Intentional RV Travel Planning
Guest Post by Luann Street of StreetsWander.com
Why Travel Plan?
As we travel around the US and people find out that we have a travel planner as part of the resources we offer RVers, we get varied responses.
Some people say they don’t travel plan because they want to be spontaneous. Others say they use their google calendars to record their plans. Some people wing it, so much so they don’t know where they are going the next day when they are leaving a campground.
We like to think that travel planning isn’t about limiting spontaneity, but it is about being intentional, so you won’t miss out on really great things to see and do because you don’t travel plan.
RV travel planning can be as detailed as you want.
We feel that everyone travel plans in some way or another but not everyone is intentional about it. As RVing becomes more and more popular, travel planning is going to become a necessity. Especially for the high-profile destinations that you may want to visit.
We have had people tell us about how they are planning out destinations a year in advance so they can get that campsite on the beach or in the amazing area to spend the winter. We have experienced that ourselves when trying to get into Gulf State Park or anywhere in Florida from December to March.
The flip side of that the day to day travel that may or may not need reservations. However, if you are heading down the road without a place to camp that night and you find out that where you are going was a major football game in the area and you are out of luck…then what – Walmart or Cracker Barrel? What if other RVers did that same thing?
We have personally met people who refuse to travel plan but then start talking about how stressed out they are in their travels because they never know where to go next. I personally want a peaceful RV life and travel planning is a big part of it.
Is travel planning hard? Yes, actually it is. It’s harder, I think when you are a full-timer because you can go ‘anywhere’! Trying to figure out where to go next can be a challenge and an adventure.
Making a travel plan can be made easier with the right tools and mindset. So let’s look at a RV travel planning resource that may change your mind about travel planning.
The Complete RV Travel Planner In Action
Are you looking for an easy to use solution to keep track of all those RV plans and reservations?
We sure were! We looked everywhere to find a solution to the travel chaos that was our lifestyle now. We didn’t find anything, so we created The Complete RV Travel Planner.
Let me back up a minute.
We discovered with our RV freedom we needed something to keep track of all our campground reservations. What we were doing wasn’t working.
Bryan would make the reservation. Then he would get off the phone and I would ask things like:
Did they have a discount?
He didn’t know, because he forgot to ask.
We had campground memberships that we bought to save money using them but if we didn’t ask, we didn’t get the discount!
Then the time came when we would want to change our plans. That’s when we discovered that we didn’t know the cancellation policy. He may have asked but didn’t write it down so we found we were stuck sometimes with having to pay to cancel them or maybe we could not lose money by rescheduling, but we wouldn’t be back that way for 6 months to a year!
The cost of The Complete RV Travel Planner offsets one night of lost campground reservation!
So we created our infamous Campground Reservation Log.
You can get a free copy by clicking this link. http://www.streetswander.com/campground-reservation-log
This log is the cornerstone of The Complete RV Travel Planner.
We needed a better, quicker solution to make and track all of our RV plans. Many of our reservations we would make a year in advance.
This planner was born out of necessity. We needed a travel planner made for RVers. Because of its unique design and ease of use, we are sure it will quickly become one of your favorite RV travel companions too!
So let’s take a few minutes and dive into this unique planner.
RV Travel Planner Overview.
This planner was made by RVers, for RVers. There are four main sections that encompass all you need for your RV lifestyle, whether you travel full-time or part-time. Sprinkled throughout are inspirational quotes to keep you moving forward in your RV travel.
RV Info Section
In the RV info section, you’ll find resources for helping you as you travel.
The Just In Case Page is on the laminated back of the front cover. This is a place to record where you are right now. Use a wet erase marker to record the campground address in case you have to call 911, nearest hospital, urgent care, veterinarian, etc. All the numbers you would need in case of an emergency while you are at your current location. When you move on….use a damp paper towel to erase and do it again at the next location.
