Popup Camping: A Few Do’s and Don’ts

About a month ago, my girlfriend Rachael and I decided to leave our city life behind and see the country using our popup camper as our home-base.

I was extremely new to popup campers to begin with, so there’s a few things I’ve learned the hard way that I wanted to share with anyone that might be scrolling by this blog.

1. Invest in a Bal-Leveler: You’d be surprised how many problems arise from simply not having your popup camper on a level surface. This item is truly a life saver and is a worthy purchase to all popup camper folks from casual to full-timers like us. You can find them on Amazon for anywhere from $70-100.
2. Don’t use the stabilizers to level: Unfortunately, I think we learned this the hard way and caused some minor bending in our frame that is now causing the door to not close properly. Using the stabilizers to level is a big no-no and will cause damage to your camper. Don’t do it!
3. Maximize Your Storage!: We found lots of other blogs that offered “how-to’s” on shelving using tension rods. This was a good one I found and utilized in our camper.
4. Cook OUTSIDE as much as possible: A lot of campers come fitted with stove tops inside. While this is super-handy on a rainy day, you will notice over time that your camper starts to take on the smell of the foods you’ve cooked over the week (We made bacon on one rainy morning, and all my clothes smelled like breakfast for a while).

Here are a few items we use in our outdoor kitchen that we love so far:

Tunnel Tent: We use one of these and love it so far. The only drawback is that it doesn’t do so hot the wind picks up.

Blackstone Griddle: If you only grabbed one of the items aside from the tent, make sure this is the one! Super useful for all kinds of dishes.

Ninja Coffee Bar: We like our fancy coffees, so it’s nice to be able to make them ourselves.

Air Fryer: Yep, we have an air fryer in an outdoor kitchen.

5. Mattress Toppers are a MUST: If you’re going to stay in your camper for longer than a few days, you might want something a little bit more comfy than the stock mattresses.

6. AND ALWAYS Do the following check-list before driving anywhere with your PUP:

1. All Stabilizers cranked up and stabilizer crank stowed away.
2. All latches down.
3. Wheel jack secured or removed (if applicable to your model).
4. Crank for the popup removed from the camper, and stowed away (MAKE SURE TO DO THIS, WE FORGOT ONCE AND DROPPED OUR ONLY CRANK ON THE HIGHWAY).
5. Bal Leveler Stowed Away
6. Check the turn signal and brake light connections

Feel free to leave comments if there are other important tidbits that you think would be important for a newbie to know ahead of time!

Thanks for reading .