I want MY route...

[judyn]

I think I've been wasting my time in RVTrip Wizard getting the route exactly like I want it because now I think what's gonna happen is what happens with Google Maps. After I leave my desktop the only known thing is the stops and the routing in RV Life is going to be the "best" way between my stops. It even SAYS it is planning the route. I already planned the route! Am I wrong?


I got spoiled years ago when there were good RV GPS devices WITH programs on a computer to load my actual planned route into... Some time ago I looked for a replacement and didn't find anything that could do this.



I take it the turn by turn is accurately what I've specified, but I'd really rather have a GPS device tell me and not have to keep track on paper.



I can fire up RVTrip Wizard on my phone and maybe that would work (I don't know how to test it in advance because the first part of my trip is straightforward). That also probably won't talk at me nor will it work when there is no cell service.



I know a lot of people think routing is a matter of here to a campground etc. but I'm a photographer and a lot of my trips are I want to drive a particular section of road here and another section there and...



Am I missing something?

I also see I can export to certain kinds of GPS devices. That didn't look very exciting when I first looked at it, but IF it actually exports the actual route I made rather than some simplified version of my route, I would consider buying a new GPS...

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by judyn

I got spoiled years ago when there were good RV GPS devices WITH programs on a computer to load my actual planned route into... Some time ago I looked for a replacement and didn't find anything that could do this.

You may have used Delorme Street Atlas years ago, as we did. Absolutely loved the program and there has been no good replacement for it. You can create the route on your computer that YOU want to go and transfer it to the GPS. You don't need internet to do it. However, we still use our 2019 edition.... roads really don't change than much.... especially secondary highways which we liked to explore. If you still have an old edition give it a try.

[judyn]

Our old GPS still works, but it was very dim compared to modern GPSs. Plus the program I loaded it with is no longer in existence -- I think the Good Sam program. They may have a new one that is not acceptable. I don't know why companies throw away good programs for pieces of junk... I guess I'll go look for something again... that will accept what RVTripWizard puts out...

[judyn]

I posted this to a general forum, not knowing it meant general RV, not general RV Life products... so...


I think I've been wasting my time in RVTrip Wizard getting the route exactly like I want it because now I think what's gonna happen is what happens with Google Maps. After I leave my desktop the only known thing is the stops and the routing in RV Life is going to be the "best" way between my stops. It even SAYS it is planning the route. I already planned the route! Am I wrong?

I got spoiled years ago when there were good RV GPS devices WITH programs on a computer to load my actual planned route into... Some time ago I looked for a replacement and didn't find anything that could do this.

I take it the turn by turn is accurately what I've specified, but I'd really rather have a GPS device tell me and not have to keep track on paper.

I can fire up RVTrip Wizard on my phone and maybe that would work (I don't know how to test it in advance because the first part of my trip is straightforward). That also probably won't talk at me nor will it work when there is no cell service.

I know a lot of people think routing is a matter of here to a campground etc. but I'm a photographer and a lot of my trips are I want to drive a particular section of road here and another section there and...

Am I missing something?

I also see I can export to certain kinds of GPS devices. That didn't look very exciting when I first looked at it, but IF it actually exports the actual route I made rather than some simplified version of my route, I would consider buying a new GPS...

[Sue46]

As you have discovered RV Trip Wizard is for planning and will provide turn-by-turn directions based on the trip.



Once the trip is transferred to RV LIfe there will be some changes to the trip but it will be RV Safe if you use the RV Friendly Directions.


We are planning a future enhancement to conform to the RV Trip Wizard trip more closely. I have no ETA.

[jrollf]

Bit of a hack with Google Maps on a phone or tablet.

You can build your route on a computer, when done copy the complete web address/URL. Then email / send the web address to you phone/tablet. Click the link on your phone/tablet, it will open Google Maps and you'll have the same route you just built on your computer.

All the waypoints are built into the web address/URL.

Google used to have a tool to build a "custom map" with routes and send it to your phone. But like so many Google "experiments" they gutted the feature and you can't do that anymore.

I loved Delorme... somewhere I still have Streets/Maps USA 2005 in CD, and the GPS dongle for a laptop[emoji16]

[judyn]

Originally Posted by jrollf

Bit of a hack with Google Maps on a phone or tablet.

You can build your route on a computer, when done copy the complete web address/URL. Then email / send the web address to you phone/tablet. Click the link on your phone/tablet, it will open Google Maps and you'll have the same route you just built on your computer.

All the waypoints are built into the web address/URL.

This certainly does not work if you "send" a google map routing thing to your phone. Plus I have a had time believing it works at all. Even if I drag routes ON MY PHONE and then head out, in about one block google says "I found a better route for you" say no if you don't want it. I'm DRIVING! I never get there in time, so google maps is hopeless for going where you want to. If you mean by waypoints things like towns, it will work, but the kind of "waypoints" dragging does do not work.



That is particularly irking because the dastardly google is so proud they saved me only a few minutes, I'm sure as small as 5, minutes by not going the way I so carefully chose!



RVTripWizard calls them "waypoints" but they do not translate to waypoints that work in google. I posted this to the correct forum and got an official answew that agrees with me that it doesn't work, and it's on their to-do list... The Turn by Turn would work, but I hate working from a list. It is very difficult. I think the RVTripWizard is easier than the google one because at least it is in sections by your major stops...

