Setting Up a Safe Travel Plan for RV Travel

I love being spontaneous, and I hate the idea of being tracked. BUT, what if something bad goes down and no one knows where to find us? As a mom, I have to think about my whole family, and not just my own desires. I don’t post on social media in real time, for safety reasons, but I can definitely choose a couple of people to know my location and travel plans, in case we go MIA. (If you are on the run, I guess do the opposite of this? )

Choose a SAFE Person

Choose someone (or a couple people) who you trust with your location information, and who will naturally want to know you are safe. For us, our moms and one of our best friends have access to our location on apps, as well as the info on our truck, rig, and the contact info to reach us on our satellite GPS device. (I will share more about this in a bit, but for our use and budget we chose a satellite GPS/messaging device – but if you have the budget, one with satellite phone call capabilities would be great!)

This is the info to give them to hold onto so they can keep tabs on you, make sure you arrive at your destinations safely, and share with search and rescue if needed:

• Vehicle(s) info – make, model, year, color, license plate number(s) and state registered in;any identifying marks like stickers, decals, etc.
• Actual pictures of the vehicles
• Insurance company information
• Route plans – map, turn-by-turn directions, start/stop locations and times
• All phone numbers and the number to reach your satellite phone/device.

Before each trip or travel day, make sure someone knows:

• when you are leaving
• where you are leaving from
• where you are headed and the distance
• your expected travel time and arrival time
• any places you plan to stop along the way
• your planned route (map and turn by turn – I just take screenshots and text to my mom!)

MAP it Out

Okay so first of all, MAP it Out! If you are traveling in any type of RV, you need to know the size (length, width, height) of your rig and you need to pay attention to make sure you don’t take a route that you can’t safely fit on…I really like to use an RV safe GPS app, but after a lot of trial and error, I use it during my planning, and then my apple map on my iPhone on the actual travel day. (I just make sure to choose the correct route!)

• Plan out your trip on a map (even better if you print it, or highlight it on a regular map.)
  Be flexible, sometimes detours have to happen due to closed roads or construction. Or you know, when the road on the GPS just doesn’t exist (I’m looking at you Menifee, California!)
• Take a screenshot of your travel plans (map and turn by turn) and send it to your safe person/people.

Satellite GPS device

Choose a satellite phone/GPS/messaging device that works for your needs and your budget. We chose a SPOT X messaging device, so we can check-in with text messages, check-in with an automated email to our SAFE person with our GPS coordinates, and we can push a button to request search and rescue. It actually has more advanced map options, I just haven’t used that function yet. We chose this device because it does what we need and it keeps us in our budget.

Tip: If you lose your cell signal, send an occasional check-in alert from your satellite GPS device. We can also send a pre-typed message or a custom message from ours. This is useful in the (unlikely) event that we go missing. Search and rescue teams can use our mapped plan along with recent GPS locations to find us quicker.

Tracking apps – Life360/Find My Friends

These apps are great for your SAFE person/people to track you on, but of course your phone needs to be charged and have a signal. We use these apps and they are great, but we still carry our satellite GPS device.

Life360

This app is great for keeping track of your family and close friends. You can also check-in and use the SOS button to request help from the people on your friends/family list. There are paid upgrades that offer more features, such as emergency dispatch, but we have used the free version for years and it works well for our needs. The most annoying part is when your mom asks why you’re driving 75 mph down the freeway. (FYI, some states have faster speed limits than Oregon’s 65 mph.)

Find My Friends

We also like this app to use with our Apple device family and friends. It is similar to Life360 and comes on your Apple devices. We also use Airtags to keep tabs on our vehicles, trailer, keys, and wallets, and we can track their locations on the same app easily.

Mobile Chargers

We highly recommend having a wide variety of mobile chargers in your possession (and make sure they are charged!) We also have a couple of solar powered mobile chargers, in case we don’t have a way to charge them (which can happen when your RV converter goes out while boondocking and your generator is deemed useless!)

Keep mobile chargers (and charge wires for all devices!) in these locations:

• Your RV, truck, tow vehicle – whatever vehicle(s) you travel in.
• Hiking backpack/go bag/fanny pack/man purse – whatever you carry important items in when you leave your
• RV/vehicle(s).

