Efficient packing

I agree, even a 3 yr old can be helpful with a little coaching. Kids generally like to help, especially if they know there is fun at the end.

Maybe a food checklist would help. Stick with basically the same menu and keep a list of items needed to prep. Non-perishables should stay in the trailer and be inventoried at the end of the trip, and replaced ASAP. Perishables can be checked and replenished a couple of days before the trip.

Seriously half the battle of food prep is deciding what to cook and getting the ingredients together to cook it. If those things become a non-decision and a routine, it's much easier.

Your key on all of this is to leave as much in the trailer as possible and anything that is removed, such as towels for laundry, goes back to a central location (like a big laundry basket or tote) so it can be easily taken back.
Non-perishable foods go back in this spot to take back to the trailer as soon as they are purchased.

Let kids (at least the older ones) pack their own entertainment and electronics. And possibly get some things that stay in the trailer, such as outdoor games or board games for a rainy day.

RVcircus wrote:
We also travel with 4 kids and my wife is able to get packed and unpacked quickly. Here are a few things we do that may help you guys.

Packing - She packs the inside while I prep the truck and trailer for the trip.
1. Each week my wife comes up with a menu before grocery shopping. When we camp she just modified the list and we have a camping menu.
2. I turn the fridge on the night before so she can pack food it the AM.
3. Each child has a small bin that they can pack whatever they want in. This is typically books, toys, etc. We don't allow any overflow.
4. The kids all have a cabinet in the bunkhouse and this is where their cloths and that toy bin go. Everything has a place.

Unpacking - She starts unpacking as soon as I get the trailer leveled and is usually done by the time I have the stabilizers down and truck unhooked.
1. Before leaving the campground all dirty clothes go into a trash bag. This bag goes right to the laundry room.
2. All food is packed into those canvas grocery bags ready to be moved to the house.
3. She gets the trailer as clean as possible before leaving the campground, but this depends on timing.
4. She's not shy about using/abusing her child labor. Even the 4 year old harries stuff with those little hands.

We usually finish our jobs around the same time and this has worked well for us.

Good advice here.

My wife works inside the camper while we are waiting/dumping the holding tanks too.

We don't pack and unpack. Almost everything stays in the trailer. A few spoilable groceries (eggs, milk etc) get taken out but most everything else stays put. Maybe a few clothes get moved around but not much. There's just the two of us and we travel a lot. Sometimes for 2 months straight. We probably use ours a little different than most.

Lawn chairs, camp stove, tools and all that junk stays in the trailer. Refer stays on, A/C and heat stay set. Trailer is always plugged in.

We also travel with 4 kids and my wife is able to get packed and unpacked quickly. Here are a few things we do that may help you guys.

Packing - She packs the inside while I prep the truck and trailer for the trip.
1. Each week my wife comes up with a menu before grocery shopping. When we camp she just modified the list and we have a camping menu.
2. I turn the fridge on the night before so she can pack food it the AM.
3. Each child has a small bin that they can pack whatever they want in. This is typically books, toys, etc. We don't allow any overflow.
4. The kids all have a cabinet in the bunkhouse and this is where their cloths and that toy bin go. Everything has a place.

Unpacking - She starts unpacking as soon as I get the trailer leveled and is usually done by the time I have the stabilizers down and truck unhooked.
1. Before leaving the campground all dirty clothes go into a trash bag. This bag goes right to the laundry room.
2. All food is packed into those canvas grocery bags ready to be moved to the house.
3. She gets the trailer as clean as possible before leaving the campground, but this depends on timing.
4. She's not shy about using/abusing her child labor. Even the 4 year old harries stuff with those little hands.

We usually finish our jobs around the same time and this has worked well for us.

Perhaps you'd get better responses in the 'Family Camping' section of the forum.

maybe time for a permenent camp spot.

Pile all of the necessary `stuff' in one room and have the kids haul it out to the camper. We store our rig next to our house, plugged in, so we can put some of the food in the refrigerator ahead of time.

NCMODELA wrote:
Do me a favor and take the eye rolling faces somewhere else.

Not a chance - you've got a large family, why would you not expect this process to take much more work than for those of us with fewer or no kids? You've already said you're doing what you can to not take unnecessary "stuff" along and already pack as efficiently as you can, so what else could others suggest that would magically make this issue go away for you? Good friends of ours, long time campers, found thenselves in a similar situation and finally came up with their own solution - they gave up camping entirely. How's that for a creative suggestion? ;)

petrel wrote:
As always, try to simplify.
Limit the amount of stuff the children may bring. Select a duffle bag of appropriate size for each. That is the limit. Do that for yourself too, if necessary.
Plan your meals, so that there is a minimum of groceries going back into the house.
Make sure the TT has its own set of gear: pots, pans, silverware, tools, flashlights, etc. Don't try to make the stuff you already have do double duty.
Be sure that all children who can walk and talk have their own jobs.
Treat it like an extension of you house. If it was a short trip and you are going again next weekend, just make the beds and leave the clean clothes in the drawers/closets. No need to strip it each time.

Our family of six lived in our TT for 30 days and 7000 miles in one trip once. My wife managed the TT like a submarine. No wasted provisions, no wasted space, everything in its place. Once you get a good routine, the children will just keep getting more and more helpful. Beware, when they are grown up, you will miss them when they don't go!

This.

EVERYONE should help. For a family that size, you need a lot of food, regardless of how efficient you are.

Keep in mind that camping may not be nearly as relaxing for mom as it is for everyone else. If she is the chief cook, it's still a lot of work. Meals need to be simplified to things that can be made ahead of time, and simple items like hot dogs over a fire, or easy skillet meals.

Do me a favor and take the eye rolling faces somewhere else. Obviously there is nothing else you can provide to this situation. It was an open ended question. I do my best at at it right now but also respect the opinions of others who have gone through the same thing and found a trick or two that I may not have thought of. That's what I'm soliciting.