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Old 01-24-2017, 09:16 PM   #1
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Planning or Winging it?

We are planning our first extended trip (5-6 months) across the country.
How do you balance your trip with planning & reservations and being free & flexible?
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Old 01-24-2017, 11:06 PM   #2
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Except for national parks, we travel without reservations. It allows us to shift a day or two here and there and does add to the adventure. You must develop fortitude to spend a night in places that are less than perfect, but unless you feel unsafe, it can be a real addition to your experiences.

Get a Passport America catalog and plan the basic trip route with it. Then get a listing of Core of Engineer' parks to overlay for more options. A Good Sam Atlas and catalog gives you backup choices and a KOA here and there can fill out your holes.

There are several smart phone apps that help find alternate RV parks as you progress. And remember, if you are caught out without a place to stay, there will always be a Walmart, Cracker Barrel, city park or rest area just down the road.

Good luck with your planning. Be careful on weekends as they fill up with locals. Do spend a few days at the Mothership. That may be a good place to spend a weekend as we found it slow on Saturday and Sunday.

Travel safe. Pat
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Old 01-24-2017, 11:25 PM   #3
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A lot depends upon where and when you travel, and the sorts of campsites you prefer.

If you want to camp in a national park during the high season, reservations are recommended, if they take them. Ditto for nearby RV parks. These places really fill up, and there can be waiting lines at 9:00 am for non-reservable sites, with campers just hoping someone will leave.

If you want to boondock in the Mojave desert on BLM lands, no problem.

If you want to stay in popular non-reservable public campgrounds, the early bird does get the worm.

We don't overnight in Walmarts, Flying J truck stops, and the like, so we can't comment. We prefer camping in the back-of-beyond, where there are no Walmarts, Cracker Barrel restaurants, or major truck stops. If you plan to visit Arches or Canyonlands National Parks or Moab, for example. you won't find such "facilities." Plus some Walmarts are posted for no overnight camping. I think it depends on the municipality.

One strategy we use when we have a multi-day drive with no specific destination for the night, is to take along a copy of the Good Sam RV park guide. When it gets to be 3:00 pm or so, and we know we'd like to stop within two hours, we will figure out where we'll be, identity an RV park in the vicinity, and then phone ahead at that point for a reservation.
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Old 01-24-2017, 11:30 PM   #4
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We have counted our trips in weeks, not in months, so we don’t relate perfectly (yet,... ). But we like to travel on the fly. We pick out a few destinations and plan everything around them with lots of slack in our schedule between stops. There is luxury in going slow and enjoying unexpected pleasure. Spontaneity offers rich rewards. Sometimes the road is boring and long, so you keep moving. Sometimes destinations don’t satisfy, so pick up and move on. Last minute route changes can be rewarding. Between destinations we expect to boondock at truck stops, Walmarts, etc, but being flexible means we sometimes find beautiful free campsites in unexpected places. Our best surprises came from pulling off the road, stopping at the nearest motel, and asking where we can park for the night.

High demand campsites need to be reserved well in advance. Likewise holiday weekends. Otherwise we’ve never made advance reservations.

The most miserable travel is when you’re on a deadline.
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Old 01-24-2017, 11:34 PM   #5
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Just one more thing I might mention, if you do plan to visit the western national parks, where distances tend to be vast and only lightly populated, is that a lot of these areas have little or no cell phone service, or Verizon only. If you do hope to phone ahead from the road for a night's stay, it is a work-around.
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Old 01-25-2017, 04:04 AM   #6
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Reservations for stays at coastal parks on the west coast, especially in the summer or holidays are a good idea. For more popular spots these should be made well in advance.

That's is not my style, I like winging it, but I found full parks to be the rule rather than the exception. Well not really full, it seems that some R Vers who like to keep options open will book sites at multiple parks the just leave the one they don't use sit ting empty, booked up but empty. Funny mindset that.

Cheers Richard
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Old 01-25-2017, 07:15 AM   #7
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In the 45 years I've been trailer camping I've never not been able to find a place to stay over night without reservations. I have been turned away but have always been able to find something nearby. I'm not talking about staying at Walmart parking lot, etc.

When I do make reservations it is when I'm going to a popular/crowed location during prime season. An example is the Fl Keys. For next winter I would be trying to reserve now.

This past June and July I traveled across the US. I did not make reservations for more than a day ahead, but most of the time did not have a reservation anywhere. An example: I got lucky at Yellowstone. The first few nights I stayed in a state park nearby. When I entered the park gate I stopped and asked if there had been any cancellation. There had been, so I was able to stay at Fishing Bridge in late June, without a reservation. Another example: at Glacier I was not so lucky, nothing was available inside the park where I wanted to be. I stayed just outside the park in a private campground, no reservation required. Being flexible and aware is the key.
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Old 01-25-2017, 07:51 AM   #8
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We like to mix 3-4 days off the grid with a day or so where there are full services where we can dump tanks, fill up with water, wash clothes, etc. This flexibility makes it less necessary to make reservations in all but the most congested spots, as we can plan our arrivals at the full service parks for mid-week when availability is best. Plus, we always start looking for the full service spots before we use up the last drop of room in our waste tanks or drain the last drop of water out of our fresh water tank, so if we have to spend another night off the grid, it's no big deal.
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Old 01-25-2017, 09:09 AM   #9
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Thanks for all your advice and help. I failed to mention that our extended trip has 2 destination points - an April wedding in North Carolina and a mid-August family reunion in Hilton Head, SC. Trying to figure out the "in-between". I really want to 'wing it', but was feeling very apprehensive about it. Y'all have given me confidence. Thanks again.
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Old 01-25-2017, 09:14 AM   #10
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You can be more flexible and free if you can set your Airstream up for at least several days camping with no hookups. Usually that means strong batteries and a way to keep them charged, and management of water, waste fluids, and propane. Travel light, food is available along the way, don't overwhelm yourself with gear, clothing and gadgets.

