Journey or destination, more important?

[Pesky1]

First time motorhome owner hoping to de-winterize and travel if it ever warms up here. Recently retired and have only camped a few times as a child fifty years ago. Worked hard and never really went anywhere on vacation. My dream has been to see the beautiful sights while traveling the country with my wife and dog in a comfy recliner and looking out the large window. That is why I bought a class A. We aren’t planning to bring a toad. I am not that excited to be at campgrounds or resorts, just the driving part. I am not a carefree wanderer and will definitely plan and reserve stops, but I read about many people retired and not that drive short distances so they can relax at a site. I understand driving fatigue and the need for rest, but am I in a small minority of RVers that feel this way? After a trip or two, am I destined to a great disappointment that this is unrealistic? Are most people more excited and happy during travel or at the site?

[JohnBike]

For us the journey part is great if it involves new and interesting scenery along the way. Otherwise, it is just a necessary chore to get to the destination.

The destination is equally important, or we wouldn’t bother with the journey part. Is the destination new and interesting or is it quiet and relaxing? Sometimes we get both.

Our true answer is that it depends on what we want at the time.

[momdoc]

The journey is just as important to us as the destination. This is one of the reasons we try to avoid interstate highways when we can and stick to US highways or state highways. We see so much more that way and actually find some pretty interesting towns and sights. A 200 mile day is a long one for us. Some of our best trips are 100 miles or less between stops.

[mikeyk101]

For me, it's part both but I think the journey and seeing new places slightly takes the lead. I have done a lot of traveling on the motorcycle. First with a tent and later with a small pop up camper trailer that I could pull behind it. I would do this with a small group of friends. We never stayed at a campground more than 2 days tops. I'm not a fan of crowded campgrounds. The whole idea of the trips was to get away from people. Now that I have a toyhauler, I may stay at different campgrounds for more days but I don't plan on being there during the day. I will just use the different campgrounds as more of a home base to come back to after going out riding around.

[Rwjsim2003]

For us both are important. But since my wife does not drive the MH Long days driving are not my idea of fun so we usually stick to no more than 250 miles in one day.

[clawsonbob]

Welcome and i hope you get out there on the road soon. Like others above, its both for us. While we do keep our class A someplace warm during the winter months, we don't travel as much as I am sure many do. That said, I just drove our coach 1200 miles back from SW Florida to Indy and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. We have Great Lakes Beach towns and coastal travel plans for the summer.

I thought initially it would be more about travelling. And we've done a lot already. BUT the big surprise for me was just HOW MUCH we DO ENJOY the RV parks and resorts we visit. They are full of like minded folks like ourselves. generally mature, but with more younger folks getting into it this past year. It seems like half (or more) also travel with dogs. Everyone is in 7 x 24 vacation mode for the most part, and it seems like we all share the same sense of adventure travel. We've made such good friends, we've returned to one SW Florida resort 4-5 times this past season......I can now see the social aspect of RV'ng that I've also experienced when travelling the country on two wheels.

Keep an open mind, an open door, and a open cooler and you may be pleasantly surprised like I was. You will get it all back in return, I am sure.

And have fun with your new coach!!

[les.warden]

Had our MH since Nov 2016. Both retired. DW does not drive. For both of us, it’s the journey. So many things to see on the backroads. I try to avoid the interstates, if possible. Harder out West. Fewer roads.

We find a spot where we want to explore and stay 2-3 days while exploring with the toad. To get there, the drive day is quit by 3PM, or 300 Miles. I drive 60mph. No hurry. Had MANY working years of hurrying.

[Wasnt Me]

For us it was always the destination. Not by choice. 2 weeks of leave equated to 5 hard days driving, 4 days visiting and 5 hard days driving. All our loved ones were cross country from where we were at. A vacation not going home meant not seeing family for years. Now only a few months away I am looking forward to the journey of slow and lazy. No more hurrying up. The destination should be better also. We can leave when everyone is tired of visiting with us and move on to harass the next set of friend and family. So, our past chapter of life has dictated our future chapter. We know what we disliked and plan on doing what we enjoy, when ever or what ever it may be.
Just doing our thang!

[uchu]

In a nutshell? Both are important.

