Caravan

Tom, mainly it depends on the size of your caravan and the size of the rigs. Going without reservations may have it's issues....getting into sites close enough together, pull throughs vs back ins 30amp vs 50 amp. etc. If I were in your caravan, I'd rather pull an itinerary together, altho it might be fairly loose and make reservations. You also may get a break on pricing doing it that way. One guy with a 25' coach could probably get by with no reservations but a group, especially if one or more are 45' may have issues..sounds like fun though.....Dennis

Have you every caravanned together? Your four best friends might not end that way. Trying to decide on places and how long you stay might be difficult unless you all like to see and do the same things. Think this out carefully. I guess some folks would like this but we could never do it.

If you're traveling down an interstate and want to stop for one night enroute, you'll probably be able to do so without reservations but going to popular places, national parks, state parks, etc. it would be chancy for four big rigs.

Good luck!

I agree with Dennis, at least have some plans in busier places. Cold calling and getting a site for one, possibly two RV's isn't too bad, but trying to find a campground with four sites may be more problematic.

Here are some other things to consider. If you don't have radios, Costco sells the Motorola family radios in a two pack. What's nice about these are that they are rechargeable via USB port. You could buy two sets and share.

Second, I would sit down and have a discussion about speed. Last year we drove with a group of four that we normally all meet up with at the campground. This time, we drove together and didn't realize one of the guy's, who took the lead, doesn't like to be behind trucks. He was doing close to 70 and changing lanes every couple of miles. I was the last in line and it was problematic.

Does everyone have the same type of rig and can go the same distance on fuel....we like to fuel up at the end of the day and be ready to go in the AM.

Another issue that arises when the rigs are different sizes, someone often gets a******site when booking four campsites. We travel with friends in a fifth wheel and they usually get the pull through site, even though I'm towing a car. Often the pull thru sites are nicer. Maybe have a plan to take turns in the nicer sites. Even though you're good friends, several weeks on the road will cause some issues.

My point, I would get together before you go and get a consensus of how everyone likes to travel.

Trying to stay together is problematic. One may drive slower. One may stop more often for bathroom breaks. Make sure EVERYONE knows the route your taking. And make plans of where your stopping. Being the lead motorhome and the ONLY one with the directions is nerve racking. Been there/done that!

I would certainly book the RV parks at 'destination' locations that are touristy. I've joined a caravan once to Quartzsite with a small group and it was fine (5 RV's). But, it can work best if there is a destination planned that 'we will meet there'. Some people like to stop at rest stops that may not work with everybody else, which is fine.

Be flexible.
MM.

I agree with the consensus that making at least major point reservations is a good idea. Going off on a whim is usually great when it's just you and a close friend/spouse, etc. Going off on a whim with a group of people is much more difficult.

I have done caravans a lot - both short and long trips - and there is one rule I always make at the start of the trip: The person in the lead is responsible for not putting things between him/her and the others (e.g., racing around a truck before a turn off, rushing through a yellow light, etc.); the folks following are responsible for keeping up with the lead and not straggling behind. As long as everyone agrees to a general speed, that is usually enough to make for a positive trip.

For planning, I would have everyone agree as to what the max time in the driver seat should be between pit stops and what the max time should be for a full day. If in question, go with the weakest link - they are going to slow you down so you might as well plan at their pace.

If you don't want to plan everything before you leave, you can plan every 2-3 days as you go.

Every vehicle should have the day's destination before they start out each day. Everyone should agree that if they get separated, they will meet at that location (or leave a message there for the others) at the end of the day. Regular pit stops will prevent many emergency stops by one vehicle.

I wouldn't worry about always having everyone parked next to one another each night. The extra space may be enjoyable on some days. I do agree that if one person is making all the reservations, that pre-agreement about who gets which sites should be made.

Because the traveling will be pretty much a "we all go and we all go now" thing, that the days you are stopped should be left open as much as possible. This will allow folks to spend alone time as couples, deal with emotions, deal with headaches, backaches, etc. Don't insist on being joined at the hip at all times.

My last suggestion is to make sure you are all compatible travelers. It's very annoying to be a "we'll leave at 8 a.m." person traveling with a "we'll leave sometime tomorrow" person and visa versa. As one of the former type who sometimes travels with one of the latter, I know we annoy one another with our different styles. 6 weeks straight of each other on a trip like this and we'd probably not be as good of friends as we are. My being packed up and ready to go and her disappearing on a wander - or her enjoying a moment and my tapping my toes impatiently... not a pretty picture.

3500 miles is a lot of miles following each other. We belong to a club that will caravan from southern Cal.to Laughlin, then to death valley with about ten coaches on the average. It is a lot of fun on a few hundred miles, but for three thousand? It would drive me crazy. Too many miles to follow each other with no schedule or wagon master to lead and plan is ridiculous.

Where are you planning to travel and what type of RVs do you have in the caravan? Based on my experience when I went to Alaska in 2006 with a friend with the DP, as long as we were traveling together it was easy to find two camping spots close together. We met two other campers with fifth wheels in the Yukon on our way up to Alaska and began traveling with them also. It was very difficult to find four camping spots together especially for the fifth wheels which needed larger and more level spots. My advice is to break up in teams of two and plan on separating on occasion and meeting up later. Agree on the type of campgrounds that you would like to stop at whether they be state parks, national parks or full hook up campgrounds. The fifth wheels did not have generators and they were always looking for full hook up campgrounds. We preferred campgrounds that were more remote and most of them had no hook ups. Also you need to determine what the likes and dislikes are. If some like to play golf and some like to fish that could be a problem.

well now that you have recieved all this postive info, still want to go?

I would not caravan together rather have a fixed route and destination for longer days. The guy with the most tools should depart last. Are ALL of you FHU or ALL boondockers ? Are you going to car pool with the others on a set rotation so you do not end up as two groups? The odds of still being close friends after six weeks is not very good.