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SDcampowneroper's avatar
SDcampowneroper
Explorer
Dec 10, 2017

Centrally located- or not to attractions.

Often times the question arises about how central we are to the attractions.

I would like to share my experience as a pipeliner, camp owner and extensive traveler with you about the ' centrally located mindset.'
In pipelining for instance the contractor has 3 choices to set up offices and warehousing on a 100 mi. ' construction spread', say there is a town at each end, one in the middle.
It makes no difference which town is chosen, because the travel time will all be the same if the work is equal; however if the work is weighted towards one end, then it is beneficial to choose a town nearer to that work as long as it has the accommodation for the manpower.
Equate that thought into RV vacation travel. The common misconception is to be 'central' to the attractions, however if you were to visit each attraction within the radius of your campsite once, the travel time will be equal whether you are on the fringe of the area or central. Should you wish to go to one attraction more than once, then it is beneficial to stay closer to it if lodging travel costs and time warrant it.

Inagine a circle. decide whatever distance you are willing to drive to the sites. Place yourself within that circle, Choose any camp, the best camp within that circle that suits you. It will all be the same travel time to the attractions you wish and likely less costly than that one ' centrally located '
Seeking Advice

8 Replies

  • toedtoes's avatar
    toedtoes
    Explorer III
    Dec 10, 2017
    This assumes that the attractions are spread out around the central location equally. More often than not, the attractions are grouped with the bulk in one area and the rest spread out around. So, if there are 8 attractions of interest, then 5 will most likely be clumped together and the other 3 will be spread out in different directions.

    If you stay in the central location, you can see 5 attractions without much effort. Then you would travel further for 3 attractions.

    If you stay outside, then you can see one attraction without much effort, and the rest would require further travel.

    Now having said that, I often choose to stay outside the central location because the cost savings for lodging give me the ability to stay longer. But I weigh it carefully against the effort and time required to get to the attractions. I also plan ahead of time so I reduce the back and forth - arranging stops according to location, etc.

    For those who don't like to plan, want to fly by the seat of their pants, etc., the centrally located will have a much higher value than it does for me.
  • accsys's avatar
    accsys
    Explorer
    Dec 10, 2017
    SDcampowneroperator wrote:
    Often times the question arises about how central we are to the attractions.

    I would like to share my experience as a pipeliner, camp owner and extensive traveler with you about the ' centrally located mindset.'
    In pipelining for instance the contractor has 3 choices to set up offices and warehousing on a 100 mi. ' construction spread', say there is a town at each end, one in the middle.
    It makes no difference which town is chosen, because the travel time will all be the same if the work is equal; however if the work is weighted towards one end, then it is beneficial to choose a town nearer to that work as long as it has the accommodation for the manpower.
    Equate that thought into RV vacation travel. The common misconception is to be 'central' to the attractions, however if you were to visit each attraction within the radius of your campsite once, the travel time will be equal whether you are on the fringe of the area or central. Should you wish to go to one attraction more than once, then it is beneficial to stay closer to it if lodging travel costs and time warrant it.

    Inagine a circle. decide whatever distance you are willing to drive to the sites. Place yourself within that circle, Choose any camp, the best camp within that circle that suits you. It will all be the same travel time to the attractions you wish and likely less costly than that one ' centrally located '

    I would agree that the distance driven will be the same and that the overall driving time will be the same. However, if you are truly in the center of where you will be driving, the longest driving day will be half of what it would be if you were at the edge of the circle. In a circle with a radius of 100 miles if you were located at the edge some drives would be close to 200 miles round trip. Whereas if you were at the center, none would be longer than 100 miles round trip. Like I said earlier the overall driving time and distance will be the same but some will be longer and some shorter if you are closer to the edge.

    By finding a campground "centrally located", most of where you would be travelling would be closer to where you are camping and only one or two trips would be a long distance. I would much rather be camping in Rapid City, Custer, Sturgis or Spearfish than in Wall since most of the attractions I would be visiting would be short trips with only one or two at Wall or East of Wall. Since we have seen most of that area multiple times I would actually rather be staying in Custer State Park at Gamelodge since most of our trips from there would be on the Wildlife Loop which starts within a 1/2 mile of the campground. The Needles or the Ironhead highway would be about the only other trips we would make and they are close by as well.
  • Veebyes's avatar
    Veebyes
    Explorer II
    Dec 10, 2017
    It depends. Even if retired time is worth money. The high cost of an onsite very convenient CG has to be balanced with the time, fuel & general hassel factor of staying off site.

    Disney knows this. That is how they get away with charging what they do for Fort Wilderness. For a few days you bite the bullet & enjoy it.
  • valhalla360's avatar
    valhalla360
    Navigator
    Dec 10, 2017
    SDcampowneroperator wrote:
    Often times the question arises about how central we are to the attractions.

    I would like to share my experience as a pipeliner, camp owner and extensive traveler with you about the ' centrally located mindset.'
    In pipelining for instance the contractor has 3 choices to set up offices and warehousing on a 100 mi. ' construction spread', say there is a town at each end, one in the middle.
    It makes no difference which town is chosen, because the travel time will all be the same if the work is equal; however if the work is weighted towards one end, then it is beneficial to choose a town nearer to that work as long as it has the accommodation for the manpower.
    Equate that thought into RV vacation travel. The common misconception is to be 'central' to the attractions, however if you were to visit each attraction within the radius of your campsite once, the travel time will be equal whether you are on the fringe of the area or central. Should you wish to go to one attraction more than once, then it is beneficial to stay closer to it if lodging travel costs and time warrant it.

    Inagine a circle. decide whatever distance you are willing to drive to the sites. Place yourself within that circle, Choose any camp, the best camp within that circle that suits you. It will all be the same travel time to the attractions you wish and likely less costly than that one ' centrally located '


    If you are talking about a 20mile diameter, this makes sense. If it's at most a 1/2hr to a destination, the location isn't that critical (assuming a rural high speed road network).

    But if you are talking about 100miles, now it could easily be 2hr each way. That's 4 hours of driving in a single day. If it's in an urban area or there is construction, it could easily jump to 6hrs. If you want to spend 8hrs at the destination, that's a long 14hr day.

    Also, if your destination includes early or late day activities (maybe early morning wildlife viewing or a show that doesn't get done until 10pm), if you have a couple hours of driving before or after, that is undesirable.

    It's not purely about the total number of miles.

    If you are t
  • time2roll's avatar
    time2roll
    Nomad
    Dec 10, 2017
    I will move camp if there are convenient spots along a 100 mile zone.
    As long as I am doing a 100 mile round trip I will just drag the RV there and spend the night. No need to go back and forth each day.
  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer II
    Dec 10, 2017
    I don't think the math works out as you're implying. If the contractor in the example needs to spend one day at each site, setting up in the middle means a total of 200 miles travel for the three days (2x50 on one day, 0 on one, and 2x50 on the third). Setting up on an end town means a total of 300 miles travel (0 on one day, 2x50 on one, and 2x100 on the third).

    Naturally with 2 dimensional maps and roads that meander and more stops things get more complex, but the principle remains similar. Staying on the edge of where you are touring leads to more travel than staying towards the middle.
  • beemerphile1's avatar
    beemerphile1
    Explorer
    Dec 10, 2017
    Interesting thought but to muddy it a bit, with an RV you aren't limited to only one starting point.

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