Planning for a trip

How do I plan for a camping adventure?

The first thing that we do when we are planning our next adventure is to determine how long we have to be away. Is it for a weekend or do we need to take time off work? Once you know how long you have, deciding where to go becomes a bit easier. 

Once we've decided how long we want to spend on a particular trip, the next point to consider is what is the purpose of the trip? Are we going away for a 4x4 weekend or a week of touring, or possibly is it both? Having the ability to combine both and go away for an extended period of time with a combination of remote touring and 4x4 would be our dream trip, maybe one day we will be able to go on an adventure that involves both.

A third point to keep in mind when planning a trip and probably the most vital, is the destination. Did you have somewhere in mind you want to explore? If you do, Great. You have already made good progress in planning a trip. If you don't, there is plenty of suggestions online or people out there who can give you some recommendations.

When planning a trip, whether short or long, it is important to consider who is coming with you. Are you going solo, with your partner, your mates or family, and young kids? If you are going solo, then the world is your oyster, you can go anywhere that pleases you. With your partner or some mates, it's important to find a destination that not only everyone would enjoy, but everyone has access to. There's not much of a point in going on an offroad adventure-filled weekend if everyone else has a small car and you only have a single cab ute. You need to be able to find a destination as well as plan a trip that will suit everyone who is coming with you.

We've decided we are going away for the weekend

Our old Patrol at Stockton Beach

For weekend adventures, we usually stay within a few hours of home, especially if it is only for a night. Depending on the purpose of the trip, we either research particular 4wd tracks in and around campsites or if it is just going away for a weekend bush, we try to find a river or something to have a fish at (not that we are any good). 

We like to know what we are in for before getting to a particular destination. If it's 4 wheeling, we will look on YouTube or Facebook for advice on the track and what the conditions have been recently. Whereas if we are staying in a caravan park, we will look into the reviews of what it is like.

If you are going out by yourself, we would suggest going somewhere you have been before. Another thing that we cannot stress enough, whether you are going alone or with others, be sure to let someone else (who isn't coming with you) know where you are going. Sometimes things can go wrong, so it is crucial that people know where you are going so that you can be easily found if need be. 

We want to go on a longer touring trip

A major point to consider when planning a touring trip is the time of year you are going away. Our tip for an extensive touring adventure would be to avoid the northern parts of Australia in Summer. This is because summer is usually the wet season, so often a lot of the popular destinations up north are virtually impossible to reach due to monsoon storms and deep rivers. So for a summer adventure, we would be more inclined to head south, not only to avoid the wet season but also it being a lot cooler. It is always quite hot up in Cape York or in the Kimberley, so a winter adventure will still be warm enough to give you the opportunity to swim in some of the most amazing water holes on earth. Or so we've heard, we will get up there one day for ourselves.

The rough plan for our January Trip

When we are planning a trip, firstly consider the destination that you have in mind. If we already had somewhere in mind which suits the length of time I want to spend away, start by looking into how far that particular place is from home. Once we have put the destination into Google Maps, we start to consider what towns stand out along the way and begin to do some research into what there is to see and explore.  We are fortunate that we can get recommendations from others at the press of a button. I couldn't tell you how many Facebook groups we've joined about camping and four-wheel driving, that give us great tips or ideas for future adventures. This is because everyone has a particular place that stands out to them on a trip, so it is great to hear recommendations from others. When we are planning a trip, we like to use Google Maps because it's easy to add various destinations and drag the route to suit my needs as well as Wiki Camps to find accommodation. 

Dog on the Tucker Box in Gundagai

When you have picked various destinations and points of interest that you wish to visit, the next decision is to decide how long you wish to drive for each day. We like to stick to 2 or 3 hours each day of driving so we can enjoy the many amazing towns that Australia has to offer. That being said, on a trip that we are planning at the moment, there are some days where we plan to drive 5 or even 6 hours in a day. Then there will be days here and there where we only drive around a particular town. On those longer days, we like to leave early, drive for a couple of hours, before stopping in various towns along the way. We may drive 6 hours between places to stay at, but we will still be stopping throughout the day.

As mentioned above, we are the type of people who likes to have a rough plan before we set off. That being said, our plans are never set in stone. We usually book accommodation a day in advance or the morning of. That way if we find a place we like, we can stay longer, but sometimes we won't book at all and take the risk we find something when we pull into town. This gives us the flexibility to drive to a destination, and if we don't like it, keep going. We still like to plan a rough itinerary for our trips as we are both very indecisive so if we have a plan, we don't need to think as much when we are out exploring, but again plans can always change. 

Once you have planned your trip, the next crucial step is starting to prepare. In a later blog, we will outline what I do in preparation for my next adventure.

So how do you plan for a trip? We'd love to hear other planning suggestions that people may have.