distance you drive in a day - RV-Dreams Community Forum

WanderingWaits · RV-Dreams Community Member

distance you drive in a day

jfocallag · RV-Dreams Community Member

I am not a full timer yet, but looking forward to following the rule of 2: No more than 200 miles, in camp by 2 and stay 2 days.

Have fun on your journey.

el Rojo and Pam · RV-Dreams Family Member

We enjoy 200 mile days, but this time of year I would try to dodge the weather.

Red

CJSX2fromCT · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome to the forum, Everyone is different how long they can go. Go by your instinct (gut feeling) You retired now RELAX and enjoy the ride.

Neil and Connie · RV-Dreams Family Member

We travel with a 5ver and my wife drives the car separate. Our shortest day was 27 miles and our longest about 405. We try to keep it between 230 and 300 if at all possible and when we're in poke along mode try to stay a week at each stop. When we're more in travel mode to reposition ourselves we we usually travel 3 days and then stay 1 or 2 extra days before traveling again. For instance; when we left Seattle this fall we did two days of travel to ID and stayed a couple days then 2 days to Moab UT for 10 days then 2 days to Albuquerque for 3 days then 3 days to Kansas for 5 days. After that it was 2 days to Branson MO and 2 days to Nashville with 4 day stops in between then 3 days to our winter destination in Fort Myers.

We try to stay away from anything but a single repositioning run at the beginning and end of our travel season and spend the rest of our season in poke mode.

MarkS · RV-Dreams Family Member

As a commercial driver, 1.5 days. As a retired RVer, 1000 miles, friends in Kentucky, family in northern Alabama, inoperative alarm clock. Time to travel: your guess is as good as mine! Seriously, the quickest you could make it is two days. The longest, about 5 days. One can comfortably cover 600 miles in a day. Not being in a hurry, 400 is more realistic. I think that's why a lot of us use 200 miles as a standard. It gives you lots of time to find campgrounds and you don't have to rush at all. If you see something you want to explore, you can stop and still stay on, what's the word...oh yeah, schedule. Is that the right word? I can't remember since I have removed it from my vocabulary.

-- Edited by MarkS on Sunday 9th of February 2014 11:45:09 AM

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

Whatever works for you is the correct answer.

Those that know us on the forum know we travel a lot. That’s our style and we like it. YMMV

On regular travel days I like to limit it to about 325 - 350 tops – less is fine – depends on where we want to stop as to the campgrounds available. I really like to be in camp and set up by 3PM on travel days. Others on the forum think 200 miles is a long day. It depends on you. I have towed the 5er 600 miles in one day going to home base. But the roads were all flat interstate and I knew them very well. That is NOT recommended. (Like Mark, professionally I’ve driven much further in one day – but that was for money.)

Please keep in mind pulling a trailer or driving a motorhome isn’t, IMO, like driving a car. It takes more concentration for 55’ of rig than 18’ of Suburban so to speak.

As I said, there is no right answer except the one that says, “I’m tired.” When that happens - stop.

jrzygrl64 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill and I are not full-time yet, but when we have done trips just on vacation, we will usually try to do longer "get there" days and then stay longer at the destination. I think the longest day we have done with our Class C (towing a Honda Accord) was 500 miles, but that was a LONG day and not preferred or recommended, as Bill and Linda said above, driving a big rig is a lot different than driving a car, you stop more if not for a potty break, then just to clear your mind a bit and recharge. It's hard though, b/c when the plan is to stop at a rest area or Walmart for the night to avoid paying for a campground just to sleep, you really don't want to get there too early or stay too long in the morning. If/when we were staying at a campground and going to be there a day or two, then we prefer to get there by 3 or 4 in the afternoon. When we start our full-time adventure, we have talked about balancing out longer "repositioning" days and shorter "sightseer" days. Beauty of it is, when you don't have a date to return to work, you can just do what you want and relax and make the "on the way there" part of it, instead of just the destination. I am sure there will be times when we just need to get somewhere, but hope those time will be few and far between.

Hope that helped.

Kelly

Fergizmo · RV-Dreams Family Member

200 miles sounds like a good travel day. My thought is... I don't want to pull into a gas station with my house attached. I would rather get to our next spot and unhook (5th wheel), and then go fuel up. The main thing, is to not let your travel day be 'work'.

Shortest move - 1 mile - Cool!

Longest move - 315 miles - too far.

Clay L · RV-Dreams Family Member

150 to 200 miles per day is what we shoot for.
We leave by ten or eleven and stop at 2 or so.

Mark V · RV-Dreams Family Member

Clay L wrote:
150 to 200 miles per day is what we shoot for.
We leave by ten or eleven and stop at 2 or so.

I like those numbers, Clay.

I used to be a road warrior. I once drove non stop from Denver to Chicago in 15 hrs back in '73, and about 14 years ago I drove with a friend from Chicago to New Orleans in 23 hrs flat.