The My RV Info Page…
is a place to record all of the stats for your particular RV – weight- height- tag – VIN, etc. You will use this page a lot!
Then you will find conversion charts to help you in your RV travels. Weights & Measures for when you travel to Canada and then a conversion chart for power consumption – this is handy for when you need to plug into 30 Amp and monitor what you plug in so you don’t trip the breakers by using too much!
The next pages include a time zone map, visual reference maps of the U.S. and Canada. I don’t know about you – but me and time zones have some difficulty figuring each other out…so this was put here just for me! The reference maps of the U.S and Canada are great for big-picture route planning.
Then you’ll find pages for creating your own travel bucket lists. Put the things you have always dreamed of seeing in this space. There will be space later to record what you will plan out for the current year.
The next two pages are free planning spaces for you to use as you plan your year. There are twelve boxes for each month (if that makes sense to you) or feel free to use it as you want!
The RV Info Section closes with two annual calendars for the current year and the next. These are great reference calendars as you plan.
Destinations Section
This section was designed for RVers and the way we travel. You’ll find a two-page monthly spread. The calendars here give you plenty of writing room as well as our quick view planning system that is taught inside our “Making the Most of Your RV Travel Planner” Video Series. You will love it!
Next, you find weekly planning pages laid out for easy activity planning when you reach your destination. Plan out your days, so you will know what you want to see and do at your destination.
Also included for each month are 10 campground reservation logs with even more detail to track than our original design.
Every RVer needs to track their spending, so we included a two-page travel expense log for tracking all your travel expenses – like fuel, propane, camping fees, dining, etc.
You will find this section makes it so fun and easy to plan your RV trips.
RV Life Section of the RV Travel Planner
Who needs to pack their RV? You do!
So included are two fill-in RV Packing Lists that you can personalize just for you! Use them to make your packing lists, so you don’t forget anything! Once you create your personalized list – use a single sheet of clear laminate material to put over the top and use the checklist to make it reusable!
When you are on the road, the contact info you need is different than when you were at home. The Phone & Address pages will help you keep those numbers handy that you need in your RV life.
There is also a page for passwords records. There are so many log-ins to all our RV related needs that this page is very convenient.
If you have a pet, you will LOVE this page! The Pet Page has space to record all the important information for 3 pets. This is information that you need when visiting a vet while traveling, boarding your pet or crossing into Canada.
This section ends with an annual calendar for future years to help you as you move into the next section.
RV Travel Planner Planning Ahead Section
This space is for future RV travel planning. This section was designed to help us come up with some great travel plans.
I personally have FOMO (fear of missing out), so in order to feel like I can enjoy the present, I like to plan out where we are going in the future so I know I will eventually get there! That’s how I use the Future Travel Ideas Pages. I know we can’t go to Alaska this year and that is a pretty big trip so I want to make sure we plan it for a future year and let that be the focus of planning that year….make sense? But you are free to use these pages that make planning your future travels easy for you!
Next is my favorite section! (this was designed just for me!) I hope you will think it’s as cool as I do!
As you travel, you will meet people who will tell you about great places and you will want to remember them! When you sit around the campfire with your newfound RVer friends, they regale you with stories and all the wonderful things they have done. This next set of pages is for recording those recommendations of others.
The next 16 pages are the Travel Ideas by State pages.
There is space for each of the 50 states and all 13 Canadian Provinces. As you have ideas or get recommendations – put those in the corresponding block. That way when you travel to that state, you have already started a list of things to do and see there.
I got inspiration from an article in Architectural Digest that listed the prettiest little town in every state. I listed each town on these pages and now when we travel to that state, we seek out that little town and experience it! If I didn’t have these pages, I would hear about great things to see and do and forget them the next day (the next hour, if I’m honest! ?)
So that wraps up the walkthrough of The Complete RV Travel Planner.
We hope you enjoyed a journey through travel planning just for RVers. We are sure this is going to become one of your favorite travel companions.
