# Need Travel Advise



## hoodscoop (Mar 29, 2012)

Hey fellow Outbackers. As stated in past posts, the DW and I are planning our first long trip, 3 - 6 months. For the past two years since we purchased the Outback, we have been practicing RV'ing with only week long trips. The DW retires in 4 weeks and we are hitting the road two days afterwards, going south and than west. We want to stay in each town for a couple of days and then take off to the next town and so on and so on.

We consider ourselves travelers and not campers. We use the RV more as a place to sleep and not for camping. We would like to set up, visit a town and country side, then take off to see the next place. This is what we do most weekends when we're at home. Knowing this, we want to see a considerable amount of countryside.

My fear is tearing down the 5th wheel and setting it back up two days later. Can a man of 63 years maintain this level of activity? Or is it going to run me/us down. Please give me your experience. Do you find it necessary to stay a certain amount of time in one place before hooking back up and hitting the road, or do you find it satisfactory to do this every couple days. We are afraid that if we over do it, it will leave a bad taste in our mouth and put a damper on future trips.

Please give us the guidelines you long haulers have found to be your limits or what is just best for you.

Really looking forward to hearing your experiences.

Thanks, Larry


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

Larry, some of the longer trips we have have seen us do the exact same thing. I think doing that sort of thing frequently would drag for sure. But if your going to be in a place for two or three days, I wouldn't think that would be too bad. If you are going to do months on the road stopping over night I would think would be the exception to the norm. Most places you'd stop should be







of a day or two I would think! Perhaps you may want to plan 2 day stop overs or so. Maybe there will be times where you can't avoid a one nighter.

Sounds like you have an adventure ahead! Good luck with your trip!!

AND we'll need pictures...of course!


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

I have no idea why the "not







" smiley is in there....weird!

Okay most places should be worth more than one night.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

This is the "Not W0rthy" smiley









To spell it you need ":" at the start and finish of the words.

For the W0rthy







smiley it is just the word. Most of the rest of the smiley's require a special character with the word. One of the oddities in life I guess.


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## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

I'd say the work is no worse than hoteling it. One case your lugging suitcases, etc. up and down and finding a place to eat, checking in, checking out.

With a trailer if your only staying overnight, you can go many days w/o hooking up anything more than electricity, if that. No need to dump every day, fill the fresh tank and you can go multiple days w/o adding water. pull in, unhook if needed, run out the slides, out goes the electric awing, down goes the stabilizer and your done.

Maybe every second or third stop you'll need to dump, but do that at the dump station rather than full hookup.

We travel a lot, and while I wouldn't want to move every day, mostly because it's nice to relax and see the sites as you do, we often will do a week or so stopping for 2 days at a time, hit our main spot for a week, then stop 2 days at a time on the way back. works fine for us, and I'm 61, DW 63.

Enjoy your retirement!! Use that trailer. Last year we were out 80+ days, and already have almost 90 days planned for this year and seem to be adding to it every few weeks.

there is NO WAY we would spend 80 + days/year in Motel rooms!!! Limited what you can do, only one room, no way to easily make a snack, loading and unloading ugh...

My advice, rather than taking off on a 3 month trip, plan a 3 maybe 4 week somewhat local loop trip and see how it goes. you'll probably find things you'd change on a long trip, find out what else you need, what you can leave at home etc. then plan the 3 month trip.


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

CamperAndy said:


> This is the "Not W0rthy" smiley
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Rogue Smileys!? Say it ain't so!


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## Todd&Regan (Jul 1, 2010)

My wife and I are still far from retirement and have kids in school. So unfortunately many of our outings in the Outback are only 2 or 3 nights. To me it seems like we just got there when we're tearing down to leave. We do try to go out for a 4 or 5 night trip once or twice a year. Depending where you go, you probably won't be able to see all the sights or do all the activities in just a couple days. I personally would get tired of moving every 2 or 3 days for months straight. But if you want to see any many places as possible, that would be the way to do it. Give it a try and make adjustments if needed. I guess it boils down to personal preference. Everbody camps/travels differently. Enjoy your travels!!


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## hoodscoop (Mar 29, 2012)

Fantastic information so far. It's nice to hear some of you have done the two and three night stays. I agree that we might not be able to see enough of an area and may stay longer. The not having to hookup water and dump lines was something I totally missed, that alone could make it much easier. Also, maybe doing a 30 day trip like this would make more sense as mentioned. We had even thought of a two week trip without the RV and doing motels, but having a problem with that idea.

Thank you for all the great information and ideas. Those of you just catching up, please also give me you inputs. Wanting to read more.

P.S. I'm still confused about those "smileys" ?????


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

hoodscoop said:


> Fantastic information so far. It's nice to hear some of you have done the two and three night stays. I agree that we might not be able to see enough of an area and may stay longer. The not having to hookup water and dump lines was something I totally missed, that alone could make it much easier. Also, maybe doing a 30 day trip like this would make more sense as mentioned. We had even thought of a two week trip without the RV and doing motels, but having a problem with that idea.
> 
> Thank you for all the great information and ideas. Those of you just catching up, please also give me you inputs. Wanting to read more.
> 
> P.S. I'm still confused about those "smileys" ?????


