Trip Planning

[sherman12]

In the midst of planning a cross country trip for next summer to replace our cancelled trip from last year, I was wondering "What resources do you use?" to plan a long trip lasting a month or more.

With so much to see and do as you whiz by on the interstate, passing by wonderful towns, sites, state and national parks, quirky and unusual, how do you decide on what to stop for, or plan for, and what to save for perhaps another trip.

[DougW]

I get my route figured out for the big things I want to see then I do a “things to do near (Name of city)” search. It takes some time to look through all the choices but I usually find things of interest.

You can also search the “On The Road” Forum on this site.

I have also zoomed in on google maps and looked for things and sometimes find a few things that way.

If you are a user of RV Trip Wizard you can turn on some points of interest although there is no category there for quirky or unusual.

Roadside America has a listing of things to stop at along the way.

The best resource I found used to be the Good Sam trip planner but their POI’s went away with their last ‘update’ several years ago and has not come back even though they claim it will.

[MrPalazzo]

the less you 'plan', the more you'll ENJOY, especially for those things and places you see that you would have never even known were there... but, some folks are 'planners' and just can't stomach ever taking any 'trip' without knowing EXACTLY where and when they will be somewhere. I'm the opposite - get a general idea of the direction, and then go. If you have a self-contained RV, then the ideas are limitless, and you are not 'required' to have a reservation or a particular 'place' for the night.

[Bosnroyer]

I was originally devoted to GoodSam’s trip planner, and recently tried RV Life Trip Wizard. Good bye Good Sam. RV Life is a much better product and has helped me plan my 7,000 mile cross country trip this fall. Makes me wish I had bought my last iPad with built in wireless so that I could have used the GPS function on the trip.

While I agree that it often mote fun to wing it and not over plan, but I’m not comfortable without reservations this year.

[ChrisParise]

Pinterest. It's got just about every trip planned out. I know forum readers ask this planning question almost daily but you've got to check out Pinterest.

[Csbadvisor]

Originally Posted by Bosnroyer

I was originally devoted to GoodSam’s trip planner, and recently tried RV Life Trip Wizard. Good bye Good Sam. RV Life is a much better product and has helped me plan my 7,000 mile cross country trip this fall. Makes me wish I had bought my last iPad with built in wireless so that I could have used the GPS function on the trip.

While I agree that it often mote fun to wing it and not over plan, but I’m not comfortable without reservations this year.

X2 onRV Trip Wizard. Seamlessly lets you plan route and research campground options without jumping from one site to another.

[rsdata]

i like to have a destination or two or three. In between I scour the towns in-between for rest areas to sleep over using google maps and any special eating attractions using Trip Advisor to guide as to where to stop.

At the destination which is at least 3 nights minimum I again look at trip advisor app to find points of interest and eating places. I also again scour the google maps for places to see and do.

I hate having deadlines but these days reservations are hard to come by so planning is essential.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by rsdata

i like to have a destination or two or three. In between I scour the towns in-between for rest areas to sleep over using google maps and any special eating attractions using Trip Advisor to guide as to where to stop.

At the destination which is at least 3 nights minimum I again look at trip advisor app to find points of interest and eating places. I also again scour the google maps for places to see and do.

I hate having deadlines but these days reservations are hard to come by so planning is essential.

X2. Our favorite trips used to be about 3 months with no reservations at all and a vague ultimate destination. I believe those days are gone, at least for the foreseeable future. Most RV parks are now booked solid for months for multiple night stays. Most will have a few slots saved for one night stopovers, so you may get lucky that way
We use Goodsam trip planner and then just research online for the surrounding areas for interesting things to do.

[Bosnroyer]

We just completed our 7000+ mile trip from Florida to the Rockies, discussed above and we used the RV Life Trip Wizard and we’re absolutely thrilled with the service and all of the Campgrounds. As many have stated it kinda sucks to over plan but based on what we saw at the 26 different campgrounds we used we probably would have gotten very used to Wal Mart parking lots without reservations. Maybe things may improve next year, sure hope so.

[doc73]

I have been toying with the RV Trip Wizard after we got a 50% off coupon at the Hershey show. I have not been able to actually use it in practice yet but I have planned three trips in it for 2022.