But these days my vision isn't as sharp at night, my reflexes aren't nearly as quick, and my decision making ability (as always) leaves something to be desired. That said, I now consider the drive to my daughter's place in SW Michigan (about 150 mi.) a good days work. This trip usually takes between three and four hours, which is about as much time as I'm willing to spend in a vehicle these days. The way I look at it is; there's always tomorrow.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Well, I'm absolutely no help to you as we have an entirely different view because we are still working. However, based on our past and our "scheduled" future because of retirement, in our case it will be to sit for 3 years, travel for a couple of weeks and then sit another extended period of time, but this time in Colorado.

In the past, I've towed a 26-foot fifth wheel as far as 750 miles in one day (Pagosa Springs, CO to Oklahoma City, OK). It is not recommended unless one has had experience with long days such as one would get driving an 18-wheeler.

As the others have stated, unless you are outrunning bad weather, take the time to drive leisurely and take in more country.

Good luck.

Terry

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

Last summer we had a family reunion in the UP. We figured 300 miles per day, and that was plenty. Of course I still don't have 50 hours driving time logged in the coach (many times that in school buses), so the lack of experience made it a bit more stressful than it will be in a year.

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

Clay L wrote:

We leave by ten or eleven and stop at 2 or so.

Haha....The coach wouldn't even have time to warm up yet.

Dog Folks · RV-Dreams Family Member

The most common mileage among full timers seems to be around 200 miles a day. With stops for fuel, you will average about 50 miles per hour.

As others have said you need to find what is comfortable for you. That is the real important number.

You are not on vacation anymore, enjoy the journey.

el Rojo and Pam · RV-Dreams Family Member

One time long ago ( we were in our early thirties) and we got our first 2 week vacation, so we decided to head to Ontario Canada from Dallas. We were packed and ready the night before. About 2 a.m. I said are you awake? Yep! Started the coffee, took the showers on the road by 3:00 a.m...........7:00 that evening we rolled into Minneapolis. Never again. It took 3 days to make it home from that trip though. Yep 200 mile days now.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Most travel days we drive under 200 miles, but sometimes up to 325. We have done a hand full of 400 to 450 mile days, where we change driver's every 100 miles or so. These 400 mile days were mostly running from severe weather. If we are trying to go a long distance we do two 250 to 325 mile days, then stop for at least two nights, repeat. At that pace we can do around 1000 miles a week.

Dave Buck · RV-Dreams Family Member

I try to keep our travel days to between 200 and 300 miles unless there is some pressing reason that I have travel further. I'm still trying to learn how to relax and not push it.

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

I think the answser you are getting is "it depends". Personally, we break all the "rules" that are suggested for full time RV'ers. We drive on the weekends when we don't have art shows. Art shows dictate our travel schedule but we try not to drive during the week due to my virtual corporate job because we would rather use my vacation time for vacation, not driving.

We've gone as far as 450 miles, as little as 7, generally like the 250 days or less the best. Since we're not retired, we want some time off on weekends so if we have less than 400 miles to the next destination, we try to do a one day drive so we can have one weekend day off to explore, recoup, meet friends, etc.

Our next long travel is 600 miles from Albuquerque to OKC, and we plan to drive that over a few evenings after ending an art show Sunday evening, with the goal to be rolling into town on Friday, the grandtwins get out of school for spring break. I'll work during the day from wherever we're parked and we'll drive until 10 or all at night. I know, not recommended, but it's what works for us. Not our preference, but then again, we're also looking forward to a couple of weeks of hands on Grandparenting.

Remember, there's no right way to RV, we all figure out what works for us.

BugSplatter07 · RV-Dreams Family Member

We look at it on a day-by-day basis, meaning if the weather is good an traffic is light and we are enjoying the travel we will continue. As soon as one of us gets tired we will start looking for a spot to stop at. (We can tell if the other one is getting tired by the amount of "whatever's" that are being thrown out.)

It is truly up to the traveler(s) on the miles to drive in a days time.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

"Any favorite one night stops on the way also??"

Huh? If it is a stop where we plan to do something, we stay more than one night.

2riker2go · RV-Dreams Family Member

Clay L wrote:
150 to 200 miles per day is what we shoot for.
We leave by ten or eleven and stop at 2 or so.

Yup. Same for us. :)

soos · RV-Dreams Family Member

We also try to follow the 2-2-2 rule, although we make exceptions.
It's amazing what you can find to do in small towns along the way, but you wouldn't notice if you didn't stop for 2 nights.

Sue

bigredoes · RV-Dreams Family Member

Clay L wrote:
150 to 200 miles per day is what we shoot for.
We leave by ten or eleven and stop at 2 or so.

We are in that same range - and even then after a couple of those days we like to sit for 2-3 days

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

My preference is to get on the road by 9AM and stop around 3PM so there is daylight to park and setup camp. We stop for an hour at lunch time. We do stop to see the sights along the way.

sdman · RV-Dreams Family Member

We like 200 - 250 miles in a day and we stay at least 2 nights. For us that is a tank of fuel and long enough to drive anyway. If there is something of more interest we stay longer. If the weather is bad we will also stay longer. We try not to drive in bad weather mainly because we don't need to. Sometimes we stay longer in one place and need to be somewhere (we try to keep date commitments down) and then need to travel more to get where we "need" to be. If we need to get somewhere quickly we either drive further in a day but no farther than 400 miles and or do what we call a "bump and run". Bump and run meaning we stay just one night.

