How many hours a day on the road

[SteveH]

I think there are two different types people who Airstream...those who are retired/full timers (really about the same as far a schedule is concerned), and those who are still working that like to travel/camp on their vacations and weekends.

The two different groups will have totally different philosophies on how long to drive, and how many miles to cover in a day.

[soldiermedic]

Usually when we travel far distances for a rally, we are usually on a time crunch. I have towed up to 10 hours to get to a destination in a single shot rather than lose time at the rally.

[mandolindave]

Originally Posted by SteveH

I think there are two different types people who Airstream...those who are retired/full timers (really about the same as far a schedule is concerned), and those who are still working that like to travel/camp on their vacations and weekends.

The two different groups will have totally different philosophies on how long to drive, and how many miles to cover in a day.

But I think there are more than just two types. I haven't done much exploring or rambling around. I have always had a destination that I was
anxious to get to. Most of my destinations are 2 to 6 hours away. However, one 5 hour trip took me 11 hours because of weather and highway accidents. Whenever possible I leave two days ahead of time.
Set up at my leisure, relax, and greet people arriving. Ya know what.
I'm gonna leave now. I'm out. I'm gone. long gone.

[DrPlay]

At the risk of being banned from this forum I am one of those nuts who will travel 10-12 hours a day for 3 consecutive days to get from NJ to Colorado. On the way home we will travel the 500 mile day but with 1-day breaks inbetween. 32 day trip and I want to spend as much of it as possible out West. Wife helps with drive while I nap.

[Gene]

Time is always an issue. We have been retired for 9 years, but we are very busy with meetings, taking care of our property (37 acres) and house, maintaining the trailer and motor vehicles, reading, seeing friends and in-laws, entertaining guests, etc. So although we take trips of up to 6 weeks (not recently) and many 2, 3 and 4 week trips, we sometimes need to get down the road. We like to see new places and visit far away places. Last year we were to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, Atlantic the year before, both and the Arctic Ocean the year before.

Sometimes you just got to drive and drive so you can slow down and enjoy the destination. Our last trip had a couple of 500+ mile days on the interstate. But if we weren't towing those would have been 750 and 600 mile days—we've done I-70 enough times to know that. We are expanding the miles/day towing as we get used to this. We now have towed the Safari 14,000+ miles. We are slowed on the interstate by staying at 65 (where we can; some states have 60 or 55 limits, so then we stay close to 65, but not quite at it), but we average around 55 mph over the day). We would be going faster without a trailer. On 2 laners, we find it hard to average (with gas, lunch stops included) much more than 45-50 mph. It's more tiring to tow—there's more to think about and a higher state of awareness. All this together makes for fewer miles per day, but we're still working on this. Long haul truckers as we are in our hearts, I guess we just can't slow down.

But there are light days when we don't drive so much or we stay somewhere for 2 or 3 nights. Sometimes on a long haul to get to a faraway destination, we put in a two night stay somewhere in the middle to rest a little, but the rest is going to a museum or two. Just a rest from driving.

We both like to drive, but as we age, there's less stamina. No more 1,000 mile days. That we can alternate driving helps a lot, but some days one of us may drive 80% or 100% of the time so the other gets more of a rest. When Barb drives I can doze off from 5 to 20 minutes and be refreshed and drive a bunch more and then stay up to midnight and get up at 6.

Everybody is different and we drive according to our personalities.

Gene

[76sovereign]

YES...GIN AND TONIC!

Originally Posted by Wingeezer

Even though it has been 10 years since I took early retirement, I still can't get myself to take it easy - I know I should!

Usually when we are on a long trip, we drive at least 10-12 hrs a day to reach our destination, on the return trip, I generally take it a bit easier but not much.

Since we live up in the land of ice and snow (near Toronto), I have typically tried to get to a Flying J at West Memphis on day one of our journey. That is just about 1000 miles from our home, and certainly it is the longest travel day of our trip. We usually make it, but not always, depending on weather or any unanticipated issues.

I generally have a rough itinerary prepared for our trips, and did so last year when on a 7 week trip to California.

This time, once we got down in that area, I had planned a few travel days that only entailed maybe 4-5 hours driving, and I actually stuck to that.

I must admit it was much more pleasant to be all set up at our next location and enjoying a gin & tonic by mid afternoon! Maybe I'm starting to learn!


Brian

[Crusty]

However long you choose to drive, pull over and get some rest when you get tired. Learn some indicators about yourself so that you recognize when it's time to stop. When I was driving big trucks over the road, I found that the first indicator for me was that I was no longer staying centered in my lane (easy to judge in your mirrors) and that meant that it was time to pull over immediately and get some rest (even if just a few hours).

When I go, I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather: not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car.

[Rebee]

6 to 8 hours with lunch time and pit stops included in drive time.


dale

[Tin Diesel]

This is kind of funny if you read all the way through.

Some of us are driving like maniacs to get to Colorado from NJ or TX (which includes us), while Gene is driving like a maniac to get OUT of Colorado!

Maybe we should just swap homes?

[Mike Leary]

My personal best (or worst) was 755 miles. Now days, around four hours, I'm thinking "whoa Nelly"
We did stay at one cool campsite, pulled out in the morning, looked at each other, turned around and
spent a few more days there

[Lily&Me]

In our pre-Interstate days, we have driven like a bat out of h--- to get someplace and then enjoy the destination---like 12 or 15 hours straight, central Illinois to Camden, Maine in 2 days, etc., etc. It is all very much about personal choice, preferences, and current restrictions on your ability to be away from home/a job. We are ever-so-grateful to have the ability to choose when, where and how fast to go at this point in our lives.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Tin Diesel

Gene is driving like a maniac to get OUT of Colorado!

Maybe we should just swap homes?

If we could compress the area around Colorado—maybe do something with the tectonic plates so Kansas (bye, bye 2air, sorry) and Nebraska could slip underneath, and then Missouri, Illinois (there goes Silvertwinkie) and Indiana, I could be at Jackson Center in a day, easy. The difference for us is we get to live in Colorado and only have to be in Texas for a day or two.

Gene

[3 Dog Nite]

Let your itinerary & stamina decide your driving times. We loligag if we have no place to go & all day to get there. The few times we needed to make a mile the long haul trucker (our previous occupations) kicks in. It's a lot easier in a MH. We can park & walk back to eat or sleep. Darkness isn't a factor for our arrival. Hoses & power cords can wait till morn'. Please listen to Crusty & rest when you need it. Keep it safe for everyone. No one wants a dead hero.

Ricky

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, whatever it takes to get there. In my last trip, which ended today I drove from 200 to 500 miles per day. Only difference now, versus my younger years, is now that we are retired, we can stay in places two or three days each. We used to move every day. Even though we may stay in a campground for three days, I still drive all over the place to do and see what we want to. [less trailer] On trips and while towing, I do all the driving.

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by Crusty

When I go, I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather: not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car.

Oh, dear. I just spat masticated peanuts all over the screen!

[Silver 9mm]

What AS are you looking for? When do you want it? We might be selling our 2001 30' Excella Classic.
Bill

[dlb435]

I like to keep it down below 400 miles a day. That's about 8 hours on the road. When pushed, we have done 700 miles in a day. That really is no fun. 250 miles or less a day is a very comfortable pace, I just don't have enough time off to do that very often.