Keeping Track of Your Travels

[Dallas Baillio]

I've taken a map of the U.S and of Canada and have highlighted the travel routes of our longer motorhome trips for the past 15 years or so. We keep a small diary of our travels (sometimes more complete that other times) and I've used these to go back and figure out our routes. I decided to do this when we discovered after crossing Texas numerous times that we were driving some of the same roads over and over. We try to drive the "Blue Highways" (William Least Heat-Moon) and only take the Interstates when necessary. Another reason for the exercise is to determine just where we have not traveled. I discovered that we have missed almost all of Idaho and only touched the Northeast corner of North Dakota. I know, I know, some of you will say - "What is there to see in North Dakota?" I say if I haven't been there, I don't know. So I should go and find out. Anyway, the reason for this post is to ask if you have other means of recording this information, or even if you care! If you use a GPS/navigation system, can you do a search and recreate your route? And how long will your GPS/navigation system retain this info?

[bcope01]

Dallas, I record my trips only in my mind (it still works sometimes) and with photographs (now digital). However, if it is important to you to record your trips on a map and through a diary, then (as Nike says) do it! One of the most extensive maps I've ever seen of RV trips taken was recorded by Diane and Dick Wilkinson (Leap'n Lions RV Club members). That thing looked like the bloodshot eyeball of a drunken sailor! Made me envious, though.

[KTnLen]

I use RVer's Notebook software on my laptop computer to keep track of many details, such as fuel, food, camping, maintenance, insurance, and mileage. Price is $40, and you can interact with other users and the software creator at an online forum.

You can find it all at: http://www.rvnotebook.com/

I use a travel atlas with a highlighter pen to help visualize where we have and haven't been. A small map of North America would do the job too.

Happy trails. Len C sends.

[Barbara & Ken]

. . . I discovered that we have missed almost all of Idaho . . .

Our first tour of Idaho was two weeks long by rental car in 1993. We put about 2500 miles on that car, but still missed most of Idaho. There are a lot areas that simply were not accessible by car. So we had to be content to just enjoy the views in some areas. We also were there in the Born Free for the Life on Wheels Conference two years ago, but our schedule didn't allow us any time for touring. We'll be back up there in July for another LOW Conference, but still won't get to do much touring. Maybe next year. Idaho is a beautiful state!!

I really like the idea of a travel diary and a highlighted map, but seem to be too lazy to do it. One of our relatives would set up binder for each trip and just collect things along each trip that would go into clear plastic holders. But I don't think they ever transferred their different routes to a map.

[SteveR]

I bought Microsoft Streets and Trips. It lets you map out a trip and you can save it for futher edits or as the begining of a new trip. It allow you to input how long you want to drive in a day and when you want to start and stop for the day. You can input gas mileage and cost per gallon and it will compute estimated gas costs for the trip. It will show you on the map when you would normally stop for the night and you can highlight that spot and search for campgrounds and other things in that area. You can also schedule stops along the way and can tell it how long you will stay. It will also download the latest construction information for roads on your route.

It also has a GPS option where you can add a GPS satellite receiver to you PC using the USB port. It is nice to have as it will also give you directions both visually and verbally.

We have a portable Garmin GPS unit that we can use in the RV and then move to the toad if we need to. It has XM radio and XM Traffic with weather. We use it on our trips most of the time since it is so much smaller than a laptop. You can buy software for the Garmin GPS it where you use your PC to map a route and then download it into the GPS. I have not bought it because we just enter the next stop into the Garmin by hand and let it do the work. There is a POI (Points Of Interest) module you can download free from Garmin that will allow you to download POIs from other places and transfer then into the Garmin. We have not done this yet but after I retire I will have more time to do stuff like this.

[shilohdad]

We also use Microsoft Streets and Trips, the 2007 version. We always travel with our laptop, as we often go out for months at a time and use it for e-mail and Internet access, keeping tracking of expenses in Quicken, as well as for navigation. Since we already had the laptop, the total additional expense for the program with a GPS was about $100. The one Microsoft sells can only be used along with a laptop and a mapping program on the laptop.

One of the features of Streets and Trips is the ability to record the path you have taken as a thin blue line. This will get saved along with the map file. You can also copy and paste this path into another map (a master map of all your trips, for instance). We have never actually done this, but we may start doing this, as we would like to keep track of our travels.

Joe Zygala

[LeAnn]

Hi,
If you would like a listing of "what to see in North Dakota" feel free to drop me a line, I'd be happy to give you a few suggestions! We've been here for 20 years and still plan to stay.

Greatest sunsets acrossed the flat plains!
LeAnn Z
North Daktoa

[Ruby2]

I started keeping a map record after about the first year of travels. I bought a Wal-Mart map of States and started to line in with a "yellow" marker the roads I traveled. The Yellow fades...the pink does not do well and others are too dark! I have the Delorme GPS maping program but NO MASTER of that for sure. It gets me from A to C to D and back!!! I am never lost as I know right where I am...just having a hard time getting to where I want to go.

I like it because like you the Interstate is obviously for TRUCKS!!! I want to SEE THE USA! So with the GPS program I am driving along and see a blacktop road that takes off from the road I am on and I enlarge the area to see if I can take it and still get where I am going. Most of the time YES! Have seen some real nice spots that only the locals and lost people have seen I am sure.

Need to find a class on keeping files of maps from GPS and putting on a disc. Would be wonderful to see later. The Map is good because I refer to it to see if I have taken that road before. I could not put this back up there at the end of the ...where I want to go.

I have been to all 50 States but like you, have a lot of miles to see in each one yet.

Happy Travels and recording.

[bill crommett]

This is completely off topic, but it was one of the most indelible experiences of my youth.
Many years ago I was on a train heading back to Minnesota from California and I met a Sailor from North Dakota and a girl from Pomona College who was heading home to Salt Lake City. When we were crossing the flat lands of Nevada, the girl said "how depressing it must be to live like this, I would feel like I was living out there naked with no mountains". The fellow from North Dakota disagreed, saying something to the effect that now he could take a breath and look into the distance and not be hemmed in.
I guess that this explains why some RV ers prefer a pop-up and others prefer a diesel pusher. The differences in opinions is what makes this country such a great and interesting place. How dull it would be if all our ancestors came from France. (By the way, I am an honorary citizen of the U.S. by virtue of the fact that one of my ancestors came over with LaFayette to help fight the revolution)