How do you Plan your long trips?

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RGrimm

RGrimm

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 30, 2010
Posts
121
Location
Yulee, FL
(some background) I am relatively new to RVing, started in 2011/12 with a 39? TT and then a 36? 5th Wheel and did take at least two 2500/3000 mile, multi-stop,  3 week trips during 2012. In 2013 I sold my 5th wheel and this past April (2014) purchased a 2006 Winnebago Journey 34H to get back to traveling ? we missed it.

My question is about Trip Planning for longer multi-stop trips.

How do you Plan your trips?
- What resources do you use to find and evaluate Campgrounds?
- Do you plan each of your stops (Campgrounds) and make the registration in advance?
- Do you use a ?service/program? to Map you route (ex. Streets and Trips, Good Sams Trip Planner, actual paper Maps, or just use a GPS for your daily routes or other trip planning resources)?

For my previous trips I used Microsoft?s Streets and Trips to plan my route and daily stopping points and sometimes Fuel Stops. I have an Excel spreadsheet showing each day?s stopping point (campground, address, phone and reservation info and URL) and distance driven for the day. Before leaving for the trip I would make ALL my campground reservations based on the day I planned to arrive at the destination and length of stay.  On single night stops, just getting to a destination, I would request pull-thru sites so I don?t have to disconnect the Toad. During the actual trip I enter in my destination?s (campground) address into my GPS each morning and just use my Streets and Trips printout as my reference.  I suppose I ?like a plan? over just winging it. Most of my trips, like my current planning of a multi-month Northwest Trip, I have places I want to see and campgrounds I want to stay that meet my requirements/standards and afraid that if I didn?t make CG reservations in advance I may find myself having to look for an alternative on the fly.  I know there is a flaw with my ?planned? approach and that being that ?problem?,  like a break down, that detains me for a day or more. Since my trips are usually planned around a 250 to 400 (max) mile daily run (I?m retired and earned my right to slow down and enjoy the journey) so I can put in some longer drive days to get back on track with my trip. Just as my short drive days, I want to stay in campgrounds with 50amp/water/sewer. I guess I started his way of traveling too late in my life to want to give up all the conveniences I have at home. After all my RV is my second Home to me. Now I will give up TV, Internet and Phone for short periods of time ? I suppose this for me is my version of boondocking  ;). 

So how do you Plan your longer RV Trips?

I look forward to hearing about your processes, tools and aids to plan your RV Trips.

Thanks,

-Russ
 
So how do you Plan your longer RV Trips
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This may surprise you, but we don't plan much unless there's something like a reunion, rally, holiday weekend, or perhaps a ferry with specific dates.  We plan around those.  But sometimes we change direction by 180 degrees because we don't like the weather.  To many of us, the beauty of RVing is that we no longer HAVE to plan like we did when we were working.  Also, we seldom make campground reservations until a few hours ahead of time.  We don't stress about finding a campground unless there's a specific need to go to one.  When you plan down to the gnat's eyelash you lose the spontaneity afforded by the RV because you can't stay longer in one place or shorter in another when you have reservations elsewhere.  There's no need to cancel reservations if you haven't made any.  Why do you want to pin yourself down to such a schedule - and its related stress - when it's not necessary?  Look for the brown signs showing attractions along the highway and go to the ones that sound interesting.  Give yourself the opportunity to explore at leisure without worrying about self-imposed deadlines.  And spreadsheets?  Why waste your time doing that when you could be out exploring!  Retirement is a time to enjoy getting out and about, not structuring an existence that's stressful if your goals aren't achieved.  Those days went by the wayside when we retired!

ArdraF
 
Minimize the planning, maximize the enjoyment!  Live in the moment as much as possible.
 
Excellent post Ardra. I was a full timer for ten years and very rarely planned anything out in advance. Finding a great campground is easy, http://www.rvparkreviews.com/. Last year I planned out a great trip from California to Disney World. When I left Disney my RV died and basically stuck me here in Florida. That will teach me to plan.
 
We left our southern Arizona home in late April.  We had a few stops planned along the way as it was an RVForum Rally and those campgrounds were reserved in advance as they were our destination.  Mid May we headed toward  Indiana via South Dakota to get our drivers licenses renewed.  We did not have any  campgrounds reserved at all.  We use RVpark reviews and Overnight RVParking when we are in transit.  We usually find the park the night before and program the GPS with Garmin and/or GPS Drive motionX on the ipad and Delorme. We often use Elks Clubs as we are members.  Terry programs a GPS that sits on the dash of the motorhome for  me , so I can tell how fast he is going and how much farther until we get there! I like to keep a paper Atlas in my lap just to see the big picture of where we are headed.

