A Family Thanksgiving: RV Style

Holidays on-the-road can be truly magical experiences for the traveling family.

During the Thanksgiving season, in particular, campers are surrounded by reasons to be grateful for the vast outdoors and the experiences it offers our families throughout the year.

While this year has been full of uncertainty, the holiday season offers up the stability of time-honored traditions and much-needed quality time with our loved ones. Here are a few encouraging tips to help make this RV-style Thanksgiving your best one yet.

Featured image Claudio Schwarz 

Pick a Few Traditions to Keep

With a little creativity, most Thanksgiving traditions can be recreated at your campsite. An easy one for kids and adults is pumpkin carving or painting – be sure to display them around your campsite! Another great spin on this tradition is “gratefulness” pumpkins, where each family writes something they’re thankful for on a pumpkin each day in November leading up to the holiday.

Think about which traditions may be the most important to your particular family. While most RV’s don’t have a full-size oven, you may think a traditional turkey dinner is out of the question. However, there are other ways to cook a delicious, juicy turkey for your Thanksgiving meal: (Dutch oven recipe here)

• Fry a turkey using a standing deep-fryer.

• Cook a turkey in your grill or smoker.

• Cook your turkey over an open  fire pit.

• Substitute a traditional whole turkey for Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches instead – layered with stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce!

Make a New Tradition

Whether it’s your first RV holiday or you’re a seasoned vacationer, there is always room to add something special for your family to enjoy together. RV holidays are unique – and lend themselves to a lot of opportunities to try something new. Talk with your family about what tradition you could add to Thanksgiving Day this year and beyond:

• Go for a family hike.

• Try bird watching together during the fall migration.

• Invite some of your neighbors over for appetizers or the whole meal!

• Create and share in an autumn-themed scavenger hunt.

• Choose a movie to watch together on your outdoor TV.

• Make some decorations to keep and display or give away to neighbors.

• Have everyone participate in making a new side-dish for the Thanksgiving meal.

Photo credit Craig Adderley 

Don’t forget to research local activities that may be going on throughout the months of October and November, celebrating the fall harvest season. A trip to the local farmer’s market to choose fresh ingredients for your meal is another great opportunity to immerse the family in appreciating where food comes from and why we celebrate the Thanksgiving season.

Which traditions would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments.

Sincerely wishing your camper-crew a happy, healthy, and memorable Thanksgiving season.

 Loren Tucker

Loren is a freelance outdoor writer based in the northeastern U.S. She enjoys writing about all nature topics, participating in wildlife conservation, being on the water, and RV-ing with her family - including her cat and sulcata tortoise.