What kind of a trip planner are you?


 
Brad Olson

Brad Olson

TVWBB Platinum Member
Even though quite a few of us are sticking close to home these days, it doesn't mean we can't be figuring out where we're going once it's safer to do so (and giving ourselves some things to look forward to as well). So to that end, what kind of a trip planner are you? Do you micromanage every possible detail (that's me) or are you more of the play-it-by-ear type?

We have a family vacation in northern Wisconsin this summer and I'll also be driving to Ohio and back, and I've been planning the heck out of them. Different routes, different places to stop, the whole nine yards. Plus there's hopefully a trip to Arizona for baseball next spring; this year's itinerary came in at 31 pages, and there's a possibility that next year's could exceed that as I'm already almost done (for now) with it. And I'm never truly done, either, as I'll continue to make adjustments even after I've departed. As Allen Ludden might've said, "And the password is...anal.";)

I'm intimately familiar with Google Maps...
 
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It varies. A few trips, we've planned out well in advance. Houston, last fall, the first 2 days were completely planned, and several other attractions all on the list, just depended on weather where we went. On the other end was our trip to Ireland, we planned on a couple of days in Dublin at the start, and the last night at the airport. Between those, we hired a car and pretty much went from day to day, finding a B&B every night or every other night. That was a thoroughly enjoyable trip.
 
I always play it as it goes. Northern Wisconsin is my home away from home. So when I hit the little town of Mercer, I put everything off to the side and simply enjoy myself. If one of the National Parks is my destination, I make a mental list of things to see and do. I take my time and enjoy. If I don't get it all done, there's always next time.
 
I’m simply the driver, my wife breaks out the (Brand new RM atlas at about thirty miles out then we make time when we have to and take side trips as time allows. If we have time, there are many side trips. When we went to the Pacific Northwest we stopped at EVERY “scenic turn out” all the way to Mt. St. Helens! My brother was following and was really frustrated by it. I just told him, we are not joined at the hip and we will meet at the appointed time at the appointed place and we all went on our merry way.
My wife is a really serious “I want to see...” person. I would very much like to take her on a trip to the northeast for a week or two, there are things I’d like to see which I have not yet and I’d love to revisit Mystic Connecticut. Then, a side trip to Chaplin’s restaurant (Daddy Jack’s home of the blues) because I’ve been seriously pleased with his YouTube channel! He actually responds to schmucks like me personally!
But then of course there is all the Atlantic seafood!!!!
 
Since we usually take our camper, I start with Mapquest to plot campgrounds on the way.
What used to be a 2 day trip from NC to Maine is now a 3 day trip with the extra weight.
 
No map needed...:D..been driving this route for the last 40 + years...

I drive to Mammoth Mtn. Ca. to ski/snowboard during the winter months and stay at friends places and then drag my Fleetwood Evolution off-road popup trailer to June Lake Loop 15 miles further down the road than Mammoth for some awesome trout fishing in September..........

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I'm the happy guy the middle.....

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Little 3lb trout....

The Pop-UP

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We have tried doing trips both ways and found out that a basic rough outline works best for us. We also do our vacationing pulling a trailer so we pick a destination and split up the distance. I usually dont like to do more than 300 miles a day pulling the trailer. 200 is even better. Wife uses an app called rvparky that makes it easy to find places to make reservations. We usually have a few places we want to stop but if it doesnt happen, it's alright. I found if I planned too much and things didn't go according to plan I turned into a real grump. Not a good thing with a wife and two dogs in a trailer. Here's a photo of the trailer, and one of a crazy GSP!20190202_134125.jpg20181017_182950.jpg
 
We've done a number of trips from MA to the west with our camper. When public campgrounds were not always full we liked to just hit the road and play it by ear, as that is no longer the case we need to plan out a route and make lodging reservations for any popular area sometimes a year in advance. That's about it for my planning, and it's more then enough. This winters cut short trip consisted of about 15 separate reservations.
 
I plot point A and point B, and unless time is pressing I try to take some back roads to places I've never seen before. And I refuse to eat at any chain restaurants, finding locally owned joints with wonderful food is one of my main focuses of getting away from home- and has been very rewarding.
 
I started planning our trips on a notepad file. This was back before Google docs and all of that. These days I store the note file on Google drive. I'll have 3 sections on each day: Do, Stay, and Eat. I'll plan several things we'll like for each day (Do), our hotel is obviously Stay, and if there is a specific restaurant we just have to try, it goes under Eat. If there are no interesting restaurants, we'll just play it by ear. They aren't rigid details, just a basic itinerary so we don't have to search for things to do once we get there. It's worked well.

These days I use Google maps for saving directions. I went all over the country just using good ol Rand McNally back in the day. Simpler times, good times.
 
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