Everyone has their own method for RV trip planning regardless if they are full time or part time RV’ers or just renting an RV for the first time. Save 25% off your first RV trip through RVShare. We love hearing how other people plan their RV trips because it gives us new resources to improve our systems of planning campsites, excursions, and more. That’s why we wanted to share with you all our method for RV trip planning including how we find our campsites and excursions as full time RVers. Watch the video below to get all the details!

(free with option to upgrade)

This is a new app we’ve learned about recently and are super glad to add to our arsenal for RV trip planning. The Dyrt is the highest-rated camping app providing over 1 million reviews for campgrounds for RVs of all shapes and sizes. Whether you’re looking for a luxury RV park or off-grid boondocking spot chances are you’ll find it on the Dyrt. The Dyrt is free for users, but there are tons of added benefits if you join Pro including discounts on great outdoor gear and merch and the opportunity to participate in super cool contests. You can win $100+ from awesome companies just for sharing your reviews. They also launched an RV trip planner that allows you to specify where you’re going, how long you like to drive per day, your preferred method of camping, how much you want to spend and it will create the perfect itinerary for you even with fuel stops! If you’re interested in upgrading to the Dyrt Pro use code ESRV to get 90 days free!

(free with option to upgrade)

This is another great resource for RV trip planning. It has a super extensive network of campgrounds, RV parks, BLM, national parks, state parks, and so much more. Certain features of the website (like filtering campgrounds by wifi connectivity) is only available to paid members, but every campsite can be discovered for free. The reviews on the site are great and really help us identify if the spot will work for our rig or not as well as amenities, size restrictions, water access, or data and wifi connectivity. A lot of other RV’ers use All Stays which has a website and an app although we prefer Campendium. If you compare the two, I feel Campendium’s interface is more user friendly and it’s easier to navigate.

(paid annual membership)

We just found out about Boondocker’s Welcome this past winter when we were RV’ing in Florida and are SO glad we joined! We love that it’s not just a safe spot to camp on our route, but we love getting to know new people and make new friends along the way. All of the Boondocker’s Welcome spots we’ve stayed at so far have had more than gracious hosts that we’ve gotten to spend time with or we made new friends with other RV’ers who were at the property. We even met up with a couple we met at one site in Canada for a week! Since the campsites are on private property the amenities vary from location to location. You can find spots for all different lengths, some that can accommodate several rigs, pets, generators, and some that even offer 15 – 30 amp hookups, water, and occasionally a dump “station”. It’s a total bonus to be able to reserve your stay as well. It adds a layer of security knowing you have a spot to sleep at night.

(paid annual membership)

We joined Harvest Host right away when we started full time RVing. Our very first night in the RV after we hit the road was at a Harvest Hosts in Georgia. We’ve stayed at wineries, breweries, historical sites, and farms all across the United States now and have loved every spot! The reviews from other members on their website are great, and help you be aware of any important factors like (noise – occasionally they are close to a road, or busy times to avoid). We would much rather get a social experience for a night, grab a glass of wine or beer, and support a small local business than pay to be in a big RV park that often would cost us more than what we spend at Harvest Hosts. Each location has been super accommodating and very family friendly, so it’s worth joining even as a family! There are farms and historical sites in the network as well so even if you don’t drink, you could find a place to camp giving you a new and unique boondocking spot for a night! We love this program and thoroughly enjoy and use our membership. Join now with the button below and get 10% off your membership!

(free)

This is technically a social media platform. You may already be using it! I was using it for recipes, house and RV decor, and fashion. It wasn’t until recently that I realized how helpful it could be with planning our trips. Just type in the location you are going out and there will be a TON of resources, guides, and photos to help you figure out your must do items and more. Since a lot of the resources are local travel bloggers, you get a behind the scenes look and less touristy suggestions – although many cover the big attractions for the area as well. Since it’s free, there really is no reason not to try it out!

my Maps on google maps (free)

This is also a newer addition to our RV route planning. We heard this suggested on a video from Less Junk, More Journey and are feeling it out to see if it will work for us in the long run. We like being able to add pictures, notes, icons and color coding to organize restaurants, view points, hikes, camping and excursions on our route all in one place rather than having it written down somewhere and lost.

We still prefer to put our campsites in our Google Calendar (that helps us remember travel dates as well), with the GPS coordinates so we can easily map it on google or our Garmin from the calendar. We will likely use My Maps to store all of the fun stops along our route and just have where we’re camping in the map for a reference point. We also love that you can share the map with anyone else so they can add, edit, or just view the map.

Here is our map for our Oregon Coast Trip so you can see how it works!