5 Steps to Planning Your Perfect RV Road Trip
5 Steps to Planning Your Perfect RV Road Trip
Written by Nancy Carter, Making My Own Lane
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How to Plan Your Next RV Road Trip
Are you thinking about what your next road trip will be? I have been tossing a few ideas around, and procrastinating about actually doing the planning and booking the campsites.
But if you wait too long, you may not get the campgrounds you want, as I found out yesterday. So I’ve pulled out my Road Atlas and my computer and seriously started on making this year’s trip a reality.
This year I will be seeing the Great Lakes. All of them! Plus some other fun stops along the way. 5 months, 57 stops (so far), 5,831 miles and about 107 hours of driving. This trip is about â…“ longer than my East Coast RV Tour in 2023, and I will be in unfamiliar territory, unlike last year. Stretching my comfort zone just a little more.
Five Steps to Planning Your Perfect RV Road Trip
Dream Big - Think about where you might want to go and what you want to see. Research things to do, watch YouTube (one of my favorite pastimes), read blogs, and check out Pinterest for travel ideas.
Map It Out - I have finally chosen just one planning app, because I really don’t need two. I’ll share the winning app with you shortly. I delete those places that don’t fit this trip based on how far of a drive it is from one stop to the next. Is one stop really far out of the way? How badly did you want to see it?
Research - Add, delete, rearrange. This year I’ve already decided to reverse my original plans so that I could join my father and my sisters and do something that my family likes to do every year in July. Also, there is a place I have added to my trip that is better to do in September or October instead of June.
Find Campgrounds and Book - I start with Thousand Trails campgrounds, because I am an Adventure member and I can camp for free at both Thousand Trails and Encore campgrounds. I can book the Thousand Trails campgrounds 6 months out, and since I plan on leaving in June this year, my booking time is NOW! For the campgrounds I can’t book quite yet, I make a note on my calendar so I remember to book them as soon as I can. Booking early helps to ensure that you can get into the campgrounds you want to stay at. Learn more about Thousand Trails memberships and how they work.
Fill in the Campground Gaps that Thousand Trails or Encore can’t help with National Parks, State Parks, Harvest Hosts, and KOAs. Some of the National Parks I want to stop at this year don’t offer camping, let alone parking for an RV during the day. I’m glad I found this out in advance! Harvest Hosts have a ton of places in Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin that are right along my route. So I will be renewing my Harvest Host Membership this year, too.
Overall, it will take me about 7 days to go through the process and reserve all the campsites, even continuing to book them once I start on my journey.
How I’m Planning My RV Road Trip Differently in 2024
Because I am not familiar with anything or anyplace this year, I am researching each destination stop a little deeper than I did last year. What is there to do in the area? Is there parking for a 27-foot RV?
Even though many of the Thousand Trails campgrounds are close to the activities I want to do, I’m using them for longer layovers, or rest time. A friendly place to park for the weekend so I can avoid crowds and traffic. Someplace to do laundry and catch up with life, since I will be driving more back-to-back days on this trip.
Potentially this trip is going to be more rustic than 2023. More stops where we don’t have hookups (electric, water, dump stations or garbage) that I will need to prepare for. Let’s hope for lots of sunny days to make my solar panels happy!
I decided to choose a “special” place to spend my birthday. Some place I’ve always wanted to visit, since I will be spending my birthday amongst strangers.
Luckily, I love to plan. I like to get a feel for where I am going, and put it all together to create an amazing experience, and so I don’t miss anything I want to see.
Stay Flexible on Your RV Road Trip, and Have Fun!
Sometimes, plans have to change. You may decide to add a spontaneous stop for a new place you learn about along the way, meet up with other friends who are camping, or you may have to cut your trip short. In fact, the first part of my trip this year includes some of the places I wasn’t able to stop last year.
And I have a list of places I found on my last trip that I would like to go back and visit, or visit again.
Last year, I got all the way to Maine, to Bar Harbor, to the top of Cadillac Mountain where there is an amazing view, or sunrise, depending what time you decide to travel up the mountain, only to find we were up in the clouds. All we could do was read the signs about what we were supposed to be looking at!
My Favorite RV Planning App
Now it’s time to share the winning RV planning app with you. I did look at several, and in 2023 I used two of them, but I really needed to use just one.
And the winner is … Roadtrippers. I love the layout and the ability to see and book campgrounds, activities, and restaurants along the way. It also comes with route rv safe gps with live traffic, recall alerts, campgrounds, overnight parking, and more.
On your travel days, you just click on your destination on the app and the planned route and GPS all ready for you! You can also download the directions, in case you lose connectivity along the way, and share your route with your family and friends.
Create a Roadpass account and get access to Roadtrippers and Campendium to help you find reviews of campgrounds, including cell phone coverage and public lands.
While dreaming and planning where you want to go is part of the fun, it can be a bit overwhelming.
Figuring out where to spend the night, and, if you’re like me, making the reservations in advance, takes some time and energy. Usually I will work on it for a couple of hours, then take a break and work on it more later, until I have the bones for my entire trip in place.
You can put in your specific rig size, length and height and the RV friendly GPS will help you to avoid things like low bridges, dirt roads, tunnels, and even tolls if you choose.
When you create a trip, you can see the mileage and driving distance between campgrounds, as well as a projected fuel and trip cost. You can pull them both up on your phone, or your computer, and even collaborate or share your trip with family and friends. Here is the link for Roadtrippers if you want to check them out. They do offer a free, 7-day trial.
I realize there are those adventurous people with just a destination, who drive until they stop, and then find a place to sleep in their RV, trailer, or motorhome where ever they are. That’s not me, at least not yet. But I do applaud those people who can let loose and let go. For now, I still like the comfort of a gated campground, especially traveling as a solo female.
Send me a message and let me know which type of person you are. Free-spirited, sleeping where ever you can find a spot for the night, or a control-addict, like me. I’d love to hear from you!
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Hi there! I'm Nancy.
In 2023, I ditched my heels for hiking boots, sold my house, and decided to travel the US full time in my 2005 Lazy Daze Class C RV.
I love to share the places I travel to and what it's like to live in an RV full-time.
If you have ever thought about hitting the road and traveling in an RV, either in your free time or full time, you are in the right place!
Follow along for weekly blog posts about my adventures as I travel the US with my two dogs, Rufus and Willie, and my cat, Katie.