RamonaCreel.com

Finalizing details from the past 12 months, planning resolutions, preparing for the next 365 days — there are many ways people kick off the start of January. This month, we touched base with full-time Airstreamer Ramona Creel to hear about how she gets organized for long RVing trips. Now is the perfect time to begin thinking about your next ‘Live Riveted’ adventure — perhaps these details from Ramona can help you!

How did you plan for your longest Airstream trip?

I completed a 40-stop year-long trek from Key West to Nova Scotia a few years ago. For a big trip like this, it might take me a year of preparation before I hit the road. I plan my routes based on a “to” and a “from” and a time-frame — then I plug any major events I want to attend into my calendar (like hitting the cranberry harvest in Cape Cod, or being in Salem for Halloween, or parking it in NYC for the Macy’s Parade/Rockettes/New Year’s in Times Square). I look at what there is to do in an area and determine how long I’d like to spend there — smaller towns may only warrant a couple of weeks, while I might stay a few months in a bigger city.

What other issues do you consider in your planning?

I figure out where I have folks I’d like to visit — then I plan my route accordingly. The final step (if I’ll be travel writing) is to contact individual attractions, restaurants, museums — as well as the local visitor and convention bureaus, to see what I might get comped or discounted — and to finagle any special tours or experiences I can manage (like getting to go behind-the-scenes into the unseen storage areas at the Smithsonian Museum Of American History, or taking a glider flight over Acadia National Park, or going tidal bore rafting on the Schubenacadie River in Nova Scotia).

How can we learn more about your trip?

Based on my trek I’m currently working on a narrative non-fiction travel memoir called Tin Can Travels (detailing my adventures), as well as a recipe book called Eating Great From State To State (describing the regional dishes I cooked in each location), and a series of coffee table books (filled with my travel photography). My next books will be trips up the west coast (from Hollywood to Alaska) and across the southern US (from Mardi Gras to Tijuana) — and hopefully in there somewhere, a jaunt across the entire length of Canada.

Wow, a year-long-trek! What an adventure Ramona has had! If you need help planning your next RV trip or organizing your life for a year away on the road — contact her!

We love how Ramona plans her timeline according to treasured locations, friends and special events — that way, she’s guaranteed to get the best ‘Live Riveted’ experience possible. We’re looking forward to checking out her books as they come out to enjoy the experience through her memoirs and photos!