Trip Routing

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As we do our trip routing, sometimes we are detailed about which routes we will take, and other times we just put together a rough idea and go at a leisurely pace. Typically, we get more precise when we plan to travel a long distance and/or have to be in certain places at certain times.

An example: When we made a major trip westward (New York to Oregon, June to October), we did have some time bound commitments, so our trip planning for this journey consisted of doing the following:

Requested a couple trip routing guides from FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) – one direct trip route, and a custom scenic route.
Used the Good Sam and Happy Camper trip routing to get some other perspectives.
Armed ourselves with a good RV-oriented atlas.
Selected desired campgrounds for part of the journey, planning to intersperse campground stays with some boondocking. We started with the Thousand Trails preserves, since we have paid membership fees in return for free stays. Then we looked at RPI parks (as members, we pay about $10/night), and other “50% off” parks from Happy Campers , state parks and so on.
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Given the cost of fuel, we wanted to stay at parks convenient to our chosen route. This is a balancing act to make sure the bucks saved in campground fees are not eroded by the fuel bill to get there.
As part of our planning, we researched sights along the way that we might want to visit. We sent for some tourism guides and used our various RVing books/magazines for ideas.

We researched local events (fairs, festival, etc.) so we could try to be in a given area when there was something going on (especially those events that are free!).

Got a general sense of where we would easily find Wal-Mart’s, rest stops, etc. – assuming we would wing it with boondocking stops as we proceeded westward.
After matching things up (no small task), we settled on a final trip route and made reservations where we could. And marked the calendar to make further reservations later on, since some parks only allow reservations within a specified window (60 days in advance, etc.)

We ended up with a route that took us through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa (maybe cutting across to Wisconsin or Minnesota). For this leg of the journey, we stayed about 2-6 days in each state.

We then spent a fair amount of time in South Dakota, and then traveled up to the FMCA rally in Minot, North Dakota (with some stays in Roosevelt National Park and Hazen Bay along the way). After the rally, we cut across Montana (with a great visit to Glacier National Park), through Idaho and Washington (another 4-5 day stay) and down into Oregon. And we ended this journey with a few weeks on the Oregon coast, the Country Coach Reunion and some RV service.

When we did this trip routing, we didn’t have every detail nailed down – nor did we want to. But given the summer season in some popular areas, we wanted to be able to count on some stops to just kick back and relax.

And after Oregon, we used the same sort of process to plan our travel southward into California. This time, we had greater flexibility with our trip routing, since we didn't have as many prearranged commitments.

In general we find ourselves using a balance of pre-planned trip routing and just hitting the road when the spirit moves us.

Here are some trip routing resources

RV Canada - an e-book you can download now! Everything you need to know from an expert in RVing!

Watch It Made in the U.S.A: A Visitor's Guide to the Companies That Make Your Favorite Products What a great book full of interesting stops to make while on the road!

America's Most Scenic Drives Beautiful DVD set with plenty of ideas for where to travel.

RVer's Guide to Dump Stations Useful E-Book - DOWNOAD NOW to your PC.

RVer's Notebook This is a software program for all sorts of RVing things. More than a trip log, it includes a weight and balance calculator, automated alerts and easy to use features to keep track of maintenance, expenses, addresses and events.

Highways Magazine is a free subscription when you join the Good Sam Club

GPS options A wide variety of portable products to help navigate your adventures. And popular entertainment choices as well.

Great Resources to plan your trip: Lots of directories for regional trips or travel throughout North America, Road Atlas, The Next Exit, casino guides, owner's handbooks, cookbooks and more.

How About You? We appreciate hearing other perspectives - it's part of the fun of RVing. Just tell us about how (and if) you plan trips! Contact us here.

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