MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: xcvator on November 27, 2012, 08:04:49 AM
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As I/we are fairly new to ct camping I was just wondering how long does it take you to pack up and be hitched ready to go, I'm not talking about a quick over nighter, but after a few days or weeks ?
After 5 pack ups we find now we can have a leisurely cooked breakfast :cup: and still be hitched up in about an hour and a half from getting out of bed.
This for "Tanami" soft floor, so I guess a hard floor camper would be quicker.
So what's your average times ? are mine (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-score005.gif) (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php) or more a (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-score009.gif) (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php)
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We do it slightly differently (or at least we did on our first trip). We started to pack up, had a coffee, then did a bit more, then had some lunch etc...
Took us a while but nobody really kept an eye on the time, we just realised it was soo much quicker than tenting it and so much less stressful.
Bunyip
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Does that include dissasembing all your heating devices? ;D
We wouild be similar for our Ezytrail with its big canvass. Its not the tent that takes the time so much, as all the other stuff you have to pack away after an extended stay. Tables, chairs, personal effects, cooking & campfire gear, everything you quickly pull out takes twice as long to put away.
Id say we would take 30 minutes for "stuff" and 30 minutes for actual CT pack up and attach.
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Does that include dissasembing all your heating devices? ;D
We wouild be similar for our Ezytrail with its big canvass. Its not the tent that takes the time so much, as all the other stuff you have to pack away after an extended stay. Tables, chairs, personal effects, cooking & campfire gear, everything you quickly pull out takes twice as long to put away.
Id say we would take 30 minutes for "stuff" and 30 minutes for actual CT pack up and attach.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: yes mate that includes my heating devices and every thing else,chairs ,tables,dog, wife(though she is probably classed as a heating device except when I'm getting the cold shoulder :angel: )
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From sitting around enjoying life to being hitched up and driving off from a complete long term set up is about an hour for us, maybe 40-45 mins if the kids pitch in properly and we have packed some things away the night before but pretty much a cruisy hour.
And I am talking about everything including the breakfast dishes still needing to be sorted and this is with 2-3 kids.
We have and are still improving on this but we keep everything well organised and try to run a simple and effective ship. Every time we go away we find another thing we dont need to take or a better way of doing things.
As it is now it works something like this........
Miss 10 and Mister 15 pack up their personal belongings and put their swags up on our bed while Mum and Dad packs up kitchen etc.
We all then pitch in and fold up chairs, pack away solar panels, pack up any hammocks or ball games, pack up Ozpig box, put fridge on its slide and have it all sitting on the tarp ready to put back into the trailer.
Then its just a matter of pulling the annex back over the top of the main tent, packing the poles into their holder and then folding the main tent up.
Once the main tent is packed away we put everything into the trailer tub. We dont take a huge amount of items and what we do take is pretty well organised.
While mum and the kids are folding up the ground cover tarp I hitch up and walk around doing the final checks.
We love our camper. :)
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With kids helping or not? Its a few hour difference :D
Depending on weather, we usually packup everything not needed the night before departure, inc the awning so theres less to go first thing. You never know what weather you will wake up to
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Although we have only done our full setup twice now. I would say a very leisurely hour. We just clean and pack everything away where it should be. Then leave the tent till last and fold it closed hook up and gone. Best thing is when you get home pull clothes and food out and your done. Big difference to tenting it. Where you would spend 2 hours packing up then 2 hours at home packing everything away again. Love the trailer.
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It does depend on your family situation. We have two under 4 and can do it in around an hour to an hour and a half without pushing it including breakfast. As the kitchen in the camprite is the last to go in and does not impact on packup Erin usually dresses and feeds the kids while I work around them, grabbing breakfast as I wander past. This only works if there is a clean dry area to lay annex walls out on so I can fold them up myself.
I use to rush but have learnt that I would rather take an extra half hour and not be all wound up by the time we get in the car, these days it takes as long as it takes and we try not to get to worried about timing. This is the hardest part about touring in groups, I don't mind helping other if we are packed up first but don't like other people having to wait for us.
