Tips and Tricks for Google Maps to plan, organize, and collaborate on your RV trip

If you love RVing, you know how important it is to plan your trips well. You want to find the best routes, the best campgrounds, and the best attractions along the way. But how do you do that without spending hours on research and booking?

One of the best tools you can use is Google Maps. Google Maps is not only a great navigation app, but also a powerful planning tool that can help you create your own interactive road map for your RV trip.

You can use Google Maps to:

- Find RV parks and campgrounds along your route

- See estimated drive times and gas prices

- Add places of interest and reviews to your map

- Share your map with your travel companions

- Access your map offline

In this blog post, I will show you how to use Google Maps for RV trips in 5 easy steps. Let's get started!

Step 1: Create a new map

To create your own RV road map, you need to have a Google account. If you don't have one, you can sign up for free here.

Once you have a Google account, go to the Google Maps website and click on the menu icon (three horizontal bars) in the top left corner. Then click on "Your places" and then on "Maps". You will see a list of maps that you have created or saved before. To create a new map, click on "Create map" at the bottom of the sidebar.

You will see a blank map with a toolbar at the top. Here you can give your map a title and a description by clicking on "Untitled map". For example, I named my map "RV Trip to Grand Canyon" and added a short description of my trip.

Step 2: Add your starting point and destination

Now that you have created your map, you can start adding places to it. The first thing you need to do is add your starting point and destination. To do that, simply type in the address or name of the place in the search bar at the top left corner and hit enter. Google Maps will take you to the location and show you a marker with the name of the place.

To add the place to your map, click on "+ Add to map" below the marker. You can also change the color and shape of the marker by clicking on the paint bucket icon next to it. For example, I changed my starting point marker to green and my destination marker to red.

Step 3: Add waypoints and stops along your route

Once you have added your starting point and destination, you can add waypoints and stops along your route. These are places where you want to stop for gas, food, sightseeing, or camping. To add a waypoint or stop, follow the same steps as before: search for the place, click on "+ Add to map", and change the marker if you want.

You can also drag and drop the markers on your map to change their order or location. For example, I added some waypoints and stops along my route to Grand Canyon, such as Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Lake Powell, and Flagstaff.

Step 4: Customize your route

Now that you have added all the places you want to visit on your trip, you can customize your route. To do that, click on "Directions" in the toolbar at the top. Google Maps will automatically calculate the best route between your starting point and destination based on distance and traffic.

However, you can also modify your route by dragging and dropping the blue line on your map. For example, I changed my route to avoid highways and tolls by clicking on "Options" in the directions sidebar and selecting "Avoid highways" and "Avoid tolls".

You can also add more details to your route by clicking on each segment of the blue line. Google Maps will show you information such as distance, duration, gas price, elevation, speed limit, and more. You can also see alternative routes by clicking on "Details" in the directions sidebar.

Step 5: Share your map with others

The last step is to share your map with others. This is especially useful if you are traveling with friends or family and want to collaborate on your trip planning. To share your map, click on "Share" in the toolbar at the top. You will see a pop-up window where you can choose who can view or edit your map.

You can either share your map with specific people by entering their email addresses or creating a link that anyone can access. You can also choose whether they can only view or also edit your map by clicking on "Change" next to "Anyone with this link". For example, I shared my map with my travel companion by creating a link that allows them to edit my map.

You can also embed your map on your website or blog by clicking on "Embed on my site" in the share window. You will see a code that you can copy and paste into your HTML editor.

That's it! You have created your own RV road map using Google Maps. You can now access your map anytime from any device by going to google.com/maps or opening the Google Maps app on your phone or tablet.

You can also download your map for offline use by clicking on "Download offline map" in the menu icon (three horizontal bars) in the top left corner of your map. This way, you can still use your map even if you don't have an internet connection.

I hope this blog post has helped you learn how to use Google Maps for RV trips. Google Maps is a great tool that can make your RV trip planning easier and more fun. You can use it to find RV parks and campgrounds along your route, see estimated drive times and gas prices, add places of interest and reviews to your map, share your map with others, and access it offline.

Have fun planning your next RV adventure!