Community Forums

Larry & Rita · 05-31-2012, 09:10 AM

How many of us go to great lengths to plan each and every trip, or move, we take?
I receintly met a great couple that showed us a detailed spread sheet with thier entire years travel, parks, dates, conf. numbers, phones, contacts, miles and travel time.
My DW and I are impulse travelers, We still own our stick house and when the urge strikes, or we see something on TV, Off We Go.
Which, in your openion, is best??
Larry and Rita

DonavonP · 05-31-2012, 09:20 AM

My wife is a planner and I'm an impulse. By the time she has it all planned out, I don't want to go anymore.

Sky_Boss · 05-31-2012, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DonavonP

My wife is a planner and I'm an impulse. By the time she has it all planned out, I don't want to go anymore.

By the time my wife has it planned out, I forgot why I wanted to go in the first place. LOL

jroethke · 05-31-2012, 09:28 AM

We have a very detailed spreadsheet that we use to make sure we have packed and prepared as best we can.

However we do not plan our activities, that changes with each and every day. I do not want a schedule to follow when I am camping. JR

Lindsay Richards · 05-31-2012, 09:30 AM

We rarely even think about where we will spend the night until the afternoon. So many times, we have seen something interesting along the way and decided to go that way and stay. We do make reservations or plan on boondocking around holiday weekends. We can leave on a 3 month trip will only the vaguest destination in mind. We left Central Florida and said we would point towards the NW corner of the US. We took a very circuitous route there. The advent of the smart phone has made this type of travel much easier. We had to make an emergency trip from Bangor, Maine to Central Florida due to a child's medical problem and we drove until we could not go any further. Still never knew how far we would go. I also think you get better prices at campgrounds when you call the afternoon of the reservation. We usually ask. Only very rarely have we ever had trouble getting a spot to stay.

dons2346 · 05-31-2012, 10:04 AM

I don't even plan what I am going to do this afternoon much less tomorrow.

jzick · 05-31-2012, 10:25 AM

Much of our travel involves multi week stays near relatives who live in short season (ie cold winters) areas where desirable campgrounds for longer stays are sometimes hard to find. In addition, many of the campgrounds in these areas are trying to become all seasonal, which limits transient spots. For those stays we reserve well in advance. For wandering trips we will normally make reservations in advance for muti day stops if they are in resort/tourist areas and for overnights the day before. We do prefer when we start in the morning to know where the journey will end that day, and we rarely drive more than 200 miles in a day.

tomwalt · 05-31-2012, 10:48 AM

When we are going to a destination to stay for a week or so we reserve the destination site well in advance.
During the trip (or on shorter local trips), in the afternoon we will figure out where we will stay and call for reservation from the road.
We do keep a list of Cracker Barrel and WalMart stops, but we haven't used them to overnight at during out 10 years of RVing.

Craig_R · 05-31-2012, 10:53 AM

She's a planner and I'm a doer. By the time she has it planned out, we're there! Works great!

Abnmarine · 05-31-2012, 01:35 PM

I was a planner. Not so much as each detail of the day but having a schedule of what days we would depart to another location. After 21 years in the military, this became a routine.

Our last trip took us though all of New England and Montreal. I decided not to plan anything other than a few RV parks that we would visit. No reservations were made. I will say for us this was the most enjoyable trip we experienced. We ended up enjoying Vermont so much that we stayed a few days longer. Stopped for the night by chance in New Hampshire and took the toad up Mount Washington in the morning.

For now on I won't make out a schedule. I'll just decide prior what direction we wish to go and then have a few locations in mind if we choose to stop.

Ozarkan · 05-31-2012, 01:58 PM

I am a planner. I do not like surprises; do not want to drive more than 400 miles in a day, and when I stop I want a level site with 50amp full hook up that is large enough drive thru so I do not have to unhook the toad. When I leave the stick house I have reservations for each night it will take me to reach my destination. Once at the destination we usually make our plans for the next day over our evening cocktails. They are often changed during breakfast the next morning.

missourijan · 05-31-2012, 03:18 PM

We workamp 6 months of the year and travel 6 months. We choose the region ahead of time then plan the travel stops. We don't like to travel more than 250 mi a day and try to stick to that. We use Passport America, casinos and other low cost camping strategies and have a plan on where we will stop, however, if we decide to travel more or less miles, we do it and stop when we want. Nothing set in stone and we like it that way!

fredaevans · 05-31-2012, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DonavonP

My wife is a planner and I'm an impulse. By the time she has it all planned out, I don't want to go anymore.

As were we. We knew where we wanted to go and unless it was a 'time of year' thing (lots of bookings had to be expected) never-ever not found a 'spot' for an over night/week.

One major caviat to that: Going to a major metropolitan area ... there you DO NOT want to screw around. Majority of 'free spaces' will be very limited; the majority will be occupied by 'full timers' who live there. I can think of one in Oakland, CA .... close to 200 'spots,' only 6 were kept for 'transients.' (e.g.: You and me traveling through that wanted to stay for a few days.)

Very high demand areas I (theme parks, etc?) good to have the thing nailed down. I there is an empty spot is 'first come, first serviced.' And I have no problem with that; they're there for cash flow during the 'high tourist season.'

One place on the SW Oregon Coast (well, two actually) come to mind. During the summer season getting a spot? You'd better have a reservation or you're toast. Come November ... and you drive up .... they rush out the door to greet you.

Wolfpack Fan · 06-01-2012, 06:20 AM

I'm the planner for the most part in our household. 20 years in the military for me and a job now that requires a lot of attention to detail, I guess it's just in me. I plan everything down to the most minute detail. My life motto is and has been for many years. "If you take care of the little details, the big details will take care of themself"