World School Diaries

We’d had our motorhome for over a year before we set off on our big European adventure. Which meant we’d practiced living in her for short periods of time and had collected the essentials. We knew we’d probably forget something but hoped it wouldn’t be a big or expensive omission! Now we’ve been living full time inside the belly of this fantastic she-beast, we have a lot more insight into what we would and wouldn’t bring next time we set off for more than a month (with the kids!).

What we shouldn’t have packed…

• An external tent (we assumed we’d get more rain but it’s been mostly hot and dry. Plus the rain we did have was torrential and our tent wouldn’t have held up in the stormy winds anyway!)
• Too many clothes (we have found and used washing machines and dryers with ease, and have probably only worn a third of what we packed!)
• Too many winter items (we’ve worn our coats twice, haven’t touched our thick trousers and don’t get me started on our cosy jumpers)
• Too many shoes (I assumed our trainers would get wet at some point, so packed spares for all of us, but we have not needed them at all. We mostly wear sliders and use our trainers for days out or travel days)
• Cooking pots and pans (I packed a large frying pan, a wok, 2 saucepans, 3 baking trays and 1 cake loaf tin. I would only bring one of each next time and forgo the frying pan completely. Our wok has done most of the heavy lifting! I did use the cake tin to make chocolate cornflake cakes though… so that can come with us again next time)
• Crockery and utensils (similarly, I would streamline our cupboards. We got it just about right, but I would ditch some of the utensils we didn’t use)
• Toiletries (I big time over packed on these, all except suncream, as I was worried about availability. But as we are in and out of supermarkets so often topping up food, water, milk etc, there is always very easy access to quality toiletries)
• Stationery (as home educators, we need a lot of school books, reading books, stationery, art supplies, calculators, notepads etc. But I definitely packed too much stationery. We’ve used all of the school books but I could definitely have brought one big pencil case with everything in, rather than the 3 or 4 I did. Plus, the kids have bought themselves more pencil cases and stationery since!)

What we should have packed

On the flip side, there are many little things we didn’t pack, either because we didn’t think about it before we left or we have learned through hard lived experience and finding a balance with convenience. These are:

• Insect repelling candles (the mosquitos were extremely bad in France and we spent €40 one day in a pharmacy just buying bite soothing cream and repellant spray! We’ve had tiger mosquitos, regular ones, biting flies… you can’t ever fully avoid them but the candles have made a big difference to our evenings)
• Insect repellant (it didn’t cross our minds that we’d have to worry about mosquitos in Europe after the summer months, so we really dropped the ball on this one!)
• Fans (my husbands favourite thing in the motorhome, and I include myself in that. It’s been so hot each day and sitting inside in the evening can get really stuffy. And it’s been hard to sleep in the heat. We brought 3 rechargeable micro usb fans with us and were glad we did! We have since bought 2 more (thank you Ale-Stop) and my husband can continue to sleep!)
• More T-shirts and shorts (we’ve all lived in these. As I said before, we have only worn a slice of what we brought with us, but we all need more easy wear T-shirts and shorts)
• More dresses (for my daughter and I. Sometimes you just need to sling a quick and easy dress on for trips to the beach, the shop, the toilet, out and about… and I only packed us 3 each. For a bonus, I would only pack dresses with pockets too!! There is always something to carry)
• Proper, fluffy towels (we packed all microfibre ones and although these dry super quick, sometimes you need a little luxury! Having been on the road for nearly 6 weeks now, we are craving the soft caress of a high quality, thick and soft towel! This will be a non-negotiable for us for our next long trip
• Paper plates (without wanting to sound too lazy, washing up 3+ times a day in a teeny sink is draining, especially when you go through periods of worrying about running out of water. Once in France, it was so hot that we were practically melting and all the service water points had been turned off to preserve the towns/ villages water supplies, quite rightly, after the recent droughts. We didn’t want to get caught without water again. Plus, paper plates are so handy for a quick lunch on the road! They are maybe my new top essential
• Toilet fluid (for our chemical waste onboard toilet. In Europe, the chemical toilet fluids are softer and less astringent than in the UK due to some of the waste systems here. So when we did buy some fluid on our trip, it really did nothing to ease the aroma of the hot toilet! We found some of our usual stuff sporadically at a campsite, but we couldn’t rely on finding this consistently. So pack a spare!
• Blu-tac (this sounds so silly but we really missed this! With the kids doing projects, art work, colouring, head student awards and weekly certificates, we really missed Blu-tac as a way to hang bits up on our cupboards and fridge. We have looked everywhere we go but haven’t found any… yet)
• Lightweight dressing gowns (my daughter was treated to a luxury, fluffy, expensive dressing gown in Arles, France and she loves it. My husband, son and I looked covetously at it, but as we were all adult sizes, they would have been triple the price of hers if we had treated ourselves! So, she has a cosy gown that she loves and we are all desperate to get some lightweight but comfy ones for our next trip. It’s been brilliant for after showers, waking up in the morning and encouraging her to get into her PJs at night!)

What we got just right

Here are some things we nailed it on. Please note that the list is shorter than the other two!

• Egyptian cotton bedsheets and pillow cases and soft, dense, dreamy mattress toppers (a very big expense before we set off, but these are so worth it. We sleep soundly and cosily every night, they are so soft and our mattress toppers have formed to our body shapes now and it’s like sleeping on a cloud 🤣)
• School books (the kids have raced through, particularly their maths)
• Lengths of paracord and pegs (for stringing up a washing line and drying pool-soaked and beachy clothes )
• DVDs (for when there has been no WiFi. We went to charity shops before we set out and spent £10 on a selection of DVDs. It’s been so fun to snuggle up and watch them together)
• Cushions (I packed lots of squish, soft ones that mould to your body and they make the evening super comfortable)
• Yoga mats (thank you mum! We couldn’t have functioned without these… they’ve been exercise mats and seating but most importantly have come into their own at the beach. We wouldn’t have been comfortable without them as they keep the sand away and are really lightweight to carry around)
• Microfibre towels (as mentioned, they dry quick, barely take up any space and don’t weigh much)
• Cards (the kids know how to play poker, which has been very fun. Plus a host of other games to enjoy and to kill time if needed)
• Kindles (for our book club, and to get the kids to read aloud, on their own or to follow along with a story. We have loved them too for our own enjoyment!)
• Hammock (our son loves this and it’s so small and light. Great for chilling out between two trees)
• Thermal printer (I underestimated how much I would love this! It’s useful for printing off colouring sheets or information for the kids, when they want something different to do. And so useful for home educating! When the kids have struggled with an area, I can print off targeted worksheets to really help consolidate their understanding before they move on. Super tiny, light and it doesn’t need any ink!)
• Sieve (such a tiny thing but completely useful. When we’ve wanted quick dinners of veggies with tortelloni or veggie ravioli, the sieve has saved many a mouthful from plopping into the sink. Doesn’t add to the weight haul of the motorhome but does add to my satisfaction level)