If you are like me you tend to forget. I forget a lot of things, and it seems to be getting worse? Maybe I just have so much knowledge stored and so many things on my mind now that the storage mechanics of my internal hard drive are not capable of finding that stored data all the time? or … oh well let’s just say it is something I have to deal with.
Since it is a problem I have to deal with, I tend to make lists of things that I need to remember for particular events or things. Some of those are the lists I have for Travel. I have a list of things I need when I get ready to go back to work (since I work on a month rotation I am away from home for a month and need to get supplies enough for that time). I make a list of things I need to do for tomorrow almost every night, unless I am feeling like I will do nothing the next day. I have a list of things to do before we take off in the motor home – not just the one to start a trip but one for daily or when ever, movement of the motor home as there are a lot of things to remember to do. I was raised with lists as a kid, my Dad would make lists of things for us to work on when we got home from school. (Living on a farm there was always a lot of stuff that needed done).
Considering the motor home and travel, I would guess you have heard the stories of people pulling off and leaving their power cord connected or the water or sewer hose connected. How about those RV’ers that leave the antenna up, or a compartment door open? I must admit that I am one of those. So far in the motor home we bought in 2005 I have pulled out twice with the antenna still up. The last time, I knew in the middle of the night that I needed to put it down (short note: I got up in the middle of the night for a duty call and it came to me that “Damn you left the antenna up last night and you really need to let the down – but hey, I will remember that when we get started packing to move”. Well I didn’t but fortunately I didn’t completely yank it out like the first time. I only broke the plastic raising gear and that was simple enough to fix.
Because I am a “list nut” I have several excel spreadsheets that I use. I have one that I printed out and laminated and fixed so it iwll hang on the steering wheel or on the visor in front of me to remind me before we pull out of the things we need to do. On the last occasion I forgot to put it on the wheel – guess I need a list of lists? Anyway they do help, as long as you get into a routine to use them. Below are several of my lists that I use a lot. They are free downloads and I make no claim as to them being useful to you and they are provided only as information for you to make your own lists or “check-offs” for those things you just plain forget.
Note: Click on the link and save the file – then open it for the list – they are all excel spreadsheets or word documents so you much have excel or word or similar software to open them.
1. A Starters Camping list – this thing is huge and covers everything from your clothes to port-a-potty. A lot of stuff you may never need or take but it might be a good list for beginners to browse.
2. A Before you Move list – Got this from another website but you can use it to edit your own , it is pretty comprehensive.
3. A Stuffleft list – a spread sheet I have to put things in and check what i need to pick up.
All my free files for checklists, including the above lists.
On more really good idea came out in the November FMCA magazine:
Pretrip Safety Check
Using a pencil-and-paper safety check-off sheet before driving the motorhome can become a hassle. To make the process faster and easier, I used hook-and-loop fastening material to mount a 3/8-inch dowel to which I attach double-tagged plastic clothespins just beyond sight of the driver’s-side outside mirror. For short stops such as fueling, swiveling the clothespins to the right puts them directly in my line of sight when I look in the mirror, reminding me of items that need immediate attention. I just push them back into place when the task is completed. For longer periods of immobilization, I sometimes clip the pins directly onto the steering wheel — especially the one to remind me about the leveling jacks! You can add clothespin reminders for any task or chore. With this system, there’s no more “Honey, can you find me a pencil and my clipboard?”
K.C. & Emma Chalfin, F414463, DeLand, Florida
I am sure if you do a search you can find thousands of other lists on the internet, and some may be more what your looking for than these. – WD0AJG