Long Trip Considerations

[dennydecuir]

Greetings, Travelers!! The wife and I are planning our first LONG excursion, starting in SoCal, North to Seattle, then East to the Mississippi before heading home through Kansas City. The itinerary is still in flux, so that is not the issue of this post, but we're hoping the Community could share some ideas and recommendations to consider before heading out on a long trip. Thanks in advance.

[Grit_dog]

Cool!
Yeah depends how comfortable you are with making "plans" on the fly and if your part of the rv park crowd or willing to use your rv as a true mobile home, i.e., ok with stopping for the night wherever and sleeping.
As far as on the road reservations, popular destinations and holiday weekends need to be considered heavily for reservations, but I personally couldn't stand have each and every days location planned out for weeks on end.
Just check some of the destination areas and ask how they fill up and make reservations accordingly when necessary. Lat big trip we took X country, had reservations in Yellowsotne (like a month ahead) and near MT Rushmore. Everywhere else between WA and WI and back was day by day. Which is super easy now becasue you can figure where to head and where to stay in real time, sitting in the passenger seat doing 70 across Kansas.
Bottom line, don't be apprehensive. Have your house buttoned up however you need to, tow rig and rv in good shape for travel, whatever that means to you, load your stuff, fill the fridge and let er rip. There's grocery stores, gas stations and campgrounds in every town. You're not going "away" to a deserted island, your spending a day in other people's home towns and somehow they survive there, so betting u can too!

[dennydecuir]

Greetings, once again. When I initially posted, I was intentionally vague, and the results are what I had hoped for!! I thank you, all, for your input. I suppose, in retrospect, that my greatest concern is finding suitable accommodations at the end of the day. We're pulling a 34' FW and I'm concerned about having, or not having, reservations. It seems many make those along the way, as late as noon that day. It seems reckless to me, but that's why I reached out. No guts, no glory!!

If you keep replying, I'll keep reading!!

[Grit_dog]

dennydecuir wrote:
Greetings, Travelers!! The wife and I are planning our first LONG excursion, starting in SoCal, North to Seattle, then East to the Mississippi before heading home through Kansas City. The itinerary is still in flux, so that is not the issue of this post, but we're hoping the Community could share some ideas and recommendations to consider before heading out on a long trip. Thanks in advance.

Perfect time of year is.....right about now. Wait a couple weeks and you'll catch fall colors in all the mountains and in a month, the colors elsewhere up north.
Not sure what reccomendations your looking for. Have a full tank of gas and a credit card? Or the "best" blueberry pie is in _____?

[nkc914]

As a relative newbie (only 1 really long trip) the thing I would add is the Good Sam website has a trip planner function that allows you to plan your stops and will show you Good Sam parks and others. Most have websites and the reviews can be really helpful in choosing a spot. Keep an open mind when reading reviews, it seems some people expect rv parks to be the Hilton and while we all like clean modern parks descriptions can very.
And like the others said, it's vacation so relax and don't stress, if something has to change just make the change work for you. Get some track books to find those places to see stuff that are not advertised. Off The Beaten Path is a good one. For instance did you know there are wagon ruts from the Oregon trail in Wyoming? They are definitely a ways off the path but we'll worth seeing.
Remember it's not the destination it's the journey there.

[JimK-NY]

Unlike Veebyes, I do little advanced planning. I started this trip by heading West. Now that I have been traveling for a few weeks, I have laid out a rough travel plan subject to change.

I had originally planned to travel through the Canadian Rockies to Jasper. Forest fires changed that plan. I spent more time in Yellowstone instead but left when it started to frost at night. I got lucky at Glacier since the fires that closed much of the park are about over and the skies are fairly clear.

I find it enjoyable to travel without plans, to spend some time wandering about and not having to stick to a schedule. My only current plans are to leave Glacier since I have been here long enough and need to visit a grocery store in the next few days.

[Veebyes]

A long trip is nothing more than a bunch of day trips. Some days you travel. Some days you don't. We recently returned from a 143 day trip to Alaska. Not long enough, even for the 4th time doing it.

We would have liked to have been more flexible with time but along the way there were events on certain dates that we wanted to attend so we had to plan around them. It took some research but the itinerary fell into place with 'spare' days here & there to allow for shopping, laundry, oil changes, weather delays or just liked where we were.

We are off again this week for a 50 plus day trip with events planned for almost every weekend.