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We are never in a hurry just take our time try to leave about 2-3pm home by 6pm put the tug and ct in the shed get the cloths and food out then coffee time watch the idiot box weekend over.......back to work
:cheers:
Smoko
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It does depend on your family situation. We have two under 4 and can do it in around an hour to an hour and a half without pushing it including breakfast. As the kitchen in the camprite is the last to go in and does not impact on packup Erin usually dresses and feeds the kids while I work around them, grabbing breakfast as I wander past. This only works if there is a clean dry area to lay annex walls out on so I can fold them up myself.
I use to rush but have learnt that I would rather take an extra half hour and not be all wound up by the time we get in the car, these days it takes as long as it takes and we try not to get to worried about timing. This is the hardest part about touring in groups, I don't mind helping other if we are packed up first but don't like other people having to wait for us.
^^^that sounds a lot like us Burnsy!
RE: 2010 Lifestyle Extenda w/ Fridge in Walkway slide, all equipment stored in Trailer (nothing in vehicle), 1x 1y.o & 1x 3y.o.
1. Full annex setup incl walls, fridge out on stand near kitchen & locked, kitchen swung out and stove on ready to cook, all beds/chairs/tables, for a 2+ days stay = 1 hour up, 1 hour down.
2. Overnight stay flip-out, fridge remaining in camper walkway slide, kitchen swung out and stove on, kids beds setup inside, put all legs down and unhitched = 20-35 mins each way.
Would really like to get the Full Setup w/ Annex down to 45mins, but I don't think it's worth the stress or haste. At the moment its a casual plod around which hardly raises a sweat.
The overnight stay setup/breakdown will no doubt get quicker once we're doing it on a very long trip.
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About 3 to 4 hours for us (after 4 or 5 days camping). No quicker than when I used tents - in fact it might be worse. The camper trailer is nice but it means more crap gets taken camping and that crap gets taken out and spread out over a few days and needs to be packed up and put back into the trailer at the end of the stay. 3 kids does not help. 1 parent is dedicated to watching/helping kids.
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We do it slightly differently (or at least we did on our first trip). We started to pack up, had a coffee, then did a bit more, then had some lunch etc...
Took us a while but nobody really kept an eye on the time, we just realised it was soo much quicker than tenting it and so much less stressful.
Bunyip
About 3 to 4 hours for us (after 4 or 5 days camping). No quicker than when I used tents - in fact it might be worse. The camper trailer is nice but it means more crap gets taken camping and that crap gets taken out and spread out over a few days and needs to be packed up and put back into the trailer at the end of the stay.
What they said ...
Kit_e ;D
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No quicker than when I used tents - in fact it might be worse. The camper trailer is nice but it means more crap gets taken camping and that crap gets taken out and spread out over a few days and needs to be packed up and put back into the trailer at the end of the stay.
I'd agree with that. My camping used to be on motorcycles..
1x "1 man cycle tent" and 1x sleepin bag in the gearsack, grog also in gearsack bag and go :D Then family happened.. and the required acres hit :(
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It always changes for us depending on what we take.
Best case about 10mins. Camper, awning table and chairs.
Worst cast 45mins. Camper, awning, walls, kids room, toilet and shower, kids bikes, surfboards, etc
Obviously sometimes it takes longer as we are not in a hurry so we do a bit have a rest etc.
This is for a 2010 kk platinum extreme, I don't miss the days of the lifestyle soft floor...2hrs plus
Sent from Behind you...BOO
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My Flamingo runs like this.
Simple over night setup, ready to sleep, and 20mins.
Full bed flys, awning, annex just under an hour.
Pack up is similar, although we have only done the full packup once, and I took my time, ended up taking me a whole day :) on purpose of course, as it was a top day.
We hired a Complete Campsite softfloor once, packed that sucker up, in the rain, with Pat Malone, in just under 45mins.. hitched ready to roll, then spent 30mins looking for the kids, almost gave up and left them there..
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I find the more helpful advice I offer, the quicker the missus gets the camper packed.
Best time to offer her advice is when she is getting tired and slowing down. Simple things like, save yourself a trip and carry 2 chairs at once, stuff like that.
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I find the more helpful advice I offer, the quicker the missus gets the camper packed.
