Traveling No Resservations

[Kevin Means]

The OP didn't mention what type/size of RV they had, so I'll add one more factor for them to consider - their overall size. Our 1st two Class As were 28 and 32 feet long, and we weren't towing anything. Our current Class A is 43 feet long. Wth our towed vehicle, our overall length is 63.5 feet. There are a lot fewer campgrounds available to us now than when we were half as long. Because of that, I take the same approach as Spacenorman. I've found that it makes the trip more relaxing.

We've never stayed at a Walmart, but we did spend the night in a truck stop once, when I was about to fall asleep at the wheel. That's how we view Walmart camping. We'll use them in a pinch, but not as planned stop.

Kev

 

[Tom]

Good point re the added length Kevin.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

As our age advances, I find that we do more things to avoid stress and discomfort. We don't have to make reservations, but we often do because we know pretty much where we will be going (24 hours ahead of time, anyway) and it's comfortable to arrive and know you have a suitable site waiting. With cell phones and internet, it's pretty trivial to get the ducks lined up a little bit in advance.

Agree with Kevin on the size thing too. We began to make rez more often when we moved to a 40 footer.

 

[Tom]

We don't stress it. We decide on the fly when we're going to stop for the night. When we're a couple of hours from a likely stop, I'll check CG directories/apps and call to see if they have space, making sure they know we have a 38 foot coach towing a Suburban and need a "long" site. I'll also ask if they think they might fill up. In most cases, they'll reserve a site without taking a formal reservation from me.

We try not to be in transit at holiday times.

 

[JudyJB]

Please also note that there is a big difference between a destination campsite and an on-the-road campsite.  While I nearly always do make reservations for a destination, I often do not make reservations for an on-the-road campground.  For the former, I want a nice, relaxing place where I can enjoy the view and location, and for me at least, that means a national or state park, which tend to be packed during the summer or busy seasons, hence I want a reservation.  For the latter, I just really want a safe place to stay with electrical power.  I don't care about the pool or how tightly packed in the sites are because I am only going to be there overnight.

 

[kathijoz]

I agree with you Judy.  I'm making reservations at the places where we plan on staying for several days.  The other places where we might stop for a night or two, I was just planning on calling on our way to see if they have available spots.  I plan on having a list of RV campgrounds in the various areas we will be driving through.  Looking forward to new travels, now I just have to wait

 

[Jeff]

We are traveling a route we have done several times before so (as others do) calling for a reservation is simple as we know the parks. I have noticed that for the past couple of years more and more campgrounds are full in summer.  A park in Joliet, IL we have stayed in for 10+ years has added 25% to its available sites and was filling up on weekends in July.


This seems less of a problem as we got Further west.