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Subtle Tweaks, Hacks & Upgrades to Improve you RV Camper

Dozens of social media pages, sites, and groups heap high praise on big products and small hacks that make a difference in the lives of campers, RVers and festival music lovers. We’re among them. We surf sites looking for the latest uber-cool products, and sharing some of our own.

We’ve written about them before. We’ve catalogued a new Eno or Kammock hammock, zero gravity chairs, that new Nexgrill grill or Blackstone griddle, even portable speakers and USB music players that bring audible ambiance to the campsite (beyond the calming sounds of birds, crickets, or creeks). In the past couple weeks, we’ve added a few simple upgrades that we hope will make life on the road that much simpler.

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The Sound of Music: 6 Tune Tips for Your Festival Campsite

When you’re camping at a music festival, the best tunes at any given moment aren’t always coming from the festival stage. Sometimes, the campsite is alive with the sound of music. But only if you take the time to queue up your own music or setlist – and the means to play it. We’ve previously blogged about upgrading the (often lousy) audio gear that RV manufacturers install in their rigs. Our friends Kris and Nick did a pretty bad-ass job in that regard. We also blogged about companies like JL Audio in our South Florida backyard, who have broadly targeted the RV sector – and AirStream in particular – for next-gen RV audio.

Audiophiles who RV have complained for years about the lack of quality in RV stereo systems. Manufacturers have tossed together lackluster systems. But you can’t expect some $2 speaker to deliver hi-fi sound. But beyond hard-wired audio systems, how can you power up some sick or simply pleasant sounds in the campsite – regardless of whether you have a tent or an RV? Between Bluetooth systems, power sources, the tunes you play, or just a little ambiance, a little planning can have you singing sweet sounds to rock your soul.

Check out these five tips to make music an essential part of your campsite.

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7 Steps to Curb Waste at Campsites and Music Festivals

Courtesy Pinterest

It’s a conundrum for campers of all stripes. We want to get back to the outdoors and feel at one with Mother Nature. But when we break camp, do we leave behind more than a molehill of trash. It can be no small mountain of shame. Whether camping to take in the outdoors or a music festival, how can we curb consumption and waste and leave the site better than we found it?

It goes beyond the old adage, “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.” That’s been a warm and endearing mantra for years. Contrary to what Mr. McGuire told Dustin Hoffman’s Ben in The Graduate, plastics suck – especially when roadtripping. A frightening / sickening / maddening National Geographic report from a few years back noted that mankind has generated 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics in about six decades since its widespread introduction.

OK, we suck and have made short work of screwing up our precious planet. But what do we all do to curb waste – be less of a problem? Try these seven tips – and share what you’re doing beyond these…

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Cathartic or Chaotic, Finding Comfort Camping in Lousy Weather

Storm brews at Lockn Festival (courtesy Kris Hall)

Rain + Camping + Music festivals. Would you? There’s a fine line between the cathartic and chaotic qualities of rain. It can be about more than a couple of inches filling the rain gauge. It’s a feeling. Rain’s gently soothing ways, versus the ominous blackness of approaching clouds. The introspection of our greater place in it all, against the unnerving shrill of a weather alert blaring from your smartphone.

Though we may find pleasure in rain, sometimes, like dogs and other animals, you just know a storm is out there and shit’s about to go sideways. It’s instinctual, from back when early homo sapiens would scramble into their caves as the clouds loomed and the gods boomed in discontent. As those winds suddenly changed direction and the air turned cool, they just knew the heavens were angry. Today, campers among us head to the safety of the RV or the tent or the car. But the gut reaction is the same. Must. Seek. Shelter.

When camping in the woods or a music festival, are you prepared to weather any storm?

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On Your Own But Never ‘Alone’; Rollin’ Solo at Music Festivals, Camping

When I told my wife I would be traveling solo and camping alone at the Suwannee Roots Revival Music Festival in Live Oak, Fla., more than 350 miles and a six-hour tow from home, she wondered why I’d go alone. Wouldn’t the solitude and seclusion be unsettling? No one to talk to or hang with or enjoy the music beside? Wouldn’t I be… Lonely?

Nay, m’lady. To the contrary, “I know people.” And a few trolls who dwell in Spirit Lake.

So imagine the coincidence when this meme came across my Facebook feed days later: “Instead of naked and afraid, i want to see a reality show of someone being dropped off at a music festival for four days, one pack of smokes, phone but no charger, tent, $20, no map, no friends and watch them navigate, barter and befriend.”

I had to repost – and comment: “Just got back from rollin’ solo to #SuwanneeRootsRevival. But I was never ‘alone.’”

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