Some people love being a nomad, while others just want to experience living on the road and exploring for a shorter period of time. If you know living on the road isn’t your forever, then The Store Room’s Leicester self storage team have put together a checklist to help you prepare for travelling.
Clothes
If you know where you are travelling then it’s good to check what the weather is likely to be like while you are there, and pack accordingly. If you are planning to travel somewhere hot, it is always worth taking something that will keep you warm, just in case there is an unexpected cold day – there’s nothing worse than being cold without a jacket!
It’s also important to try and create a small capsule wardrobe as you might not have a lot of space while travelling for your clothes.
Medication
If you take any medication, you shouldn’t let this stop you from going away, but you should discuss your options with your doctor prior to leaving.
Additionally, if you have an idea of where you are going, ask your doctor if there are any vaccinations that you need for traveling there.
Money
If you are planning to not work while you are away, set your daily budget and keep track of your expenses to make sure you are roughly staying on target.
Some other money tips:
- Travel with a few people – the more people you travel with, the more expenses can be split, for example the cost of fuel, car rentals etc.
- Research free parking or camp sites. Lots of areas have free parking, and you can even search for apps that show you free parking in specific areas.
- Shop at supermarkets to make your own sandwiches and snacks, rather than eating out for every meal.
- Make sure you get good travel and car insurance.
- Stay clear of tolls. In Google Maps and most other driving apps, you can go into settings and select the ‘avoid tolls’ option.
Electronics
Think about how you are going to charge your electronics – will you be stopping at camp sites where you can connect to a power source, or will you be travelling more off grid and need to find alternative methods to charge your items?
Also make sure you have the correct adaptors with you – you can get universal adaptors which are great if you are planning to visit lots of different countries.
If you’re travelling with someone, try and coordinate – you don’t necessarily need two phone chargers if you both have the same type of phone. You can also get charging leads with different ends to suit whatever device you may be charging, which minimises the amount of charging leads to take, but make sure they are good quality!
Furniture and Bedding
Whether you’re travelling in a van or your car, you will want to invest in a good mattress and mattress topper. Look online to see what options you have (you can get some blow-up mattresses that are designed to perfectly fit your car), and we would recommend that you try before you buy!
A great way to save space is using vacuum packed bags for your mattress topper and bedding. You can also buy chargeable mini vacuums, which means that you won’t need access to a plug when you want to pack away bedding. Additionally, a blow-up mattress is another way to save space because you can deflate it when you aren’t using it.
Music And Entertainment
Although we expect that you will want to be out exploring most of the time, sometimes it’s nice to have a relaxed day. We recommend that you invest in an entertainment subscription service. Make sure you choose one that allows you to download programmes or films onto your device, so you can still watch things if you don’t have access to the internet.
Declutter Your House And Possessions
Depending on how long you will be travelling for, you may want to move out of your current home and put your belongings into self storage. If you plan on doing this, it is a great time to declutter – no one wants to be paying for storage space that they don’t need!
The benefit of decluttering before you leave is that you only store your essential items and will therefore need less storage space. This means it’s cheaper for you, and you won’t have to sort through all your possessions when you get back.
If you need storage, you can get a price online or call us to have a chat so we can advise on what storage size would be best for you. We wish you all the best for living on the road and hope you have an exciting adventure!