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How do you begin to plan for extended road trips?

obiwancanoli
Explorer
Explorer
Hi!

Well, the retirement trigger gets pulled end of the year, and so, I'm beginning to think about my RV travel plans for 2020. I'm not looking (here, anyway) for destinations, but rather, for your thoughts and ideas regarding getting started on the process.

For example, what do you do first? Do you use the Good Sam Trip Planner? If so, how? Do you map out beginning, end, and mileage goals? How many miles a day to plan for, driving a Class A? Do you research your overnight stays using the GS RV book? Other software you like?

On researching RV parks, what questions do you need answers to that the GS book doesn't provide? Do you have a list, i.e., too much or too little shade (satellite reception), site width (for slide-outs and SOME space between guests) where that info. isn't shown (like the GS website Trip Planner). I understand reservations are best, but would I be subject to disappointment if I simply winged it here and there? How much of a problem is this in less popular locations?

This will be my first attempt at an extended road trip, and organizing an overnight stop every 300 miles or so seems to be about right, give or take. If I choose to stay a few extra days here and there, however, it renders the reservation issue somewhat moot. What's the difficult level in finding an overnight site on the fly?
46 REPLIES 46

allen8106
Explorer
Explorer
I begin by using Google Maps to determine my best route based on what I want to see on the way to my turn around point and how far I'm willing to drive or I guess I should say, how long my wife is willing to let me drive. I've not yet found my driving limit and my longest drive to date has been 1000 miles in one day.

Once I know my turn around point I decide what I want to see along the way and find camp spots close by using RV Park Reviews web site. if it's just an overnight stop I'll use freecampsites.net to find somewhere to stop for the night that is free or low cost, usually free.

Because my wife does have a limit on daily drive distances I try to keep my drive between 300-400 miles per day, maybe stretching to 500 if I can justify the extra miles to the wife.

I say all this with one thing to keep in mind. I'm not retired yet and have limited time so i'm usually on a mission to get somewhere.

Once I retire my drive day may only be 100-200 miles.
2010 Eagle Super Lite 315RLDS
2018 GMC Sierra 3500HD 6.6L Duramax

2010 Nights 45
2011 Nights 70
2012 Nights 144
2013 Nights 46
2014 Nights 49
2015 Nights 57
2016 Nights 73
2017 Nights 40
2018 Nights 56
2019 Nights 76
2020 Nights 68

vtchris
Explorer
Explorer
I fill the gas tank up and head out in the general direction of my destination.

Matt_Colie
Explorer
Explorer
cross21114 wrote:
Matt,

Another feature. When you add Favorites, they stay as favorites every time you open Maps. I've been adding spots we stop at for the future plus i have added locations I have been at since 2000 when I started saving waypoints. You must use the format xx.xxxxxxx -yy.yyyyyy. You can also share but I don't do that or know how to do it.

Chris

Chris,

Thanks for the pointer, and I have found that they made it easy to download individual states or "all regions" (~5GB). (The laptop is doing that now.) I would love to pull my address book over from SA that means I would have to translate it all to DD.dddddd and I hate working in that format. I also still can't make follow travel. So close, but still too far.....

I'm going to keep trying, but these days, I have to keep going on the coach repair.

Matt
Matt & Mary Colie
A sailor, his bride and their black dogs (one dear dog is waiting for us at the bridge) going to see some dry places that have Geocaches in a coach made the year we married.

bigred1cav
Explorer
Explorer
I use maps to find where I want to stop, then look for Cracker Barrel, Walmart or other no charge for the overnight stop. I hate to pay $40 for a place to sleep when my unit is self-contained. By stopping time my wife and I are ready for a served meal anyway.

tomman58
Explorer
Explorer
myredracer wrote:
Membership CG networks like Coast to Coast, Passport America, Thousand Trails can be a very economical way to get around. We bought a used T/T membership for just $800 on CL and can stay in any of their CGs across the US at no extra cost per night and only have to pay annual dues. T/T however doesn't any CGs in a big chunk of the US in the center.

