Advice on post-COVID road trip?

[mountains_o_mustaches]

So after posting on here I've decided to leave my job at least for an extended sabbatical if not FIRE. I'll be working through the end of the year to get things in order.

One of the things my husband and I would like to do is travel and visit family and friends across the country. I have family in CA and WA, he has family in NC and New England. We're thinking of doing a road trip around the US to see family, visit some national parks (Sequoia, Yosemite, and Glacier are all on our bucket list). Plus we have some friends in TX, LA, and VA.

My question is - what would be the most Mustachian way to do this kind of trip? We have a 1 year old (who will probably be closer to 2 before this kind of trip is possible).  Would it be best to car camp? Get a used RV? Drive and do motels? Fly and then stay with friends/camp? Trying to consider cost (for travel and lodging), environmental impact, and logistics with a little one. Open to any advice, options, or considerations. I think planning something like this will be a nice mental escape and give me something to look forward to when the pandemic is over.

[NotJen]

I have never RVed, but if you do visit Glacier (and possibly some of the other NPs) with an RV, plan to rent a car for the time you are there to get around within the park.  You are limited to where you can take an RV, and public transportation options are also limited - it's much easier to get around with your own car.

If you have never RVed before, consider renting one for a weekend trip close to home to figure out if it works for your family.

[Mr. Green]

I'll second the recommendation for renting an RV if you've never done it before. They can have their own challenges finding parking in national parks if you aren't towing another car behind. The fact that everyone else is buying RVs and doing the same thing can also make reservations difficult.

Hotel travel is cheap right now because traffic is down significantly. We just traveled for five weeks in September and hotels we stayed at we're almost deserted. When we finally get to a point where COVID numbers are becoming manageable things will pick back up but that will be a while. Could be better by next summer but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Queen Frugal]

What a fun trip to plan!!! If you want to go all-out frugal, tent camping is great. However, doing that long term with a youngster could really wear you out. I am a single mom and I did some mega tent camping trips with my daughter (age 7-8 at the time) out of a Prius (it was a bit too small but super cheap!). My problem with tent camping was that I had limited time to travel which meant I was in a hurry and often spending 1 quick overnight in a lot of places and it was exhausting for me to set up and take down camp every day.

This last summer, I bought a small camper (16' Casita) and found that to be a much more relaxing way to travel. I don't know that it's really a huge time savings to travel in an RV vs tent camping but it is a mental exhaustion savings of just having everything in the right place all the time. I know where the plates are, where the food is, my bed is made, I don't have to do much set up or take down - it's just easier. We have a comfortable place to hang out in bad weather. The other nice thing about an RV over tent camping is climate control. I always have dogs with me and I can keep the camper at the right temperature when I need to. I would think that would be very useful with a little one too.

I bought a very used camper (1992) and it's a reliable brand as far as campers go but it is still expensive to maintain and a lot of effort to keep up. I definitely would not recommend buying a camper unless you know you are really going to use it. I like the idea of renting an RV to see if you like it but if you are really going to do a lot of traveling for a year, get your feet wet by renting an RV for a short trip before buying.

Keep in mind a lot of the national parks have limits on the size of an RV. It's also pretty darn tough to get in to some places - especially right now - so you need to plan far in advance.  Not knowing whether you'll be visiting in an RV or a tent will make your trip hard to plan - at least the national park portion of your travels.

[APowers]

With regard to cost: price out the fuel cost of an RV vs an efficient car and a cheap motel. Every time I do this, it seems highly in favour of the car/motel.

RV: 11mpg (mayyyyyybe 15, if you win the RV lottery or pay $$$ for a small van conversion) PLUS ~$20-40/night campground fees. Unless you travel less than a couple hundred miles, you're at >$60-80/day just for operating costs.

Car/motel: 35+mpg (assuming you're MMM and have a reasonably efficient vehicle). At ~200 miles, you have about $13 in gas, plus a $65 motel. Even at a cost equivalence, a motel gives you a hot shower at the end of the day, a real fridge and coffee maker, often some sort of breakfast/snack, and free ice for your cooler.

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Flying generally involves rental cars and not being able to bring any camping equipment, so is generally the most expensive. If staying with friends, there is also the "wear out your welcome" consideration if you're planning to stay with friends/family for any long period of time.

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IF you have access to a minivan or other such large-ish vehicle (even a decent station wagon like a Forester or an old Volvo or a pickup with a canopy shell), you can pull a page out of the van-life community's book, and use your car as your lodging. This has most of the advantages of tent camping, without most of the downsides of RV travel. I did this for a month this summer in my Ford Ranger with my two kids (ages 8/9), and it was pretty great. At 25mpg, and mainly overnighting in free campsites, it was WAY cheaper than paying for motels or fuel for a massive RV (my total spend on that monthlong trip was ~$1,500). If you're interested in how this works, you might check out "cheapRVliving" on youtube and websites like Desk to Dirtbag for ideas. Or hit me up for details of how my setup worked. If you already have a van (or have a friend who will let you borrow one), you can almost certainly kit it out with the essentials for under $300.

I agree with Queen Frugal that tent camping is cheap, but the daily setup/takedown can get old pretty fast if you're constantly on the move from one place to the next. It get old REALLY fast when it rains overnight and you have to somehow stow a wet, muddy tent.

