How do YOU organize your travels?

[melnjoy]

Okay, here goes,…..I’ve been trying to work out how best to organize our travels. You all seem to have it well in hand. Do you keep everything on file on your laptops/computers? Do you keep a paper file? We will be using several different types of campgrounds, so I can’t actually keep track of which ones we really like and don’t like in any one book or folder. I thought about maybe several different expandable files one for each state with info in them, but wow, if we visit as many as we would like to in the future, we could potentially end up with nothing but files in the Monty instead of essentials!!!

I think it would be real interesting to hear how everyone does it, don’t you? If I was more computer literate I could probably come up with my own answer, but since I’m not, I am going to depend on you all to give me some ideas? Thank you ahead of time for any and all responses.

Joy

[CountryGuy]

Great question!!

We remember the ones we really loved, the forgetable ones, are forgetable. HA HA

This is really a great question, cannot wait to read the answers!

[vickir]

Joy ... I keep an excel spreadsheet (sounds more complicated than it is) that I titled "Where Are We?" where I keep track of the name and location of every place we've parked. I also make notes of the park's amenities and our opinions of the same. It started out just to help us remember where the heck we'd been, but I've used it several times to recommend (or not) a park to folks on the MOC (this is where the info on Apple Valley came from, Carol).

This year I started keeping a "diary" (also an excel spreadsheet)... which is nothing more than a place where I can keep notes of what we've done and where we've been ... you know, movies, restaurants, tourist activities, etc. Once again, it started out just to help us remember (you know, that darn CRS thing!) but I've started using it for notes to be used in my Postcards.

These two documents are invaluable to me in keeping track of our lives.

[adelmoll]

Joy, We bought a program from one of the Escapee's called RV Notebook. It is great. Maybe too great. I could spend a whole evening entering the info and then I don't havwe time for the MOC. I'll show you when we get to Minden. A real nice feature is that you can even post a picture of the campground. It also has a spot for all your expenses and even beeps you when it is time to get your oil changed on your truck. I love it. The programer is in our Fulltimers Class of '05 and a real nice guy. I have had to e-mail him a couple of times and heard back quick as a flash. Can't say enough about it. If you want the info before Minden let me know and I'll get it to you. I think the cost was about $35.00

Helen

[syplace]

We plan to drive 300 to 400 miles per day. I check out the map and find out what town(s) are in that range. Then check with Woodalls or Sams for Campsites close by. We have done it enough times now that we usually stay at the same sites.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Ours is quite simple. Most campgrounds have a website. I created a Favorites folder titled "CG's where we haved stayed" within that folder are sub-folders for each state. In the state folder I have links to each CG. In the past 23 months we have set up in 58 campgrounds, some more than once. I have added to each CG's name the number of that campground. For Example in the Indiana folder I have listed...
0038, 0058 Pla-Mor Campground
0036 Marbrook Campground
0037 Indiana State Fairgrounds
0057 Elkhart County Fairgrounds

As you can see Pla-Mor was our 38th and 58th campground.

As Carol said "We remember the ones we really loved, the forgetable ones, are forgetable. HA HA" but we would also add XXX to the favorite list for the ones we not only won't return to but also to advise anyone that may ask about that particular CG. Yes, we do try to forget the bad but at the same time we want to remember should someone ask about them.

[Bob Pasternak]

Well, since we seldom travel the same road twice, keeping a log of good and bad wouldn't really be of use. In almost 3 years of traveling 4 to 6 months of the year we've only made advance reservations about 5 times. We don't run interstates unless there's not another way and we're not always sure where we'll end up. Kinda like throwing a dart at the map. We usually get on the road around 9:00 AM and about 2:00 PM Jeanne gets out the Wheeler's, Passport, and atlas and checks to see where we're likely to be in an hour then gets on the cell and calls. Worked good so far. We do have reservations for Shady Acres RV in Ft. Myers for Jan. & Feb.

[Parrothead]

Joy
You are just going to have to get on that computer. At first when we started traveling I kept a 3 ring binder with all the campgrounds we had been but it got so big and heavy it was not workable. Plus some of the stuff was really old and prices really different. I would have done what Vicki did on an Excel spreadsheet because I'm an Excel person. However, since I retired I was determined to conquer Access and now I have a data base for campgrounds. The usual name, state, phone number etc. but also who recommended so I can contact that person if needed. I can sort by State. I plan to expand it to include no nos as well. And eventually areas of a state. After I got the GPS, it dawned on me I could include Lat. and Long., so that is my next step. I'll show you at the Rally.
Happy trails.......................

[Montana_1574]

WE'VE JUST BEEN DOING IT THE OLD FASHION WAY, WRITING EVEYTHING DOWN IN A LOG BOOK WE KEEP WITH ALL THE CAMPGROUND DIRECTORIES. SINCE READING THESE REPLYS I THINK WE'LL CHECK OUT THE RV NOTEBOOK PROGRAM AND TRY THAT. MAYBE WE CAN GE TBETTER ORGANIZED, THANKS FOR THE INFO...........T

[jrgwdenner]

We use the Excel spreadsheet and have one covering our trip to Alaska that I hope to expand with information on the details of the campgrounds we visited. I'll share a copy at the rally for those of you who plan to travel north.

