First long haul and lessons learned

[JJ_Spectre]

We just got back from what was our first "long" haul of about 1300 kms round trip. It was also our longest trip to date (8 days). Some of the things we learned along the way:

- Travelling with two small kids necessitates a stop every hour and a half to two hours. This is a sanity as well as a bladder saver. This one sunk in on the way back...
- Bring snacks and pack lunches to cut costs, minimize time spent off the road, and eat healthy while on the move.
- Potty breaks in the trailer go a lot quicker than going inside so having "some" fresh water on board is a plus.
- Discuss the route with your navigator/spouse before you leave to identify potential areas for concern and refuelling locations.
- If you take the dog camping, then take the dog with you on your excursions. Fireworks (Canada Day and Independence Day weekend, so lots of celebration) and dogs on their own don't mix. Now I have some repairs to do. I just hope he wasn't barking and disturbing everyone. 😞
- For us, ~500 kms in a day is the most we should attempt in a day if we want to still feel like the voyage is part of the vacation.

All in all, it was a great trip and a great experience. We were in an RV resort-type of establishment rather than a campground, so the amenities were very well established. Out next adventure is closer to home, but is dry camping. Time to break out the generator. I'm sure there will be more lessons learned after that experience. 🙂

[paulsang]

Because we travel with a parrot, a MH was the only option for us. We stop about every 2 hours or so. Parrot takes a snack, Partner takes a smoke break, and I stretch. 15-20 minutes.

We assemble the snacks before we roll, and when I say "fetch", snacks appear. Pretty good set-up.

Paul

[broark01]

All good ideas. I also throw a 5 gal can of diesel in the bed of the truck just in case I find myself unable to get to a diesel pump with the 5th wheel. My wife and I can knock out 500 miles easy in a day, different story with kids.

We considered a MH but since we already had a truck, it seemed like it is another engine/transmission/drivetrain to maintain in addition to all the other engines we have already. Then you have the maintenace of the engine/transmission/drivetrain in the dingy not to mention the associated insurance/registration/etc.

[dverstra]

harmanrk wrote:

Supercharged wrote:
300 miles should be be the law for all RV's

Even at say, 60MPH, thats only 5 hours on the road. Thats done before lunch.

Lunch is when the LOML wakes up!

[rustycopperball]

one full tank of fuel, drive till we have to refuel, fill up, tank gets near empty pull into to spot and park. go fill up ready for next day.

[Capt_Ahab]

These are great suggestions. A few more for those travelling with kiddos:

- We take a lot of snacks and we eat a big, hearty breakfast on travel days. We found that doing this, we don't have to stop for lunch and are not really very hungry until dinner.

- When we stop for fuel or otherwise, EVERYBODY goes to the bathroom whether you need to or not! We also discovered, on our way back, that using the TT potty is a much quicker (and cheaper!) stop - it's usually hot as heck in there and there's nothing interesting to look at (window-shop).

- a roll of tin-foil, torn off into sheets and passed out to kiddos for them to "create" something with is a good activity. Along with other (a bin-full in our case) activity stuff - crayons, paper, painter's tape, etc.

- we ended up doing a couple of 450 to 500 mile days (a LONG day for us) but as long as the kiddos are holding up, we're ok with a long day in the van - just not too many in a row. We also try really hard to find a TT park with a pool for our overnight stops - let the kiddos splash around a bit is a great stress reliever.

[frankdamp]

With the very sexy-looking but damned uncomfortable Flexsteel seats in our Class A, 2 hours without a walkabout is my limit due to serious cramping of the hamstring muscle in my gas-pedal leg.

We normally don't plan to do more than about 200 miles a day except for the day we're heading home. I can do 350 or so that day as the last 100 miles are on familiar roads. Daily miles are also conditioned by the type of roads we're on. We'll do more miles when we're on Interstates where cruise control is reasonable. On twisty two-lane roads, sometimes 150 miles is enough.

[empty_nest]

We just got back from our first long road trip... 900 mi. each way. We broke it up into 3 days (approx. 300 mi/day) and it worked out real well. I love to drive, but with the 5'er on the back, I found that is really all I want to do. A lot more stress! We usually pulled out between 9 and 10 am and were off the road by around 4 pm. Still plenty of time to set up and relax a bit.

We did not travel with kids but had 5 small dogs with us. They do well in the truck and go in cages in the RV when we leave to go sight seeing, never more that 2-3 hours at a time.

[JJ_Spectre]

The expression YMMV comes to mind with the distance question. This last trip was approx 650kms (around 410 miles) in a day. Because the first 70 kms and the last approx 200kms were on varying speed limit roads (from 100 kph down to 50 for the small towns) it was a long day behind the wheel. 9 hours including stops. While it is entirely possible, the only thing I wanted to do when we finally arrived was sit down and have a beer. If any sightseeing is to be done, then 500kms or so on autoroutes is the top end for us.

[kbish]

6.7 tow rig wrote:
I'll stick with traveling how ever many miles I want in a day, thanks.

same here. however i never want to make another 1,150 mile trip in 24 hours again.

[happybooker1]

If I have a long way to go, it's hit the road by 9 & drive till 1 (I can usually last with potty breaks every 2 hours so one stop in the am). That's 200 miles & time to gas up. We eat lunch and take a 'forced' 1.5 hour break. Usually try to plan a little sightseeing side trip at this time.

Then about 2:30 hit the road again to drive until 6 or 6:30. Then we pull in for the night. This method can get us 350 or 400 miles per day, & with the long break in the middle it's not so stressful for me.

[eabc5454]

I get where I'm going (campground or home) in better shape if I stop and rest every two hours or so. A little more frequently if I can't use cruise control due to traffic or hills.

We keep the fridge running so we have whatever is on the menu for the day handy. Sandwiches get made with breakfast, leftovers can be col dor nuked, etc. Nuts, granola bars and trail mix are favorite snacks.

Elizabeth

[Jgwoods]

I plan around 300 miles and let the day dictate how many we really go, but it's usually 250-320 and hardly ever more. My long legs won't stand being in the truck for more than an hour and a half so after many trips in cars, on motorcycles, and now truck camper, we just stop about every hour, take a lap around the camper, a glug of water, pee if need be, and hit the road again. It seems there is always something to see about every hour, if not sooner.

[6_7_tow_rig]

Supercharged wrote:
300 miles should be be the law for all RV's

Only if you live in a communist country. I'll stick with traveling how ever many miles I want in a day, thanks.

[Jim_Shoe]

I'm a solo driver and suffer from TB (Tiny Bladder) so I stop every couple of hours. Then I pour another cup of coffee from the Thermos (re-loading) and head on down the road. I try for about 300 miles a day. On the road by 8 and in a CG by 3, including pit stops for gas. By stopping that early, I can normally find a pull thru spot in a FHU CG. Being retired lets me be on the road for as long as I choose. Works for me.