Planning your first RV trip is very much like planning a road trip, except you won’t be staying at a hotel. Like any long road trip, you better off breaking it down into smaller segments. Making the overall trip less overwhelming and more enjoyable for everyone. It also give you a nice break from being behind the wheel for long extended periods of time, which can be exhausting. In order to have a successful and enjoyable RV trip there are some key things to take into consideration. Starting with…

Time

Learning to manage your time is a key factor in making sure everyone is having a wonderful trip. That includes:

• Drive Time- Manage the amount of time you spend behind the wheel. Driving can be exhausting and draining even though it might not seem like it. When traveling in an RV safeties the most important thing, so make sure you’re taking a break every few hours.
• Make Time To Eat – A good way to make sure you’re saving money and not always eating out, plan out your meals and try to stick to it. If you’re not meal planning the likelihood of stopping at a fast food restaurant and eating poorly are pretty high, and let’s not mention spending unnecessarily. The other problem with eating a big meal out, is that you’ll feel tired and heavy and you definitely don’t want to get behind the wheel like that.
• Make Time To Explore– While getting from point A to point B is indeed the goal, stopping along the way to explore the unknown can be some of the best parts of the entire trip. This is a great way to break up your trip and lets you rest and stretch your legs out. When you’re planning out your trip, do some research and figure out some nice and fun places to visit along the way.
• Make Time To Rest– Resting between driving segments and getting a good night’s sleep are key for a safe trip. You don’t want to wear yourself out before even getting to your final destination, especially by choosing to drive all night. Remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Enjoy the advantages of traveling in an RV and getting the opportunity to pause and take it all in.

READ MORE: Five Essential First Time Camping Tips

Planning

We can’t stress this enough, plan as much of your first RV trip route ahead of time as possible. You’ll be glad you did, once you hit the road and have specific markers. There are plenty of websites and sources that will make this process really easy. The AAA Auto Club has a trip planning service included as part of membership as do most other auto clubs. Take advantage of the provided services and figure out where to stop, where to eat and where to rest. Also, many of the local Chambers of Commerce will have information for travelers planning on visiting or passing through. Make sure to go online and do some research. They’ll be able to tell you popular places to eat or visit. Any upcoming festivals or even the best places to stay.

Checklists

Make a checklist of everything you’ll need to take with you before you roll out the door and on to your campsite. This will help you make sure you don’t forget anything, like any medications, food, special clothes, your Apple TV or Roku devices for entertainment. It would be really unfortunate to get half way through your trip and realize that you forgot something. And if it’s something important to then have to go make a detour and go buy another one. Start your checklist early and add to it as you start to prepare for your trip. You’ll be happy you did and it will definitely help with making your first RV trip stress free and more enjoyable.

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