A campervan trip is one of the best and most fun trips you can do, but there are some important van life questions you should know to ask before committing to your home on wheels! We have been fortunate to rent a campervan and motorhome from multiple Countries including Australia, New Zealand and Europe, and so have some experience with hiring different types of vans during different seasonal periods across the year.
From our experience, here are our top 10 must ask questions to help ensure a smoother sailing trip. Don't forget to check out our Packing essentials for your next road trip!
Ask what is included?
Ask exactly what will be included with the vehicle hire. I'm talking about an actual broken-down list, providing details on what is included in the price that has been quoted. There are not many campervan hire companies that will give you an 'all inclusive price' but different hire companies will charge for multiple extras, and they won't all be the same.
There are usually add-on options that can catch you out, these include optional extras such as your duvet and pillows, (yes, these are not always included!) kitchen equipment like pots, pans, kettles etc, kitchen sets like mugs, plates, bowls, outdoor furniture such as table and chairs, other extras might include additional cleaning supplies for the toilet, amongst other options.
Know who to call if something goes wrong
This should be highlighted to you at the beginning of your trip, but take a picture on your phone of the phone number and who to call should something go wrong with your van. If you're anything like us, we often lose pieces of paper and so having this already handy on your phone will save any further stress. This also sounds like an obvious thing to do, but often, it isn't actually the hire company that will deal with issues with the van, it is often a third party company that looks after any mechanical issues.
Does it have hot water and heating?
You’d think after being seasoned 'campervan hirers' we would know to ask this by now.... But on our recent trip to Italy, we were so overexcited at the prospect of travel again (after 4 months lockdown in the UK) that we didn’t even think to ask such a simple and basic question!