With the Internet how do you plan you trip?

RoyB wrote:
I use google maps here on the internet all the time. SAT VIEW and STREET views tells me all I need to know about places I haven't been too. Looking down on camp grounds you can pick your parking spot out before going to the office...

This plus RVparkreviews.com pretty much sums it up for me. Gives me all the info I need.

I use everything at my disposal. I usually decide where I want to go ie: Yellowstone National Park,etc. Then I look in my USA Atlas and figure out how far I am going to drive in one day and pick a campground based on that. I also look at what I might like to see on the way there or the way back. I do alot of research using Google. Sometimes I ask on this forum about using a certain highway or campground.If you use Google maps you can really zoom in or go to Google Earth and see what it looks like from the air. Sometimes this can be helpful in picking a specific campsite. I also use Campsitephotos.com. We prefer state or federal campgrounds because they are usually cheaper and sites are more spread out. Campsitephotos show you all the campsites at a specific campground. They don't have every campground but they have many. We also carry 2GPS units when pulling the trailer.

first cut I use Streets and Trips to mark venues I want to visit then I use Internet to see if any other venues to add. Then plan general areas to stop, go to RVparkreviews.com for campgrounds. Then compare to GPS and finalize trip.

I still go low tech, but then I lloved paper maps even as a kid. When we joined Good Sam years ago, the membership packet included a very handy paper "Travel Planning map" which I still use along with Google and RV Park Reviews.

I don't know if they still give people that map, but mine is mended with tape from heavy use. One inch = 115 miles. It has all the Interstates in blue and state roads in black. For me, It's just an easy visual to get a sense of direction, distance and likely routes all on one paper in front of me.

There are green squares for the National Parks (also NMs, NRAs), indication by color of elevations, and red lines to define time zones. There are also little red dots and city/town names wherever there are Good Sam parks. It's not that we only take Interstates or always stay at Good Sam parks, though we do both sometimes. But it gives a good overview of routes, key sites, and places where you'll find clusters of campgrounds.

Then like DutchmanSport, I aim for about 300 miles a day though we go up to 400 or so as needed. Of course, often we stay put or drive much less than that.

Mapquest for an initial route. Google maps to get details, Waze to get there.

RoyB wrote:
I use google maps here on the internet all the time. SAT VIEW and STREET views tells me all I need to know about places I haven't been too. Looking down on camp grounds you can pick your parking spot out before going to the office...

Roy Ken

Pretty much this is how we start our planning. Google Maps/Earth is the bomb. Once we know where we are going and how we're getting there, then there is Google searches on the area and surrounding area. You'd be amazed at how much you can learn from local news websites. Individuals will often create whole websites dedicated to some highlight or feature of your destination. It can actually be overwhelming to have to parry it all down to what you really have have time to do.

I use Google maps with no problems. Save my routes and then they can access from any device. Computer, tablet or Phone. I also like the street view so you see the actual road when looking for any areas of concern. You can also see areas of interest and zoom in to see how things are set up.

We start out with Google Maps and enter our start and end destination. I usually write down the route.

Depending on how far the trip is, we plan on actual drive time to be 6 hours, so approximately 300 miles actual driving a day. Taking that distance, we estimate where we'll be at on each day.

This allows for side trips, road stop strips, points of interest, and those unexpected ... "YARD SALE! Turn around!" stops too.

Looking at the over-all route, and then breaking it down into the distance each day, we then search the internet for campgrounds to spend the night.

We also search our stop points for other points of interest, and also decide if we'd really like to spend some extra time in that area by doing Google Searchs of attractions in the area.

So, once we identify the attraction we might be interested in, then the actual driving distance, then the campground, we make reservations at all the campgrounds. We verify their GSP and physical address.

Then we simply use our Tom Tom and put all these different address in our Tom Tom. When leaving home, we hit the first campground address, and let Tom Tom guide us.Second day, we enter the second campground address and let Tom Tom guide us, and so on.

If there are any side trips, diversions, or anything, we don't care. If we get off course, we just re-enter the campground and keep heading there.

Yes, it takes paper, pencil, Google Maps, a paper map, and a Tom Tom. But once you do it all, it makes the journey a bit more enjoyable not having to figure out how to navigate on the fly.

(FYI, we don't plan diesel stops... we fillup at half a tank, no matter where we are!)

I use google maps here on the internet all the time. SAT VIEW and STREET views tells me all I need to know about places I haven't been too. Looking down on camp grounds you can pick your parking spot out before going to the office...

Roy Ken

I like a combination of Rand McNally and Google. I can get a general overview more easily and more quickly with the Rand McNally, plus I can write on it, circle certain towns. I like Google maps for zooming in for a detailed look at particular places of interest. For me, a disadvantage of Google for the larger overview is that it does not display the minor roads until you zoom in to a certain scale, and I do not always take the interstates.