Cross-Country RV Travel: Long Driving Days or Short Hops?

[jymbee]

We traveled from FL to NH last weekend 1421 miles. We Do it in two days. Stay in a motel one night. It works out to be 11 hours each day. Good the be home.

When our multi-month travels are coming to an end I come down with a case of GetHomeItis and also tend to do the 11 hours/day thing.

Or on some trips that last stop headed home is a Cracker Barrel 2 hours from home. Get some sleep that night and wake up looking at a leisurely 2 hour drive to home-- in the daylight.

 

[rjshiflet]

You do your driving at night mostly?

Pretty much never at night. My wife and I are 76 and 75 years old - we prefer daytime driving only.

 

[blw2]

Most of my RV travel has been local/regional so I don't have a lot of experience in the RV with long cross countries. Car travel is different for me, but I assume you mean RV. I tend towards say about 350-450 miles per day, and if I'm overnightning in parking lots I've found that I prefer to stop every 3rd night or so to find an actual RV park or campground, becasue I can let my guard down a bit more and get better rest.

I have made a couple very long trips though, but it has been a few years. Kids were younger then and that was a considerable variable. We tried to stop every day to do something.... a museum, a point of interest, explore a town. Well, that was as much for my wife as it was for my kids I suppose. It was a good way to break up the trip. Limited the miles per day a bit, but not by all that much.

We didn't really do it all that much, but if time isn't an issue I personally buy into the idea of being off the road by say around 3-4PM maybe. I look forward to having more flexibility with our time and not being in a rush, so that I can explore this idea.

 

[runamuck]

when towing our 5th wheel we tend to make 500 miles about the most we want to do in a day. we always want to get to a stopping point before dark so It kinda depends on what time we can get on the road. the last couple trips have been from Ft. Worth to Moab area so we head for Santa Rosa N.M. first..505m from our house. If not towing, say headed to new mexico or colorado for skiing, we will get up early and drive all the way there. we can get to Red River or Taos before dark from our house in Ft. Worth pretty easily. To Durango or Breckenridge a few more hours.

 

[Derby6]

We traveled from FL to NH last weekend 1421 miles. We Do it in two days. Stay in a motel one night. It works out to be 11 hours each day. Good to be home.

Yep—good 700-800 mile day.

 

[DutchmenSport]

As stated by so many different methods here, no two people do it the same. Everyone does it different. And as we get older, it changes also.

The length of travel time per day all depends upon your age and what your personal tolerance level is before driving fatigue catches you. It's pretty consistent across the board the older one gets, the shorter the actual travel time per day becomes.

Second is the overall length of time allocated for the entire trip, from starting point A on a specific date to ending point B on a specific date AND then, what is the total distance to be traveled.

The third factor to consider is determined by "need". What is the trip actually for? Is the trip strictly for vacation time, or is the trip focused around a life-event (wedding, funeral, graduation, birthday, celebration). The urgency to reach the final destination point WILL determine the distance and time to travel per day.

And I think the fourth consideration is the actual trip itself. If there are key activities, or key locations, or key sites one want to see while enroute between point A and point B, how much time do you want to spend at each location. What is significant enough "there" that warrants a laps in time.

There is no answer to this question even among each individual asked, as travel plans, time, distance, age, and main purpose of the trip are never the same between 2 trips.

As a starting point though, take the total distance you plan to travel and divide that amount by the number of days you have total for your "trip". Now, consider the most important "sub-destination" points along that path determine how much time you want to spend at each spot. Subtract that amount of days from the original calculation and now divide that number into the total miles. The distances and time to travel will get longer and longer. Where is YOUR breaking point base on your tolerance level and age.

One more consideration. IF you travel with an RV, you can anticipate your daily miles driven at 50 miles hour. That's about the normal average. YOU cannot travel as fast in an RV like you can in the family SUV.

And remember ... setting up camp .... even for an overnight ... if done in the dark, at the end of a long travel day, just absolutely sucks!

And one more thing ... if you attempt to beat time by traveling long days, when you finally reach your destination, you could potentially be so tired and exhausted from driving, once you reach your destination, you are simply too tired and exhausted to enjoy it!

 

[jymbee]

If there are key activities, or key locations, or key sites one want to see while enroute between point A and point B...

In all the years we've traveled not once did we stop enroute from one campsite to the other while towing. We always get to out next site, then drive around to places we want to see in that area.

And remember ... setting up camp .... even for an overnight ... if done in the dark, at the end of a long travel day, just absolutely sucks!

Definitely!! Not to mention the difficulty in even finding your space in the first place. The few times we've arrived at a new site after dark, a site we've never been to before, we unhook and drive around in the car to find the site and how to get there. Some real nightmarish after dark experiences even then.

Great post with a number of valid points!

 

[Kirk]

When we used to travel with a popup camper and three sons, each person had the same jobs in setting up at every stop and we could be inside for the night in 1/2 hour or less, as long as nobody came over to try and help. If other people were helping it would take an hour or even longer, and the more help the longer it took.

Having traveled both with a class A motorhome and with several different towed RVs, for most people the class A takes by far the least work to set up for the night, especially if you have a power leveling system.

 

[Vanbrat]

It depends on what the trip is for. Do we need to get from point A to point B quickly or is the journey the whole point of the trip. Did a trip with 3 dogs, 2 teens, and a snake. From Pacific Ocean to Atlantic Ocean once in under a week NOT fun! Return trip was also not as much fun as it was also under a week. NEVER again.
Now retired I say time to stop! after 5-6 hrs. let's wander a bit at whatever catch's our fancy. Museum shopping farmers market or ???? Most towns have something to see and do that can add to the fun of the day.

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

reading all sorts of things about how crowded it is and how long the wait is just to get into the park. We were hoping we could just drive through the park basically and stop and look occasionally. Can we not do that?

When we went to Yosemite in 2022, the "Timed Entry" checkpoint was like crossing into a foreign country. Once through the entrance, we stopped at the Ranger station for information and maps. I asked the Ranger manning the information booth, "What highlights should I focus on spending 1 or 2 days in the park?" he replied, "If you can get into the valley, you'll be lucky to find a parking spot," and that was all the information he provided. Next.....

Like most replies, our daily mileage varied. When planning a trip, I never drill down to every fuel stop, pee stop, attraction stop, as some travelers do. Going cross-country, I would make reservations near very popular attractions, while leaving plenty of days to free lance along the route. Some days we would travel less than 200 miles, others we would hit 500 or more. Many days, the mileage was dependent on where we were stopping for the night. Quick overnights at Walmarts or Harvest Hosts generally have shorter distance days of 200-300 miles. Destination multi-night stops, I seemed to drive longer, 400-500 miles to "get there".

On our most recent trip this Spring, our drive days were getting shorter, 6 hours at most, because my wife couldn't sit any longer with discomfort in her butt.

My advice to the OP is not to try to overplan your stops or overthink your travel. Mix it up, enjoy the ride, and the beautiful country you'll be driving through. Drive as long as you feel good, stop when you feel like it, stay as long as your time frame permits.