Veebyes wrote:

Based on MD Eastern Shore Chesapeake Bay, maybe a half hour from the Atlantic. Almost 250,000 miles put on the truck since 2007.

Similar to your 'quadrant' idea, we have done many trips with a theme or particular area to cover. Some keep drawing us back, e.g. currently on our fifth trip to Alaska. Departed MD end of April. Return MD mid Oct. Very flexible itinerary.

Allow time for delays due to weather. It is going to happen. Allow time for mechanical problems. They will happen. The more that you are able to go with the flow, the better.

spoon059 wrote:

I'm not sure what my employment will be by then. I'm hoping for a type of job that I can do remotely. If I can work remotely, longer than 4-6 weeks is feasible, but my kids will be 14, 12 and 7... so we'll have to see how attitudes hold up. If things go well and I have a job that allows it, maybe we do southwest in the early spring and northern midwest in the fall in the same year.

I'm hoping to be able to make some reservations in advance to ensure that we can stay at some specific locations, but I am also hoping to have some chances to boondock and might use something like Boondockers Welcome to have some less traditional camping options. We plan to have a smaller generator if we need it, but I'm hopeful that April and May nights may be cool enough and dry enough not to need AC.

valhalla360 wrote:



Generally a good plan.

If you can extend those trips to 3-4 months, lots of oppurtunities open up to be flexible and figure things out as you go.

I would keep reservations to a minimum with only absolutely key sites reserved. Especially if you are going off season, reservations are rarely needed. We did Yellowstone last fall and Banff/Jasper this spring...got reservation inside the parks about a week out for both as the school kids were all back in school and the crowds gone. We usually call ahead no more than 2-3 days out (or has become more common, reserve online). This avoids the stress if you run into issues (something comes up with work or issues with the RV and you can't travel for example).

Out of season camping also benefits boondocking. Mid summer when it's in the 90sF, boondocking without aircon is miserable, so you have to break out the generator or pay for a site with power. Spring/Fall, power demands tend to be much lower making boondocking easier.

spoon059 wrote:


Gosh I hope our experience mimmicks yours! One big downfall is that we're a young family, we'll likely have a 40' 5th wheel. That will limit some places we can stay, hence the need for some more dispersed camping sites!

valhalla360 wrote:



Boondocking is harder with a big rig. They often are down narrow roads or are on uneven ground. It can be done but far fewer options compared to a small rig.

Newer commercial campgrounds are less of an issue though still some limits.

Think long and hard if you really need a huge rig.i won't go so far as to say you don't but it creates its own problems. I'm the youngest of 10, and we typically did a month each summer in a 28ft travel trailer.