In planning start with the beginning location. Plot the most distant location. Now start adding POIs, events & attractions in between but not necessarily on the direct route. Next estimate how far in a travelling day that you are comfortable with. anything over 4 hours is a long day for us. Plot those overnight AREAS give or take an hour of driving. Now you should have a very basic trip & how long needed planned without allowing time for POIs.

Lots more online research to do but from here you have the framework to add too.

[JimK-NY]

I think you need to be a bit more specific about your concerns. Your trip does not sound especially long. Currently I have been on the road for a month traveling from NY to Badlands NP, then Yellowstone, now Glacier. Tomorrow I will be leaving for the Olympic NP then traveling slowly down the coast to northern CA, then to the big 5 in Utah, back west to Death Valley in November and then returning east for the end of the year.

Once I visit a dump station, a grocery store, and fill the propane tanks, it is like starting out fresh on day one. Laundry is the only longer term issue. I carry a month's worth of t shirts, underwear and socks. Laundry is always a 2 or 3 hour nuisance no matter how many loads you have to do.

Regarding costs, I find RV travel to be cheap. You can make it as cheap or expensive as you want. Fuel costs can add up when I travel long distances, but I do not drive flat out day after day. Spread out over a long trip or weeks or currently of months, fuel costs are no more than when I commuted to work. I don't bother with discounts or trying to find the cheapest station. A lot of variation is due to State and/or local taxes which are unavoidable.

Aside from fuel my travel costs are minimal. It helps that I have the senior pass for the national parks. I average about $7-10 per night for camping fees. I have solar so I don't need hook ups. On the road I typically stay at Walmart or a truck stop.

Food and eating are other considerations. I am often not around areas with grocery stores so I try to plan ahead. I only cook meals that can be cooked quickly and do not require any fresh ingredients. I also pack my small freezer with precooked meats or perhaps a few frozen hamburger patties.

Again, if you can be more specific you will get better advice and comments.

[jplante4]

Jeez where to start...

We did a 6 month, 16 state, 6000 mile trip after retirement and learned a lot from that trip. We are in the middle of a 3 month trip now, so the first thing we learned from our retirement trip was that 6 months was too long 🙂

We've shortened our travel days to 4 hours planned (5 hours actual) and our stays from a week to 2 or 3 days (3 days if we're someplace interesting). We also are staying at more state parks than private parks in an effort to keep the costs down. We do Harvest Host when we can and plan to do some boondocking on BLM land when we get further west.

We do the interstates only when absolutely necessary and prefer to travel on the old US routes as a rule (we're doing US 2 now) and try to avoid narrow, twisting roads through mountains.

The retirement trip, we rented a car when we needed to get stuff. We rented from Enterprise (because they "pick you up") but we found that the pickup distance is a certain radius from an office and we were picking campgrounds based on proximity to an Enterprise office - not the best criteria. Also we found that some Enterprise locations are merely an office in an auto body shop and there's not always an Enterprise employee there when you drop off to check the car for damage and release your liability.

This trip we're towing an Equinox. Towing is much better because you can just go see stuff. Towing is just one more thing to worry about whereas renting introduced about a dozen things.

Driving 10 miles off route to save 10 cents on a gallon of fuel is lunacy. It's better to pick a station that is logistically friendly. Pilots and Flying Js are easy in and out but they're expensive and the diesel lanes are disgusting. Gas Buddy and Google maps street view are your friends for finding a station that you can into and out of easily.

The best advise I can give is don't over-think it. Planning every stop down to the minute is worthless. Nothing ruins an adventure like having to be somewhere at a certain time. If there are friends and family along the way that you want to see, pick a date to be there and work backwards. In spite of what you hear about crowded campgrounds, you don't have to have reservations for every stop before you start off. We normally know where we're going next stop and are working on a place to stay after that, so we're only reserving a week in advance. Of course, this won't work for popular campgrounds at the height of the season. This worked fine for us in central into northern Florida.

[PghBob]

Remember, depending on the route you take, there are areas where there will be no cell phone service.

Even if traveling in summer, take a jacket or sweatshirt, and a few heavy clothes, because it can snow any month and be cold in areas of the country.

Watch the weather carefully and be prepared to alter your route if necessary. At this time, there is a storm hitting south Florida that is expected to cross into the Gulf and hit the Gulf coast states by mid-week. Lots of rain and flash flooding expected. Make sure you have a good weather radio with alerts with you. When traveling through areas like Tornado Alley, when you stop for the night make sure you know where the storm shelters are located.

