Where to go and how to get there: An RV life photographer's tale

Alright, it’s road-trip time y’all, let’s go somewhere!  According to the map, if I travel 30 nautical miles north by northwest, I’ll arrive at… no, no, that’s north by northeast.  Just hold on everybody, I’m trying to get my bearings, it’s an awfully big world out there.  I think this compass might be broken is all, otherwise I’d be fine.  Maybe with a better map, or… Geez, there must be a better way than this.  Maybe it’s best if we slow down for a second and get my system sorted. 

“Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost” J.R.R Tolkien

Alright, now that I’ve escaped my explorer’s club moment, it’s probably best to step into the 21st century.  We have apps now, and I intend to use them.  In this post, I’d like to lay the groundwork for planning the route for my journey.  In case you missed the first episodes, I’ve quit my job to become a photographer, and I’m going to travel the country rv style, seeking out subjects for my lens.  So my intent for today is to not plan the route, but plan the plan, if that makes sense.  I’m going to try to build a system that will allow me to figure out where I want to go, and how I need to get there.  Then, finally I’ll take a look at how to keep some dollars in my pocket along the way.  

The first part of that equation seems to be the most challenging for me.  I need to find a whole series of quirky, under-appreciated, and accessible places and things that will make compelling photographs. 

Let me give you a for-instance that shows the challenge though.  If you live in Coyote Springs, Nevada, you may be familiar with RyanHenge.  If, like me, you do not, then you have no freakin’ idea that such a thing even exists.  So, do I simply travel to every little town, asking around at convenience stores to find the little gems dotted all over the place?  I think that might take too long, and weird some people out. 

Here’s my plan: 

I’ve already told you about the Atlas Obscura website, which is a phenomenal resource for the weird and wonderful.  Two weeks from now I’ll be traveling to New York, and I’ve already used it to find several places I never knew I had to go (check out the smallpox hospital ruins on Roosevelt island, thanks AO!)  I’ll lean on that one pretty heavily, and I strongly recommend it for you as well.  Another one I’ll be using pretty heavily is Roadside America.  That’s actually the website where I found Ryanhenge.  There are also like 80 other sites in Nevada, many of which I’ll be visiting or have already visited. 

I’ll use Google, of course, but I prefer more specialized sites like publicartarchive.org, (big thanks to the Western States Art Federation for putting that together).  It’s been a big help in finding art that’s accessible to me that I can photograph.   I could not actually find any apps that help to find public or outdoor art.  There are of course apps related to national parks, hiking trails, and tourist attractions that I might use if I’m stuck.  But what I’m really looking for is off the beaten path, quirky little places like Ra Paulette’s hand-carved caves in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  (Thanks again AO!)

Now on to the question of how to get there. That might seem simple enough for standard road trips, just pull up Google maps and go, right?  Yeah, not quite.

 That 35’ long, 14’ high trailer has it’s own requirements.  So I’ll end up using an app like RV Life.  It’s $20.00 a month, but it’s tailored to our particular RV.  I can find campgrounds that will allow my rig, and then find RV safe routes to get there, avoiding things like low bridges, narrow roads, and the like.  I can find RV friendly gas stations and dump sites (there’s also an app called Sani-dumps, whose sole purpose in life is to help me find a place to dump my poo), check weather, and find rest stops.  $20.00 a month seems a small price to pay for a good navigator.  I’ll likely also use IExit, which you can pull up and find services at upcoming exits.  That should come in handy in case of snack or gas emergencies.  That one’s free.  Then there are things like Weigh My Truck, so that I can make sure we’re all balanced and proper before heading out on long trips.  There are also some great apps like Campendium or Ultimate Campgrounds, which will help me to find a campsite, or even a boondocking spot if all the campgrounds are full.  Folks, I’m going to need all the help I can get.  If you’re planning on a 4-year road trip through 95% places I’ve never been before, technology will be my friend.  

Here’s something I did not consider before starting to research this.  As I’m gallivanting all over the United States, where will all my mail go?  How will I register my vehicle if I don’t have a permanent address?  Where do I pay taxes?  Good questions, right? 

Well, turns out, we live in a wonderful country, where there’s a service for that.  I’m planning to use Escapees Mail service.  They give me an address so that I have a place to pay taxes (and conveniently I can choose a state which doesn’t have income tax, wink).  All my mail goes to them, and they’ll sort it for me, and as long as I keep them informed on where I’ll be, they’ll send it along to the campground where I’m staying.  Isn’t that cool?  And this blew my mind a bit:  There’s like a $100.00 set-up fee, and then it’s only $135.00 per year!  Deal.

Let’s keep the deal talk rolling here.  It may be something that all women share, and I’m sure there are men who can feel me here, but I just love a deal.  Like, if I see one pair of pants that’s $40.00, and one that’s $60.00 with a 25% discount, I’m paying fifty bucks.  It’s a deal, alright?  So when I see services like Passport America, I get pretty excited.  It’s $44.00 a year, and that gets you 50% off camping at almost 1,500 campgrounds.  Good Sam is a similar service, but mostly for gas.  You pay $79.00 for a 3-year membership.  That gets you first of all a discount at Camping World, where I’m sure I’ll need to buy a load of stuff, plus 15% off propane.  Then you get a 10% discount at 2,000 Good Sam campgrounds, and 8 cents per gallon off of Diesel.  With a 50 gallon tank and getting like 15 mpg, that will add up to a lot of money over the year.  One that you can even use if you’re not an RV lifer is Trail Wallet.  This allows you to track your expenses for gas, accommodation, food, and help to see where you’re over-spending.  You do have to have Apple for that one, but there is also Travelspend if you’re an Android user.  If you want to know where you can save, you’ve got to understand where you’re spending.  If you know any other great saving tips, make sure to put it in the comments below. 

So that’s the planning plan.  Ideally we’ll really never have to wing it, but let’s be honest, I have trouble planning my weekend when it’s already Thursday, so this is all really theoretical at this point.  Next week we’re going to put this plan into action, and actually plan out the first few months of our voyage.  Hopefully we’ll be coming to somewhere near you.  I’m also planning to introduce a VIP program that might interest you, but you’ll have to wait for that. 

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