Best time to offer her advice is when she is getting tired and slowing down. Simple things like, save yourself a trip and carry 2 chairs at once, stuff like that.
Pretty good effort from her to carry 2 chairs AND your next beer...
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I find the more helpful advice I offer, the quicker the missus gets the camper packed.
Best time to offer her advice is when she is getting tired and slowing down. Simple things like, save yourself a trip and carry 2 chairs at once, stuff like that.
Quiet trip home too no doubt.
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Quiet trip home too no doubt.
Your right there, I sleep like a baby.
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Packing is crap, no matter what camper you have. It's the stuff we all have like clothes and bedding that can take the most time I reckon.
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i've never timed our pack up but i guess it takes about an hour, because it's just the 2 of us a weekend camping requires the same amount of junk as a week camping so there is no time difference
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Our first and so far, only pack up took about 2 hours. Geez we had some stuff out.
To be fair though, 1 hour of that was me cowering under the trailer crying while the wife, for some god forsakin reason, was trying to kill me.
Not my fault she's touchy about hail damage...... not the car either.... ;D
At least it took the focus off her fat bum....
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Weather dependant, by myself while the wife and 4 yr old sit in the car, around the two hour mark On a wet wild 40+ knot windy day on Fraser...
Bring on the new pop top... Nooo more flip over soft floor campers for me..
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It's becoming quicker the older the kids get ;D
Each of us have a job to do, this gets thrown out the window when one of the kids is elsewhere, but we are getting quicker at it.
Obviously it depends on how much crap we get out, to how long it takes to pack it all away when leaving.
Don't matter if it's raining or not, if windy it will take longer.
Love our Swan for how quick it is to be on the road.
:cheers:
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For us we found to make it easier (and save our sanity) is to load the car the night before literally only keep out bedding. We drop the walls on the awning and pack the kitchen up. So all we have left in the morning is buckle the kids in the car so they are not underfoot, throw the kids stretcher up on our bed and drop the awning and fold it all away. We usually give the kids breakfast first but i have it all ready in the car fridge so i dont need to open the camper up for it :) We are down to about an hour now to pack up if we do all we can the night before :)
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Our first and so far, only pack up took about 2 hours. Geez we had some stuff out.
To be fair though, 1 hour of that was me cowering under the trailer crying while the wife, for some god forsakin reason, was trying to kill me.
Not my fault she's touchy about hail damage...... not the car either.... ;D
At least it took the focus off her fat bum....
FTW :cup:
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Picture what Foghorn Leghorn use to do to that old dog on the Bugs Bunny Show, then you know what was happening to me.... :'(
Oh, that woman, got a mouth like an outboard motor.
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Overnighter, no annexe, 15 - 20 mins and ready to cook and sleep. Pack up the same. Afew days, annexe and a bunch of rubbish on the ground like a lot of chairs, tucker boxes extra lights, it is closer to an hour. The wife is flat out being 5 foot tall so is next to useless as far as helping with the annexe goes. The triton has a tray back so I have to load it up mostly as well.
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I can not comment on how long a pack up takes as I have never done a pack up to time but what I do before leaving the camp site is "get it ready for the next trip" which takes about 1 1/2 hours dodging the kids or about an hour with my oldest daughter and myself whilst the the other half entertains the other two kids where they can not be heard
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We are on the road for 12 months and i'm sure as we get more experienced it will get easier. It has taken us anywhere between 2 to 4 hours. It's packing up all our Shit that takes the longest. I'm hoping to get this down to an hour and a half... We are packing tomorrow, leaving Swansea in tassie to head to just out of hobart. I'll time it again... So much Shit
Wherethebloodyhellarewe.com
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We have a hard floor & to us time is irrelevant...just have to give SWMBO plenty of space & time to get the inside if the CT sorted. While this is happening I usually loosen ropes, 1/2 pull out pegs, sort ot the 4By etc.
Once she is ready, it only takes 15-30 mins to fold walls annex etc, pack the last few things in the CT.
Hitching up used to be "fun" but now we have a DO35 & a rear camera!!!
