For many people, taking an RV road trip is a dream. The idea of visiting each state one by one, stopping along the way to see some of the most impressive sites, both natural and man-made, is extremely appealing. However, as anyone who has decided to road trip in an RV knows, the planning process can be much more difficult than first anticipated.
Recently, many people have begun using image sharing and social media site Pinterest as a way to help them plan their RV trip. Throughout the rest of this article, we will look at exactly what Pinterest is, how it works, and how to use Pinterest to plan your RV trip.
This is a collaborative post with Michael Dehoyos. There are affiliate links within this post. We receive a commission for purchases made via these links.
What Is Pinterest?
Pinterest is a social media platform that launched in 2010. At first, Pinterest was focused on creating an online bulletin board where users could save, or pin, photos on topics they liked. As the platform developed, it eventually allowed users to pin videos, GIFs, and other media formats, providing them with a much more dynamic experience.
According to the creators, the premise behind Pinterest was to allow users to create a ‘catalog of ideas’ which they could incorporate into their life.
At first, most pins on Pinterest were either recipes, home decor, or exercise instruction, but this quickly changed and became a hub for posting pins about travel. From here, a large number of users began taking travel ideas directly from pins they found on Pinterest.
As of August 2020, Pinterest has over 400 million active users, which means there is plenty of content to consume, much of which can help people plan their RV trips. “Remember, travel content does not have to be geared towards RV travel specifically, and prospective adventurers can get ideas from any travel-related pin,” writes Hans Siles, a lifestyle blogger at 1 Day 2 write and Write my X.
Throughout the following sections, we will look at ways in which prospective RV travelers can use Pinterest to plan their trip.
How to Create a Pinterest Account
Before we get too far into this, we wanted to help you create an account and start using the platform.
- Got to www.pinterest.com (or download the app)
- Click join
- Choose to create an account with either your email address, Facebook account, or Google (you may be given other options).
- Select your preferences
- Once you have selected your preferences, Pinterest will create a feed related to those preferences.
- Start searching and pinning. Keep reading to find out how.
Ways to Search and Find Travel Photos
One of the simplest and most effective ways to use Pinterest to plan an RV trip is by searching for travel pins and pinning the ones you like.
To find RV travel pins, use the search bar to enter your search term, such as “places to visit in Utah”. Various pins about Utah travel will appear. These pins will lead to a blog post, tourism boards, and other sites covering the topic.
If you have no idea where to start you can do a more general search or you can use this book: Lonely Planet USA’s Best Trips (Trips Country).
RV Trip Pro Tip: It is important to spend time looking at locations that are within your desired driving range. You don’t want to waste a bunch of time collecting pins about a trip that’s 1,000 miles away when you only want to drive 200 miles.
How to Create An RV Travel Board
As anyone familiar with Pinterest will know, the platform allows users to create an unlimited number of boards. For anyone who is not aware, a board is where pins can be saved.
Users can create boards dedicated to any topic, such as cooking, sports, diet, travel, or in our example a “Utah Road Trip”. When they come across a pin they would like to save, they have an option of adding it to one of their boards that most closely represents the general topic. Doing this allows people to categorize pins in such a way that they can be easily found later on.
Easy Steps to Create a Board:
On computer:
- Go to your Account
- Select the plus sign
- Select “Board”
- Name the Board
- Select visibility (public or secret)
- Click “Create”
- Pinterest will offer suggestions automatically. You can choose to add these suggestions or start searching for your own pins.
On the App:
- Go to your Account
- Select the plus sign
- Select “Board”
- Name the Board
- Select visibility (public or secret)
- Click Next
Searching For RV Travel Ideas
Now that you know how to create boards, it’s time to start searching for ideas. A good way to do this is to include keywords along with the name of the location. Some examples of this may include “RV Parks in Utah”, “Hiking Trails in Utah”, “National Parks in Utah” and so on.
Once interesting pins have been found, you can save them to the appropriate travel board. Some people choose to keep pins on a single board while others may decide to make a board for each topic in a region. For example, you can create boards specific to accommodations, to/do, and/or to eat. How you choose to pin and organize your boards will depend on your own preferences.
How to Save a Pin to Your Travel Board
On computer:
- If you only have one board, click the save button that appears when you hover over the pin.
- If you have multiple boards, hover over the pin, you will see one of your board titles and the save button. Click on the board title select the appropriate board.
On the App:
- Click on the Pin
- Click Save
- Select Board
Refining Your Road Trip Board
Now that you have saved a bunch of pins, it’s time to look them over in detail. Follow the pin links and watch/read the associated information. If it helps you plan your RV trip, keep it, if it doesn’t purge it.
If you feel uncomfortable deleting pins, you can always move some pins to another board. You can put them in a “Plan B for Utah” board or something similar. That way you don’t have to worry about deleting pins that you may end up needing later.
How to Delete a Pin
On Computer:
- Go to your board.
- Click on the “pencil” (Edit this Pin)
- Click the “Delete” button.
On the App:
- Go to your Account
- Select “Saved”
- Tap your Board
- Select the Pin you want to delete
- Select “Edit Pin”
- Tap “Delete this Pin”
Use Your Pins to Build Your RV Road Trip
After unwanted ideas have been deleted (or moved to a “Plan B” board), it is time to finalize your plan.
Build your trip using the resources you have saved. Remember to be realistic about how much time you have and the number of activities you want to do each day. Now that you have used Pinterest to plan your RV trip, there is nothing left to do other than to hit the road and enjoy.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, this post helped you learn how to use Pinterest to plan your RV trip.
Are you still looking for more tips to plan your road trip? Check out the following blog post: RV Road Trip Money Saving Strategy
Michael Dehoyos is a lifestyle writer and editor at Phd Kingdom and Write my literature review. He assists companies in their marketing strategy concepts, and contributes to numerous sites and publications. Also, he is a writer at Coursework help.
