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Old 09-27-2021, 12:03 PM   #1
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Smile RV Trip Planning Workflow

Hello everyone! We are new owners of a 2021.5 Georgetown GT7 36K and want to pick the brains of those experienced in travels.

There are soooo many apps available and different clubs to help assist with planning and reserving sites. My question is - do you have any suggestions for a workflow that works best? This is something that I'm doing now... tell me if there is a better way:

1. Decide on a destination
2. Open RV Life App to find nearby campsites and RV locations
3. Open ALLSTAYS App to find nearby campsites and RV Locations
4. Open The Dyrt App to find nearby campsites and locations
5. Open FreeRoam App to find nearby campsites and locations
6. Open Harvest Hosts to see about unique locations along the way
7. Open KOA to find alternate locations that are cost effective

Is there an app that you use that is comprehensive enough to be your one stop shop? Thanks for all the input!
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Old 09-27-2021, 03:36 PM   #2
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RV Trip Wizard is the gold standard, but it costs money to use and I'm cheap. I use RVParky for trip planning to define where stops will be. Then I use Campendium and CampgroundReviews for finding places to stay.

https://learntorv.com/lets-go-trip-p...-and-websites/
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Old 09-27-2021, 03:43 PM   #3
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Having my destinations mostly picked out I have a variety of trip planning inputs.

I've found Pinterst has great trip ideas and plans and they've been a great source of planning and detailed itineraries - for major parks someone else has already documented it. Great suggestions for State, NP,'s, and private CG'S (some don't meet my expectations but often they're the only CG close to a destination)
I'll go back multiple times to Pinterest during my planing as it evolves.

I belong to KOA and use their trip planner.to find Journey campgrounds or sometimes their Holiday locations if I want more amenities for a few days at a certain location. The KOA App sends reservations to the calendar on my phone for check in,, reference.

I keep a current paper Rand McNally large scale Road Atlas handy for reference. Helps me to keep the total plan in mind and helps with what-if planning.

I use Google Maps for checking travel distances between destinations,.CG's, etc., so I don't bite off more travel in a day that I can chew.

And I use Google Maps to find cities along my route where there may be CGs (private, State, NP) if I can't find any KOA locations. Then I do Google searches by city or area.

I store all my paper reservations in the order of travel so all I need to do is grab the folder in the evening to look at the next days travel plan.
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Old 09-27-2021, 08:29 PM   #4
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I usually know my destination so I just need to plan the intermediate stops. I use RV Trip Wizard, which includes RV Life (which I find pretty useless) and also includes full access to Campground Reviews, which I find valuable.

I'll use Harvest Host (who recently bought Boondockers Welcome) or KOA sometimes as well.

If I need to just find a getaway I'll use RV Trip Wizard because it has a feature that will show you a "driving radius ring". You enter how many miles you want to drive and it will display it on the map. Then you can set filters in RVTW and it displays the campgrounds that meet your filter. Then I double-check my selection on Campground Reviews.

The pic shows the Advanced Driving Radius which is adjusted to show roads and not just circles. The rings are about 3 hours, 4 hour, and 5 hours or actually 186 miles, 248 miles, and 310 miles.

HTH,

Ray
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Old 09-28-2021, 11:38 AM   #5
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If I need to just find a getaway I'll use RV Trip Wizard because it has a feature that will show you a "driving radius ring". You enter how many miles you want to drive and it will display it on the map. Then you can set filters in RVTW and it displays the campgrounds that meet your filter. Then I double-check my selection on Campground Reviews.



The pic shows the Advanced Driving Radius which is adjusted to show roads and not just circles. The rings are about 3 hours, 4 hour, and 5 hours or actually 186 miles, 248 miles, and 310 miles.



HTH,



Ray[/QUOTE]

NXR,

Thanks for sharing how the radius feature works.
Very helpful.
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Old 09-28-2021, 01:56 PM   #6
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No problem. The Advanced Driving Radius can look somewhat weird in long, narrow states, though. This is what Florida looks like while centered on Ocala.

The miles are the same as in the previous picture.

Ray
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Old 09-28-2021, 03:50 PM   #7
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No problem. The Advanced Driving Radius can look somewhat weird in long, narrow states, though. This is what Florida looks like while centered on Ocala.



The miles are the same as in the previous picture.