Anytime you have your RV plugged into power (and especially the day before a travel day and/or boondocking) charge all your devices! Maybe you have a different set-up, but if our fifth wheel isn’t plugged in, our electrical outlets are not functional!

Safety Items

We are big preppers, so condensing into a fifth wheel was difficult, but we surprisingly have been able to fit the necessities to keep us feeling secure and ready to take on unexpected surprises.

Some safety items we keep on hand:

• Emergency food and water
• Water Treatment Tablets and Lifestraws for everyone.
• Emergency kits – we have several, including this one, this trauma kit and this survival kit.
• Flashlights (different types, including a giant maglite which stays next to me in bed and in the truck on travel days!)
• Personal safety items like machetes, a ton of different knives, bow and arrow, ETC…
• Two-way radios – we use for communication when backing up the rig, and keeping in contact when we don’t have cell service.
• Tools (for fixing things in the truck and rig) – my husband has a ton of tools, but recently purchased this tiny screwdriver set, and it has been super useful!
• Spare tires for truck and rig
• Extra headlight bulbs
• Batteries of all different sizes
• Battery powered fan
• Medical supplies (including first aid kit, snake bite kit, oxygen, medications – especially Benadryl, Aspirin, topical ointments – bandages, splint kit…) – I will link my upcoming post here when it’s complete about the details of our emergency kit!
• Disposable gloves – so many uses besides medical and dumping the honey bucket.
• Waterproof lighter
• An extra set of wheels – for us right now, that means bicycles, but if we ever get a toy hauler, I’m getting something motorized! I want to make sure at least one of us can ride to get help if needed, plus riding bikes is fun!
• Satellite GPS device (explained in detail above!)
• Extra cell phone on a different carrier (maybe it will have a cell signal when our regular ones don’t!) It’s a super basic flip phone and we just purchase prepaid phone cards to keep it active. It actually has come in handy when the Verizon towers went down last summer! We also keep talking about moving one of our regular cell phones to a different carrier so we have a better chance of having service in areas Verizon isn’t great.
  Trip Planning Apps/GPS Apps: When you are planning your travel routes, look at the roads on your route close up, and if they look like they are winding excessively or unsafe, do some additional research to make sure the road is safe for your RV. (We did this before leaving Yosemite NP, after a terrifying drive in, and not wanting to repeat that drive on the way out, and we are so glad we did!)

Other Safety Devices we have found useful:

• BetterWeigh – this handy device weighs your tow load, to make sure you are safely pulling the correct amount of weight for your truck. I added this here because it has given my husband peace of mind that he is safely toting our rig around the country.
• Truck Club – we have this one to put on our steering wheel and help deter theft – make sure you find one that fits your steering wheel!
• Carabiners
• Reacher/Grabber Tool – you have no idea how many times this device has helped us out!
• Fire blankets – we keep them in all the rooms of our rig and in the truck.
• Fire extinguishers – one came in the kitchen of our fifth wheel, but we added these to all rooms and the truck. FYI at our first stop, we met a family who lost their truck to a fire, so although it’s rare, it can happen! I would rather be prepared!
• Emergency Roadside Kit
• Emergency Roadside Flares Kit – this one is obvious but super important as you may not always be able to pull off in a safe location.
• Step Ladder – I had no idea how much we would use this! I am short, and I cannot check the oil in our truck without this!
• Heavy Duty Shears – I have 6 different shears/scissors and these ones have held up well. We use them constantly.
• Mini Travel Hair Dryer – I have heard horror stories of people being trapped in their trailers due to the door freezing shut, so we purchased this small hair dryer just in case (to melt the ice from the inside.)
• We also keep bear spray (have found the best price at Costco!) and an Air Horn on hand – just in case!

Apps we use include:

• RV Life PRO
  • Grab your free trial here!
• Togo RV
• Apple Maps
• Google Maps
• …and also we search for posts about the concerning roads in RV groups on Facebook! If we don’t find what we are looking for, we ask questions in those groups. We also ask other people we meet at campgrounds!

What items do you keep with you in case of unexpected emergencies? What are you going to add to your travel plans to make sure you can be found if you don’t show up at your destination?