Planning For Travel Days

Even as a life-long road tripper, travel days in RV life can be a bit intimidating. But we long for that feeling of open roads and endless possibilities, wind in our hair and adventures before us. With a few basic go-to strategies, you can master your travel day and have an enjoyable trip seeing great views out of your window, or enjoying a nap!

For RVers, we already have our kitchen and bathroom with us, so strategically planned stops are the name of the game. But let’s back up before that!

TRAVEL PLANNING BEFORE THE TRIP Having a plan of where you are going and how far is important, so be sure you have plotted that, checked your map route and saved it in advance, and double check it the day of. Are you going straight in or doing any sightseeing stops, or just fuel and food, as needed? Check out the previous blog Guide to Travel Planning for RV Life here for more details and resources.

PREPARING THE DAY OF On travel day, it’s great to have a designated go bag or kit, especially if you don’t have a driveable RV, to load gear into. Our son has a backpack he loads, I have the clipboard and my purse, and then we pack either a small lunch box or cooler, depending on how long the day is and our stops. We try not to open our slides while traveling, especially since there may not be room at some rest areas, so we pack sandwiches and snacks, as well as drinks. We make sure that there are activities to do, and if we need to work in the truck, we pack our computers, too. Remember that, unless you set your RV based navigation device to your max speed, it will probably be off on arrival time, especially with stops since it is rated at posted speeds and RVs just aren’t made to go 70 MPH+ down the interstate without issues. We tend to follow the notion that every stop will add 20-30 minutes to our day, even just for bathroom and snacks.

THE CHECKLIST This is how we make sure we don’t forget a task and end up causing problems. We not only make sure it’s packed properly, but we also do safety checks. While the 3 of us all have our typical jobs, we tend to pick up slack for each other for various reasons, so it’s just easier to use the checklist to make sure nothing is missed. If you don’t have one, there are several online, you can build your own, or we have one in the free BOM Printables here to use or adapt, as well as a copy in the back of Our Travel Planner, the planner that we created (our website always has the most current link for you!)

LOADING THE VEHICLE We will prep our go items first and have a drop spot on the couch or steps so they don’t get packed away as we run our checklist and put things away. Everyone has a spot in the truck, so our items are near our spot, and the cooler goes in front of the dog’s seat since she likes to stretch out, and so either backseat kiddo or passenger (me) can reach it for a quick grab. As a back up, I do also keep a few granola bars, fruit snacks, and dog treats in the glove box for those days we don’t think we need them, but get hungry anyway. If we have any stops planned, I also make sure we have whatever gear we may need for that, too.

TRAVEL STOPS Depending on whether we are interstate or back road traveling, determines how in advance we plan stops. We have a general idea of cities we can stop at when we leave, as well as check for gas stations or rest areas, but unless its a destination rest stop (like a park or museum), we tend to wing it and look as we go. We like to drive between 90-120 minutes before we make a stop to stretch and use the restroom, and give the driver a brain break. We’ve got apps for finding gas stations, rest areas and other roadside attractions, check out more in Smartphone Apps We Love linked here.

OVERNIGHT STOPS If we are overnighting with back to back travel days, we like to plan someplace that will be a parking spot, but may also take care of another task. Harvest Hosts with food or farmstand items are great. Cracker Barrel is our go to spot so we know we have easy in and out, especially if we drive later, and we can get dinner and breakfast and not worry about using our kitchen. There are lots of other options, but we tend to lean toward these. We always check the night before for availability, or to make a reservation during busy season. Some Harvest Hosts allow same day, but not always.

DESTINATION STOPS When our travel day will end at our destination, we make sure we know their arrival/check in policy and times, especially since some don’t allow arrivals after dark. We plan our day backwards from when we want to arrive, which is usually close to check in time to get set up and explore before dinner, but that’s not always possible. We check out the map in advance, especially if we know what spot we will be in. And, even with a reservation, we try to have a plan B location in mind, just in case.

EMERGENCIES Things will happen when you travel, whether it is traffic, vehicle trouble, flat tires, illness–they all come up. Even if you are doing your checks and running your monitoring systems, things will still happen. If you can build extra time into your day, that’s a good strategy. Make sure you have basics for this–first aid kit, spare tire, jack and tire stand (for your size vehicles), flares or emergency cones. If we get delayed from an emergency and have a reservation, we will call ahead to let them know our estimated time of arrival (ETA) and they are usually very understanding.

PLAN FOR THE ARRIVAL Another tip is to have a plan for arrival day, too. You will be tired, even if you were only the passenger princess and everything went smoothly. A family card game or movie night and a heat & eat meal or charcuterie board are our go-to’s for travel days, just to make it less stressful.

Just keep in mind, road tripping in an RV is different than a vehicle, so plan for that, especially if you are new to it, or in a new, or new to you, vehicle. If you planned and prepared, then just be flexible and enjoy the ride.