During holidays you may want to make reservations ahead, also lots of places where the snowbirds go are full early and come in yr after yr.  We however, do not like to make reservations more than a month ahead....if you find a place you really like than make those reservations.  I dont think we would ever make them 6 months in advance.    

southwestjudy & Bob & 2blackdogs

In our first year and a half on the road, we have made reservations maybe five times.  Each time it was never more than two weeks in advance, and we cancelled two of them.  And the reservations we did make were just a precaution.  Only one time did we really need them.

We hate making reservations because we love the flexibility of the lifestyle.  We never know exactly when we want to arrive or when we want to leave or if we will even want to go to a particular place at all.

Now we usually arrive in a campground or RV park early in the week when they are not full.  Many places have non-reservable sites, so once we are there we can stay our limit without getting pushed out.

Reservations will be required in high season in the biggest tourist spots.  We prefer to go to places like that in "shoulder" seasons between the peak and the time no one wants to be there.

The bottom line is that you can get by all year long without reservations at all.  We're happy to say that this has been a very minor issue for us.

As a rule we don't make reservations, but we have called ahead to see if sites are available.  Occasionaly we'll make a reservation if it is a park that we really want to stay at such as Betty's RV Park in Abbeville, LA (what a blast that was).  We've not had any problems finding sites in the three months that we have been on the road.

Required reservations are the one draw back to using 1000 Trails/RPI/ROD/WHR. To go into those parks for free or $8 nights requires an advance reservation(up to 120 days).

Not that that is all bad. We stayed 5 weeks in Texas in November and December, and 5 weeks in Central Florida( the parks were almost full) this month and late December. Since we stay in each park up to 3 weeks it is not a great hardship, but it does require some advanced planning.

We will literally travel I10 from east to west next week and won't be doing much but checking on well located Wally Worlds or usable rest areas until we land in California.

Mike

In the last 2 years we have made reservations very few times.  We make reservations at the park we intend to winter in.  We may spend a couple of months there.  The rest of the time we just call ahead for site availability.  We really don't like to be tied down to being at any paricular place at any particular time.  It just doesn't seem to fit with the life style to us. 

We've been full-timing for 6 1/2 years and rarely make reservations.   Some of the times we HAVE made reservations, we were sorry (lousy place, no refunds, etc.)    What we DO do often while on the road, is decide at lunchtime where we might be in a couple of hours and ready to stop for the night...then check the directories (usually Passport America or RPI) and give a call to check on availability, price, etc.  If we want to stay a week or longer or at a particular place, we might call a little farther in advance just in case we have to change our route/plans.  Holidays can also be a problem so we try to plan a longer stay around both sides of the holiday...or travel ON the actual holiday which often is easier.  And as was said in other posts, snowbird areas in winter can be difficult.   We're just flexible and allow plenty of time when we have to make a commitment of some kind.

We don't make reservations very often, just as others have said, for holidays, busy areas or long term winter. Currently we are in Hemet CA and made a 3 month reservation just to lock in last years rate and get the site we wanted.

Most times we plan our general route for a month or so ahead and I scope out campgrounds for stops along the way at about 200 mile intervals. I use Trailer Life Campground Navigator to do this. I check out which ones are discount club members. Then when traveling I call ahead to check on availability. I like to  check out satellite site availability and try to develop a rapport with the campground person. I too think this helps me know if we'll like the place or not.

We have a large slideout so I like to confirm that we can get a site that fits. If availability is tight I ask if I really need to reserve...I don't like giving out the credit card or locking us into something. I think one of the tricks is to travel on Tues, Wed, Thurs. Even during the summer at state parks and COEs the campgrounds are nearly empty during the week. Many parks seem to have nonreservable sites that, once you're there, you can stay.

We've been on the road 3.5 years, in 30 states. At first I felt a greater need to have a spot reserved but quickly learned how much more relaxing it is to not be on the schedule of getting someplace for a reservation. Many, many times we have stayed on at a campground we liked ....when we had only planned to stay overnight. And we have never had the need to stay at a Wal-mart and we never have arrived after dark.

Bottom line is that you need to be comfortable with what you do...enjoy!!!