Memberships often have different plans with different terms and conditions so do your research before buying one. Sometimes you can only stay in one CG for 2 weeks max and the must be "out of the system" for a week before getting back in. Top of the line memberships can have no restriction on length of stay.

If you want to be a travelling nomad with no plans on where you want to stay, note that many of the above CGs and many others whether a membership type or one-owner, in the busy season you often have to book 60 days in advance otherwise you won't get a site. If there's specific CGs you want to stay in along a long route, you need to stay on top of booking. Otherwise you may find yourself having to stay at casinos, Walmart, rest stops, etc.

A few CGs have dry camping areas where you can park yourself for a day or 2 or 3 until a site comes available.

Make sure to have a laptop and a mobile hotspot or mifi like Verizon so you can research upcoming places on a trip. You could also find yourself having to make last minute changes on a route due to wildfires, road closures, bad storms, etc. Definitely have a good GPS.

On hours per day, I agree with 3-4 hours max a day. 5 or even 6 is do-able but you want a day or two at least to rest up. I recently did a 10 hour trip to retrieve our TT when we had to leave it behind due to a truck breakdown. I drove 5 hours one way without the TT over a long mountain pass and 5 hours back with the TT. Couple of weeks later now, I'm still getting over that...


3 to 4 hours a day! I am older than many and I limit out at 10 hours if I have a destination across the US. My first drive from home is my longest at 12 hours ( Detroit area to Tunica Miss.). I drive a lot because I travel a lot ...... bum de bum bum.
2015 GMC D/A, CC 4x4/ Z71 ,3.73,IBC SLT+
2018 Jayco 338RETS
2 Trek bikes
Honda EU2000i
It must be time to go, the suns out and I've got a full tank of diesel!
We have a granite fireplace hearth! Love to be a little different.

myredracer
Explorer II
Explorer II
Membership CG networks like Coast to Coast, Passport America, Thousand Trails can be a very economical way to get around. We bought a used T/T membership for just $800 on CL and can stay in any of their CGs across the US at no extra cost per night and only have to pay annual dues. T/T however doesn't any CGs in a big chunk of the US in the center.

Memberships often have different plans with different terms and conditions so do your research before buying one. Sometimes you can only stay in one CG for 2 weeks max and the must be "out of the system" for a week before getting back in. Top of the line memberships can have no restriction on length of stay.

If you want to be a travelling nomad with no plans on where you want to stay, note that many of the above CGs and many others whether a membership type or one-owner, in the busy season you often have to book 60 days in advance otherwise you won't get a site. If there's specific CGs you want to stay in along a long route, you need to stay on top of booking. Otherwise you may find yourself having to stay at casinos, Walmart, rest stops, etc.

A few CGs have dry camping areas where you can park yourself for a day or 2 or 3 until a site comes available.

Make sure to have a laptop and a mobile hotspot or mifi like Verizon so you can research upcoming places on a trip. You could also find yourself having to make last minute changes on a route due to wildfires, road closures, bad storms, etc. Definitely have a good GPS.

On hours per day, I agree with 3-4 hours max a day. 5 or even 6 is do-able but you want a day or two at least to rest up. I recently did a 10 hour trip to retrieve our TT when we had to leave it behind due to a truck breakdown. I drove 5 hours one way without the TT over a long mountain pass and 5 hours back with the TT. Couple of weeks later now, I'm still getting over that...

ppine
Explorer II
Explorer II
I have a degree in geography. I have been planning trips since 1965 and I use maps.

cross21114
Explorer
Explorer
Matt,

Another feature. When you add Favorites, they stay as favorites every time you open Maps. I've been adding spots we stop at for the future plus i have added locations I have been at since 2000 when I started saving waypoints. You must use the format xx.xxxxxxx -yy.yyyyyy. You can also share but I don't do that or know how to do it.

Chris
Chris
2018 Nexus Ghost 36DS
360 Cummins, 3000 Allison
2016 Ford Expedition

cross21114
Explorer
Explorer
Matt,

Biy I hear you. I used MapPoint (business version of Streets) and miss it terribly.

