It’s no secret that summer is hot, but summer in an RV is on a whole other level. Most of the time, we try to plan our trips to avoid extreme heat or extreme cold, but it doesn’t always work out that way and we have to adapt. Since we have already talked about our best practices for cold weather camping, it’s time to get into hot weather camping!

In general, living in an RV means that we don’t have quite the temperature control that you’d find in a house. We have learned to enjoy the opportunity to be more immersed in our environment in this way, and it just means we have to put a little extra work and attention into regulating the RV’s temperature and change our schedules to fit our current climate. Here are some ways we work around the heat and keep RVing in the summer sun!

In the summer, early mornings really do feel magical since it’s usually the most temperate time of day to get outside! We try to avoid the hottest part of the day and do all of our workouts and activities in the mornings. That means waking up before the sun sometimes to do all of the things we like to do – it’s definitely tough sometimes, but what better excuse to get out and see the sunrise! 

• Workouts – Doing archery, yoga, hiking, or anything else active in the morning helps us to not get overheated. And there are less people out and about during those times anway, which is always a huge plus!

• Mose – We like to use the mornings to let little Mose outside when we are in a nice grassy area! Hydration is also important for him, so making sure there is plenty of water and shaded areas for him is a must. When it is extra warm, we like to take an ice pack and wrap it in fleece for him to lay on to cool down. 

• Cooking – Using a propane stove or oven adds a lot of extra heat to our environment, and living in a small area, and it warms up pretty fast while we cook. So, Tyler likes to plan ahead and cook whatever he can in the morning to avoid warming the RV up even further in the afternoon.

This is what we do to keep our rig nice and comfy during the hottest hours of the day!

• Put out the Awning – We used to only think of our awning as shade for sitting outside, but the awning also puts shade on half the RV. It makes a much bigger impact on the temperature of the RV than we would have guessed, and it really helps the AC keep up with high temperatures.

• Close the Curtains – We basically live in a cave come noon because we keep all of the curtains shut to block the heat! In the Alta, we have nice roller shades which are good at blocking out heat and cold, and in our Silver Lake, we installed our own thermal blackout curtains. Both are good options, and much better than the basic accordion shades that many RVs come with. 

• Turn on 2 ACs  – Having double ACs is the BEST! We lived with only 1 AC for a year, but now we are true believers in the double AC. In our current RV, we have one in the bedroom and one in the main living area. During the day, we have both running to combat the heat, but in the evening we can usually turn the main AC off to watch a movie, and at night we can switch, turning the main AC on and the bedroom AC off. We really like the flexibility of having 2 independently controlled AC units, especially because the noise from an RV AC unit is nothing to scoff at – it’s loud! 😅

• Noise Canceling Headphones – To help with the constant, sometimes grating sound of ACs running all day, we invested in some great full noise canceling bluetooth headphones. The ones we love are a little pricey, but the quality of the noise canceling is amazing! We’ll wear them when we are working or when we just need some peace and quiet throughout the day.

It may sound like we spend our summer days hiding out in the RV, but there are plenty of ways to still have fun while hot weather camping, and we have even found ways to have fun indoors when we need a break from the heat.

• Find RV parks with indoor amenities – We have stayed at RV parks with indoor pool tables, ping pong tables, and workout rooms. These RV parks are usually labeled as a resort, but we have noticed that that doesn’t necessarily mean they are more expensive than other RV parks in the area. Those fun amenities are always a great way to get us out of the RV during the hot parts of the day. Of course, many RV parks also have a pool, which a lot of people would say is one of the best ways to beat the summer heat!

• Indoor sports – Getting the most out of hot weather camping really does boil down to how we schedule our days. We mentioned that we do our outdoor activities in the morning, but we’ll usually make a point to save any indoor activities we can do for the middle part of the day – like jiu jitsu and rock climbing. Typically we like to also do these activities in the morning to avoid crowds, but during the summer months, we’ll adjust our schedule to make sure we can still get our outside time in the mornings!

• Working at coffee shops – Andrea loves to work at coffee shops because it is fun to get out of the RV and have new scenery and experiences. We find that in the summer, it’s good to find excuses to get out of the RV in the middle of the day so we don’t start feeling too cooped up. Plus, it’s a great place to cool down and grab a coffee or tea while working. 

And that is hot weather camping in the Wild Hixsons’ RV. Things like temperature control become just a little bit more complicated when living in an RV, but we’ve never been afraid of a little complication on the road to seeking out more adventures 😉 Stay cool, and happy camping, everyone!