Downsizing from a one bedroom apartment to our 25 foot airstream has been a process. Going on our first long trip has made us reevaluate some of the items we have brought while also being thankful to have others. Here are 5 items that are unnecessary to have but we sure like having them.
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1. Electric water kettle:
I love making a cup of pour over coffee every morning and Shane drinks tea. We love using our small electric kettle when hooked up to shore power. We purchased the Keebar Electric Kettle after our last one broke. We love the compact size, making it easily fit in our RV
The kettle pulls too much power to use when off the grid - our inverter can not handle most small appliances.
The reason why this is unnecessary is because we can easily just boil water on our gas stovetop or microwave. If off the grid we have to use the stovetop. But we love the ease of just flipping the switch on the electric kettle.
2. Stone Bath Mat:
Our shower space is small - but we still use it often when we do not have access to a bath house. Rather than having a towel bath mat we would walk all over day to day, we opted for a stone bath mat. These absorb the water in the matter of a few minutes, keeping the area very dry. Just be aware that the stone these are made out of smell for a little bit - we recommended airing it outside in a shaded area after opening.
3. Security Cameras:
Although so far we have felt safe at campgrounds and dry camping in truck stops. It is nice to have some security cameras for peace of mind.
We have a lot of valuables in the truck and RV, having the security cameras out acts mainly as a deterrent to any potential kleptomaniacs.
Ours are from amazon and they are the blink - we waited to purchase until they were on sale for 50% off.
Sadly, they only work with wifi connection - but if you have something like starlink, they will work properly in off the grid locations.
4. Cell signal booster:
We need to have service to be able to work. Campground wifi is not always the most reliable and satellite wifi is rather costly. We opted for a cell service booster because it is a one time payment, and our phone plans come with unlimited hot spot. Although this antenna is expensive it is far less than starlink.
We purchased the weBoost Destination RV booster from amazon. It is massive but really works. We cut a small hole in our bedroom window for the cord to the antenna to the receiver and have the booster near the dinette.
We have been in areas with only one bar of service and boosting it to almost full bars.
5. Air compressor
Having the correct tire pressure on your RV is super important - it is very easy to blow a tire and damage the RV if the pressure is off. Having a portable air compressor has made maintaining correct tire pressure easier. We don’t have to drive to find the nearest gas station in hopes their compressor is working.
We have the Milwaukee one and it is the best we have tried yet. Amazon has some cheaper options, but the Milwaukee compressor is a great investment piece to last.
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