A note pad (to make lists of things you find you "need/want"). Go to a very close by campground/rv park (whatever you feel you will be spending most of your time in). Spend a weekend or a few days during the week. Spend a few days in bad weather (too cold, too wet, too windy).
Keep your note pad handy. NOT YOUR PHONE! An actual piece of paper. Because this needs to be a list that you can both see as you walk by and add or delete. One item will remind you of another item. A rainy day will have things added to your list (umbrella?) or deleted. Two pairs of eyes (and brains) looking at the list will result in editing, adding and scratching things off BEFORE you buy. And you will need to do this over various seasons and locations. Mountains, lakes, beaches and deserts all require different things as does Winter, Spring/Fall and Summer camping. I have found that camping in rustic Public campgrounds is a bit different than camping at a "well-appointed" city type RV park. Different needs.
Many things you will want will likely already be taking up space in your home (clothes, pot's, pans, DVDs, sweat shirts/sweaters, COATS, etc). To make taking off easier, I suggest that you rummage thru your wardrobes and put a few changes of clothes in the camper. When we weekend camped, we had a popup. I could roll in less than 15 minutes (the time it took to add fresh food to the camper and close it up plus put the two kids, dog and cat). We also stocked the camper from thrift stores. All the kids clothes were thrift store (who cares if they trashed them while playing). Some of my best "camper " coats came from thrift stores. My current incredibly warm winter coat was a $5 thrift store purchase (I've had it for 7 years now when I first bought it, I checked online, it was a 1 year old model and cost over $200 new from one of those REI stores). A sudden Spring cold front rolled in. It started out sunny and warm with a forecast of almost 70F. Two hours later, the weather app was saying "winter storm warning" and we were getting snow flurries. I stopped in at a thrift store that we sometimes bought from. They had coats discounted for the summer.
Most of the people on this forum carry things that I think are stupid. I'm sure I have stuff that they think is stupid. We all live differently. We all have different needs and wants. I've been camping and/or fulltiming since 1979. From tents to motorhome. My rolling stock has changed over time, just as my life has changed. It will take time for you to figure out what you need/want. And it will change over time as well.
Keep your note pad handy. NOT YOUR PHONE! An actual piece of paper. Because this needs to be a list that you can both see as you walk by and add or delete. One item will remind you of another item. A rainy day will have things added to your list (umbrella?) or deleted. Two pairs of eyes (and brains) looking at the list will result in editing, adding and scratching things off BEFORE you buy. And you will need to do this over various seasons and locations. Mountains, lakes, beaches and deserts all require different things as does Winter, Spring/Fall and Summer camping. I have found that camping in rustic Public campgrounds is a bit different than camping at a "well-appointed" city type RV park. Different needs.
Many things you will want will likely already be taking up space in your home (clothes, pot's, pans, DVDs, sweat shirts/sweaters, COATS, etc). To make taking off easier, I suggest that you rummage thru your wardrobes and put a few changes of clothes in the camper. When we weekend camped, we had a popup. I could roll in less than 15 minutes (the time it took to add fresh food to the camper and close it up plus put the two kids, dog and cat). We also stocked the camper from thrift stores. All the kids clothes were thrift store (who cares if they trashed them while playing). Some of my best "camper " coats came from thrift stores. My current incredibly warm winter coat was a $5 thrift store purchase (I've had it for 7 years now when I first bought it, I checked online, it was a 1 year old model and cost over $200 new from one of those REI stores). A sudden Spring cold front rolled in. It started out sunny and warm with a forecast of almost 70F. Two hours later, the weather app was saying "winter storm warning" and we were getting snow flurries. I stopped in at a thrift store that we sometimes bought from. They had coats discounted for the summer.
Most of the people on this forum carry things that I think are stupid. I'm sure I have stuff that they think is stupid. We all live differently. We all have different needs and wants. I've been camping and/or fulltiming since 1979. From tents to motorhome. My rolling stock has changed over time, just as my life has changed. It will take time for you to figure out what you need/want. And it will change over time as well.
