Anyone keep an RV travel journal?

[Safari Tim]

I just ordered one of these for a xmas present for myself

Thought it would be nice to keep a journal of our AS adventures.

[j54mark]

I have a three-ring binder in one of the bins under the sofa.

In the front is a milage log so I can track milage between maintanence items like bearings, tires, AirstreamForums decals, etc. It is also handy for settling arguements that start with, "Honey, when did we go to....?"

Next are vinyl covers for holding ephemera - campground brochures and the like. These are arranged alphabetically (by state, and then by location) for future reference.

Finally is the maintanence log detailing what work has been done and when it was done, and what new tools were purchased to do it.

By keeping all this valuable information together, in on location, someday we will be able to lose everything we ever knew about the trailer all at one time.

Mark

[wahoonc]

Originally posted by j54mark
I have a three-ring binder in one of the bins under the sofa.

By keeping all this valuable information together, in on location, someday we will be able to lose everything we ever knew about the trailer all at one time.

Mark

LMAO Mark,
You should really use a computer then when you lose it all you will have something to blame it on

Aaron

[Navigator]

Thats a great idea, I think that I`ll start one for my "new" 73!
Dick

[Stefrobrts]

Originally posted by j54mark
By keeping all this valuable information together, in on location, someday we will be able to lose everything we ever knew about the trailer all at one time.

Mark

So much more efficient that way


I used to keep logs of everything I did to the cars. Then I kept a detailed journal of my first mustang restoration, but that got forgotten as the project got more and more out of control. By the time we got the trailer, I'm lucky if I can still hang onto receipts for work I've had done to it! I just can't hardly stand to be that organized about something I consider recreation. I do keep a special photo album of pictures from our trips though. I keep it on my desk where I can flip through it and wish I was on the road with my AS instead of surfing on the computer. I think I'll go flip through it now...

[Pahaska]

I created a database on the computer that holds all the numbers and comments for each tow, no matter how short. A couple of keystrokes and I have a printed log with everything totalled by month and year.

[bryanl]

for ideas about logs and journals plus links to some of the software, see
http://sierranevadaairstreams.org/ow.../journals.html

[uncleneal]

As I told my NAPA man when he asked if I wanted a reciept, "No, an RV owner is happier if he doesn't keep up with how much he's spending."
Neal

[Ken J]

I've been keeping a journal of all our trips (I keep it in the trailer) for a number of years now. Its really great to look back and re-live all those trips. Especially now that the kids are almost grown.

Ken J.

[apple 1]

I keep a daily mileage log, and a maintance log in a binder in the trailer. Two or three times a year I transfer it to an Excell spreedsheet which I keep in the computer. I also keep a campground log where I record all my stops even if I stay in a rest area or Walmart. I have a rating system I use with a scale of 1-10 and also add remarks, this helps when trip planing as to where we might stay again and campgrounds to avoid.

Jim

[rluhr]

I believe in the romance of travel, so my aluminum-covered Airstream journal contains only notes on where we went, the people we met, and the fun we had. Every evening before bed or early the next morning I spend five minutes writing the day's events in the book.

As my daughter gets older I think it will be a real treat to review this journal and remember how it was to travel with her when she was just three years old...

-- RL

[markjoandall]

Tim:

I've been keeping a journal for the last several years now. The first journal I filled was from Camping World and it proviced space for the different campgrounds we stayed at. I expanded that journal in the memo fields for people visited, what we did, and other information my "blue haired brain" probably wouldn't remember.

I now have the same you purchased and like it better because I have more freedom of information entered. I now just journal those events, people, and places I want to remember.

Good luck with your Journal

[startrekker2001]

I started keeping a journal on each of our trips and the work I do on the trailer.

The journal is called "Captain's Log" ala Star Trek. I also take scads of pictures and pick and choose the one's that I want in the Log and include them with the text. When the trip is done, I can print the Log out and keep it in our binder.

This is all kept on the lap top which goes where we go. It also has the Trailer Life CD in the CD drive for easy access.

I keep track of all expenses including RV related expenses using our PC's Microsoft Money software. The program's report options make it easy to call out all expenses by category.

I back everything up regularly so that we don't loose much if the unthinkable happens.

I am a little anal about keeping track of stuff. I was an IBM mainframe assembler programmer for 30 years and that comes with the territory.

[LuvSub]

Being a geek engineer, I keep a detailed journal and at the end of year year, I summarize my statistics. Some interetsing factoids from my journal:

Average Price of a gallon of 87 octane '01 - '03: $1.441
Max Price I paid: $1.699 at Mystic, CT in May 03
Cheapest Price Paid: $1.069 on 12 Dec 01
Total Fuel Used '01 - '03: 2,063.15 gal
Total Cost of Fuel '01 - '03: $2,696.74
Average Towing MPG: 11.1 mpg
Total MPG: 12.9 mpg
Max MPG: 21.1 mpg
Min MPG: 8.7 mpg
Percentage Towing: 43.8%

FYI, the engine in my F-150 is the 5.4L.