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I can not comment on how long a pack up takes as I have never done a pack up to time but what I do before leaving the camp site is "get it ready for the next trip" which takes about 1 1/2 hours dodging the kids or about an hour with my oldest daughter and myself whilst the the other half entertains the other two kids where they can not be heard
Ive seen you do it in less than an hour......dont know if those dark clouds rolling in helped :)
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Our full set up with annex walls about 1 1/2 hours, 3 daughters and a vertically challenged wife slows us up a bit.
Our last trip we had a jayco pop top set up next to us not a full annex just the awning packed up and gone in 15 mins >:(
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2 hours for us
Goes something like this
Breakfast
Pack and hitch up
Leave towel handy then go and have a shower before leaving
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We haven't "packed up" for such a long time now.
I remember one of our first times and it tested our marriage somewhat. Didnt takelong to get it sorted, have a few routines, a few simple rules or guidelines and it goes smoothly. Decluttering always works, as does everything has a place abdtheres a place for everything ensures things go smoothly.
We usually shower after pack up,as sommetinesquite sweaty. That takes some time.
Sadly though,I'm sure our first pack up on our next trip and we'll be testing our patience again.
Take a deep breath, hug your wife and tell her you love her. Chill out and its not a raç. Or if a early start is needed, we semi pack up the night before and forgo the shower.
Chill out, its not a race.
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A big thing for us coming from using tents and more camping gadgets you could poke a stick at, to a camper trailer was to make it easier.
Setting up and packing up the tent set ups was a real chore and no one really looked forward to it so therefore camping was spread out more between trips.
Since we have been using our CT we are always looking at ideas and things to make life easier or faster or less of a chore. I am not sure if it is still a novelty of not having to do the whole tent thing but now when we go away it is actually fun setting the camper up!!
Reading some of the replies here reminds me of what it used to be like, I feel for some of you and urge you to see if you can make life easier for yourself.....it will transform your camping experiences ;D
We do weekenders all the time now and really enjoy it.........especially reversing the camper into the garage and walking away from it until the next weekender
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Five minutes 8)
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Five minutes 8)
Us too when we use the roof top tent and awning LOL
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The camper itself takes us bugger all, probably 15-20 mins. It's so the other crap that takes all the time and with three young ens there is plenty. Probably around an hour or so for the rest :cheers:
BD
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takes me about 10 minutes, generally i'll take off for few hours.. the wife gets upset that I'm not around, she does all the work, so when i get back its just hitch up and go.. its also generally a quite trip home >:D
swannie
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Ive seen you do it in less than an hour......dont know if those dark clouds rolling in helped :)
must have been the dark clouds as i was trying to use the sun to time myself so there you go takes me less than an hour with all the kids around
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After 4 nights last week it took 1.5 hours in a leisurely manner. I put a big tarp out on the ground and shift everything on to it. Then stack the camper and 4wd in a logical order. It takes about the same time to set up.
Interesting comment from a couple parked near us in a caravan saying they can have a full set up inc annexe in 1 hour. I pointed out that it also took them an extra half hour on the road to travel the 300km not to mention the extra 10 litres of fuel and $30,000 purchase price.
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Interesting comment from a couple parked near us in a caravan saying they can have a full set up inc annexe in 1 hour. I pointed out that it also took them an extra half hour on the road to travel the 300km not to mention the extra 10 litres of fuel and $30,000 purchase price.
LOL Classic, I need to remember this!
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We are never in a hurry just take our time try to leave about 2-3pm home by 6pm put the tug and ct in the shed get the cloths and food out then coffee time watch the idiot box weekend over.......back to work
Smoko
Same, same!
J
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In 32 degree heat it too us 3 hours..it was the worst day of our life
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In 32 degree heat it too us 3 hours..it was the worst day of our life
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You have left Tassie then?? ;) Just tricking, it has been hot.
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In 32 degree heat it too us 3 hours..it was the worst day of our life
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32 degrees? Ha, that's a nice cool day for us up north here. ;D
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Our full set up with annex walls about 1 1/2 hours, 3 daughters and a vertically challenged wife slows us up a bit.
Our last trip we had a jayco pop top set up next to us not a full annex just the awning packed up and gone in 15 mins >:(
That's the exact reason we bought a jayco after camping for 20 years.
