3 types of RV travel

Three years ago, we sold our Iowa home and everything we owned to travel the U.S. with our family in an RV. When we are planning our route we first start by putting down family commitments on the calendar. From there we add work commitments and finally we fill in the days and/or weeks with where we can go to explore based off our locations from the personal and work commitments.

Based off this planning, we have seemed to come up with 3 styles of travel for this season of life. 

• Point A to Point B: This style of travel is simply to get from where we were to where we are going. Our max travel day is give-or -take 500 miles. We have found that our kids do better on a few, long travel days versus multiple, short travel days. Sometimes we will go grab dinner at a local spot but most of the time at the end of the day we make a quick meal and just relax. It depends on where we are stopping for the overnight stay. 
• Commitment Stays: These stays are because we have a work or family commitments. The length of these trips vary from a weekend to months pending what the situation is and the focus are on the commitments. For example, if I am doing a show in Illinois for a weekend, we will have a short stay for 3-4 days, do the show and continue on. On the other hand, a commitment to play baseball for the kids, means that we are staying 3-4 months in a one spot so that they can participate in the activity. With these stays our goal is not to explore, not that we don't- but we focus on the reason for our stay as this helps to prioritize our time. 
• Exploring Stops: These stops are where we chose locations based off our bucket list or areas we have not been to.  We try really hard not to repeat locations but some places that we have visited have captured our hearts and if we can sneak in a stop we definitively do. Our preference is to be at the locations at least two weeks so that we have ample time to explore the area after work or on the weekends. 

Whether you are a full-time traveler, weekend warrior or travel when you can, the most important thing is to remember your why. Traveling can be hard but it is also so fulfilling, remember why you are doing what you do and make the most out of it.