[melnjoy]

Thanks everyone!!!! I am really looking forward to comparing everyones "notes" that we can, with those who show up in Minden. I think it is a lot like what Helen says, I really need to hit the computer and figure my way around it. I have always used WORD when playing on the computer, cause it is like typing a letter, only easier. I'll have to explore the excell and data parts of the Office program I guess. I probably have everything I need to make a good start, but am just unaware of it.

I went through what we have so far accrued in the way of campground info.(paper), in all our notes and stuff, and in just the couple of years we have been keeping stuff, we already have 4+ pretty full expanding files, that is just not going to work! Helen, I am interested in the program you described, I'll drop ya a PM in that regard, thanks.

I'm thinking with all of the great info you all have, and assuming your willing to share, I can really come up with a great plan!! Thank again everyone! but gosh, if anyone else has any other unique way of organizing I think everyone else would be interested in that too, as a matter of fact it is fun to hear how the experts do it!!

Joy

[ols1932]

My wife keeps a file, by state, of the places we've stayed. She also uses Delorme's Street Atlas with GPS for our travels. We've added Wal-Mart, Sam's and Flying J locations to the Street Atlas software.
Our travels are primarily geared around the Spring and Fall Escapades of the Escapees RV Club. In between these two events we travel to visit children, grandchildren, old friends and new friends. We don't really worry about expenses, we consider it all part of our lifestyle which, by the way, is still cheaper than when we lived in a big house!

My wife is a graphic artist and takes a lot of pictures with a digital camera. She took over 4,000 pictures last year and just recently purged her laptop of over 13,000 pictures which she downloaded to CD-Rs.

She has a definite knack for navigating our travels. We travel 250 to 300 miles a day. Since I belong to the Elks, she finds Elks clubs to stay at as much as possible. For example, we used to visit our son in Irving, TX and paid $30/day at an RV park about 25 miles away. She found the Irving Elks which has camping facilities at $10/day (water & electric) that is only 2 miles away from our son.

Additionally, we use Thousand Trails, Coast-to-Coast, Passport America and RPI parks.

If you full time, you find all kinds of ways to make your living comfortable, creative, and wonderful.

[sreigle]

I can't add a lot but wanted to comment that I often save information from this and other sites about CG's in areas we may go to someday. I have a folder called "CG" and in it is a folder for each state. Within those states I sometimes create a folder named for an area or city. I just use Internet Explorer's File/Save As feature to save the web page in the appropriate folder. Sometimes I include the pages from an rv park's website if we're planning a trip to that area. So when we decide to go to an area I check that folder for recommended CG's and also the don't go there posts. I do the same thing for places to see, things to do. That top folder is "Travel Ideas" and has its own set of subset folders like the CG folder does.

Sometimes we plan well in advance to go to a general area. For example, next Summer and Fall we intend to be in New England. Over time we'll investigate just where we want to go in NE and will plan from there.

We've had times we've not decided what area to go to until a day or two before we're due to pull out of a park. Last time that happened we ended up in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park area. That was an excellent last minute decision.

We do have certain times of year we plan to be near our kids and grandkids. Those are pretty well fixed although the exact dates may vary a bit.

One more thing I keep on the computer == the colored states are states where we have spent at least one night in our Montana. This is only while fulltiming plus our five week trial run. We'll get many of those white states next year. Driving or towing through a state without staying the night does not count for this.

[steves]

Steve,

Where did you get the map of the USA from? That's a nice touch to seeing where you've been. I am not a disciplined maintenance organizer. All our maps/brochures from where we've been are in a box and I never get around to getting them organized so past trips and campground info are easy to find. Perhaps, keeping this map updated is a good start and will motivate me to be more disciplined in this task

[CountryGuy]

Steve

NO HAWAII?? For shame!

[jrgwdenner]

Someday that big state will be filled in. We've got the northeast on our short list, too. So much to see there. Glen and I agree that we've got a lot of traveling left to do, just in the lower 48. He is much better at keeping records than I. But I do keep up a journal of our travels, so we balance one another. I've thought about offering up a CD of our Alaska journal at the rally if anyone's interested.

[ksboy]

Hi Everyone: I would like to know what some of you think is the best campground directory, as we are getting prepared to do some traveling sometime soon. I know some of you will reply to this post with your vast experience, that I hope to aquire someday myself. Thanks to all the good information. My head is ready to explode from all the knowledge I am aquiring from this forum.

ksboy

[Glenn and Lorraine]

I don't think there is one "best" campground directory. We have used them all and they all have their faults. Many of the top rated sites you find in Woodall's or the like have been great disappointments and some of the lower rated were more than satisfactory.
We rely more on the opinions of the folks on this very forum. For example..Skidaway State Park near Savannah GA. Both sriegle and jrgwdenner had great comments about Skidaway and so when we found ourselves heading to Savannah we had no problem heading straight to Skidaway and didn't even consider any other area campground and we were not the least bit disappointed and after nearly 3 years of full timing and 85 campground set ups we have also built our own directory of places to stay and places to avoid.

[Wifeofdano]

ksboy
I asked the same question a little while back, and have since got the Trailer Life Directory. It has been real helpful and fun for me. I have added a KOA Directory to my stuff and printed off posts from the MOC family on their reccommendations for certain campgrounds.

[MAMalody]

You might add the Next Exit book to your collection and based upon your druthers, the WalMart directory.