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Old 01-29-2013, 05:30 AM   #1
scott-pati
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Traveling freestyle...

Hi all,
We are new to this rving stuff and have only taken 2 trips locally just to get our feet wet. We have a question, can you just travel around the country and not have any reservations at campsites and just show up at them when you think you have found a nice area to stay at for awhile? I would think that it would be a gamble that the site would be full.

Has anyone done any freestyling? I guess that's what I'm calling it.
We'd love to here eveyone's comments.

Thanks,
Scott & Pati
 
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Old 01-29-2013, 05:35 AM   #2
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We've been doing just that for the last 6 years. Holidays are the tough ones for us as that is usually when we need to make reservations.
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Old 01-29-2013, 05:44 AM   #3
lawrenceb42106
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For the past 11 years that is the way we travel. We just hold up on holidays. Stop 1 day early and leave the day after on holidays. Has worked good for us. Travel and enjoy!!!
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Old 01-29-2013, 05:53 AM   #4
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You can most always find a place to stay. It just may not be the preferred place.
If there is really a specific place you want to stay it would be a good idea to make reservations in advance.
I frequently make reservations just to ensure I have a site ready when I get there, especially during heavy travel seasons or in popular places. Or at least call ahead to make sure they have a site. The last thing I want to do is start searching for a place to stay at the end of a long day of travel. I have only stayed in a few RV parks that ended up full for the night. But it has happened.
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Old 01-29-2013, 08:21 AM   #5
Art-n-Marge
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As you gain more experience you might also be able to include overnighting at businesses that are friendly to RVers. Walmart, Cracker Barrel, and many truck stops are examples of places to stop over and are very inexpensive. But this means hookups are non-existent and slideouts are iffy. It might also help to have breakfast, or buy something there to show appreciation.

Since it seems like you are looking for hookups for overnighting, many of us have purchased books (which need to be updated) or have navigations systems with campgrounds, or other informational items that allow some research for the day. This helps you to predict where you might be and call ahead for a quick check of a campgrounds ability. There is a gamble for open sites just driving up and trying to get one. Just consider, time of year, holidays or not, location popularity (Disneyworld, for example) and other factors that will cause a campground to fill up.

When we travelled a freestyle life style (I towed trailers commercially), we had the technology to plan our overnights while we were driving. DW had her laptop, and mifi and with the Internet, the extensive POI database in the Nav system, we would often plan our overnight stays while we were on the road! I plug in a location based on where we thought we would be to anticipate our overnight stay, then the wife would use the internet to locate hotels/motels and her cellphone to make the reservations. We were ALWAYS able to find something in advance if we avoided the most popular locations, even when our first choices were full. I'm sure this can be done equally as well for campgrounds.

In my case, after a long drive I don't want to run into a full campground, but your need may vary. It's best to know as many options as possible. My electronic NAV/MIFI/WIFI/INTERNET/CELLPHONE gadgets are just another (costly) option.

Of course, none of this helps the gamble that you go there first, see what it's like, THEN decide to stay.
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Old 01-29-2013, 10:32 AM   #6
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We do a mix of both free style and reservations for overnights. For holidays and at well known tourist attractions we reserve, and for just going down the road we call after mid-day to check to see availablity at potential parks based on our projected distance or time we wish to stop. We reserach ahead for potential parks near towns where we expect to be in the afternoon times, and this can be done by person riding shotgun as you go.
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Old 01-31-2013, 12:32 PM   #7
subra1228
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We do a bit of both - make a few reservations at times, meander and find places along the way other times. We rarely stick to our plans when we make them, and have often found neat little places when we do this.

Safe travels!
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Old 01-31-2013, 03:55 PM   #8
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We also do a mixture of both styles. Never have had any problems at all.
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Old 01-31-2013, 04:39 PM   #9
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Recumbent

We do a mix of both free style and reservations for overnights. For holidays and at well known tourist attractions we reserve, and for just going down the road we call after mid-day to check to see availablity at potential parks based on our projected distance or time we wish to stop. We reserach ahead for potential parks near towns where we expect to be in the afternoon times, and this can be done by person riding shotgun as you go.
Exactly what we do also.
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Old 02-13-2013, 12:07 PM   #10
scott-pati
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Sorry for responding so late and getting back to everyone. We have just gotten so busying with lifes little hurdles and dealing with my Moms estate and getting sick on top of that. We totaling forgot about this thread we started. SORRY!!!
Thanks for the great replies. We feel much better about free styling now.

Scott & Pati
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