Maps is hard to figure out. Try a simple test. Enter an address (like your home) and search. Expand and see if it is where it should be. Switch to aerial view and check again. Switch back to road view. Click the direction tab on the right side of the information box. Enter another address you know. Click "get directions". You can change settings to avoid toll roads, etc. (see the Gear button).

Here's an output map from a route I just calculated.


From here, you can add locations and recalculate.

Hope this helps.

Chris
Chris
2018 Nexus Ghost 36DS
360 Cummins, 3000 Allison
2016 Ford Expedition

ependydad
Explorer
Explorer
I generally start with a general destination in mind and work backwards from there. See if this article helps:
https://learntorv.com/lets-go-trip-planning-apps-and-websites/
2017 Spartan 1245 by Prime Time
2018 Ram 3500 Crew Cab DRW w/ 4.10 gears and 8' bed
FW Hitch: TrailerSaver TS3
Learn to RV- learn about RVing - Towing Planner Calculators - Family Fulltiming FB page

Matt_Colie
Explorer
Explorer
Cross,

Thanks for the hint. I have a brand new Win10 to replace the laptop that got damaged earlier in the year. I found maps, but cannot find anyway to make it find an actual location. It missed by about 1/4 mile and on the wrong side of the road.

I wonder if the maps are installed or downloaded as needed.

I still miss the standalones that worked so well.

Matt
Matt & Mary Colie
A sailor, his bride and their black dogs (one dear dog is waiting for us at the bridge) going to see some dry places that have Geocaches in a coach made the year we married.

cross21114
Explorer
Explorer
Continuation of above post. Don't know why it cut me off.

You can save favorites, get GPS coordinates, change travel settings, and others. Been using it for a few months. There is little documentation available but have been figuring it out little by little. It does not (at least I haven't found it yet) have a search function like Streets did.

Give it a try if you use Windows 10.
Chris
2018 Nexus Ghost 36DS
360 Cummins, 3000 Allison
2016 Ford Expedition

cross21114
Explorer
Explorer
Matt_Colie wrote:
We always planned with Streets and Trips and later with Street Atlas. Both were good for both planning and enroute navigation. With those gone, and there being no real replacement. ll.

Matt


Pretty solid suggestions with Excel. We usually do what others have suggested. Start where your goal is and work backwards. We also prefer to wing it (at least I do, wife not so much). Boondocking is Ok for us for several days, then a campgrouond to fill and empty tanks and do some wash.

There is another Microsoft program for navigating. It is standard on Windows 10 and is called Maps. You can download maps so you can use more features such as a Google Earth=type view. it off line but you have more v
Chris
2018 Nexus Ghost 36DS
360 Cummins, 3000 Allison
2016 Ford Expedition

Matt_Colie
Explorer
Explorer
We have some home issues that make being absent for more than 6 weeks a real big issue. We always planned with Streets and Trips and later with Street Atlas. Both were good for both planning and enroute navigation. With those gone, and there being no real replacement. I still use SA for a rough cut and then go to other means for the daily stuff. It is a whole lot harder than it used to be, but without the combined planner and enroute, that is how life is....

I like Furkot, but it is a web app and that is useless for enroute and it does not accept the overlays of the others. I have tried to work with Google Maps on the phone and a tablet, but if you don't get enough downloaded, you can drive off the edge of the world. That or end up with 1 mile resolution when you need 100 yard.
I have worked all the demos from RV Trip planner, but again, it is a web app and has that for a killer.
Copilot was pretty close, but they just changed owners and some things changed that I haven't figured out yet.

Fortunately, for much of my life, I have had a name tag that said "Navigator" and can go back working on paper charts with a parallel and dividers with no difficulty at all.

Matt
Matt & Mary Colie
A sailor, his bride and their black dogs (one dear dog is waiting for us at the bridge) going to see some dry places that have Geocaches in a coach made the year we married.