Trip Planning

We are in the same place. We are going in March and I have been looking at Texas and the way down. It does take a lot of time to see if there is something to see or a place to camp.

There are a lot of variables involved in answering this sort of question.  I can tell you what I did for last year and maybe that will give you some hints.

First, the wife and I are both retired so travel time is only restricted by doctors appointments and tax season ( I need to mail in forms because of certain state credits).  So, last year, we decided where we were going to go -- Newfoundland.  Then, we decided on what to see before we got there ( Creation Museum, older son, Jamestown, etc.)  I pulled up Mapquest and put in our first major destination ( you could also use Goodsam's trip planner or any other routing program).  This gave me the driving distance and driving time.  Now, I don't like to tow for more than 5-6 hours per day so I sort of eye-balled distances and fiddled with interim destinations.  This allows for fuel stops, lunch breaks, and "body breaks."

Since the wife gets nervous about not having reservations, I then used either Woodall's or Goodsam directory to find a place to stay.  This year I'll use the Allstays app on my tablet.

I also took into consideration such things as holiday week ends (many places require 3 day minimums for Memorial day, Canada day, etc.)

Yes, this process is more time consuming  than "winging" it, but the wife is happier knowing where we are going and staying.  And the camper is too small to spend time with an unhappy spouse.

I use AllStays some but mostly I don't care where I end up for the night.  We're fine with Walmarts or truck stops for the interim stops when we're going somewhere that takes more than a day.  Campgrounds are usually farther off route and take up more time setting up etc., plus they usually cost more than Walmart (which is free).  We make reservations, if possible, for our final destination, or any places we really want to stop at along the way.  I understand this kind of travel isn't for everyone, but it works fine for us.

I do end up driving farther, usually, than I might have wanted -- although sometimes not as far.  Driving farther is a plus for me.  It gets me to my destination that much earlier.

TT

I travel a lot with our r-pod, especially in the summer.  I am also a software developer, and I tend to develop apps that I find myself using often.  To that end, here's how I plan trips using my apps:

Originally posted by StephenH Sounds interesting. Any plans for an Android version? Edit: I did find an Android app with the same name and logo. Is that affiliated with the Apple version?