March 14, 2023
When we started this journey into full-time RV life a little over a year ago, we knew there would be a lot of information to keep up with. Being the organized person I am, I got a current road atlas, Planner, RV journal and an RV GPS device, plus I plugged things into our digital family calendar. This along with a couple of camping memberships with location maps and we were ready to travel plan!
Planning trips was not a new experience for us. We’ve been travelers for 30+ years, as kids with our families, solo adults, and as a family. But this brought on a whole new level of challenge with booking multiple reservations at a time over an extended period. The formerly used method of a travel itinerary wasn’t going to cut it, and all these resources were a lot.
First, we used our Google map and marked our membership locations that worked for us in the area we would travel in since we stay in state, mostly. And just added others as we traveled to other states. This helped a lot, but flipping through the books and having multiple calendars to update was too much. By last summer, a few months in, I was already planning a simpler method to combine all our info into one book. Such a thing didn’t exist, at least not that I could find.
By September, we were going through our notes and creating a template of what we wanted. It took us a lot longer than we expected, but we finally created our vision. We ordered our proof copy and started using it for a travel planning session and it worked just like I wanted.
It’s small enough to carry in my every day bag so I can always check it for scheduling purposes. While there are a few tweaks we will roll out with the 2024 version, this has already been great!
Let me give you a quick overview of the sections and why they are there. (If you purchase the book, there is a How To Use section that also breaks this down for you!)
IMPORTANT INFORMATION this information is about your rig to be kept close to make sure you will fit on routes, in spaces, and under overpasses.
MEMBERSHIPS AND PASSES this is for quick reference while planning, making reservations, or checking in and you don’t have data, a signal or your membership card handy.
YEAR-AT-A-GLANCE this is where for planning those big events for the year, or what months to be at home base or other places, such as for appointments or celebrations.
MONTH VIEW the YAG info is added to these pages along with times for specific appointments, but it is where we mark our travel plans. We also designed it to where weekends are together since this is a popular travel time or day.
RESERVATION SHEETS on these pages, list specific stay information from the reservation, such as location, price, deposit, balance due, spot number, phone number, address, check in/out times, and more. You can also rate the places to have as a reference for friends and family, or yourself for future visits. We put several in with each month, but there are extras in the back, if you need it.
THINGS TO DO LIST keep a list of places recommended or researched to do in the area of your reservation–this is a facing page to each reservation page so it stays together. This helps us with intentional travel if there is something we really want to see and don’t want to forget about, as well as ticketed attractions or reservations. We put several of these in with each month, too, but there are extras in the back, if you need it.
BUDGET SHEETS this is a great place to plan and track expenses for your travels to lessen surprises and overspending, especially for full-timers that struggle with balancing “living” and “vacation”. There’s a budget and an actual side to keep track.
CHECKLIST This is the checklist we use for our RV for setting up and departing. A checklist makes sure you don’t forget to do something, especially when you do it often. We also have a printed one we check off. If you need to customize one for you, you can find the template at our website http://www.barnesonmove.com and download it to tailor it to your needs.
MILEAGE AND MAINTENANCE These sections allow you to track your miles for each trip, as well as the maintenance you do on your vehicles. As it is varies from vehicle to vehicle, we didn’t put in specific times/mileage for the maintenance, but gave you a place to log it. Again, simplicity of one location.
NOTES This section allows you a place to add additional things you may need to track or remember, as well as extra reservation things to do pages if you need more than the monthly section has.
This book doesn’t have a page marker like a lot of day planners have, but I have found them to get knocked out or broken easily, and prefer a paper clip I move to the active month, or months I am currently planning, and it is more secure for me. I’ve been using it for several weeks and it has been so convenient to keep in my purse or backpack and have handy making appointments or talking with friends and family to connect in various areas.
If you are an active traveler with more than one trip planned at a time, this book is for you! While it is geared to RVers, it is still a helpful tool for other types of travel or camping. It is a great tool for you, or gift for other travelers in your life! I is the only planner you, or they, will need all year.
Currently, Our Travel Planner 2023 is being printed on demand through Amazon and can be purchased. We are aiming for a September release of our 2024 planner, so stay tuned for that by following our social media pages, listed below. If you are interested in a bulk order, contact us directly on our website BarnesOnMove .
Like or comment below, and share with others to support the blog. I post weekly about teaching, traveling and family. Until next time, you can find us on Facebook @BarnesOnMove, Tiktok & Instagram @BarnesOnMove OR @BarnesOnMove2, or our website BarnesOnMove.com