How to Plan an RV Trip for a Long Weekend

Long weekend trips can be both fun and stressful. Lisa McEwen, an RV Lifestyle and Repair Contributor, talks about planning, budgeting, and executing a long weekend trip that maximizes the fun and reduces the stress.

Pick a destination close to home

When going away for four nights, the McEwens have found that it is best to stay fairly close to home. Usually keeping it around two to three hours away from the house. The further you go, the more time you spend in the car and with only just a few short days to camp, sometimes it doesn't feel like it's worth it.

This trip the McEwens decided that they were going to stay about an hour and a half away from their house. They picked Crooked River State Park in southern Georgia and stayed for four nights.

Campground fees and fuel costs

At Crooked River, the campsite is $44 per night. When you factor everything in it comes out to about $188 for that four night stay. That includes the local sales tax, the state sales tax, and it also includes a $5 parking fee.

When you're trying to figure out lodging costs, make sure that you go all the way through the check out process by getting everything into the cart. You never know if additional fees are going to pop up that you likely will not account for.

Fuel costs

The next budgeting consideration we're going to look at is fuel costs. Gas calculators are a great tool to help project fuel costs. Input the miles expected to travel at the average cost per mile to get your total spend. For this trip, the McEwens traveled about 70 miles from their house and spent about $50 on gas.

Groceries and dining out

One of the many benefits of RV traveling is that you are able to make our own meals right in the camper. Pre making meals will not only save you time when you are camping, but it also takes away the stress of having to think about what you're going to do for your next meal when RV’ing.

Excursions and or fun money

Anything that you are doing outside the campground should be factored into your budget. This is a category that can quickly get away from you if you are not monitoring the situation. On this trip, Lisa and the girls are going to a waterpark, which costs $45 for admission.

Lisa also budgeted a little bit extra for food while at the water park because she knew they’d be getting some snacks. In addition, Lisa factored $30 for a pizza. This gives her a break on one of those meals during this long weekend trip.

Sum of the parts

Let's take a look at all of the costs and get them all out in one place:

• The nightly cost for the RV campground is going to be $188.
• The fuel costs are $50.
• The food budget is going to be $55.
• The activities budget is $45.
• All said and done, this trip is going to cost us $338.