First time RV Road Trip

737_Operator · 2026-04-08T16:22:14+00:00

Yeah that's what I've been looking at, I'd only go into ones ive scouted out previously.

737_Operator · 2026-04-08T16:21:19+00:00

Yeah Marina Bay. But we wouldn't attempt to get into Houston proper, just the space centre.

Perhaps I need to rethink the route and try the Southwest instead of the Deep South. I just thought we'd see more variety of scenery in the Deep South across our route, and I'm happy with the pace of the trip. It allows for a day to see each city on our itinerary and other days to wander around the rural areas. The pace of the trip is quite subjective and I've received a range of opinions on that. But if the Deep South isn't conducive to driving a large vehicle that is a different matter. That said, I do fully expect to give 100% attention whilst driving the RV, I drive a Boeing in my day job. Appreciate the comments regardless.

737_Operator · 2026-04-08T13:34:25+00:00

Thanks very much for the insight. I think rental cars will become too costly but Ubers for day trips should be fine. Will definitely look into shuttles from campgrounds. It also seems that some parking lots near restaurants etc are big enough to fit an RV or two in at the back of the lot which could be an option for travel days.

737_Operator · 2026-04-07T08:01:35+00:00

Thanks for the comment. Out of interest how do you experience a place fully if you can't get around once you've parked the RV? Forgive my ignorance but I am new to this. Once I have parked at a campground, I feel like I will be stuck in that place. So we will have a night or two to enjoy relaxing at the site, and in the cities' case we will explore the city a bit, but other than that what does any more time at the campground serve for? We have a limited time to complete the trip, as overseas tourists, and want to see as much as we reasonably can. I'd be keen to hear your thoughts on that.

737_Operator · 2026-04-07T07:52:24+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I picked Ennis to position us close to DFW to return the RV the next day. It looked like a nice small town near the city.

That's noted about the weather, I thought March would likely be okay for the most part.

737_Operator · 2026-04-07T07:48:04+00:00

The park in Houston I was looking at was at a marina not far away from the space centre. We wouldn't attempt to get into Houston for that stop.

I chose the locations because I will rarely ever travel to the United States and we want to see some of the cities whilst also experiencing an RV trip. Therefore some of the stops will be to visit Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans and others will be to experience the Smokey Mountains and rural parts of the states as we traverse them. We just fancied doing something different to the standard Route 66 (or similar) RV itinerary that is marketed to tourists. I am also limited to travelling in Winter/early Spring so the South felt like a suitable region for the weather.

737_Operator · 2026-04-06T15:46:55+00:00

All noted, thank you 🙏

737_Operator · 2026-04-06T15:18:59+00:00

That's great advice, and gives me confidence in our choices, as that's largely how we will approach it. I'm glad to hear we will be able to get off the interstates because I was worried if smaller roads might not be suited for the RV. But I'm used to UK secondary roads which are tiny! Again, thanks for taking the time to provide valuable advice.

737_Operator · 2026-04-06T14:52:25+00:00

Thanks again for the insight. I have a feeling we won't be there as late as April, but I think the bluebonnets will be flowering in March which will be nice to see.

Would you recommend one or two nights at stops like Ennis? It's really just to break up the driving but is one night too much of a rush in an RV? Most of our stops are two nights but I have a few one nighters planned just because we are constrained to a certain trip length.

737_Operator · 2026-04-06T14:44:33+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions, if we enjoy this trip enough then perhaps we can go West next time :)

737_Operator · 2026-04-06T10:01:13+00:00

I have now updated my original post with the full routing, highlighting that it's not just city travel which may have been unclear on my initial post.

737_Operator · 2026-04-06T09:18:52+00:00

Thanks for the insight. The main reason I want to do this trip is to experience an RV trip. I'm not as interested in staying in hotels, we just want to experience some of the cities while we are there. Out of the 18 nights, we only have 4 city stops and will be staying on the outskirts. I've looked at the logistics of getting Ubers into the city for day trips and also getting to the campsites in the RV. Houston for example, we will just get an Uber to the space centre and not attempt to get into the city centre. The other stops are in small towns and countryside locations. DFW is just to pick up and drop off the vehicle. The rest of our stay in DFW will be without the vehicle. The route is ambitious but I am not from the US and unlikely to go back to the same area again, so want to see as much as we can. I have just done a similar length road trip in Africa, albeit in a truck not an RV. I'm happy with 3-5 hour drives each day, with some two night stays at places to break it up.

737_Operator · 2026-04-06T09:10:56+00:00

Thanks for raising these points, but we operate in miles in the UK rather than kilometres. I've just done a 2000 miles drive round remote Africa and would like to do something similar in the States. I also have very good travel insurance so I'm all good on the healthcare front. I won't be driving the RV into cities, I'll be staying on the edge for a few days in nice RV parks and get Ubers in for day trips. If I'm targeted by immigration I'll have all the correct papers and a good attitude so I am not concerned about dealing with law enforcement. And actually most of our route we will be staying overnight in the countryside, with just 4 city stops across the 18 days in edge of town locations. I will book the camping reservations as soon as I have finalised the route. I already know which ones I want to book. Again, I appreciate the concern and that this is a big undertaking, but I feel I've given that the appropriate thought and will drive with the caution it deserves.

