Trip Planning - Wow to the Power of Wow

[HDRider]

This is my first time taking a large trip in my Oliver trailer. I'm excited but also a little nervous. I'm looking forward to exploring new places and meeting new people.

 

The trip is about 3,000 miles over 20 days with 12 stops.

 

I am not liking the efforts here.  Paint me exasperated.

 

I used to do long motorcycle trips.  I like being spontaneous.  Motorcycle trips were easy.  Trailer trips are not spontaneous.  Trailer trips are not easy.  They require meticulous planning.

 

Am I doing this wrong?

 

The number of accounts I had to set up, the number of crappy websites and the number of voice messages I left makes this almost bad as going to the dentist. 

[HDRider]

Rant over.

 

Back to real life.

[Dave and Kimberly]

    HD... I feel your pain.   I too loved taking off on my motorcycle and just catching a hotel somewhere along the way... with little or no planning except a "general direction" in mind.   That said... I've learned with the Ollie how to be nearly as spontaneous by becoming more and more aware of the Ollie's capabilities... AND I CAN SLEEP IN MY OWN BED EVERY NIGHT.  It's also much cheaper than decent hotel rooms at today's prices!

    It's taken us a couple of years... and now with nearly 270 nights in our Oliver to get used to how to maximize all of it's strengths.  As you learn how long your fresh, gray and black tanks last (the way you travel), you start to learn just how "free" you are.   If you are just traveling, trying to get somewhere, a Walmart or Cracker Barrel work great because they are nearly everywhere.   It's also very nice to have, besides your rolling hotel room... a rolling restaurant with great food and snacks, and a clean bathroom when the moment strikes.   Let's not even talk about that quick nap!

    The Oliver is so self contained and easy to get in and out grocery store parking lots, fast food joints, gas stations, small towns and side streets, etc., that you will come to appreciate the amenities of your Oliver.   It's also easy to get in to campsites that many would not be able to.

    Regarding planning;   it takes a certain amount of planning to go see and spend time in those destination "hot spots" that we've always wanted to see.  What we have found works best for us is to anchor your trip with reservations in those places that just require it... but allow time in between those hot spot reservations to  be spontaneous (that place the locals told you you just can't miss!), time for medical or mechanical emergencies and to just allow time to shop for groceries and do the laundry.   Of course I'm saying all of this and assuming that you don't have too many time constraints.   If you are still working you can throw out everything I just said!  🙂

    If you ever took Stephen Covey's class on "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People"... all of this reminds me of the "lesson" of putting in the big rocks in the jar first (the things that really matter) ... and then sprinkle in the little rocks (smaller things that are fun... but maybe not absolutely necessary).   Travel is fun, but I don't like it to be so much like work.   I'm done with schedules and self inflicted constraints to be somewhere at a certain time.   Time to relax, enjoy, be surprised... and stop in at that store in the mountains that serves awesome huckleberry pie and ice-cream.

[HDRider]

23 minutes ago, Dave and Kimberly said:

HD... I feel your pain.

A sympathetic ear is sometimes all that is needed.  So, thanks.

 

I am still learning.  I know many of you have cracked the code.  You helped by describing your approach.  I will make it my own 

[jd1923]

2 hours ago, HDRider said:

I used to do long motorcycle trips.  I like being spontaneous.  Motorcycle trips were easy.  Trailer trips are not spontaneous.  Trailer trips are not easy.  They require meticulous planning.

Good trips do take a bit of planning. I've worked scheduling a bit in my career and it's hard work, not so much fun. I believe traveling in the east would be more difficult, though I have not yet experienced RVing in the Eastern US.

When we plan our 3–4-week trips out west, I will book a campsite for say 3 nights, then plan to boondock 2-3 nights, leaving the campground with batteries charged, freshwater tanks full and waste tanks dumped. We repeat this cadence of planned/unplanned stops though I have also researched viable FS and BLM sites and have all the right maps on my Avenza Maps app. We use Campendium as we travel to fill in the other overnight locations. Not truly spontaneous but feels that way when not knowing exactly where we are staying every night!

Another criterion in our travels always, is to stay longer and drive less. When younger I would drive through the night no problem.  Eight years ago, I drove from home in Prescott to Austin TX, 1100 miles with truck and cargo trailer, left at 5AM and arrived after 1AM! I was alone and didn't feel like getting a cheap hotel in Van Horn TX or somewhere, been there, done that. Traveled 1000s of miles without enjoying the ride.

NOT ANYMORE! We've only been RVing for 5 years now, and my goal is to drive only 100-180 miles a day, 2-3 hours on the road, spending 90% of the trip enjoying the camp more than the road. I will also drive an hour longer not to be on US Interstates.

We're now planning our trip to Inks Lake Texas for the October Rally. Staying with friends in Ruidoso NM on the way. It's 8-9 hours there and many would drive it in a day. I'm thinking a boondock in the White Mountains somewhere between Payson and Show Low AZ, driven through there and always wanted to stay. If we find a great camp, we'll stay 2 nights. Next stop somewhere between Pie Town NM, or as far as the Bosque Del Apache Wilderness. No campsites booked and we'll see our friends 3-4 days after we leave. When leaving Ruidoso, it's 8 hours to Inks Lake and we will reserve a campground or RV park, say near Big Spring TX, since most of Texas is private land like points east. This will make two 4-hour days.

Home to the Texas Rally in 9 days, then 5 nights there. After the rally, I have another week scheduled time off, though they have not booked me to teach the 4th week. So, we will have 1-2 weeks to return and have no plan. I like to have some plan when leaving and less a plan for the return. Thinking to join Harvest Host to be more spontaneous on the return trip.

This is how my scheduling brain works! 🤣 Hope this helps, we hear you! "3,000 miles over 20 days with 12 stops" in the East, is not an easy plan! My initial thought is to reduce the number of your stops (that's a very quick 1.67 days per stop). Regardless, you will have a lot of fun and have great memories later!

 

[MAX Burner]

@HDRider - No worries, brother!  There's a balance we use when planning for a long trip.  We nail down details for the big ticket locations (reservations, time spent there, etc.).  But....  we also leave enough time in between those "big tickets" to allow us to explore.  We've always thought of the travel plan as a "point of departure" should we need to change routes for any reason.  So, we use an "overall plan" such that we've got something to deviate from...

We take our time when planning, but don't go too far down the rabbit hole -- it's more fun for us to approach planning that way.

Be sure to keep us posted on your experiences with pictures...

Cheers and definitely have FUN on your long OTT adventure!

[Galway Girl]

I believe you when you say it's tricky to setup all the various "booking sites" and having to save a number of various login's and passwords.

Here's our coming season - August through December showing our Planned Stops....all but 2 are pre-booked.
We started planning this back in December as we needed to book Florida sites that early.

Used RV Trip Wizard for planning and a variety of other tools to actually find specific sites based on pictures of the sites.

Hope you have a good trip.

Craig