We had quite an adventure in the camper. After long threatening to totally empty it and take stock and clean, the wife came up with a brilliant idea. She proposed we jumped into it the next day and see if we could last a week without having to buy anything, or go to shops etc. Whilst out in our 'spot' we'd clean it. So, after a couple of phone calls, that's exactly what we did.
I must add, it's not considered a BOV as such, I don't foresee needing one, we just like having it packed with food, fuel, water and the gear needed to jump in and go.
So, last Sunday, the 3 of us jumped in (myself, wifey and the mutt) and made our way to a spot in the Lakes we've used dozens of times. It's quiet, off the beaten track and just about accessible with the camper. Within an hour, we are there with the kettle on. We did agree, that as we were only pretending to be running away from Zombies
we'd come home early if we had had enough, or we would go to the shops if there was anything we simply couldn't do without. Neither of those things happened, we three had a great time, but a few notes as to how we are going to adjust the camper 'preps' stores.
Food.
The thing is chockablock with it. Too much, truth be told. Things like dried peas and bags of rice are too much, we only need one of each.
Although we had some tinned fruit and some dried, we just about had enough. It's amazing how quickly the body starts craving fruit.
Everything in a camper takes time, so we decided to have one 'cooking' day, followed by a cold foods day, excepting toast and the kettle for brews and a cupasoup of course. That worked great for us. The food stocks onboard are gonna be adjusted to cover this, we don't need 50 odd tins of curry/ravioli/mince and onions etc.
The cooking day involved wifey making two small loafs of bread. One for the next day as well. The non cooking days were great. Tinned stuff (meats, cheese, butter and fish) with bread, crackers, various pickles and relishes. I found a love for the jarred feta cheese in oil. I love the stuff, need to buy more for home and camper.
Home mixed curry powder with added chilli flakes, garlic and ginger powder, tin of toms, handful of dried onions/peppers/mushrooms, makes a terrific curry sauce.
Hygiene.
Wifey goes through wetwipes at a frantic rate.
Keeping clean when off-site, isn't impossible, but it was harder. Easiest option for us was to boil kettles, big pan of water and have a good old fashioned strip wash in a for purpose huge mixing bowl. The wife decided she had to wash her hair midweek, that was a pain but we did it. No problem there for me, I shave my hair short.
After doing that for a week, I honestly don't know how people can go wild camping for a week and come home in anything other than a totally manky state.
Clothes/undies etc were no problem, loads onboard.
Comms.
We need some walkie talkies. Water source is some 70 yards away, possibly shouting distance if I fell over and broke a leg, but who knows. Also handy when either of us is pottering about in the wood with the dog. Priority methinks.
Solar charger worked no probs and sorted our mobile phones as well as portable dvd player.
Entertainment.
I knew there was a bottle of Brandy and two bottles of wine onboard. When clearing everything out, also found two more bottles of wine and a bottle of Rum we didn't know were there. That was nice! Without going silly drunk on it, it's nice to have a few alkie drinks onboard to have a couple on an evening. We're going to have a think and get some more onboard.
The portable dvd player is a godsend. Kept onboard is a memory stick with some of our favourite films that is playable through the dvd player. We have decided to get a much bigger stick, fill it with loads more films and favourite music too. The windy up radio worked a treat, but sometimes it's nice to listen to exactly what you want.
Little things like a deck of cards and yahtzee dice onboard are great. Without the distraction of a TV, they're spot-on. Need to think of some more smaller games to chuck onboard.
So that's that. Lots for me to sort this week. Buy what we need, take off what we don't need. Wifey says she won't go offsite for more than 2 nights again, but she did enjoy it. Me, I'd happily do it for a fortnight, but I did have fishing gear onboard.
For those that like the shtf type of run to the hills situation planning, we could easily have lasted a month. The muttfood would have run out before ours though. But, like I said, that bugging out thing, isn't our prepping concern, we did this purely as a bit of fun, a getaway and to see if we could do it.
...
might be a bit much LOL.