  We have been burned a few times by making  paid  reservations  in advance and we hated the place or the site.  There were no refunds available so now we wing it!  We have never ever been stumped for a place to stay.  We don't always have full hookups but we are prepared to boondock and  love the solitude of some of the out of the way places.
A spreadsheet would give me hives!  ;)  I do however often wish I'd kept a record of  nice places we like for a return visit. Terry keeps those memories  on Rolling Stock ( A program developed by Ned)

You will get the hang of this travel thing and when you  get the  thrill of an " alternate on the fly" you will see  one finds some pretty special memories !  Have fun.
 
The maiden voyage of our current coach was 10,000 miles and 14 weeks. Like Betty, we had only a few planned waypoints, including an RV Forum rally in Moab, visiting kids in the Midwest, and home. All other days we'd get up in the morning, toss a coin (heads we stay, tails we move on) and, if it came up tails, we'd stick a pin in the map and off we'd go.

We made an unplanned diversion across the Northern border at Niagara Falls, and an all-too-brief trip around the Maritimes. Our only reservations for the entire trip were the 10 days at the Forum rally in Moab and, due to the July 4th holiday, at a campground in Maine. Thankfully, Forum Staffer Gary and his wonderful wife Nancy were workamping at the Maine campground, and Nancy made the reservation for us.

Our most recent trip was 5200 miles. The only two waypoints were visiting kids and grankdkids in Ohio, and home. The only "planning" that went into the trip was a conscious decision to stay somewhat "south", i.e. not take the route via I-80 suggested by online maps and GPS, due to the time of year.
 
We make reservations for California State Parks (they fill up fast) and for Rallies, but otherwise don't really bother. Rarely have we had a problem and then it had to do with showing up in a location where there was a festival, Nascar race, or some other special event going on. But we were always able to find a spot because we are pretty flexible. We don't have a problem spending the night in a casino or Walmart parking lot. Besides RVPark Reviews, we rely on advice from folks here and at SKPs. And I do keep an Excel spreadsheet of campgrounds that we've stayed with notes on cost and likes/dislikes.

Don't overanalyze the whole thing, just go and have fun.

 
I am also a planner and like you I use Microsoft Streets and Trips to plan my route - but I very rarely if ever make reservations, I will usually scope out the town where I want to end for the day and then use RVpark Reviews to see what is in the area, then just arrive and hope, but almost always have a back-up or I just boondock for a night while traveling, truck stops, rest areas etc.

I do keep a daily log on a spreadsheet and list miles driven, gas purchases, mileage, cost per gallon and other expenses so I have an idea of my cost per mile of traveling....

I hate making reservations because I may delay my arrival or change my mind while driving...

Good Luck

Jim
 
Thank you everyone for sharing how your approach traveling. It would seem that I am one of the very few who have planned my trips to this point. I know if I full timed my approach would be very different. I guess I will have to start doing some trips without the planning I have usually done and see how it goes.

Again, thank you everyone.

-Russ
 
We're not fulltimers.

Against my better judgement, we spent three weekends, at the request/insistence of two other couples, planning a trip to/around Oregon and Washington (from California). Every leg was planned to the mile, every campground was identified, fuel consumption was planned calculated to the pint, every non-travel day was planned for touristy stuff.

One couple dropped out a few weeks before the trip. The other couple left without us (we didn't catch them until we got to Oregon), and they decided they didn't want to make most of the stops or the touristy stuff. Bottom line, planning went out the window and we modified the trip on the fly.

We enjoy reminding our friends of the "planning" that went out the window.
 
I confess...I'm a planner. To me its part of the fun of this lifestyle. I'd rather have a plan to deviate from than just wing it. I did a blog about how I like to plan last year and was surprised by the number of likeminded replies I received.  By the way I don't have a problem with those who do it differently. If fulltiming is anything its marching to the beat of your own drummer!
 
I spent too many years planning in corporate Europe, corporate Asia, and Corporate America to plan in retirement.

If detailed RV planning and spreadsheets are your thing, go for it. We have no issue with it.
 
Planning??? We sometimes decide which way to go at major intersections by tossing a coin! We've even done that when we reached the state highway at the end of the road from our base cottage. We once left on an expected two week or so trip and didn't get back to the cottage until three months later...
 