[happy2rv]

I think it depends a lot on what stage of life you are in. We're still working full time. When we were younger, especially when our child was younger, it was usually more about the destination. Drive as hard as you can to get there so you can maximize your "vacation" at the destination. We had a limited number of vacation days, especially days in a row. My in-laws lived ~1300 miles away and their parents another ~400 miles or so. For many years we would drive 1300 miles straight only stopping for food and gas.



The in-laws have moved a few times since then and the grandparents have passed. We sold the motor home many years ago and now have a travel trailer. For us, right now, it still tends to be more about the destination, but not nearly as much.



Moving into retirement, we'll likely go back to a MH and I hope to travel on our terms. Having more time without having to be back for work, I hope to travel for extended periods of time and without having to be pre-committed to specific locations at predefined times. I hope to set out without specific destinations and see which way the wind blows, so to speak. For some, this would be unthinkable. Some people need the structure of knowing exactly where they are going to park and plug in next. We will see how things go in the next few years. Obviously, some locations require planning ahead of time. If you have your heart set on seeing something in particular, it's wise to plan ahead, but if you're not set on Disney, Yellowstone, or other popular attractions, especially at the peak of tourist season, hopefully travel without reservations will still be manageable.

[amosnandy]

Originally Posted by Pesky1

First time motorhome owner hoping to de-winterize and travel if it ever warms up here. Recently retired and have only camped a few times as a child fifty years ago. Worked hard and never really went anywhere on vacation. My dream has been to see the beautiful sights while traveling the country with my wife and dog in a comfy recliner and looking out the large window. That is why I bought a class A. We aren’t planning to bring a toad. I am not that excited to be at campgrounds or resorts, just the driving part. I am not a carefree wanderer and will definitely plan and reserve stops, but I read about many people retired and not that drive short distances so they can relax at a site. I understand driving fatigue and the need for rest, but am I in a small minority of RVers that feel this way? After a trip or two, am I destined to a great disappointment that this is unrealistic? Are most people more excited and happy during travel or at the site?

The Journey is to the Next Destination. While I go to the same spot in Mexico each year, and I usually make the trip from Minnesota in 7-8 days, when I start back, a lot of days are 100-200 miles, visiting friends and family and meeting new people. While I try to keep a schedule on my way south in October, I have no schedule to keep on my way back. Took me 6 weeks this year.

As for the Toad, I think you will be having one within the first year. I say this as I drove over the road truck for years. I have been to 49 states driving, (would be 50 if they had a ferry to Hawaii) 7 or 8 provinces in Canada.

I drove past all kinds of "stuff" that you could not get to with a big rig of any kind. I towed and old Saturn for a few years, then went to hauling my Harley, but alas age is catching up. This year I will be towing my Ford Fusion Hybrid so cold and heat and saddle bruises dont get me anymore.

[Wild Card]

I like the Journey...it's always an adventure.

[Sandy12]

Been doing it long enough so it’s the destination.

[SomeDay]

When younger working stiffs and kids in school, we were definitely destination or several destination bound. We would always drive crazy hours, spend 3 to 5 hrs sleeping maybe, prepped/ate food on the road as we moved along, to get us into the vicinity of what we planned on covering over our week to 10 days. Coming back home, we'd then go like crazy with a day wiggle room to unpack and sort ourselves before back to school/work.

The past several years on many extended trips, we now take time to smell the roses more as we meander down the road, and often have 3 to 5 things to see/do before we stop for the night each day. Typically we only spend a couple to 5 nights in any one specific place that you might classify as a "destination" so to speak. Sometimes we might only end up 50 to 100 miles further on the next night if there are things to see/do/experience as we travel. We don't tow and haven't missed it personally in past 18 years. Prior to that we had an F350 and 5th Wheel.

We are not fond of organised CG's so we tend to boondock and dry camp 99+% of the time. EG: 2019 trip from Alberta to Eastern Canada including Nfld & Lab, as well dropping down to come back on the south side of the great lakes, of 4 months, we never stayed in one CG or hooked up and we had a blast. Told family we'd be gone 5 to 6 months last big trip out, but 4 was enough for us that time.

We definitely have a plan and general itinerary for every trip, but lots of wiggle room in case we want to add extra days here or there. We rarely "if" ever reserve anything in advance, but equally we are landlocked North of the border for over a year now so .......

You are retired, so plan your trip as you see fit, allow some odd down days/catch up days, maintenance days into the mix, and an extra day here or there in case you want to stay somewhere longer. Does it really matter if your plan says 120 days and you complete it in 100 days or 150 days?