adjust these tension rods based on the size of your fridge. If your fridge doors do come open, they’ll offer some support to prevent items from spilling out.

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  • 【Package Included】 You will receive 4 sets of double RV refrigerator rods,each set contains 2 rods and 2...
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Messiest Things RVers Forgot to Secure on Travel Days

When it comes to the messes in your RV, we strongly advise you to learn from other people’s errors.

Doing so can help you avoid a surprise when you open the door to your camper. Here are some of the messiest mistakes caused by RVers forgetting to secure items on travel days.

Laundry Detergent

The incident sparking the entire discussion involved an individual forgetting to secure laundry detergent. However, they quickly discovered they were not the first to make this misstep. Many others chimed in to share how they had experienced a similar situation.

The best way to avoid this expensive blunder is to make sure you place laundry detergent in a safe location. Place it up against a wall and stack other items around it. This can prevent it from sliding, shifting, or gaining enough momentum to topple over.

No matter how much laundry detergent spills, this won’t be a fun mess to clean up. However, if you want to think positively, your camper will smell laundry fresh for the foreseeable future.

Contents of Refrigerator

Many other commenters shared how they discovered the contents of their refrigerator on the floor when they arrived at their destination. Instead of sitting at the campsite and enjoying a cold beverage, they had a mess of condiments and broken eggs to clean up.

We shared the double RV refrigerator bars with you earlier. However, while these can help keep your stuff inside your rig, your refrigerator door could still come open. If it does, the temperature could drop and cause some items to spoil.

Fridge locks are an inexpensive and effective way to keep the door secure. This avoids a mess and keeps your food safe.

Pro Tip: Take a look at these helpful methods to keep yourRV Fridge Contained on Travel Days!

XFVFXZZ 4 Sets Double Rv Refrigerator Bars, Rv Refrigerator Bar Adjustable Extendable to 15.8-27.6in, Rv Refrigerator Bars Tension Rods for Holding Food Drinks in Place During Travel
  • 【Package Included】 You will receive 4 sets of double RV refrigerator rods,each set contains 2 rods and 2...
  • 【High Quality Materials】 Rv Refrigerator Bars main body is made of metal, Both ends feature rubber feet to securely...

Paper Shredder

With so many people working remotely, some RVers convert areas inside their rigs into workspaces.

Many of them own a paper shredder as part of their setup. It helps them to avoid spreading personal or sensitive information when disposing of documents. However, these tiny scraps of paper can cause a significant problem if you don’t secure it.

One member shared that they discovered their paper shredder had tipped over while they were on the road. The mess decorated the floor like a fine layer of fresh snow. Unfortunately, this remote worker had to get to cleaning instead of enjoying their campsite or the great outdoors.

Broken Picture Frames

Hanging pictures inside your camper can be a great way to decorate and transform the interior. However, one RVer had the unfortunate experience of discovering broken glass throughout their rig. The glass resulted from a picture frame crashing to the ground while the camper was in transit.

When glass breaks, it can shatter into a million pieces and end up everywhere. Considering that you’ll be traveling down the road and the pieces will likely move around, there’s no telling where it will all end up.

If you decide to hang pictures, we suggest using those with plastic covers instead of glass. However, even with plastic, it is still a good idea to take them down before hitting the road. It’s better to be safe than sorry. 

Keep in Mind: Before your next RV travel day, consider purchasing these 10 Problem Solving Products to make your travel days easier!

Coffee in Microwave

The chaos of preparing to hit the road can result in you not finishing your morning cup of Joe before it gets cold. You might consider tossing it into the microwave to warm it up while putting the finishing touches on packing your camper.

However, if you’re not careful, it’s easy to forget that your coffee is still in the microwave.

Sadly, multiple members shared that they had also made this simple mistake. Unfortunately, you can’t do much to prevent these types of incidents. It requires that you slow down and be aware of what you’re doing. Trying to multitask can come back to bite you. Unlike milk, it may be worth crying over spilled coffee.

Beer

Coffee isn’t the only beverage that can create a mess. One member shared that they had a can of beer get loose inside their rig while traveling down the road. Unfortunately, they didn’t see it before opening the slide on their RV. 

The force from the moving slide was enough to puncture the can and send beer spraying everywhere. Not only did they waste a perfectly good beer, but they also had a mess to clean up.

Flooded Bathroom

One RVer shared that they arrived at their campsite to discover the bathroom in their camper had flooded while they were traveling. Items in the bathroom fell and hit the faucet handle for the sink. It proceeded to run until it filled the tank and began overflowing. The water sloshed around and soaked just about everything inside.

Turning off your water pump is the easiest way to avoid this situation. If it is off, nothing will come out if you open a faucet or try to flush the toilet. Doing so can help you avoid seriously damaging the interior of your recreational vehicle.

A sink faucet handle with running water into an RV bathroom, causing the water to flood the bathroom.

RV Messes You Don’t Want to Clean Up

None of these messes are ones that you want to clean up. The damage they can cause makes our stomachs churn just thinking about it. Some could be enough to send your rig to the shop or require you to adjust travel plans to address the situation.

Whether you use our RV Departure Checklist or create your own, always take your time to secure your things on travel days.

When you got to your campsite, have you ever discovered a mess inside your rig?

Last update on 2024-05-02 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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