Planning a Trip – How to Travel

For many years I have had the dream of hopping in my RV and touring the United States. The idea of checking out the National Parks, driving up and down the coastline and maybe even venturing out onto the Alaska Highway seemed like the ultimate adventure. While the dream of touring the country is alive and well, the mode in which I do that has modified over time.

The RV industry continues to step up the technology that goes into the vehicles and there are choices to suit just about any traveling requirement. Unfortunately, with all the choices, it has become difficult to understand what is the right travel vehicle based on what I really want to do. I have given this a lot of thought. What I have found is that in researching places to go, including places to stay, many campsites have limits on the vehicle size or lack the facilities to properly support large RVs. Those places that do support large RVs are generally more expensive and designed for RV park efficiency. Additionally, many of the most amazing stretches of highway in the country were not built with large RVs in mind and negotiating would be way more stress than fun, and I am quite comfortable driving large vehicles and pulling trailers. So, having a large RV will limit my options for places to set up camp and roads I’d like to travel.  Flexibility, agility and low cost are what I seek out now.

Big Vehicle = Big Gas Bill

From a cost perspective recent trip to the coast here in Texas reminded me that pulling our travel trailer at posted interstate speed limits can suck the gas mileage below 10 MPG even though the trailer is small and lightweight.

Great for Camping…Not So Much Gas Mileage

After my trip to the coast, I started researching fuel efficiency RV options. What I found was that there is very little hard and fast data on RV fuel efficiency available but what bits and pieces I could find led me to believe that any RV that has a large frontal exposure going down the highway will probably average 8-12 MPG regardless of the towing vehicle. Aerodynamic designs may help slightly but not much overall. The mileage will be reduced substantially above 60 MPH particularly if there is any headwind increasing the wind speed hitting the front of the RV. Driving at 75 MPH with a 15 MPH headwind means the wind striking the front of the RV is doing 90 MPH…hurricane force winds trying to bring you to a stop.  Smaller and low profile vehicles will be less affected by the wind factor and might be great alternatives if they meet travel needs.

Economics of Driving

Since I am all about creating opportunity by avoiding waste, I researched the impact of driving conditions and was amazed to see how driving normal highway speeds can affect the pocketbook. Here are a couple helpful sites.

• FuelEconomy.gov : It was interesting to see the penalty for driving faster put in terms of Equivalent Cost per Gallon. For my truck, driving 75 MPH is the equivalent of paying $4.54 per gallon of gas as compared to paying $3.21 per gallon and driving 50 MPH. Cool chart to see!
• MPGforSpeed.com

In planning a recent West Coast road trip, I realized this would be nearly 7,000 miles. Awesome vacation but in weighing the options on whether to take my F-150 or Gayla’s Prius Hybrid, I came up with the following results:

• Truck: 7,000 miles / 18 MPG = 389 gallons x $3.50/gallon = $1361
• Prius: 7,000 miles / 50 MPG = 140 gallons x $3.50/gallon = $490
• Estimated fuel savings driving Prius = $871 = I took the Prius…now called my FRRV (Fiscally Responsible Recreational Vehicle)
• Note: 7,000 miles / 8 MPG = 875 gallons x $3.50/gallon = $3,063 = yikes!!

Chart comparing gallons used on a 1000 mile trip for vehicles with various MPG. This chart makes it easy to see the fuel usage increasing rapidly below 20 MPG and skyrocketing below 10 MPG.

Other Driving Benefits

Despite being an Air Force pilot for 25 years, when it comes to recreational travel, I often prefer to drive. I find the time in the car important in making that mental transition to vacation mode. Additionally, seeing the countryside on the drive is part of the experience I enjoy. I have learned more about the United Stated from simply seeing and experiencing all the little places connecting Point A and Point B. One of the most profound things, however, was that road trips were times when our family really bonded. We had uninterrupted time together, lots of laughs and they created great memories for all of us. The simple point that our now grown kids still get excited about taking a road trip speaks volumes.

How Does Flying Compare?

Flying may be the quickest option to get from Point A to Point B. Flying may be the only option if time is limited with long travel distances. It is statistically one of the safest ways to travel. If my goal is saving time and I just need to get to the destination and back, flying is always an option. Don’t forget the time to and from the airport and potential airport layovers in the total travel time. Additionally, I try to make sure unplanned delays/missed connections won’t completely ruin the plan at the destination or at least have a plan.

Travel cost of flying, compared to other modes of travel, really depends on how many people are traveling, ticket prices, and other factors like airport parking and destination rental car/shuttle costs. Planning early to take advantage of lower ticket prices is a must and always search different days of the week to travel if really trying to save money. Check weekly rates for rental cars. They may be cheaper than the individual day rate.

If I need to take a bunch of gear beyond a suitcase and a carry-on, I need to plan for potential excess baggage costs and the hassle of moving all that stuff around the airport environment. If this is becoming too much of a problem or becoming cost prohibitive, another option is to rent gear at the destination or mail gear ahead of time which may be cheaper and easier overall.

Cars definitely travel slower than aircraft but I have found that if the driving to the destination can be made in one day, that day is normally spent in traveling anyway and there is not much time saved flying. The flexibility of driving and the ability to carry more gear may outweigh the few hours saved by flying. If driving takes more than one day, the costs of spending the night on the road needs to be factored in if comparing costs with flying.

What’s the Answer?

It depends. Just need to weigh out the costs and practicality associated with both options and decide what makes more sense for you. There really is not right or wrong answer, just options with advantages and disadvantages.

The smaller the better if fuel economy is a driving factor.  Long distances may make flying a better option.  If there are lots for travelers, lots of stuff needed or staying along time in locations more and bigger may be needed.  All a balance!

How to travel is closely linked to Where to Sleep (coming soon). Check out that post for more ideas.