We take a 6-7 month trip each year, usually to a few destinations with reservations made months ahead, and then more/less plan on interesting things to see or do along the route. And the route is often best if it is not the most direst. Wing it, see some things, meet some people, enjoy the unexpected.

So make a basic bucket list of destinations (popular ones will probably need reservations), fill in with plenty of interesting places along the way, and wing it along the way and see what you can find.

Most important, have fun.
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Old 01-25-2017, 12:27 PM   #11
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Both.
Plan for travel, holiday weekends, or national parks.
Wing it for weekend camping trips or "no particular place to go" trips.
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Old 01-25-2017, 12:47 PM   #12
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Still working, and have limited vacation days, so every single day is planned out, but the spirit is similar to what everyone posts. Yes it is planned, but I do not care if we change the plan. I call months in advance for reservations if it's a prime location. If it is not in a prime location we meander. We look for municipal camp sites (Many little towns on old no longer frequently traveled highways have them for free!)
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Old 01-25-2017, 02:13 PM   #13
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To be honest it's what you are most comfortable with. We met a couple that was full-timing and had been for nearly a year and most of their nights were spent in Walmart parking lots and rest-stops. I'm different - I am already planning the year and making reservations for spots (and some parks are already full for 2017). But, that's me which is just one person. For some the dream that comes with a new RV in some cases is the sense of freedom to go where you want when you want and the marketing material from the manufacturers sure bolsters that dream. But in reality there are high seasons for travel and locations that just get real busy with a finite number of parking spots to go around
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Old 01-26-2017, 07:10 AM   #14
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Newbie here from Indianapolis. I purchased our 22fb Sport Sept. 2015. We love it. I have only put around 1500 miles on it so far a few short trips and one t Holland Mi. We are getting ready to go to Phoenix the 1st of April for our first long trip. Other than Air for the tires, is there anything else I should do to prep it? I am going to take it out for a spin to make sure the lights and brakes work ok. Anything else I should do? Thanks.
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Old 01-26-2017, 08:06 AM   #15
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We have been spending about 1-1/2 - 2 months each winter in the southern states (E&W) for the last 18 years.

Initially we would go with a very rough idea of a trip plan and no reservations - I really liked the flexibiity.

However starting maybe five years ago it seemed to be getting much more difficult to do this - we would decide to stop someplace and have to visit four of five campgrounds in order to find a place where we could stay for a week.

On the last of those trips I recall at Ft Myers we did manage to find a place for a one week stay, but ony if we were prepared to move the trailer to different sites twice within the week!

Since then, I have done a lot more advance planning and made reservations often 6 months before our trip!

I miss the flexibility, but on balance it is worth losing it to know that we have a place to stay at each planned stop without a lot of frustration!

Often times, we are staying at places where we have stayed and enjoyed before, so no bad surprises.

When that is not the case, I do as much research as I can using websites like Rvparkreviews, and also using google maps and satellite views to assess the prospective campground before calling for reservations.

Seems to work well for us.

Brian.
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Old 01-26-2017, 08:15 AM   #16
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Most here have said a mixture of both, and I agree.

Make sure you have water and propane, and you can sit a night out most anywhere in relative comfort if you can't find a campground to your liking.

People have different needs, so doing what works best for you is what's most important.

If you don't need wifi and cable, much less electricity and full hookups, you can maintain a lot of flexibility in your travel.


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Old 01-26-2017, 10:26 AM   #17
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Like many others, I generally only plan out key stops.

I will say though, from now on I am going to make reservations when I have a chance. Last time out I wanted to stay at First Landing State Park in VA. I checked the website up to the night before our arrival and there were 17 spots left. I figured I'd just show up and take the one that looked nicest in person.

When I arrived the next day they were all gone. I should have reserved one when I had the chance.
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Old 01-26-2017, 02:33 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Arnold View Post
Newbie here from Indianapolis. I purchased our 22fb Sport Sept. 2015. We love it. I have only put around 1500 miles on it so far a few short trips and one t Holland Mi. We are getting ready to go to Phoenix the 1st of April for our first long trip. Other than Air for the tires, is there anything else I should do to prep it? I am going to take it out for a spin to make sure the lights and brakes work ok. Anything else I should do? Thanks.
Jim, there are several threads here on packing lists, that are searchable. You might give those a look. We tend to put in a lot of miles, so periodically we get the mechanic at our dealership to give the Bambi a full check-over. We pay for it, but it gives us peace of mind for the long miles through more remote areas.

Just more generally re: the OP. We've never yet stayed at a Walmart or their ilk. Possibly some day we will, but it wouldn't be our choice option. One thing we've learned is to avoid camping in and near cities, if possible. The rural mom & pop RV parks in or near small towns, so long as they aren't next to some major tourist attraction, tend to have more vacancies-- and to be cheaper.

The one exception is the 50,000 Silver Dollar casino on I-90 in western Montana. Not only is the camping free, but some of their sites have free electrical hookups.
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