Trip planning guide/programs...
Newbie trying to quasy plan our 2+ month first trip with the RV... Here's what I do know, just haven't figured out how to plug it into a plan.... Leaving and returning to Florida.. Would like to me...
Forum Discussion
Our friends use Excel spreadsheet software to plan out their trips. I use a Word Processor and create an initial route from a 30,000 ft. perspective. I list the sequence of towns and places in a sequence going out and coming back to our house.
I use Google Maps to determine the miles between each of these spots and this tells me the drive time involved. I don't like to drive more than 5 hours on any given day and if I see a 8 hour section I will look for a place in the middle where we can stop. I also see what the total miles and total hours of drive time is with this route. It does not have to be exact. If I see that it is going to be 4000 miles and 7-80 hours of driving over a 14 day period that works out to 285 miles a day is we do not have a day without driving and 4 or more hours of driving each day. For us this is more than we like to do so then it is a matter of either being out for more days or shortening the route.
With Google Maps I can easily see if I save drive time or miles driven by using the interstate instead of a more scenic road between two places. Often the difference is so little that we almost always take the scenic route and this process makes it seem like less of an issue one way or the other.
At stopping points were we plan to stay for one or more nights I will use Google Maps at a location to search nearby for campgrounds or RV parks and then look for reviews of the places to decide which is the best and which is the next best should the first choice be full when we arrive.
For reviewing places to visit I use guidebooks and websites and for where to stay I use Yelp.com, tripadvisor.com, rvparkreviews.com, and rvbuddy.com. The reviews need to be filtered as not everyone cares about the same things so comments on hot water in the showers I do care about and comments about them not being immaculate I ignore. It is also very different at most places during the peak seasons when they are crowded and likely to be much noisier than at other times of the year.
It helps to know if you prefer public campgrounds or boondocking or being in a RV park with full hookups and cable TV and a general store. One night in ten we are at an RV park. Others may choose to be in a RV Park every night and this is completely subjective but nonetheless important when you do your trip planning.
At many public campgrounds reservations are not an option so you may need to get there early in the day to be sure of getting a space and the longer your RV the fewer campsites there will be into which you can fit - seldom a problem at a private RV park.
I use Google Maps to determine the miles between each of these spots and this tells me the drive time involved. I don't like to drive more than 5 hours on any given day and if I see a 8 hour section I will look for a place in the middle where we can stop. I also see what the total miles and total hours of drive time is with this route. It does not have to be exact. If I see that it is going to be 4000 miles and 7-80 hours of driving over a 14 day period that works out to 285 miles a day is we do not have a day without driving and 4 or more hours of driving each day. For us this is more than we like to do so then it is a matter of either being out for more days or shortening the route.
With Google Maps I can easily see if I save drive time or miles driven by using the interstate instead of a more scenic road between two places. Often the difference is so little that we almost always take the scenic route and this process makes it seem like less of an issue one way or the other.
At stopping points were we plan to stay for one or more nights I will use Google Maps at a location to search nearby for campgrounds or RV parks and then look for reviews of the places to decide which is the best and which is the next best should the first choice be full when we arrive.
For reviewing places to visit I use guidebooks and websites and for where to stay I use Yelp.com, tripadvisor.com, rvparkreviews.com, and rvbuddy.com. The reviews need to be filtered as not everyone cares about the same things so comments on hot water in the showers I do care about and comments about them not being immaculate I ignore. It is also very different at most places during the peak seasons when they are crowded and likely to be much noisier than at other times of the year.
It helps to know if you prefer public campgrounds or boondocking or being in a RV park with full hookups and cable TV and a general store. One night in ten we are at an RV park. Others may choose to be in a RV Park every night and this is completely subjective but nonetheless important when you do your trip planning.
At many public campgrounds reservations are not an option so you may need to get there early in the day to be sure of getting a space and the longer your RV the fewer campsites there will be into which you can fit - seldom a problem at a private RV park.