If traveling more than 3000 miles +/-, consider planning an oil service stop somewhere along your route, and if on a schedule, make a reservation for the service.

Make sure your medical coverage is good where you plan to travel.

Plan for rainy days, take your rain gear. But also have some things to do inside the rig in case you find yourself in torrential downpours.

Have fun and safe travels.

[trailertraveler]

cruising spud wrote:
traveling is not cheap. The cost of gas is a killer. Prices are all over the places. What we discovered-Costco and Safeway (a grocery store that, in many states, sold gas) had the best prices for gas. You need a Costco membership to pump Costco gas, but anyone can use Safeway. I also downloaded Gas Buddy, an app that was a bit of a help locating cheaper gas prices.

The Kroger family of grocery stores (Kroger, Smiths, Frys, Dillions, City Market, Fred Meyer and others) have a rewards card that builds discounts on fuel based on store purchases. The card works at any/all brands of their stores. There is also often a 3 cent per gallon discount on any fuel purchase regardless of reward points. The Kroger savings can be had even when using a credit card that will give 5% cashback on fuel purchases all the time or at selected times.

[colliehauler]

Deb and Ed M wrote:
When we were new to RVing, I made maps, campground reservations, planned meals, etc. We were prepared for anything/everything.

Fast-forward a decade+. Last July, Ed announced that there were no forest fires in Glacier Nat'l Park (a Bucket List destination for me). I threw some clothes in a backpack; packed dog food (and some snacks for us) - and we left a few days later. (Granted, most of the essentials like shampoo/toothpaste, toilet paper, paper plates and cutlery; bedding and towels - are already in the van)

Bottom line - both styles work. Unless you want to stay at a popular State or National Park Campground (or have a very large RV) - most private campgrounds will find a space for you for the night if you call them the same day. Unless you are going to be waaaay out in the boondocks, if you need something, you'll always find a place to buy it. We planned a rough route, subject to last-minute changes depending on weather/fires, or discovering someplace too interesting to pass by 🙂

The one thing I have that works great for these free-style trips: an app called "All Stays" (cost: $9.95). It will find you a place to spend the night, whether it's a fancy RV resort or a WalMart.

This is my style of travel as well. I keep everything in the trailer except food and water. First night on the road I purchase that, usually at Wallyworld.

When I first started RV'ING I took way to much stuff, after the first trip I unloaded everything I didn't use. There is always a Wallyworld if you need something and carrying extra weight just uses more fuel, (especially for something you don't use). If I see a interesting place I stop and check it out, having a itinerary to keep prevents this. Some people enjoy having a set schedule ( I gave this up when I retired ). Like others have said there is no right/wrong way, it's what works for you. I also have a agreement with my neighbor, when I'm home I cut his yard when I'm gone they cut mine. I keep cards on hand to stop the mail so just stick one of those in the box.

[Padlin]

I brought a couple long audio books on a couple trips, helped make the driving time pass.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

When we were new to RVing, I made maps, campground reservations, planned meals, etc. We were prepared for anything/everything.

Fast-forward a decade+. Last July, Ed announced that there were no forest fires in Glacier Nat'l Park (a Bucket List destination for me). I threw some clothes in a backpack; packed dog food (and some snacks for us) - and we left a few days later. (Granted, most of the essentials like shampoo/toothpaste, toilet paper, paper plates and cutlery; bedding and towels - are already in the van)

Bottom line - both styles work. Unless you want to stay at a popular State or National Park Campground (or have a very large RV) - most private campgrounds will find a space for you for the night if you call them the same day. Unless you are going to be waaaay out in the boondocks, if you need something, you'll always find a place to buy it. We planned a rough route, subject to last-minute changes depending on weather/fires, or discovering someplace too interesting to pass by 🙂

The one thing I have that works great for these free-style trips: an app called "All Stays" (cost: $9.95). It will find you a place to spend the night, whether it's a fancy RV resort or a WalMart.

[tenbear]

We did several 3 month trips when we started RVing, 10 or 12 years ago, we always towed a car. The RV made the CG to CG route (9 mpg) and the car (20+ mpg) did the sightseeing. We would spend 3-5 nights at each CG, exploring all the local, within about 100 miles, sights. Had a great time and saw a lot of this wonderful country.