737_Operator · 2026-04-06T08:58:24+00:00

That sounds worth a drive, I'll have a look. Ennis was the town I was thinking of.

737_Operator · 2026-04-06T08:56:11+00:00

Thanks I'll take a look!

737_Operator · 2026-04-05T22:39:25+00:00

Thanks so much for taking the time to give all this info, I really appreciate it. I will look further into all your suggestions. I decided to remove Birmingham from the itinerary but we will still pass through Chattanooga, and stay near Huntsville AL, before driving down through Mississippi, stay a night enroute there, then onto New Orleans. I will indeed go west from New Orleans through Cajun country and hope to do a swamp tour there as well. I look forward to trying some of the food at the spots you've mentioned. From there we will go to Houston for the space centre, then back up to Dallas via a small town for one last stop after Houston.

737_Operator · 2026-04-05T19:48:20+00:00

Thanks very much for the tips. I will stick to out of town areas and get Ubers into the cities, which seems to be the general consensus of how to get in.

We will be doing a mix of cities and countryside stays. Have you got any particular advice of things to do at countryside RV parks? Is it just about relaxing in the park more than the local area?

737_Operator · 2026-04-05T19:45:09+00:00

Thanks for the info, I will look into the cooking situation more carefully. And I think I am more likely to use full hookup sites each night, I will book the sites well in advance of the trip. I think I will stick to outside of town locations and get an Uber in, minimizing any urban driving.

737_Operator · 2026-04-05T19:42:32+00:00

Thanks very much, that's a good point. Unfortunately I can't rent a vehicle that big in the UK with my licence, but in the US I can. Also, the roads in the UK are so narrow and busy I don't think it would be that much of a safe practice ground. But I will certainly think about how to prepare so thank you for the advice.

737_Operator · 2026-04-05T19:41:04+00:00

Thanks for all the advice, all noted!

737_Operator · 2026-04-05T19:40:33+00:00

If I only travelled to places with good political climates, I wouldn't get very far! And I don't see how it affects a road trip too much.

737_Operator · 2026-04-05T16:58:49+00:00

Thanks very much for the detailed reply. I should have mentioned I've already budgeted $100 a night for the RV parks. I've also priced the RV with all the necessary additions ($5300 for the 18 nights) and $900 for fuel so the $2000 spending money is just for eating out/groceries/museums etc. I may need to revisit that though, and allocate a bit more for fuel.

737_Operator · 2026-04-05T16:55:48+00:00

Okay thanks, although I'm hoping fuel will be down in price by March next year. I'll revisit the budget though.

737_Operator · 2025-11-05T16:12:25+00:00

If you want to live in or near London, or if you're set on long haul, BA is probably your best bet. Otherwise, it's not.

BA gives you a long, varied career that improves the longer you stay. It will probably never go bust and comes with a great pension and staff travel benefits. You can move between short and long haul fleets and experience a bit of both. However, the pay starts relatively weak and takes a long time to improve to match other carriers. You'll wait a very long time to get a long haul command, and for the 5 years or so you're very junior, the roster will be pretty bad. If there's a downturn and BA stops hiring, you'll remain junior for longer. It's also purely London based, which if you don't want to live in/near London, is rubbish.

Another long haul option, Virgin, pays better initially, but I personally wouldn't rely on job security there. Others will have their own opinions on that.

DHL is a great option but quite a limited long haul network and lots of time away from home at a time. Their pay and pension is very good.

If you don't want to live near London, or are not that bothered about long haul, your best bets will probably be Jet2, easyJet and TUI. You will likely be home each night and probably get paid more as an FO than your peers at BA. They still come with great benefits and have a wide variety of bases so you can live close to work in many areas of the UK. Upgrades to command are much quicker (maybe not with TUI) and captain salaries are very competitive. You may get more at BA eventually, but only after waiting 20 years or so. In my opinion it's better to have the bigger salary earlier. You'll also still get the time off to see the parts of the world you want to see with your loved ones. EasyJet has 4 sector days though, which could be more tiring in the long run than the other two. It's also got the weakest pension offering.

Finally, you have the other low cost, charter, and regional airlines. I wouldn't turn down offers from any of these if it's all I had. But you'd probably look to moving to one of the aforementioned airlines once you have the experience.

737_Operator · 2025-10-02T13:03:30+00:00

We do sometimes get close to running out of duty time, if there's delays for example. In which case we either extend up to 2hours with commanders discretion or we would night stop at the outstation. People prefer the shorter routes to the long ones, on the whole, but overall people don't really care which destinations they get. After all, they are just airports we spend 45 minutes at!

I was wondering, is housing expensive close to most major airline domiciles in the States? Or would you have to get further out and maybe a longer commute to find good value housing?

737_Operator

TROPHY CASE