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f you're one of the lucky folks out there who owns a conversion van, you already know how useful they can be for everything from moving large household furniture, to being utilized as a mobile home or office. The possibilities truly feel endless! And when the holidays come around, your friends and family will be green as a Grinch with jealousy over how much room you have for packing that conversion van with all manner of gifts and goodies. Now let's say you have a large stable of friends and family to buy presents for this holiday season. What's the best way to utilize your conversion van and basically turn it into Santa's mobile sleigh? Read on for some tips and tricks!
The first thing that you'll want to do, particularly if any of your gifts have surfaces with the potential for scratches, dings, or could be marred in any way, is to place a soft layer of padding on the floor of your conversion van. This padding could be something as simple and straight-forward as moving blankets (often found at places like U-Haul or Ryder), or you can opt for actual padding, such as a large mattress pad or memory foam topper that's been cut to fit the unique dimensions of your conversion van. The important thing is just to ensure that there's some kind of buffer to prevent the friction of your moving vehicle from causing any damage to your holiday wares. If any of your gifts are large or cumbersome, it's important to pack these items in your van with care, especially if the might have the propensity for falling over or shifting in transit. Think of your conversion van as a moving truck. How would you transport your cherished home items with care from point A to point B, ensuring that everything arrives intact? Particularly long and/or tall items can be laid on their side and buffered with softer items or padding. Heavier items should always be allocated to closer to the floor of your van, so they get the most benefit from the padding and you won't risk crushing any of your more delicate items. If your gifts are being wrapped in colorful papers and ribbons and are more of the box-shaped present variety, even better! Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters" show recently did a segment on whether men have a better spatial ability to pack a car than a woman, and in their tests, the theory was marginally proven. So ladies, make sure you get a man to do all the heavy lifting and packing for you. (Just kidding!) In all seriousness, the most important factors to ensure that your gifts are packed safely and securely into your conversion van is to minimize shifting during transit by stacking like-sized items together and utilizing padding in-between rows or stacks to help preserve delicate bows and the structural shape of your items. A box of jewelry on top of a "Beers of the World" sampler is a good idea, but please, not the other way around! Finally, utilize the assembly line method to make your gift-packing go as quickly and smoothly as possible. It's a good rule of thumb to either start with cumbersome and/or oddly shaped items and work around them, or to arrange your packages from heaviest to lightest and work from there.
Remember, pack your presents tightly and securely, but take care to preserve their good looks with padding or protective wrapping as needed. Have a happy and van-tastic holiday season!
f you're one of the lucky folks out there who owns a conversion van, you already know how useful they can be for everything from moving large household furniture, to being utilized as a mobile home or office. The possibilities truly feel endless! And when the holidays come around, your friends and family will be green as a Grinch with jealousy over how much room you have for packing that conversion van with all manner of gifts and goodies. Now let's say you have a large stable of friends and family to buy presents for this holiday season. What's the best way to utilize your conversion van and basically turn it into Santa's mobile sleigh? Read on for some tips and tricks!The first thing that you'll want to do, particularly if any of your gifts have surfaces with the potential for scratches, dings, or could be marred in any way, is to place a soft layer of padding on the floor of your conversion van. This padding could be something as simple and straight-forward as moving blankets (often found at places like U-Haul or Ryder), or you can opt for actual padding, such as a large mattress pad or memory foam topper that's been cut to fit the unique dimensions of your conversion van. The important thing is just to ensure that there's some kind of buffer to prevent the friction of your moving vehicle from causing any damage to your holiday wares. If any of your gifts are large or cumbersome, it's important to pack these items in your van with care, especially if the might have the propensity for falling over or shifting in transit. Think of your conversion van as a moving truck. How would you transport your cherished home items with care from point A to point B, ensuring that everything arrives intact? Particularly long and/or tall items can be laid on their side and buffered with softer items or padding. Heavier items should always be allocated to closer to the floor of your van, so they get the most benefit from the padding and you won't risk crushing any of your more delicate items. If your gifts are being wrapped in colorful papers and ribbons and are more of the box-shaped present variety, even better! Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters" show recently did a segment on whether men have a better spatial ability to pack a car than a woman, and in their tests, the theory was marginally proven. So ladies, make sure you get a man to do all the heavy lifting and packing for you. (Just kidding!) In all seriousness, the most important factors to ensure that your gifts are packed safely and securely into your conversion van is to minimize shifting during transit by stacking like-sized items together and utilizing padding in-between rows or stacks to help preserve delicate bows and the structural shape of your items. A box of jewelry on top of a "Beers of the World" sampler is a good idea, but please, not the other way around! Finally, utilize the assembly line method to make your gift-packing go as quickly and smoothly as possible. It's a good rule of thumb to either start with cumbersome and/or oddly shaped items and work around them, or to arrange your packages from heaviest to lightest and work from there.
Remember, pack your presents tightly and securely, but take care to preserve their good looks with padding or protective wrapping as needed. Have a happy and van-tastic holiday season!