10 Top Survival Tips For Living Out Of a Campervan
As you’ve probably heard, renting a campervan is one of the best ways to travel Australia. It means that you have the freedom to do things in your own time, and means that you get the chance to experience the unique places that the coaches don’t stop at.
As a team of travellers and road trip lovers who have fully immersed ourselves in camper life, we’ve come up with the top 10 tips for life on the road.
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1. Buy mosquito spray!
This has got to be number one as there is nothing worse than trying to sleep in a campervan whilst there is a mosquito buzzing around your head! Mozzies will be worse if you’re camping by a river or lake so make sure you spray loads on if you are, and always spray it before it starts to get dark as the mosquitos come out at dusk.
2. Make some good playlists
Your road trip is always as good as the music you play! A lot of the time you will be driving for hours without much to see or do, so make sure you have plenty of playlists at the ready to sing along to.
3. Make use of our free money saving pack – which includes FREE Campsites from Cairns to Sydney
As a RatPack reader you can get access to our favourite FREE camp sites! We’ve added our best free camps that we’ve stayed at and pinned them especially for you on a google map link – subscribe to our FREE Money Saving Pack here & we’ll send it you free of charge with a load of other useful money saving tips and tricks..
Also, make use of Wikicamps – a great app which shows you all the campsites in the area.
4. Bring things to do in case it rains
Although most of the time the weather is beautiful, sometimes in Australia it rains pretty hard, and if it does it’s always good to have something to do inside the camper to keep you entertained! Some good ideas are: a pack of cards, a laptop and hard drive with films on it and plenty of goon!
5. Get a local phone contract so you can use data for maps
Unless you are a pro map reader this one is a must. You can get a sim for 2 dollars and then just buy a pay as you go monthly contract which will cost around 30 dollars a month and gives you texts, calls and data. Just make sure you get your phone unlocked before leaving for your trip.
6. Camp by the beach at least once
There are certain places where you will be able to camp by the beach and in national parks. Take advantage of this and immerse yourself in nature as much as possible. It’s such a great feeling waking up to the sound of the ocean.
7. Always carry water and snacks
There are some long roads in Australia that sometimes you will be driving down for a while before you see a shop, so make sure you’re always stocked up with plenty of water and snacks! Most campervans will have a fridge that you can store food and drink in. At RatPack we can help you choose the campervan with the facilities suited for you for the best price (more on this in a minute).
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8. Wave at other campers (especially if they have the same type of van as you!)
It’s an unwritten rule that campers wave at each other when passing each other on the roads of Australia. This rule becomes even more potent when the passing campervan is the same type as yours!
9. Try and get to your destination before it gets dark
It’s pretty hard to rummage around in the dark trying to cook food and make up your bed so try your best to get to your destination before it gets dark. Also make sure you take a torch for those nights when arriving late is unavoidable.
10. Enjoy the freedom!
You will never feel more free than when you are cruising around in a campervan and everyday is the start of a new adventure. Make the most of it and remember that this is an experience you will remember and cherish for the rest of your life!
Ready for your roadtrip experience? Here at Ratpack we are unique to any of the traditional travel shops. We compare the cheapest deals for your dates and specific requests and then discount online prices making it cheaper than going direct to the campervan company.
From our RatPackers
I booked my campervan to travel in NZ via RatPack Travel, who managed to find me the perfect van at relatively short notice and with a discount! It was a real help to have someone do the searching and mediate with the company, once they had dates and information from me. Thanks for the prompt and friendly service!
Great service! Jenner was so much help and gave us lots of options to suit our journey. Very attentive and made it an easy process.
This was the best customer service I ever experienced! I highly recommend you if you are looking for a Van or Camper to leave your email address so somebody of their team can get in touch with you. They compare for you all camper hire company’s and you can choose with one suits you the best. I literally talk to this awesome lady from Holland (as I’m only available after 8pm MEL time, so the arrange for me a call with somebody from the EU team for free) and she got our dream van for the most incredible price few minutes after we talked! And not even one day later I got my booking confirmation from the camper company. Their service is free of charge as they earn commission of your booking but this doesn’t cost you a cent. I did my own research before but the deals they give me was way better than I could find by my own. I highly recommend to get in touch with this team and let them find your Van. They literally saved us our fuel cost for a 3 weeks travel from Cairns to Sydney. Yes- that’s almost $1000 they saved us! Go and get your van! You won’t regret it.
So far, so so good. I should have started with RatPack to begin with and saved all that time searching for a camper and feeling like I was getting nowhere. Jenna was incredibly helpful -doing all the hard yards and getting us the best deal. Very prompt service. Thanks for making it so easy !
Very friendly service with Tammy. Super attentive and keen to help us. Got us a discount and one of the last available options.
Ratpack was super helpful! They were extremely responsive and helped us get an amazing deal on two 3-person camper vans. Highly recommend giving them a shot!
Really straight forward helpful and friendly people!
Mike helped us with finding the best van for us for our 3 week trip and was very knowledgeable. With some quick phone calls he gave us the best quotes and walked us through the process in detail. Everything was made clear and we booked our trip in just an hour! I would highly recommend their service.
Great experience with the RatPack travel team! Really went out of their way to help us book our Van’s for two different trips! They have great rapport with the various Van companies, were able to help us book the last available Van for our time in WA and were able to get us some discounts as well. Zan and Mikey were both so easy going, made it feel like we were chatting with friends who genuinely cared about our travels haha, awesome guys! Definitely recommend the RatPack service, will save you time and money fellow travellers!
Mike was amazing - helped me find a van and gave me quotes, a full breakdown, etc super quickly no stress! Just what I needed. Can't wait to start my trip. Thanks dude!
Booked a 3 week trip with MIKEY! Customer service was on point. No Buls**t straight to the point. Saved us a further % on the original price of the campervan and sent me a map of the east coast with highlighted areas he highly recommended to stop at. looking forward to our trip! 🇮🇪 🇦🇺
Highly recommend this company! Mike was incredibly helpful; he gave us lots of useful info and managed to get an excellent deal on a camper for our trip. The whole process was quick and easy. Thank you! Alison and Amy x
Mikey was amazing at helping us plan our 3 week schedule for the east coast. He went over and above to make sure that we were able to fit everything in that we wanted to in the time we have. His knowledge has been a great asset for us making an itinerary. Can't recommend enough!
If you want to book a camper for your trip, you should only do so with Ratpack. The team is incredibly fast and provides great service. No annoying comparison of providers, since Ratpack takes over. They are looking for the best deal and can offer great discounts. they respond individually to your wishes and give you additional tips for the trip. Since there is also an EU team, you could make calls at individual times of the day - simply excellent all around - thanks for everything
Absolutely delighted with the service provided by RatPack Travel. In particular, the excellent guidance and support offered by Jules! We explained our plans and she found a suitable solution to meet our needs. Very grateful and suggest other travellers use this facility. Thank you 😊