 Some of the smileys are inserted with the use of a word. The word w-o-r-t-h-y when spelled out gives you this









Others you have to click on to insert but you will see there are symbols that you can type to insert them yourself. I used that word and got a smiley!


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## muddy tires (Jun 22, 2007)

I'm jealous. My biggest advice would be to keep it flexible. If there is something in an area that you missed then stay an extra day. If it's raining and you feel lazy, stay an extra day. Bored then pack up early. Vary your setup routines for how long you are staying. For only 1 or 2 nights you may not need to set up awnings, lawnchairs, BBQ, hookups, etc. We like to use a WalMart stopover when we have a couple of big mile days in a row. Just roll in and curl up in bed!


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## Grover (Jul 19, 2010)

It takes time to make and break camp. It may only take an hour, or it may take two or more. The dear wife has some input into how much time and work it involves. Daily moving also involves fuel costs. Staying and relaxing in an area is great. I have been on the road for 30 days at a time in a 36' FW. It is a chore to set up and take down. A TC is easier.

We have tried the every day move to get to a destination. The destination was far more relaxing when we were there for a week. It gave us days to sight see and days to rest. There are days to do laundry and grocery shop. Time out to read a book, nap, do personal business.

All said and done, it is a time to relax, not to make a long run in a hurry. We plan to drive about 250 to 300 miles a day. That gives plenty of time to stop for fuel and roadside attractions.

Keep reading, study maps to see what there is to see, plan your routes with the uphills and down hills in mind.

Enjoy your retirement in good health!


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## vdub (Jun 19, 2004)

We have been doing exactly what you are proposing for 7 years. I am about your age and have psoriatic arthritis. I'm on pain pills all day long, but I haven't had any problem with hooking and unhooking (after the pain meds kick in each morning). When we started our travels 7 years ago, I could walk a 5 mile nat'l park trail with little effort, but now a trip to WalMart can be taxing, but hooking up is still not a big deal.

Typically, we will stay in one place anywhere from a 3-4 days to two weeks, depending on local sights or just resting. But there are also times when we are trying to speed across country. When we are traveling across country at what we consider a fairly good, sustainable rate, we will travel about 300 miles per day and stop, stay hooked up, and head out again, the next day. But on the second day, we will stay two nights and unhook. For some people that would be a waste of time snails pace, but we are retired and we plan our schedule based on where we want to be and not on how much time we have to complete mission.

Someone up above my post said, don't dump, but every 2nd or 3rd day. I disagree. I run with empty tanks. If you have fluid in the tanks, the curves and sways during travel put a lot of stress on the tanks and you will likely break the tank at the neck. Particularly, as the tank gets older and the plastic gets brittle. If I am going to need fresh water at a camp spot (nat'l parks mostly), then I won't fill the tank until the last chance, which is normally just a couple miles from the camp site. Even at that, I have had to repair the gray water tank twice and the galley tank is telling me now that it needs a patch.

Good luck! We're enjoying life. Let me know if you have any other questions.


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## hoodscoop (Mar 29, 2012)

Again, thanks for the information, especially the mileage stuff as we were hoping someone would give us that critical information. We were not sure what was reasonable. We would also appreciate some information on Walmart stays. We are going to try it for the first time on this trip. One reason is to just try it, the other because we have two times what we have about 600 miles between points-of-interest. Of course, we will be very respectful of the area and also ask permission first, and likely buy something at the store that we actually need while we're there .... always need more fishing gear. Thanks again.


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## CW2Jason (Nov 27, 2011)

We towed from Connecticut to South Dakota and back last year. I like to average 60 miles an hour for 10 Hours a day. puts me right at 600 miles a day. with stops for gas and such, you leave around 8 in the morning and your pulling over around 7 or so at night for dinner and sleep. I dont think I would push it more than that. Made for a nice road trip. We did Walmart parking lots, Truck stops and even some highway rest stops had RV hook-ups. Have fun and drive safe.


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## Leedek (Nov 28, 2010)

2x on what Vdub said about travel miles. It really is the journey and NOT the destination.







I have traveled from Vancouver,WA to the Mohawk Valley of Upstate New York twice. The maiden voyage with our current Outback came in with just over 7400 miles. Currently DW and I are escaping SE WA rain and gloom with a month's stay on the Texas Gulf Coast. We plan another three week stay in AZ before sojourning back to home in Vancouver.

I'm one year your senior and have found that the hook/unhook is not particularly taxing. I had just one problem over the years with one early departure. I lifted the hitch-head without using my legs and my back tweaked. We spent an extra day at that campsite. Lesson learned... lift with your legs and warm up a little before the lift.









DW and I have found that Walmart overnight stays can serve multiple purposes. A little shopping for groceries, RV supplies, and you-name-it. I always check in with customer service and have had only one of them suggest I not stay. It seems that some cities lease the property to Wally World and the laws of the city apply. Eugene, OR does not want any RVs in parking lots any where any time.







So much for the Home of the Ducks. We have found that the gem of the RV free overnight stays is Love's Truck Stop. We have stayed tucked in next to big rigs and out front in the "RV Parking" designated spaces. The 210RS and my Silverad 1500 just fit in the space nice n cozy. Truck stops, Walmart, state parks, private parks, and village parks have all allowed overnight stays.

Keep the shiny side up and have a great retirement. The week is six Saturdays and a Sunday. Enjoy them all!


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