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How We Plan an RV Trip

| Updated Jun 22, 2022

As summer is now officially here, one of the most common questions we get is how we plan an RV Trip. So in this week's Episode #401 of the RV Podcast, we share the resources we use in the hopes they will be very helpful to you, too.

To watch a full video version of the podcast, click the link below.

If you'd rather listen to the podcast, its available on all your favorite podcast apps or in the player below:

The tools we use to plan an RV Trip

While Jennifer and I are big believers in serendipity travel – taking advantage of the unexpected sights and attractions we spontaneously encounter on the road – we came to the realization a long time ago that the more information we have ahead of time, the better of travel goes.

So once we have determined a destination, we turn to a variety of resources, both physical and virtual.

The physical resources are in the form of paper maps and books which we've collected for you on this list.

The virtual resources consist of a couple of great online tools.

We discuss them all in the podcast and in the video version, we show the different products.

Plan an RV Trip

Here are links to the resources we share:

Online resources we use the most when we plan an RV Trip

Books and Maps we use to plan an RV Trip

And again, we've collected all our favorite paper resources on this list on Amazon.

Plan an RV trip to our Gathering at the Buffalo River!

With this podcast, we just announced our fall rally/meetup: The RVLifestyle Gathering at the Buffalo River in Tennessee!

Plan an RV trip to join us for our October Gathering on the Buffalo River, one of the best kayaking rivers in the South.
Plan an RV trip to join us for our October Gathering on the Buffalo River, one of the best kayaking rivers in the South.

It will be October 17-20 and is open to all RVers, no matter what kind of rig you have.

Each ticket is good for one RV and two adults and includes full hookups in the campground – water, electric, and sewer. Also included with the ticket is an awesome fried chicken picnic dinner, campfire, and s'mores on Tuesday at Ridgehaven Farms near Linden, TN, and a good old-fashioned block party and catered meal at the beautifully restored Commodore Hotel on Wednesday night.

There will be lots of opportunities for hiking, kayaking the beautiful Buffalo River (the trees will be in full autumn color!), exploring, antiquing, a visit to an award-winning winery and even a chance to come see the property Jennifer and I bought in the area and are turning into our own personal RV retreat.

You can get the complete schedule and all the details at https://RVLifestyle.com/BuffaloRiver

This event will sell out so be sure and get your tickets as soon as possible.

And we've been talking about this for some time now…

Mike and Jennifer's Official Travel Guide – Michigan's Lower Peninsula is now available!

How We Plan an RV Trip 1

You are in for a HUGE adventure. While some of our guides are designed to explore an area in 7 days, this one can take an entire summer to see it all. We chose to start in Detroit and travel north up the “Thumb” region, but you can pick and choose any section you want to begin your adventure.

Each Stop in our Guide gives you at least 3 places to camp while exploring the area! The state is particularly well suited for RV adventurers and the Michigan State Park system is one of the nation's best. But don't forget the beauty of boondocking. State forests abound, most offering rustic and dispersed off-the-grid camping. We hope you pick this up and enjoy one of our favorite places in the US to RV!


Maybe you want to explore ALL of Michigan – in that case…

Finally! Mike and Jennifer's Michigan Bundle
(Michigan's Lower Peninsula AND Michigan's Upper Peninsula)

How We Plan an RV Trip 2

This Michigan Bundle contains our ever-popular Guide to the Upper Peninsula PLUS our newest Guide on the LOWER Peninsula! Here's a little on both ebooks (not a printed book):

Michigan's Upper Peninsula Adventure Guide: This ebook is a seven stop guided exploration of the Michigan UP. We provide a suggested route and itinerary, links to multiple campgrounds and boondocking spots, and the best spots to see along the way. Don’t plan your trip to the Upper Peninsula without it!

Michigan's Lower Peninsula Adventure Guide: This guide explores the Lower Peninsula, also known as ‘the Mitten.” You can easily spot its mitten shape on the map. Most of this guide follows the coast of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, with a little bit of Lake Erie down near Detroit.

You are in for a HUGE adventure with this ebook bundle of the best of Michigan for RVers!


Mike Wendland

Published on 2022-06-22

Mike Wendland is a multiple Emmy-award-winning Journalist, Podcaster, YouTuber, and Blogger, who has traveled with his wife, Jennifer, all over North America in an RV, sharing adventures and reviewing RV, Camping, Outdoor, Travel and Tech Gear for the past 12 years. They are leading industry experts in RV living and have written 18 travel books.

One Response to “How We Plan an RV Trip”

July 06, 2022at4:33 pm, Richard Kellogg said:

I think I saw on one or your emails a spreadsheet some RVer’s use for keeping track of fuel purchases and costs using the Open Roads Fuel card. If you have information on this I would appreciate a link where I can get that spreadsheet. Thank you so much!! Happy and safe travels.

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