Tony ReevesIn six-plus years of full-time RVing, we’ve driven away from campgrounds with the slideout partially extended, the steps still down, and the shore power cord dragging behind us. Not all at once — thank goodness — but each of those incidents happened when we were rushing, distracted, or just convinced that we’d “definitely” already checked that item. The fix wasn’t more careful thinking. The fix was a checklist we actually used every single time.
A solid pre-departure routine does two things: it catches the things you forgot, and it builds the muscle memory that eventually makes most items automatic. Experienced RVers still use checklists because the stakes are high. A deployed step that catches on a curb can tear apart the underside of your rig. An unsecured awning at 65 mph can shred in minutes and damage the roof. Forgetting to retract a slideout and then trying to drive is an expensive lesson in both body damage and embarrassment.
The Most Commonly Forgotten Items
After talking to hundreds of RVers at campgrounds and in online communities, a few items show up again and again as the culprits behind “I can’t believe I forgot that” moments:
The TV antenna. Particularly on older rigs with crank-up antennas. You raised it for better reception two nights ago, satellite dish looked fine, and now you’re about to drive under a low canopy. Lowered-antenna is item number one for a reason.
Shore power cord. Some rigs have a buzzer that sounds when you put the vehicle in gear while plugged in. Most don’t. Walking away while plugged in — especially at a 50-amp site — can rip the outlet out of both the rig and the pedestal. It’s an embarrassing and expensive repair.
Propane tanks. The debate about whether to travel with propane on is real: if you have a 12V compressor refrigerator, you don’t need propane running at all while driving. If you have a three-way absorption fridge that runs on propane while driving, that’s a different situation. But in either case, you should know what position your tanks are in before departure, not wonder about it at the first traffic stop.
Hitch safety chains. These are your backup if the coupler fails. They need to be crossed under the tongue (so they catch if the trailer drops) and attached to the tow vehicle — not to each other, and not through the loop of the other chain. This one matters so much it’s worth a double-check every single time.
How to Build the Pre-Departure Habit
We recommend doing your checklist walk-around in the same order every single time. Exterior first, moving clockwise around the rig. Then interior, from front to back. Then hitch. Then a final 360° walk-around before getting in the cab. Consistency means your eye catches anomalies — something that looks different from last time.
The checklist below saves your progress in your browser, so you can work through it over multiple trips to the rig. Use the Print button to keep a paper copy in your glovebox as a backup.
After You’re Rolling
Even with a perfect pre-departure check, good travel habits continue on the road. Pull over after the first 10-15 miles to do a quick walk-around and check hitch torque on new tires. Check trailer lights at your first rest stop — bulbs can blow without warning. And set a calendar reminder to check lug nut torque after any new tire installation (retorque after 50-100 miles).
For more on safe towing practices and weight management, our RV towing capacity calculator helps you verify your vehicle-trailer combination before every trip. Pair it with this checklist and you’ve covered both the mechanical safety and the operational checklist bases before every departure.
Safe travels — and may your slideouts always be retracted when you need them to be.