Ray
Makes sense though as it follows the roads.
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Old 09-28-2021, 04:14 PM   #8
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I tried TV Trip Wizard in its' early years and was NOT at all impressed. Due to "Auto-Renew" which I had apparently unknowingly activated, it took several years of membership fees before I caught said "Auto-Renew" (shame on me). Back then, RV Trip Wizard did NOT take into account the SIZE of your RV (I have a LARGE Super-C diesel puller motorhome). When I wrote to them about it, they acknowledged that fact and told me their "routing" was basically a way to connect with other RVing members. That issue may (or may not) have been fixed by now. I ALWAYS had trouble trying to plan routes using RVTW. Many years ago, I purchased the AllStays App (~$10 on Apple's App Store) and, have been very happy with AllStays to the point where I also paid ~$40 for the AllStays PRO version. The Pro version allows users to view AllStays on ANY web browser so, Android OS, laptops, desktops, tablets can all use AllStays Pro plus, I no longer have to squint at a tiny screen.

Whatever you decide to buy / use, make SURE that you can enter the dimensions and capacities of YOUR RV!!! It's incredibly easy to blindly follow a device which can lead you to disaster. A GREAT resource is the printed Rand McNally "Motor Carriers Road Atlas" which contains a WEALTH of information that is useful to RVers. Said atlas is kept up to date and is considered essential reading for commercial operators. NOTE: my experience with Rand McNally'S ELECTRONIC RV GPS units has been VERY disappointing. I would recommend avoiding those and, if you chose to buy an RV GPS, look at the Garmin RV specific models. That said, in my opinion, ALL "RV GPS" units fall short in at least one (or more) areas. A user would be wise to understand WHAT any shortcoming would be as well as how to compensate said shortcoming.
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Old 09-28-2021, 04:28 PM   #9
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If you use a Garmin you can use Garmin Base Camp.
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Old 09-28-2021, 05:32 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by jkoenig24 View Post



Whatever you decide to buy / use, make SURE that you can enter the dimensions and capacities of YOUR RV!!! It's incredibly easy to blindly follow a device which can lead you to disaster. A GREAT resource is the printed Rand McNally "Motor Carriers Road Atlas" which contains a WEALTH of information that is useful to RVers. Said atlas is kept up to date and is considered essential reading for commercial operators. NOTE: my experience with Rand McNally'S ELECTRONIC RV GPS units has been VERY disappointing. I would recommend avoiding those and, if you chose to buy an RV GPS, look at the Garmin RV specific models. That said, in my opinion, ALL "RV GPS" units fall short in at least one (or more) areas. A user would be wise to understand WHAT any shortcoming would be as well as how to compensate said shortcoming.
My needs for navigation assistance are fairly easily obtained. I drive interstates or US highways for the most part and my co pilot can help with turn by turn directions for any state highway or county road jaunts.

My towed vehicle has built in navigation and when we are off sightseeing or in an area where driving might be dice the wife takes the lead in the car.

I understand some want to go well off the beaten path with large motorhomes, 5ers, or tt.

I'll take roads to CGs that accommodate my 51' total length (motorhome + car in tow)
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Old 09-28-2021, 06:42 PM   #11
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I also find RVParky to be a useful tool that is free. Once I have a planned route, the last stage of my workflow is to use Google Maps to find fuel stops ahead of time that will be easy to get in and out of. With satellite and street views it is pretty easy to see which ones will work. I then save them to my private Google map. I can then access that map on my phone while traveling. Over time I am building my own database of fuel stops and rest areas that I like.
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Old 09-29-2021, 09:09 AM   #12
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I also find RVParky to be a useful tool that is free. Once I have a planned route, the last stage of my workflow is to use Google Maps to find fuel stops ahead of time that will be easy to get in and out of. With satellite and street views it is pretty easy to see which ones will work. I then save them to my private Google map. I can then access that map on my phone while traveling. Over time I am building my own database of fuel stops and rest areas that I like.
Great tip
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Old 09-29-2021, 05:14 PM   #13
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I just planned a 17-day trip using RV Trip Wizard and still find it meets my needs. When we're in travel mode we rarely boondock so the fact that RVTW doesn't show free places to camp isn't important. I like the available campground reviews...haven't been steered wrong yet.
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Old 09-30-2021, 08:25 PM   #14
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Thank You!

All this information is pure gold! Thank you guys for all the input.
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