Admittedly I miss being under the tent and tarp for space but I don't miss the long set up and pack up.
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All depends for us on the set up, while away for the last month, our quick overnight stay pack ups were less than 15 minutes and our 3 day pluses were probably close to an hour.
Quick setup is roll out kitchen, fold out soft floor tent, take kids stretchers off bed (beds stay made up) and put together fold out table and chairs for dinner and brekky. Turn on power and gas.
Long setup is awning and walls if required, and peg down tent, random fishing gear, kids scooters and toys, fold out camping chairs.
We set our camper up so everything has a place, needs to go on the trip and when things are pulled out, they go back without it needing to be like a Rubix cube relying on one thing on the bottom that you need until last has to go in first. Our last rip, even with two kids, we had hardly anything on the car and I had space in the trailer to buy a webberq and fit it in the trailer in Townsville.
We have a massive storage box on the front of the trailer that really helps.
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Danny it was a stinker that day.. And next week is top of 15,so similar to Melbourne weather... Not a great pack up day, and we need to start a lot earlier so it's not the middle of the day and we are driving... Lessons learnt
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Danny it was a stinker that day.. And next week is top of 15,so similar to Melbourne weather... Not a great pack up day, and we need to start a lot earlier so it's not the middle of the day and we are driving... Lessons learnt
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It will be warmer than the forcast temperature although there is suppose to be a bit of wind around some parts early next week.
You guys will be the king and queen of pack ups by the time your finished! Given that you didnt really get a chance to do a lot of 'shake down' trips I cant help but wonder how different your complete set up will be by the end of your trip??
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From an every thing out to packed up is about 1.5 hours after SWMBO gets out of bed. I get up 15min later to greet her when she gets back from the shower.
We do some prep work the night before which makes it easier.
The last pack up with the treat of rain we packed the kids bedroom up the night before and the pack up including breakfast was in less than an hour.
Set up times are between 30 min to 1 hr depending on the level of set up. These times are from unhitching and leveling the trailer.
The more you do it the better you get at it. But when you have not done it in a while it takes a little longer.
Regards
Crispy
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The more you do it the better you get at it.
We do it fortnightly and I don't think we've improved our time much, but we are more organised when we do do it.
These times are from unhitching and leveling the trailer.
That goes without saying for us ... wonder if the same can be said for others.
Our setup time also includes arguing about the site (best site / setup angle / views / etc) for a bit as well. Setup is completed when the first drinks come out - usually his - and you can sit in a chair without a care in the world. ;D Might not include things like the loo / ensuite / Ozpig ... those come later (usually) and are included in the pack up time.
Packing up takes longer because we nominate a certain time to be gone by ... so you pack up until then.
Kit_e
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Evie and I can take anything from a couple of hours to all day.
We refuse to fight or get stressed doing it and as soon as one of us starts to get a bit flustered, we stop, have a cup of tea and a chat and then carry on.
I really, Really like this previous post by CruisinDub
Take a deep breath, hug your wife and tell her you love her. Chill out and its not a raç. Or if a early start is needed, we semi pack up the night before and forgo the shower.
Chill out, its not a race.
Bloody well said mate. :cup:
Packing up can be stressful and hard work and there is absolutely no point in abusing your best mate or having a domestic while doing it.
"Happy Wife = Happy life" are true gems of wisdom in my humble opinion.
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We used to have the whole shebang. Tent tarp over everything camp kitchen pantry. You name it we had it. Took about 5 hours to set up!!! Got jack of that after 7-8 trips and bought a CT. Only put it up and down a few times and it takes a leisurely 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Pack up starts the night before with the crap we don't need. Clean clothes stay in the drawers in the camper, dirty clothes in a glad bag in the walkway. Love the fact that when we get home it's dirty clothes and food out of the Ct and we are done. Used to take me 2-3 hours just unpack the trailer and store it all away.
Cheers
Andrew
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Like most people have said, we just take our time. Why race and get wound up. You are on holidays for heavens sake, so just enjoy it and relax.
This topic reminds me of a Mr Bean skit, but I just can't place it. The one where he was racing to get something done before someone else and I remember the smug look on his face.