10 tips for your first trip by motorhome

Are you going on your first trip by motorhome? Then the fun before your holiday can begin now! Because you can't know everything in advance, of course, we have put together some handy tips for you to think about as a novice motorhome owner. After all, you don't want to get stuck during your journey by motorhome or run out of electricity or water when you arrive! We wish you lots of motorhome fun!

1. Stick the height and width of the camper to your dashboard

With a normal car you might not be used to paying attention to the height and width of the car. With a motorhome, however, it is useful to pay attention to this when it is necessary, for example, for a bridge or tunnel. That is why it is always smart to stick a sticker with the height and width on your dashboard. By doing this, you can certainly not forget the dimensions of your camper! This will prevent you from having to turn around on your route or even getting stuck! In case of a bridge or tunnel, always pay attention to the signs, the maximum height and width are always indicated.

2. Make sure your motorhome is not overloaded

For your own safety it is important to pay attention to the weight of your motorhome, because an overloaded motorhome brakes badly and is therefor very dangerous to drive! In addition, you can be fined for it and it costs more fuel, which of course is no fun for your wallet as well! Enough reasons to pay attention to the mass of your camper. Are you in doubt? Then you can visit many garages to weigh your camper there.

3. Put a sticker on the water and diesel tank

Filling up with water in the fuel tank - or vice versa - can have disastrous consequences for the motor home. That's why you should avoid misfuelling by putting a sticker on the water and diesel tank of the motorhome, so that you can never misfuel - and no diesel will come out of your shower ;)

- By sticking a sticker on the water and diesel tank, you can never get it mixed up!

4. Prepare well at home

It is not for nothing that they say that a good start is half the battle. By preparing well at home, you know exactly where to go and you always have a second option for when the camper space is full. That's why you should never drive too long, because there is a good chance that you will end up with a full pitch. To be more sure to get a spot, it is advisable to arrive early in the afternoon.

5. Make sure you always have an emergency package with you

Sometimes shops and restaurants nearby are closed or further away from the camper place than you would like. In that case it is always useful to have an emergency food package with you! Think for example of some crackers, preserves, pasta or rice - things that will keep for a long time so that you can take them with you on your next motorhome trip if it doesn't go on. Don't forget to always have plenty of water with you.

6. Never rely on the navigation system alone

Sometimes the route may be different from that indicated by the navigation system, particularly in the mountains. Here the navigation system does not know the altitude differences. The distance can be 2 kilometres as the crow flies, but with many hairpin bends this can sometimes be as much as 10 kilometres. The navigation system can also always see the road as a through road, while in reality you cannot drive any further. So always use your common sense when driving on navigation and use it mainly as a basis while driving.

7. Provide change

Many service facilities, such as for water and electricity, operate on change of 50 euro cents or 1 euro. It is wise to have enough of these coins in your pocket, because otherwise you may run into problems with water and electricity!

8. Do not drive a route with too many kilometres

By mapping out a route that is too long, there is a chance that you will forget to enjoy all the beautiful things you come across during your motorhome holiday, because you are just driving. Of course you don't want that! Make sure that your route does not contain too many kilometres per day.

- By not driving too many kilometres a day, you will enjoy your trip all the more!

9. Also think close to home

In addition to long motorhome trips to Italy and Spain, for example, you can also get the real motorhome feeling during smaller motorhome trips. In the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, too, there are plenty of motorhome pitches, including at the beach and near the forest, giving you the feeling of being far from home.

10. Check on arrival if there are campers with the dish out

Would you like to be able to watch TV in the motorhome in the evening? Then in most cases you will need a dish. By checking which motorhomes have their dish out on arrival, you can estimate whether your spot will receive satellite reception when you have a satellite on the motorhome. It happens often enough that you install everything as soon as you stand and find out later that you have no reception. By checking this in advance, you will almost certainly have reception and you won't be surprised! It is good for your reception anyway not to stand under a tree, this often causes problems.

- In order to have a good range, it is useful to see where motorhomes already have their satellites off!

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