Plan The Perfect RV Trip On National Plan For Vacation Day
According to the US Travel Association, “National Plan For Vacation Day is intended to encourage Americans to plan their vacation days for the whole year at the beginning of the year, and inspire them to use those days to travel the USA.”
It’s also meant to highlight the importance of vacation planning, and how much it can help our mental health, as studies have shown that trip planning makes us happier. Of course, there is no better way to travel the country than by taking a road trip in an RV!
When is National Plan For Vacation Day?
National Plan For Vacation Day is celebrated every year on the last Tuesday of January. This year’s National Plan For Vacation Day will fall on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
The best RV trip planning tools
Planning an RV trip ahead of time is always a great idea. You’ll know exactly which routes to take and what roads are safe for your RV. You don’t want to get stuck driving down a road that is too narrow, or down a highway with an overpass that is too low for your rig.
Plus, not all campgrounds and RV parks are made the same. You’ll want to read campground reviews to see if your destination will be right for you. Maybe you want specific amenities like a pool or reliable Wi-Fi, or you have a membership like Thousand Trails that will save you money on nightly fees. Planning in advance may also keep you from staying in a crowded RV park in a bad neighborhood, and help you find a more quiet and secure RV resort.
RV LIFE has an entire suite of RV trip planning tools that make it easy and enjoyable to plan the perfect trip. A quick search on RV LIFE Campgrounds will help you find all the campgrounds and RV parks in a specific city or state, and you can read reviews from other RVers to get a better idea of what each location is like. You can also browse photos of the campground, get their contact information, and find other tips on things to see and do in the area.
On RV LIFE Trip Wizard, you can easily find campgrounds along your route and filter them based on your preferences; locate gas stations, dump stations, rest areas, Walmarts, and other points of interest; check elevation changes along your route; plan your trip budget and so much more.
Once you have perfected your route, you can then simply pull it up on the RV LIFE App for RV-safe GPS navigation. It’s that easy! Check out the video below from Henley’s Happy Trails to learn more about using RV LIFE Trip Wizard to plan your dream RV trip.
Planning your vacation budget
While you’re planning your travels on National Plan For Vacation Day, you will also likely be running some numbers and working out your budget. Here are a few ways to save money and cut down on expenses during your travels.
- Obtain an America The Beautiful Pass if you plan on visiting national parks in the next year. They cost $80 and are good for the full year. With some parks charging $35 in entrance fees, the pass will pay for itself after just a few visits.
- Join a camping club like Escapees, Thousand Trails, or Passport America. These memberships can save you a ton of money on nightly camping fees.
- Plan to eat in your RV as much as possible. Though it’s always fun to try the local restaurants in the areas you’re visiting, the cost of eating out can add up quickly, especially for traveling families. According to Journey Foods, the average price per serving of home cooked meals is $4.31 – while the average cost of eating out is $20.37.
- Save money on fuel. Get a fuel discount card, or check GasBuddy.com to find the cheapest gas in the areas you’re traveling.
- Always search online for coupon codes. Whether you’re buying something from Camping World or tickets for a local attraction, you never know if there is a code available that could give you a discount. Additionally, you may want the free Honey browser extension to scan for coupon codes when you’re checking out.
- Use RV LIFE Trip Wizard to easily plan your budget and determine the cost for each leg of the trip.
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I’ve used RV Tripwizard as our sole RV travel planner for about two years. There have been a number of updates which in my view have made the program better. What I don’t like about it is the POI function. I think it’s limited and so far I haven’t found a way to add to it. So, we spend time searching the internet for unusual stops and then add them to our route. I would also like to see a function where you can mark stops that are favorites and have them on one map view. That way each time you plan a new route, you can pull these favorites in to populate your route. I’m always reading about some place I want to see, so being able to make a favorite list and then have that on my route planning screen would be a huge win for us.