By Nanci Dixon
We are going to be on the road for the next six months and planning, scheduling, booking and packing is a momentous job! It was a lot easier when we were full-time. Then it was basically plan, pull up jacks, bring in slides, and go.
This year we will be making the long haul from Arizona to Washington, D.C. We have to be there on a set date and there is very little leeway for breakdowns, storms, or heavy winds. I have had to be diligent in making sure we have campsites along the route booked and that there is flexibility. After D.C., the schedule is pretty loose, as not much is booked and we have no particular plan.
Although there are many other good RV trip planners available, I use RV LIFE Trip Wizard to plan the route. When researching campgrounds I always look at their cancellation policy. If I can’t find it on their website, I give them a call. I also read lots of reviews but take them with a proverbial grain of salt (here’s why). If there are full hookups and roomy sites but somebody doesn’t like how far a walk it is to the bathrooms, I may book it. However, if in a state park and the roads are terrible, the restrooms filthy, and the sites are packed together, I’ll keep looking.
Organizing the trip
As I book campgrounds, I flag them in green in my mailbox and then print them out. I can organize them by date to see what I am missing and what dates need to be filled. I write at the top of each reservation the arrival date and the departure date. I have misread the departure dates in the past, which caused major problems. Nothing like mistakenly arguing with an irate camper and family waiting for the site that is supposedly ours and being deeply embarrassed as they point out the date is wrong!
I keep the confirmation emails in my inbox. One year when I neatly organized the confirmation emails in folders, there wasn’t enough cell service to open the folders. Now I can find them all with the green flag.
I line everything up and insert a sheet of colored paper where there are missing sites and double-check dates. The holes may or may not need a reservation. They may just be travel days with no particular place to stop needed.
To pack, to do, and shutting down the house lists
I make lists on my iPhone in the Notes app. One list is what to remember to pack when I think of it and the other is a to-do list. I wish it was just pack a few clothes and go, but it is much more than that when it is six months of travel. After parking the RV we have made numerous trips back and forth to get stuff we forgot to take out.
I also have a list of what to do to close up the house before we go, who to notify, and what to put on hold or cancel.
Packing it up
Now all the work starts to turn into excitement! We begin dragging everything out of the closets. It is a really good time to take a look at what we bring, how much room it takes and how much it weighs. Also, if we are just pulling stuff out that we had last year in the RV, we ask ourselves if we used it and, if so, how often, and is it worth taking again?
Our needs are different than when we used to full-time. Do I really need to take copies of taxes for the past seven years? An entire sewing kit and sewing machine? Most likely not. A lot of stuff ends up back in the closet or in the donation pile.
Must-haves
Even when bulky and sometimes unwieldy, there are some items we must bring. We carry a suitcase and funeral clothes for the worst-case scenario. Jackets for light, cool days to downright freezing temps. I even have a lightweight pair of boots. All our medicines, CPAP machine and accessories, and minimal hair stuff. We have a box of electronics chargers, cords, and cable adapters. I still bring too many and too-heavy books! Yes, my Kindle is lighter and takes up no room, but I like the feel of paper. Last year I ran out of books—not this year!
I haven’t even gotten to the Instant Pot and popcorn popper yet!
This article was originally published last year, March 2024.
RELATED
- The Best RV Trip Planner Apps and Tools
- 28 million Americans plan to RV this spring—Here’s where they’re going
- It’s time to plan 2025 RV group trips now—Don’t wait!
- RVers, tell us how you plan your RV trips
##RVDT2603
We have not been on a six month trip…yet. But we have done a couple 2 month trips. I brought a Kindle each time to cut down on weight and save space. However, I love actual books too. So, I would take a book from tiny book libraries, that encouraged ‘take one or leave one’, and then drop that book at another tiny library along our travels. I have even began writing a note in the book about where I picked it up, and on what date, with a short review!
I love the review and where the book came from idea. I also find that many local libraries have a decent selection of books for sale cheap or give away. I have books on my tablet but honestly hard to read in any kind of sunlight. Cant read at the beach on a tablet.
We keep a large TT in Texas and a house almost as far north as you can go in Michigan. Roughly 6 months at the top and 6 months at the bottom of CONUS. This is our 8th year in Texas. We migrate with a much smaller TT and use it for adventures while north or south.
Doggone right we keep electronic file checklists for shutdown at each end – electronic as the lists need to be adjusted a bit from year to year. And these days, use the internet to monitor the other property (mostly temp). We have contacts at each end we can reach if there are any issues in our absence.
RV Life Trip wizard works well for us
I especially like the ability to download maps in their GPS app so I can still get directIons when cell reception is spotty.
We do a similar routine but with less paper!
Reservations are in google calendar, double checking check-in/check-out dates. Yeah, I have been burned by this in the past. I still enjoy the planning for our Snowbird trips. Next year will be a little different though. 🙁 🇨🇦
Thank you, Nanci! Very thorough. DW does our planning with some (minimal?) input from me. Not really sure how she does it, or what software or applications she uses. I do know that she overwhelmingly does it on her iPad. Have a great day and safe travels!
I gotta have paper too for the reasons you mention. When making reservations I stay at least two nights. Since I have made this rule nobody has had to knock on the RV door wanting to know when I will vacate their site. On the paper copy I write a kind of diary and little memories for later scrapbooking. My biggest problem is slow mail. My regular mail person has retired and post office will now only hold my mail for 1 month. My mail is nothing but junk but once a month or so something important. I dont want to pay a mail forwarding service for junk mail and on the move where to forward too?
I keep a spreadsheet which is easily downloaded from RV Trip wizard. I customize it with the details of the type of site booked (PT, BI, FHU, 50a, etc), balance owed & any particular sites of interest near by. It becomes our plan.