My wife and I have travelled extensively in Canada and the United States. Until a few years ago, we travelled with a tent and the rest of our camping gear. As we get older, our bodies are telling us that the ground is getting harder, no matter what we put under us.  As a result, we have changed the way we travel.

We now travel with our camping gear, but don’t camp every night. We have found that we still enjoy camping, but we also enjoy some of the comforts of a motel with the clean rooms and showers. We try to camp in the best places and use a motel room in the areas that are not as good for camping. In this way, we have satisfied our need for some of the comforts, as well as, taking advantage of the great outdoors.

To be able to enjoy this type of trip you will need to plan. I am sure many of you have heard this before, but it is key to having a good trip with few surprises. My wife and I have been contacting tourism departments for travel guides for the areas we will be travelling through.  Another great resource is the CAA in Canada or the AAA in the United States. They have guide books for every area of North America, but you do have to have a membership.  By doing this extra legwork, you will have some guides to look through before you leave.  Using the guides, plus the internet, you will have a better idea of what to expect and what to see and do.

The internet is a great place to do a good part of your research. Many of the places you came across in your guides will have websites that may give you a better idea of what is available in regards to accommodations and activities in the area you are researching.  I use sites like http://maps.google.com/ to research the route I will take.   I also use a site like http://www.expedia.com to check out motels in the areas we’re travelling through.  When looking for motels, we try to take full advantage of what motels have to offer, including:  a free breakfast, internet access, as well as, any other activities that may be included in the price of the room.

We do some budgeting for a trip like this and use a figure of about $200 a day for everything, including gas, motels, campgrounds, food and activities.  This figure fluctuates from day to day, but we find that it is fairly accurate for the way we travel.  Of course, on the days you use a campground this amount can be reduced quite a bit.  In this way, you can also save a little money for other things you may want to do.

Over the years, we have always tried to use the services that were available to provide us with the information we needed for a successful trip.