Taking a road trip in an RV is an excellent way to save money on your trip. It also gives you a sense of adventure and freedom that you wouldn’t get if you were just flying and staying in a hotel. When you drive across the country in an RV, you can discover exciting things along the way and get to know the place.
However, a successful RV trip takes careful planning. Get it wrong, and you’ll end up with a nightmare experience, instead of your dream road trip. This article will help you with the planning process so you can have the ideal RV trip.
Choosing an RV
If you’ve already got your own RV, you can skip this step. However, if you haven’t been on an RV trip before and you need to get your hands on a vehicle, you must pick the right one. Firstly, you need to decide whether you’re going to hire one or buy one of your own. In most cases, if you’ve never been on an RV trip before, it’s better to rent one. Your first trip will give you an idea of whether you want to do it again, and then you can decide if it’s worth investing in an RV.
When renting an RV, pick one that suits the size of your trip. If there are just two of you and you’ll be staying at small campgrounds in national parks, you don’t want a huge 40-foot Class A motorhome. Equally, if you are taking the whole family, you need to make sure that you have enough space. Speak to the rental company and get their advice but remember that they are trying to sell you something, so take it with a pinch of salt if they say that you need the most expensive RV they do.
Powering Your Trip
Power is one of the most important things to sort out before you set off on your RV trip. If you have a reliable electricity source, you can enjoy most of the luxuries that you’re used to at home. However, not all rv generators are the same, and if you go for a cheap, unreliable model, it could fail on you halfway through your trip. That leaves you in a tough position and all of the benefits of road tripping in a big RV go out of the window. A good generator will last you for years to come, so it’s worth investing in quality.
Creating a Budget
Next, you’ll need a budget. Even though road tripping is a cheaper option, it still costs money for things like gas, campground fees, and food along the way. The last thing you want is to run out of money halfway through the trip and then spend the rest of the time worrying about your spending. So, book all of the campgrounds in advance and write a clear budget. It’ll be cheaper to book ahead of time and you will know exactly what you’re likely to spend. Then, set a daily budget for food and work out how much gas you are likely to use. You should check the gas prices in the areas that you are driving through too, because they vary a lot from place to place.
Plan Your Route
It’s great having navigation apps on your phone, but don’t rely on them to get you where you’re going. What happens if you can’t get a signal or your battery dies and you can’t charge it until you stop somewhere? Suddenly, you find yourself completely lost without a backup plan in place. That’s why you should always plan your route ahead of time. Bear in mind that if you’re driving a big RV, you need to be careful about which roads you are driving on. Avoid any routes where the roads will be very tight and pick efficient routes that use the least gas.
When you have planned your route, print out some maps and directions to keep with you. That way, if you get into trouble, you can at least work out the way to your next stop.
Follow these steps and your first RV trip will go off without a hitch. So, what are you waiting for? Time to get planning!