[Mike8253]

Originally Posted by judyn

After I leave my desktop the only known thing is the stops and the routing in RV Life is going to be the "best" way between my stops. It even SAYS it is planning the route. I already planned the route! Am I wrong?

I'm curious about this statement. Are you "forcing" the routing in RVTW? Or are you setting destinations (Stops) and allowing RVTW to route you according to your pre-established RV size, weight and avoidance criteria. And what is your RV? (I'm traveling and on my phone, so if it's in your signature, I can't see it.). It's difficult to respond with helpful suggestions without more details about how you've set your basic equipment and travel criteria. There's lots of experienced help on this Forum if you can fill in some blanks.

[jrollf]

Originally Posted by judyn

This certainly does not work if you "send" a google map routing thing to your phone. Plus I have a had time believing it works at all. Even if I drag routes ON MY PHONE and then head out, in about one block google says "I found a better route for you" say no if you don't want it. I'm DRIVING! I never get there in time, so google maps is hopeless for going where you want to. If you mean by waypoints things like towns, it will work, but the kind of "waypoints" dragging does do not work.



That is particularly irking because the dastardly google is so proud they saved me only a few minutes, I'm sure as small as 5, minutes by not going the way I so carefully chose!



RVTripWizard calls them "waypoints" but they do not translate to waypoints that work in google. I posted this to the correct forum and got an official answew that agrees with me that it doesn't work, and it's on their to-do list... The Turn by Turn would work, but I hate working from a list. It is very difficult. I think the RVTripWizard is easier than the google one because at least it is in sections by your major stops...

You have to copy and paste the exact web address into an email. Send the email to your phone. Then open the web address.

You are correct, it won't work the same if you use Google Maps "send to phone" function... that's the feature I mentioned they gutted.

[judyn]

Originally Posted by Mike8253

I'm curious about this statement. Are you "forcing" the routing in RVTW? Or are you setting destinations (Stops) and allowing RVTW to route you according to your pre-established RV size, weight and avoidance criteria. And what is your RV? (I'm traveling and on my phone, so if it's in your signature, I can't see it.). It's difficult to respond with helpful suggestions without more details about how you've set your basic equipment and travel criteria. There's lots of experienced help on this Forum if you can fill in some blanks.

Yes, I'm dragging to get the path where I want it. In this case, I want to drive Route 66, not Interstate 40, and it's a lot of work to keep the "path" on Route 66 since it parallels, crosses, becomes part of I40, etc.

I frequently want to go a different way than the automagic routing is, in order to see this or that or stay off interstates or whatever. Dragging seems to be the way...

[Mike8253]

Originally Posted by judyn

I frequently want to go a different way than the automagic routing is, in order to see this or that or stay off interstates or whatever. Dragging seems to be the way...

If that's the case, you're basically fighting the basic premise of why RVTW was developed, to provide the quickest and safest RV routing from Point A to B, and beyond. Doesn't say your routing preferences are wrong, many travel as you prefer. That's just not what RVTW was built to do, unless you check Highways (Interstates) as an Avoidance. That way, RVTW will route you on US, State, and other RV Safe non-interstate routes to your Stops. You always have the option to drag your route onto the interstates if you chose to in certain areas. You'll have to experiment to determine which is the more efficient way to have RVTW do your initial planning. And if you just like to mix it up from Stop to Stop, then at least RVTW will help you to find a campground near whatever location on the map the dart lands on that day.

[Persistent]

I gave up on GPS for planning. I have a book of paper maps. One book for USA and one book for each state I plan to spend time in.

I use the GPS to find where I am and the screen for viewing "local" streets. GPS is also good for finding "last mile" to an address.

I can find shorter or more scenic routes using State and County roads. RV GPS avoids even State high ways. It totally avoids scenic routes. Switching to "Car" mode allows use of State highways, but still prefers interstate highways.

I have tried to push the GPS to routes I prefer by adding waypoints. After adding dozens of them for a 100 mile trip, I finally forced the GPS to my way. I gave up an switch to using the map book.

I just traveled "home" from North Western Wisconsin to South East Wisconsin. The GPS kept trying to turn around and go back to access interstate. It also kept trying to route through Wisconsin's many closed construction zones.

It finally found the shortest route for the last 40 miles.

[traveldawg]

Buy a good RV GPS. We like our RV870. Still use RVTW to plan your stops; I think that is it's best feature - it shows campgrounds and ratings of them along the path you want to take.

I always use the GP tho for routing from one stop to another. I tried using that smartphone app from RVLife but found it isn't all it can be compared to the online version of RVTW.

[timjet]

On a recent update RVTW changed the way it exported routes presumably to make it easier to import a route into a GPS. I can't speak to whether it does make importing to a GPS easier however I can say that now when you export a RVTW route to either Google My Maps or Garmin's Base Camp the route displays as a straight line between stops which of course is totally worthless.



It's important to understand how a GPS used for creating a route between destinations works. A GPS chooses a route between an origination and destination based on the avoidances and parameters a user sets into their GPS. So for example if you have set into your GPS to avoid major roads and you imported into that GPS a route you created in RVTW that uses interstates, the GPS will do what you told it to do and create a route that avoid interstates ignoring the route you created in RVTW.



The only way for a GPS to follow a route you created in RVTW or any PC mapping program is to create enough turn points in RVTW or your other mapping program that will leave the GPS no other choice but to follow your route between turn points.



Since the last aforementioned RVTW update, if anyone has had any success in getting their GPS to follow exactly the route you created in RVTW, please post here.