Not sure just what you mean by "document" - paper or computer program? If it's a paper product, we use the Camper's Daily Record Book.  I couldn't find their website so I'm not sure if they're still in business.  Here's a company that is selling it:  http://www.berrylandcampers.com/rv-parts/new-used/Campers-Daily-Record-Book-p-744.html

Basically, it's a spiral bound notebook about the size of a big paperback book.  The front of each page has areas for notating the what, when, where and how much of each campground you stop at.  The back of the page is lined for jotting down notes about your stay.

-- Edited by RVRon on Monday 17th of January 2011 06:28:00 PM

I just use a spreadsheet program, Microsoft Excel in my case but there are others like Open Office Calc (free) which would work. You can resize the columns to any width and set them to have word wrap so you can type a lot of text. Our columns are Start Date, End Date, Campground Name (including things like "Joe's Driveway"), City Name, Total Cost, Cost per Day (this is a calculated field), Type of Campground (Public, Dealer, Private), Number of Nights, Comments, then a bunch of colums I track like distance from last campground, etc.

greenlady wrote:

---

I have excel but I've no idea on how to use it or set up a spread sheet.  I've tried in the past but I can't seem to make it permanent

---

YOu can make it a template when you save the form.  Just select save as----template.  then, you can start a new form using all the calcs and styles you put in.  YOu would have a form for every day that way, but the comparision would be difficult. 

However, if you set up the form and like it, just save it anew after making entries. 

 

I am somewhat in dangerous territory here, especially since it is Jo that is the computer expert.  I agree with Ken (53Merc) about creating a template, but that when you fill in data, to save it anew.  However, make sure that you either save it anew in a different folder or rename the file, perhaps based on the campground name.

More than once I have taken a form that was blank and added data and then failed to rename it when I saved.  Then, I had to go back and remove all the data and then resave it as something like "document_blank" and save it as a blank again.

Now, there is the possibility of using something like Microsoft Access, which is a database program.  (Again, I'm out of my league here.)  If it is like one previous database program that I worked with, it isn then searchable by different criteria.  (I think....)

Terry

Amen on leaving Access alone. It is a wonderful program that Excel can extract information from for calculations and spreadsheet development. But, man, if you don't understand it, RUN AWAY!!!

In thinking about the use of a template in Excel, it offers a lot of stuff. However, to explain my earlier comment, when you save it for a month/day,campground/etc, you have to use a strict protocol or it becomes useless. Then to compare the data from say, 1-31-2011 to 3-31-2011, it becomes challenging to a non-frequent user.

Probably the better way would be to add sheets to one document for each month and name them Jan, Feb, Mar, etc. Easy to search and compare data if it is all on the same form. That way it could be "Travel Expenses for 2011".

Like BJoyce sez, label your columns as you wish, put your calculation formulae in the cells and enjoy the record keeping. Setting up a calc from one sheet within the same document to another is simple. Just basic math. If you understand how to devise a calculation to reach your end result, it gets easy. Think, sum of column F minus sum of column B, plus sum of column D, divided by sum of column E. That is the amount you spent on dining out minus the money you spent at the grocery store in Phoenix, plus the cost of preparation (propane). (That might be a bit extreme, but you see the process)

Happy computing while camping.






Also like Bjoyce sez, I ain't overly good at telling someone else how to work in Excel, mine dates from when Quattropro was just out of the box. I tend to think that if I know how to do it, it must be simple.

I got to thinking about RV Journal software and found a bookmark in my favorites for "RVer's Notebook".  Unfortunately that company is out of business but I was able to find another program that looks good called "Nomad's Notes".  The program looks very complete with pages that keep track of just about anything you'd want to record. 

Here's the website: http://usa.nomadsnotes.com/NomadsNotes/index.htm

OK... who wants to be the guinea pig?

Just looked at the Nomads Notes site, and we can't use it. We're Windows-free here.

kb0zke wrote:

---

Just looked at the Nomads Notes site, and we can't use it. We're Windows-free here.

---

Glad to know you are running Linux.  There are some nice free spreadsheets and databases for Linux that should let you roll your own.