[mountains_o_mustaches]

Thanks APowers this is the kind of break down I was needing. Neither me nor my husband have ever RVed, so we're pretty clueless about it. I suspected it was one of the worst options, but a friend was really trying to sell us on how frugal and helpful it is. We live in AZ, so I'm thinking that it might be fun to drive up through CA and WA, camping, staying with friends, and doing motels as needed, maybe even drive over to Glacier as well, but then make our east coast trip one we fly out for (depending on what airfare looks like post-pandemic). His parents have lent us one of their cars before and we can stay with family and friends. We wouldn't be able to camp, but that's ok because that part of the trip would be more about seeing family.

We do have an old Forester, but not sure how well it would hold up for a long road trip (it surpassed 200000 miles a few years ago). It works well for hauling stuff around town and to the dump, but I'm pretty sure a road trip like this would kill it. I'll look into the van life stuff to see if it might be worth getting a used van or hatchback. We don't plan on doing this trip for a while yet (not during the pandemic). So I've got plenty of time to research, plan, and prepare!

Definitely open to additional advice, resources, and opinions

[lentil]

We take a lot of road trips, and tent camping has definitely been the way to go for us. What I particularly like to do is plan trips where we camp the majority of the time, but break things up with occasional motels, visits with friends/family, or even week-long stays in airBnBs, which sounds like it might be a good option for you. Take my advice with a grain of salt, however, as there are rarely children involved!

Anyway, tent camping is cheap (at least once you have your gear & car), simple (as long as you don't bring too much stuff), and has a relatively small footprint. It is especially cheap in places with more public land (AKA the West, generally). As two people who camp a lot, it takes us less than 15 minutes to set up or take down our entire camping set-up...but again, we are not also tending a toddler! When we camp with our nephews, we do plan for trips where we spend several nights in each place, as it's just simpler than trying to herd kids every morning & evening.

I haven't spent any real time RVing, but from years of observation, RVs seem to come with various challenges. It can be hard to find parking in some national parks (and some campgrounds, actually), driving narrow roads is harder & riskier, they take a lot of gas and overall chores, and every RVer I've ever observed brings too much stuff. But I can see some advantages too, and I think you'll have fun with whatever you choose.

[edited since I just saw your most recent post]

Your current plan sounds pretty excellent to me. Glacier NP has a pretty narrow window when you can visit and see the whole park, which might limit that part of your trip, but it's a gorgeous place. If you have lots of time to prepare, then you can also take "practice" camping trips closer to home, to figure out what you like (and what you can/can't live without).

One thing to research is whether you need to reserve campsites in the national parks you want to visit. Many have 'first-come, first-served' campgrounds, but they can fill up remarkably quickly, so reservations can be a huge help. CA also has some great state parks and other areas worth visiting.

Have fun planning your trip!

[APowers]

If you have lots of time to prepare, then you can also take "practice" camping trips closer to home, to figure out what you like (and what you can/can't live without).

I cannot second this enough. If you plan on doing any camping along the way, you DEFINITELY should take more than one practice trip (close to home, one, maybe two nights). That will tell you if your sleeping situation is uncomfortable, whether or not your stove/coffee/cooking equipment works the way you want it to, how much hassle it is to pack up the tent after one night, whether you need access to a toilet in the middle of the night, basically how comfortable you/your spouse is with all the little life-pieces that move differently when camping. Getting those kinks ironed out before a long trip goes a long way to making the big trip more happy and successful.

[Retire-Canada]

I think planning something like this will be a nice mental escape and give me something to look forward to when the pandemic is over.

When would you be doing this trip? The pandemic won't be over in 2021.

[mountains_o_mustaches]

We're familiar with camping (did lots before baby arrived) and have done one local ish trip with our little one and decided to wait for LO to be a little older before we go again (it didn't go well).

I know the pandemic won't be over anytime soon, although I remain hopeful about a vaccine. There's no rush on this trip and we likely will break it into different chunks. It's likely that different parts of the trip may be doable at different times. I just figured spending some mental space planning this dream vacation would maybe give some hope and something to look forward to when it's safe to actually embark on a trip.

[Retire-Canada]

I just figured spending some mental space planning this dream vacation would maybe give some hope and something to look forward to when it's safe to actually embark on a trip.

Makes sense. I have quite a few trips bookmarked mentally for whenever things change.

[deborah]

I find that a car is a lot more flexible. I can sleep in the back. I can see more out of the way places. If I want to stay a few days or a week, putting up a tent and camping in the tent gives me more room and flexibility. If the weather is bad, or I need a break from camping, or I’m staying in a urban area, I can relocate to a motel.

If I’m travelling for a few weeks, it’s nice to vary my accommodation and the types of things I'm doing. It’s also possible to leave the car somewhere and join a tour or hire a more appropriate vehicle for what you want to do for a few days.

[Dee18]

When my daughter was young (although not as young as your child) I loved mixing camping with staying in hotels/Airbnbs.  Three to four nights camping was great, especially in national parks.  Then we would do a couple nights with beds and hot showers.  We kept our camping equipment light so we could fly to somewhere like Alaska with it in a couple duffle bags. When I was growing up my family had a pop-up camper that was also great--comfy beds off the ground every night, but small and easy to tow with the family station wagon.