Well, I do have to admit that there are times we make reservations when circumstances call for it though. There are a few state parks where we have specific site preferences, and we will reserve those when the opportunity comes along. We also have a reservation already in place for a hard to get full hook-up site at a popular Florida State Park for two weeks next March. We'll probably get to Florida sometime in January, so working around that reservation should be pretty easy. The cancellation fee isn't a wallet breaker anyway, in case we decide to do something different along the way like go to the RGV or something. Who knows...  ;D
 
Ever since the crystal ball fell and got a crack in it, I stick to the tried and true ouija board.
I tried throwing darts at a dart board, but it wasn't scientific enough for my liking!  :eek:
 
We are currently doing a "long trip", Florida to Maine and back. It's actually 5 months, but three of those months are at a destination site in Maine and that was reserved a year ago because we wanted a specific site. The return journey is unplanned and will remain completely so until its time to start it.

The front end was/is loosely planned - we knew our departure date and the date our site in Maine begins. In between, we planned a stop to spend time with family in VA and of course they needed to know "when", so we picked those dates. After the family visit, we decided we would stop at a popular (read: often full) campground in PA, so we reserved that as well. The others stops were tentatively selected a day ahead of time based on how far I thought we would travel that day. Reservations were not made but my "planning" included noting alternatives if we decided to stop earlier or go farther.  We usually stop fairly early, around 3:30, so the risk of finding a "no vacancy" is normally slim. We also avoid weekend travel when possible, but if we do plan a Friday or Saturday arrival, we would reserve ahead (same day or night before) unless prior experience with the campground convinced us they always have a spot. Some other "planning" criteria include staying aware of popular camping destinations and holiday weekends,  either of which would motivate us to make reservations.

We've only been surprised a couple times in the last 16 years. Once we arrived in a small Iowa town in the fall (off-season), only to find that it was Homecoming for the local college and the campground was full. Another time we hit a rural South Carolina place when a local music festival was starting and found the campground full. Both times, the CG owner found a spot for us, though not a desirable one. But it was just overnight and we aren't picky anyway. Besides, we are willing to boondock  in a parking lot if need be. To us, that's just minor inconvenience and not a disaster. Others may be less comfortable with that as a back-up "plan".
 
We plan to the exact month when we'll leave and when we'll get back. With the exception of spring training where we need to make a reservation to get the spot we want, we seldom know day to day IF we're moving or where we're moving to. We do typically decide in the morning where we want to stop that day and the wife will call ahead to that place to see if they have a spot for us. If not, then we have plenty of time to find another spot or change course and head another direction.

Right now I'm at Blake Island State Park where they don't take reservations, it's always first come first serve. I've paid for 3 nights, but I have nothing that I have to be home for until my haircut on Tuesday so I may extend my stay. I'll let some local explain the logistics of bringing your RV to the island.

Ken
 
I will be taking my longest trip ever in about 10 days.  It involves mostly National parks so reservations are a must.  Most fill out months in advance.  I have my route and destinations all planned out.  I would assume if I were a full timer or retired I would not plan a thing. (I can't wait for that day)  But, due to work and time restrictions I must plan everything.  I used Google Maps, this forum and Trip Advisor for driving plans and tips on what to do when I get there.  While I'm anal about planning my routes and places, I do not over plan my days once I am there.  We always have the afternoons to do anything we want.  Most of the time it involves a cold beer with a incredible view.  My 57 day trip starts on June 11th and I can't wait!!!
 
due to work and time restrictions I must plan everything
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Very interesting viewpoint - and one I don't agree with at all.  We started motorhoming in the summer of 1972 with a circumnavigation around the U.S. and some side trips up into Canada.  We didn't have reservations for any campgrounds and didn't have a clue where we would be going when we left southern California.  We just knew we'd be gone "for the summer" and had to return before the start of the school year (we were teaching then).  That trip was about 14,000 miles.  We went north up to about Vancouver, went east to see family in the Midwest who were moving, went up to Maine and into the Maritimes, went south to Key West, stopped in Arkansas to meet more family who were moving, got a new job offer, and rushed home to get back to work and sell the house.

Through all these years we continued traveling the same way.  Yes, we were working until the year 2000 so that's 28 years of unplanned RVing WHILE WORKING.  My take on the "planning requirement" is this:  You might be kidding yourself into thinking you have to do more planning than is necessary.  Try not planning so much and open yourselves to the spontaneity of just enjoying what you find along the road.  Maybe you'll enjoy one place so much that you extend your stay and have to cut the rest of the trip short.  That's okay if you're enjoying yourselves.  We've done it many times.

ArdraF
 
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