Wanting to go full time

[Pappygil]

Originally Posted by CarpeDiem

This is primarily a question for full timers, but if you have an idea jump on in. We live in Orlando and currently do most of our camping within 3 hours of home. We prefer state parks and so we have to plan almost a year in advance. We would like to start by branching out to nearby states and visiting friends. How far in advance do you have to plan your stays? And any other words of wisdom would be helpful.

Make a list of where you want to go. Heck to see what the advance reservation requirements are. On your list should be the name of the campground and what date you need to make to reservation and put a reminder in your phone or computer. As you make your reservations put that info on a calendar. Remember, you will probably not be able to make your reservations all in a dated row, this why you’ll need the list with reminders. Happy camping. Another thought, get info of the areas you camp in from the local chamber of commerce or from AAA or Good Sam.

[todalake]

We work at a popular campground(Good Sam rating 9+) during the summer and one of my jobs is taking reservations. Some observations, 1 -if reserving during popular time do well in advance. Ours requires 3 night stay for holidays. Weekends are 2 night minimum. 4 of July for 2020 is already 90 percent booked. 2 - Pull thru sites more in demand than back in. 3 - we have 50 amp and 30 amp sites. 4 - we are rarely full during the week but some types might be. Pull thru, 50 amp, full hook up. You may have to settle for water and electric and 30 amp. 5 - 3 or 4 day advance usually gets what you want unless you want more than a couple of day without moving to another site. 6 - our advanced reservations get bigger every year. Everything is on computer so can can compare future reservations to same time previous year. And yes I have told drop ins that we were full. Usually wife tells husband 'I told you we should have got reservations'.

[CraigBean7672]

Not full time yet so tagging this to follow.

I've noticed it can be seasonal, seems there are plenty of spots available with some places practically vacant in the off-season.

[todalake]

Originally Posted by CraigBean7672

Not full time yet so tagging this to follow.

I've noticed it can be seasonal, seems there are plenty of spots available with some places practically vacant in the off-season.

True, July and August the busiest times. Just make sure your off-season is not the closed season. Most campgrounds close up north once freezing temperatures arrive. Even a normal off-season weekend can be busy if coincides with local festival. Our last weekend open was full because of festival. Lots of openings during the week.

[Tandemguy]

We just returned from a 51 day, 10,090 mi trip across Canada east to west and then back through the north and south west through as many national parks as we could fit in. I think we reserved sites either the same day or at most one or two days ahead about five or six times. All the rest were either just show up at the site, call an hour or two ahead or boon docking on BLM or national forest land for free. Did a couple of nights at Walmart and a large chain grocery store, too.

We left on August 15 and return on October 5 from North Carolina. Towing a 23' Rockwood Mini Lite with a 2005 Ford Excursion 6.0 diesel.

We had very little trouble finding a place to stay using this plan. We're not full timers but don't see why it wouldn't work for full timers, too. Sometimes you may have to camp 5-10 mi farther out from your destination in order to find a place. But that few miles difference can also be much cheaper and less crowded, too.

YMMV. Happy camping!

[stormer]

Originally Posted by CarpeDiem

What’s funny is all the responses so far have been great and given many good suggestions. But I was hoping for someone to give me the secret knowledge that so many of you have that would make it a simple, worry free transition. Oh well, looks like we have to think on our feet.

>>>secret knowledge that so many of you have that would make it a simple, worry free transition


The "secret knowledge" is "preparedness". It's that simple. A well prepared person is confident and worry free because he/she has a "plan" and "how to achieve it". There is no shortcut to "preparedness". You are either prepared or not!

Preparing... start by absorbing the tens of thousands of post on this forum that pretty much covers everything you'd ever need to read will take a while to do. You won't be able to. The "secret knowledge" is accumulated by experience (very rapidly) or slowly by reading this and other forums, youtube, websites, etc (studying)

As for worry free? hmm... that can go all over the place. What are you worried about? Is your rv safe to drive? good tires, all working good? truck good? If all good, you shouldn't worry about that kind of thing, BUT, make sure you have a backup plan "just in case". AAA, goodsams, coachnet, etc. Someone you can call in an emergency to get you out of a jam. It happens. Be prepared.

We have been on the road for about 1.5 years. We plan. I honestly can't fathom setting out on a 7500 mile trek and not knowing exactly where I am going to stop and park everything I own every night. It would be irresponsible of me as a husband to risk the safety of my wife and everything we own. This is our home.

We have a thousand trails membership that serves us well on the coast and in the southern states. Cost go "way down" when you can camp for free for up to 21 days. Those we reserve online. As others have said, if you are going to Florida better book early as you can. 120 days.

Other reservation systems such as state parks will require you to register 120, 90, 60, or even 30 days in advance. (thus must be planned)

I use these websites to calculate the "exact" day I can make the reservation:
https://www.convertunits.com/dates/daysfromnow/30
https://www.convertunits.com/dates/daysfromnow/60
https://www.convertunits.com/dates/daysfromnow/90
https://www.convertunits.com/dates/daysfromnow/120

Weather plays a part in it too. We head north in the summer and south in the winter. The plains states can be quite stormy in the summer time. (sorry, nothing will prepare you for your first tornado warning feeling) What route will you take? What is there to see? How long do you want to see it?

I use https://rvparky.com to plan our routes. But have also found https://www.rvtripwizard.com to be quite helpful as well.

We are on stop 42 of a 56 stop trip covering 7500 miles and 16 states. At the end of the journey we will be wintering over in Texas. Spending that time, planning and preparing for our eventual escape from the Texas heat.



James

[todalake]

One thing I forgot to mention is unit size. A 45' unit has more limitations on where they can stay. A lot of state and national parks have limits on size.