“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
― Lao Tzu
As I start to plan our journey I found some helpful planning tools that I will share with you. I will update this post as I find more or find some to be less helpful. If you have any tips or advice please feel free to leave a comment or message me.
ROUTE YOUR TRIP
FURKOT
One of the first helpful FREE tools I have found for trip planning is a site called Furkot. To see how it works check out our current plans in the following link; Pop’s and I Wandering in Wonder
ROADTRIPPERS Another trip mapping/planning app with great feature. Free versions only allows for a limited number of stops.
Mile By Mile Road Trip This FREE site offers a map style interface and lets you plan your trip, then print it out for easy viewing away from your computer.
Travellers Point you can easily create your own custom map.
FIND CAMPING
While the routing sites above may help locate some great campsites, sometimes you just need more than what they offer.
HARVEST HOST A network of wineries, breweries, distilleries, farms, and attractions that invite RVers to stay in 873+ stunning camping sites. The $79 yearly membership gives members unlimited access to stay overnight at any one of their Host‘s locations.
BOONDOCKERS WELCOME This is an awesome site with a lot of great free parking on private property.
FREE CAMPSITES This site is great for people who enjoy boon-docking. A great way to make travel less expensive if you don’t mind giving up some of the amenities offered in formal campgrounds.
OVERNIGHT RV PARKING Their database contains 14,268 RV Parking and No Parking locations in the USA and Canada. Similar to freecampsites.net, but with a small yearly fee.
iOVERLANDER Another great website for finding free or cheap campsites, as well as food, water, gas, dumpsites and more!
USCAMPGROUNDS.INFO With a database of over 13,000 camping sites you will find USCampgrounds.info to be a great resource for all you need to know about staying at federal, state or local campgrounds.
RV PARK REVIEWS
rvparkreviews.com can assist you in finding the right park. Peers leave reviews after their stay to help others find the perfect spot. Remember reviews are very subjective so always look at multiple sources. I have listed a few more here:
MEMBERSHIP CAMPING
Here you will find some of the highest rated discount clubs for RV travelers.
- Passport America $44 a year with access to 1,800 parks around the U.S. A current membership saves you 50% off your stay.
- Good Sam Club Yearly fees start at just $25 and give you a 10% discount at over 13,000 RV parks in the U.S. and Canada. Good Sam also offers discounts at Camping World stores and roadside service. They also offer a printed guide, you can find their current version here: The 2020 Good Sam Guide Series for the RV & Outdoor Enthusiast
- Escapees RV Club $40 a year. With your membership you get the Escapees magazine, access to their 19 exclusive campgrounds, mail forwarding service, and the Xscapees Club for younger full time RVers.
- Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) The world’s largest non-profit RV group. Members have exclusive access to RV discount club savings, RV lifestyle resources, a monthly RV living magazine, RV rallies & more.
- Thousand Trails A Membership only camping resort offering at least eighty parks around the U.S. There are numerous membership packages to choose from. The most popular is the Zone Pass designed for specific geographical regions. For $499 you can stay within their park system for 30 nights free and $3 a night after that.
- Coast To Coast This camping club offers $10 a night stays for members in over 200 parks. Rules for membership can be confusing. This is a supplemental membership. You have to be an active member of another private campground membership to qualify. Read the terms and policies before joining.
- Resort Parks International This is an add on for people with Thousand Trail memberships and provides members $15 a night stays in a variety of resorts.
FIND SERVICES
DUMP STATION LOCATOR Just as the title suggest the link to SaniDump.com will help you find free and cheap dump sites. Especially useful for boon-dockers.
CAMPENDIUM
FIND FUEL
TRUCK STOP LOCATOR This site is especially helpful for those with large RV’s or campers. Make sure you save findfuelstops.com if you prefer to avoid smaller gas stations. Other useful links for finding places to gas up are as follows:
STAY CONNECTED
Technomadia offers some of the best resources for staying connected while on the road. Another site, RV Mobile Internet, is a paid site that provides detailed updates on all things mobile data. Some more helpful sites to check out are;
WORK ON THE ROAD
Here are several online resources that offer information, job opportunities and volunteer positions for full time RVers.
- Workamper Updated regularly and offering a variety of jobs. Workamper requires a yearly membership.
- Oilfield Gate Guarding This article from Living the Dream.com gives more information and offers you contacts for this type of work.
- RV Inspections – Become an RV inspector and help others start off with the best rig possible. Living the Dream.com has a great article on this topic with contact info to get you started.
- Camp Hosts – This organization partners with state parks all over the U.S.
- Workers On Wheels – Free newsletter with regular updates on employers looking for mobile workers.
- CoolWorks.com – Employers listed on this site offer RVers the opportunity to work and stay!
- Working Couples If you and your partner are looking for work, this website may be for you! Every job listed is for couples. There is a nominal monthly membership fee.
SAFETY
- Safe Travel USA This website puts all the department of transportation information all in one site. Regardless of which state you are traveling in this website will give you access to highway conditions along your chosen route.
- RV Service Reviews Breaking down is stressful, but not knowing where to take your RV can send your blood pressure soaring. Check out the website RV Service Reviews to find out what other people are saying about their repair experience. This site is particularly helpful when you pull into an unfamiliar town.
- COACH-NET
GUIDES AND BLOGS ONLINE
RV RENTALS GUIDE has great resources for newbies. Lots of information on all things RV related.
BOOKS, MAPS AND GUIDES IN PRINT
Rand McNally 2020 Large Scale Road Atlas no trip is complete without an atlas. This large spiral bound edition makes navigating a breeze.
100 Parks, 5,000 Ideas: Where to Go, When to Go, What to See, What to Do is a very handy guide with a ton of information and beautiful pictures.
The MILEPOST 2019: Alaska Travel Planner (2020 wasn’t available yet) This guide is a must have for the Alaska Highway according to frequent travelers of the highway. PRINT IS ESSENTIAL in an area where cell and internet service are scarce.
Pop's and I 