For many RV owners, piling your family into your new Class A RV or other motorhome for a scenic road trip is what the camping life is all about. Better still, gathering a few of your RV friends and planning a multi-family RV road trip can add to the fun adventure. As the saying goes: the more, the merrier. However, before you round up other RV families for a campground vacation, there are a few things to consider. RVT has provided four tips for coordinating a multi-family, multi-RV road trip.
1. Plan Ahead
Since multiple families and RVs will be involved, careful planning ahead of time is a necessity for the trip to run as smoothly as possible. When you and your family travel in your RV alone, you have more freedom to change course and meander to different destinations than you originally planned. However, this may not be as feasible when caravanning with multiple RVs on a long road trip.
By maintaining a specific route with specific destinations and pit stops, you can help ensure that the RV caravan faithfully sticks to the itinerary. This is also beneficial in case a rogue family hauling their new fifth wheel RV or other camper strays from the pack. By coordinating destinations, the solo RV can reconvene with the others at the next pit stop or destination.Â
Consider downloading an RV-specific app to help plan your trip. Campendium, FreeRoam, and KOA are a few different apps that you and your friends can utilize to help coordinate your trip. Likewise, the use of only one type of navigation app, such as Google Maps, will ensure that all drivers are following the same route along the way.
When planning, be sure that all RVs have reservations at each of the campgrounds you plan to visit. In fact, some campgrounds provide a discount for groups, so it is beneficial to take advantage of this service while planning your trip.
Finally, maximize your group’s collective RV space by bringing only the essentials and coordinating storage. If one family’s new Class B camper van has less storage space, and another family’s larger RV has extra space, coordinate together to figure out what’s important to bring and where things can be packed, while still respecting each family and not overly-intruding on their space.
2. Have a Plan B
Due to unpredictable weather and random environmental changes, it is beneficial to have a Plan B. Create an itinerary and a backup itinerary in case something goes awry on your trip. Plan Bs may include backup destinations, or simply bringing playing cards and board games for rainy days. Make sure all families are on the same page so that everyone knows what to expect.
3. Meals and Cooking
Since eating meals naturally brings people together, cooking can be a great way to spend time together. This is an opportunity to have a communal feast with your RV travelers. Park your RVs next to each other on the campground, fire up your stoves, and cook together. Most large RVs, like new Class A diesel RVs, are equipped with a full kitchen, so storing and preparing food for your family and your fellow RVers can be relatively easy. However, since multiple families are involved in this excursion, it might be a good idea to coordinate the types of food you plan to eat at each campground destination. That way you do not bring a surplus of one type of food—the kids might like hot dogs for every meal of the trip, but the adults likely prefer some variety!
4. Split Interests
The larger the group, the more likely the occurrence of conflicting interests. Though this may appear as a drawback to multi-family excursions, this might not necessarily be a negative as there are ways on your road trip to accommodate all interests. The easiest way to mitigate conflicting interests is to do a little bit of everything, satisfying everyone. Likewise, if a few families enjoy thrill-seeking adventures, such as hiking, while other families are more comfortable staying near the campground, consider splitting the group for part of the day. This is a great option as it is a win-win for all parties involved. Just because you’ve traveled together shouldn’t mean you spend every single moment together; simply have a rendezvous point to ensure all families and RVs are accounted for at key check-in times during the day.
Road tripping with multiple families in multiple RVs surely seems appealing. The ability to hang out and enjoy each other’s company while cooking together and exploring the great outdoors is what RV life is all about. Consider gathering your RV friends and start planning your next RV trip with them. If you are interested in buying a new or used RV, check out RVT for all the current listings.
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