An important question people have who are in the process of packing for an RV trip is…

What clothing do I need to bring?

We live full time in our RV and travel all around the country, so we have to be prepared for all types of weather…with limited storage space!

Even though we typically follow good weather, it’s always good to be prepared, so I wanted to go over some of our clothing staples so that you can be prepared for any type of weather that might come your way!

As you know, Some RVs have a ton of storage, and some are very small with very limited storage. We have a 42 ft. fifth wheel, and to be honest, it has more storage than we need, so we have more clothing than we need. We’ve realized what the basic necessities are for being prepared in any situation, and we will highlight those!

Shoes

In my opinion, shoes are the most important items for getting the most out of your outdoor adventures! If you want to bring the bare minimum as far as shoes go, my top recommendation is a pair of good hiking/water sandals. These can be used on hikes that might be muddy or wet, in the river, at the beach, walking around town, etc.

Unless you’re going to be in a super cold places, you could potentially get away with just this pair of shoes! I really enjoy my Tevas, but they’re open toe, and I have stubbed my toes more than once in rivers. For optimal coverage/safety, choose a pair that covers your toes like these.

Here are some sandals Aaron and the kids have used and loved:

If you wanted to have a second pair of shoes, I’d recommend either trail shoes or hiking boots. Trail shoes look just like regular sneakers, but have extra grippy soles, which are great for climbing/hiking.

Aaron and I always have a pair of trail shoes and our favorite brand is New Balance.

A solid pair of hiking boots can be just as comfortable and waterproof too, which is important if you’ll be in snow or very cold weather. My all time favorite hiking boots are Columbia Newton Ridge. Casen’s current hiking boots have held up exceptionally well and can be found here. Admittedly, we do have more than these three types of shoes (casual shoes for dates and casual events, flip flops, etc.), but we could easily get by with just these three.

Clothing

Layers are key for travel! I love to start with a t-shirt, and tie a plaid shirt around my waist in case it gets cool, and bring a sweater in the truck just in case! Here are some ideas of clothing pieces that are nice to have:

Several T-shirts (we like to have a week’s worth of shirts)
1-2 long sleeve shirts (plaid button ups, long sleeve t-shirts, or sun shirts with a hood)
Several pairs of comfortable pants (stretchy workout pants with pockets, sweat pants or workout pants)
A pair of jeans or nicer pants (in case you want to dress nicer for a dinner out or something)
A couple of pairs of shorts
Swimwear (Aaron loves casual swim shorts that he can also wear every day)
A sweatshirt
A sweater ( I have one thick cardigan sweater I can layer over t-shirts to dress things up a bit)
Pajamas/loungewear ( I love my Cozy Earth bamboo sets. Get 45% off with code CE-WANDER. Shop HERE!

Outerwear

We like to each have one waterproof jacket and we each have a heavy coat for the rare occasions we’re in cold weather. Where do bulky coats go? Under our bed! Many RV beds lift up and have storage underneath.

Accessories

Hats are a functional and stylish way to protect your face from the sun! Our favorite warm weather hats for sunny days are life guard hats, but we have our fair share of baseball style hats too.

Sunglasses are a must, and my latest favorite are super light, polarized and slip resistant. These Goodr shades are awesome. We have also been fans of Knockaround sunglasses for a while now too. For the styles, quality, and price, it is hard to beat these brands.

We are huge fans of watches and they often come in handy, whether to track exercise and health or to style up your casual outfit. The Apple Watch is our go-to smartwatch for hiking and exercising, while Citizen’s Eco-Drive line of watches only need light to keep going (no batteries ever!).

Summary

You would be surprised at how little nothing you really need when you know your space is limited and you are intentional about what you keep. We regularly have purge days where we look over all our belongings and make a donation pile.

For some things we go cheap so we can replace them easily (sunglasses, t-shirts). For other things we go high-end to make sure the quality is good and it will last a long time (shoes, warm clothes). There is no perfect formula, but hopefully this list showed you how little you can really live off of!

Clothing Essentials for RVers