Campaq News

If you've ever unpacked the caravan after a trip and found half the clothes never left the bag, you're not alone. It's one of the most common questions camping families ask each other, and it comes up just as often for grey nomads settling into full-time life on the road. How much is actually enough, especially once you're packing for kids as well as yourselves.

The honest answer is that most of us pack for imaginary scenarios rather than the trip we're actually taking. And the answer looks a little different depending on whether you're heading off for a one to three month holiday or you've sold up and hit the road full time. Once you've got a simple rule to follow, and know how to adjust it for the season and the length of the trip, you can pack less, find things faster, and still have exactly what you need.

Why families end up overpacking

It usually comes down to packing "just in case" rather than for the actual days and activities ahead. An extra jumper in case it's cold, a spare outfit in case of rain, another pair of shoes in case the first pair gets wet. Each one seems reasonable on its own, but they add up fast, especially with kids, where it's tempting to pack for every possible mess or weather change.

The fix isn't to under-pack and risk running short. It's to pack with a bit of structure instead of guessing, and to separate what you actually need from what you're packing out of worry.

A trick worth trying in the lead up to a trip: about a week out, pile everything you think you might want to take onto a spare bed, don't worry yet about how many shirts, jumpers or pairs of jeans are in the pile. Get the actual bags you're taking packed and ready to go alongside it. Then, when it's time to properly pack, halve what's on the bed and only take what actually fits in the bags. It works because the bags become the limit, not your imagination.

Our rule of thumb: pack a week's worth

Regardless of whether you're away for ten days or ten months, a week's worth of clothing per person is the sweet spot. It's enough to get you comfortably between laundry stops without living out of an overflowing bag, and it's genuinely how most experienced travellers do it. Full-timers on the road tend to settle into a small wash every five to seven days, topping up with a sink or bucket wash of essentials in between if they're somewhere remote. There's no need to pack more than that just because the trip itself is longer.

What changes with the season and the length of the trip isn't how much you pack, it's what's in that week's rotation. A week's worth of clothes for a summer coastal holiday looks very different to a week's worth for a winter trip inland, and a full-timer needs that kit to hold up to constant wear in a way a three week holiday wardrobe doesn't.

Packing for a holiday (one to three months)

For a trip with a defined start and end, you're mostly packing for the climate and activities you know you'll hit, with a bit of buffer for the unexpected.

• Stick to a week's worth of clothing per person as your base. Plan on a load of washing roughly once a week, which most caravan parks make straightforward. And if you don't want to use the caravan park laundries, most towns have laundromats with big machines and hot water. Handy if there has been a sick child along the way and you need to wash all the bedding.
• Rather than packing full extra outfits for changeable weather, pack a couple of versatile layers instead, a shell jacket, a merino or thermal layer, something that packs down small. If you're heading from the coast to inland or across a few climate zones over one to three months, these layers do a lot more work than a whole extra suitcase.
• Keep any off-season or "just in case" layers separate from your everyday rotation, so they're not adding bulk to what you reach for daily. An Caravan Under Bed Storage Bag is ideal for this, out of the way until the weather actually turns, but still easy to check without unpacking everything else.
• For summer holidays, lean into lighter, quick-dry fabrics and swimwear, and go easy on jumpers and jeans, they take up space and dry slowly. For winter or shoulder-season trips, prioritise layering pieces over bulky single-purpose items. We go into this in more detail in our guide on packing light for winter camping.
• Kids can generally follow the same week's worth rule, though it's worth packing a couple of extra bottoms for younger kids who go through more mishaps. Keep each child's clothes together in their own bag or clearly separated section so mornings don't turn into a search party.
• If your trip is closer to a week than a few months, our guide on what to pack and leave at home for a 7-day camping escape covers that in more detail.

Packing for full-time life on the road

Once you're not counting down to a return date, clothing becomes less about packing for a trip and more about running a small, sustainable wardrobe.

• The same week's worth rule applies, but it becomes an ongoing routine rather than a one-off pack. Take stock of what you actually wear in a normal week at home and pack to that, not to an imagined version of life on the road.
• Favour versatile, quick-dry, easy-care fabrics. When laundry is a regular fact of life rather than a holiday chore, clothes that wash easily and dry fast in a caravan or camper genuinely earn their place. Heavy cotton and jeans are the first things worth leaving behind.
• Settle into a laundry rhythm that suits how you travel, a proper wash every five to seven days at a caravan park or laundromat, with a sink wash of underwear and basics in between if you're somewhere remote for a stretch.
• As you move through different climates over months on the road, swap your wardrobe rather than carry every season at once. Keep the off-season gear compact and visible in a clear Caravan Under Bed Storage Bag so it's easy to pull out when the weather turns, and easy to see what you've still got without digging. 
• For families living and travelling full time, kids' clothes are worth choosing for durability over quantity. Hardwearing, easy-care play clothes that can handle daily wear (and the odd bit of road-schooling mess) will outlast anything picked for looks.
• Op shops along the way are worth using properly, not just for a seasonal changeover. Plenty of full-timers pick up an extra jumper or two when the weather turns, or a decent outfit for a wedding, birthday or other event they weren't expecting to dress up for, then drop it back at another op shop once it's done its job. It's also one of the cheapest ways to keep kids in gear as they grow, since sizes change fast and it's not worth carrying a wardrobe of hand-me-downs just in case.
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Making it easy to find, whichever way you travel

Packing less only helps if you can still find what you need without turning the caravan upside down. This is where a bit of organisation earns its keep. Packing each family member's clothes together, and keeping toiletries, spare layers and shoes in their own clear bags, means you can see what's what at a glance instead of unzipping every bag on the trip to find one missing sock.

A Large or Medium Camping Bag works well for sorting each person's everyday clothes, and an Under Bed Storage Bag is the natural home for whatever's out of season or only needed occasionally, kept out of the way until you actually need it. A Toiletry Bag makes the walk to the amenities block simpler too, everything visible and in one spot rather than spread across the van. Every CamPaq bag is backed by our Lifetime Guarantee, so if it breaks from regular use on the road, we'll replace it, whether you're away for three weeks or three years.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many outfits should I pack for a caravan trip?

A week's worth of clothing per person works for almost any trip length, whether you're away for ten days or travelling full time. What changes is what's in that week's kit, not the amount.

Is packing different for a one to three month holiday compared to full-time travel?

The core amount is the same, but a holiday tends to be packed around the specific climate and season you know you'll hit, with a couple of spare layers for changes along the way. Full-time travel calls for a more durable, easy-care wardrobe you can rely on week after week, plus a plan for swapping gear as you move through different seasons.

How do full-time travellers manage laundry on the road?

Most settle into a small wash every five to seven days at a caravan park or laundromat, with a sink wash of essentials in between if they're camped somewhere remote for a stretch.

What's the easiest way to pack for more than one child?

Give each child their own bag or clearly separated section, and keep the week's worth rule in mind for them too, with a couple of extra bottoms for younger kids. That way you're not digging through one big pile to find a matching outfit each morning.

Do I need to pack for every season if I'm travelling for a few months?

Not in your everyday rotation. Pack a couple of versatile layers rather than full extra outfits, and keep them separate in something like an Under Bed Storage Bag so they're easy to find when the weather actually changes.