Mark

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

"For us that is a tank of fuel and long enough to drive anyway." I plan on filling the tank as close to the campground as possible. I could drive more than 1000 miles before I'd be sucking fumes, but I'd rather have a full tank to avoid any condensation problems. We are fairly early risers, so being on the road by 9 is pretty easy. I generally drive about 60, even on divided highways with higher speed limits, and we figure on an average of 50 mph, so 200 miles is about four hours.

Now, a "pet peeve" question. Why does a campground need people out by 11 or noon, but won't let you in until after 3? I understand the need for that time in a hotel or motel, but a campground?

Mark V · RV-Dreams Family Member

kb0zke wrote:
Now, a "pet peeve" question. Why does a campground need people out by 11 or noon, but won't let you in until after 3? I understand the need for that time in a hotel or motel, but a campground?

I suppose it has to do with what I call time creep, or the "Close Enough For Horseshoes Factor". Like most of us, I consider these arbitrarily set times to be somewhat flexible; ie: 2:00 is close enough to 3:00 for me. If they moved the check-in time all the way back to noon, eventually they'd end up with an In / Out gridlock; people leaving a little late, bumping up against people arriving a little early. My guess is that they do it to give themselves a little breathing room, and time to handle some of the other chores of the day.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Very few campgrounds enforce the "check in no earlier than xx" rule. We have seen people checking in before noon at most campgrounds. But, I know of a few that enforce the rule and they have one lane entrance roads that would be difficult for RVs going both ways. Campfire Lodgings in Asheville NC, http://www.campfirelodgings.com/, is a good example of a place that does not want RVs coming and going at the same time. The entrance road is curvy, up hill, gravel and narrow.

Talensnana · RV-Dreams Family Member

In our RV, my husband is the only driver. We try and keep it between 150 and 200 miles when we drive. Before I stopped working (husbands retired) and we only had so much time to be gone we would try to do 300-350 miles so we had more time at our destination. We did allow a couple of free days incase we saw someplace we wanted to visit on the way to our destination or back home.

The last trip we took to Georgia I was no longer working. It took a few days, but once we got our mind around the idea that we had no time table we slowed our driving down. We ended up home almost 2 weeks after we had estimated originally, but it was a much more enjoyable trip. It really makes me ready to get the full timing adventure started. Now when we go we have time. Just have to circle back home every 3-4 months for doctor visits, and to get my Grandbaby fix. Since home is Kansas and in the middle of the US, it is a lot easier to swing through when traveling from one end of the us to the other.

We also are one of those people who do not get started early. If it has a noon check out, we are leaving about 11:45. My favorite park ever was one in Georgia that had a 2 pm checkout. I have an illness that makes movement when I wake up difficult.

I can say just driving without a short time frame is fun.

-- Edited by Talensnana on Thursday 13th of February 2014 04:15:27 PM

-- Edited by Talensnana on Thursday 13th of February 2014 04:15:49 PM

Sushidog · RV-Dreams Family Member

I hear what you are saying Talensnana. Not yet retired myself and only getting 1 week off at a time (2 per yr) we must make the most of our RVing experience. Though I've traveled over 1,000 miles per day (going from California to Louisiana non-stop - about 1,900 miles several times) I usually don't like to travel over 700 or so miles/day. When I visit Big Bend, NP from my home, where I will be going on my next vacation, I usually overnight in a rest area by Del Rio TX (about 700 miles) on day one, but I typically make the return leg (925 miles) in one day.

Of course when I'm full-timing and have all the time in the world it will be quite different. Then I plan on limiting my travel days to under 300 miles (6 hours/day, leaving a few hours to stop and smell the roses along the way) at a much slower 50-55 mph full-time travel towing speeds. Let the traffic fly by at 70-75 mph; who cares when you have as long as it takes to get where you are going, and MPG if far more important than MPH. I plan on traveling mostly at night (except of course when traveling through scenic areas) and during low traffic times, to avoid unessential braking and accelerating as much as possible, maximizing fuel mileage and reducing wear and tear, (on both TV and TT) as I plan on keeping my current TV until I die - though I might get another trailer if my first one doesn't hold up or if my DW passes before I do and I decide to downsize.

Chip

charles · RV-Dreams Family Member

To put it bluntly: We don't have a schedule and stick to it.

We do try to abide by the theorem, 200 miles, 4 hours or 2pm, whichever comes first. I do add that often, as in most of the time, when we pull out in the morning that we do NOT know where we will stop for the night.

CCC

WanderingWaits · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks to all of you for the great info. I think we really like the in by 2 or 3 idea and sticking to around 200 miles. We have actually decided to postpone our April trip in favor of condos for a few weeks. Just too much going on and this will give us the chance to learn the 5th wheel and the new lifestyle during the summer around Michigan and Illinois. We are so new to this life, have only spent 1 weekend so far and driven 20 miles, so a little experience before heading south is a smart move. Look forward to the chance to meet some of you on the road.

This forum has been a great source of information. Love it!!