My cost for camping, is WELL BELOW most Hotel-Motel prices, not to mention Quality, and if you drive to a destination,(in your car instead of flying) you are still paying for fuel, so......................, if you are more than one person, and want more quality than , say a Super 8, or ???????????????? Than camping in a rig you already OWN......is a no brainier!!
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1994 Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel,3500,Dually (Oh YEA )
1991 Ford F-150
1993 Sandpiper 5th Wheel)
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dont owe a dime on my rvs im keeping them,insurance and reg isnt all that much for a year, the way things are going i may need to live in it in the future.
1985 Class A Holiday Rambler Imperial 33 +1979 Class C Holiday Rambler Statesman 1000 = 24 ft
We're taking a 3 week trip out west this summer. Will spend about $1400 in fuel if gas stays at around $4/gal. Campground fees for the trip will be about $100. Yes, total! Does not include Wal-mart. Did my research and found many cheap/free places to camp, i.e., city/county campgrounds, casinos, national forests. That $100 even includes the entrance/camping fees to two national parks. Granted we are also staying with friends in Boise for a few days for free...but the point is you can save a LOT if you can live without the full-hookup RV "resort" type places (which we tend to avoid anyway...I really can't believe people actually pay $100/night to camp. Sure, different strokes and all that, but...wow!)
If we stayed home, we'd probably spend about $100/week in groceries. Granted we aren't realistically going to eat EVERY meal in the RV, but in theory, we could do this whole 3-week trip for about 2 grand. Even at $5/gal it's under $2500.
Sure you could drive a car, stay at cheap hotels and eat fast food, but a lot of what makes camping justifiable cost-wise (at least for us) is you don't have to go looking for entertainment. If you drive a car and pull in to a roadside motel for the evening, there's really not much to do other than watch TV--unless you go out and spend more money. When you're camping, you can take a walk, build a campfire, grill up some burgers, go for a swim, etc. Yeah, you spend more on gas during the day, but once you're stopped, you're pretty much done spending money until you hit the road again. The whole "camp more, drive less" theory.
I guess a lot of it is how you look at it, but a lot of it depends on your camping "style" too. Time is definitely a factor...wouldn't make sense to take the RV if this was only a week-long trip. But for 3 weeks, it's still a good deal. Just my .02.
I bought my MH back in Nov 07 and I anticipated $4.00 a gallon gas . Most of our trips will be in state camping .I do have a couple of out of state trips planned at $4.00 a gallon so if it goes higher than that it still will not put me that far outside my budget . Since camping is my main goal I figure I'll do no worse with my MH than if I was pulling a TT with my Titan p/u . Someone mentioned now is the time to buy and actually I'm watching for the chance to move up to a newer unit , this will also put me on the other side of the situation "selling" but even taking some loss on my current unit I think I can come out ahead if I find the right deal .
Yes the price of fuel is high and it looks like there is no end in site. Except for us and the end is forever. So it actually comes down to, if you get enjoyment out of it, Do it, there is no time like now.
Been traveling around since 2003 and hope to keep doing it until I drop.
heres my 2ct. Ive looked at new MH and then said no. I own my MH with has no loan. I do plan on cutting down long trips and stay within a 300 mile range of my stick house. I just might do a florida trip in the fall. New MH are nice but the only difference between mine is a one piece windshield, hd tv, and mabey even hydrahot. Buy or sell, not right now. Enjoy rving with what I have. Chuck
Donna and Chuck
2004 Dutchstar Model 4009 tripple slide
Spartan chasis and 370 ISL Cummins
2003 Saturn L-300 (toad)
1998 Hi-Line Park Model trailor up in Maine
2 chihuahua one female (chi-chi) one male (Alabama)
Unfortunately I have found this to be true among my friends and others I know or have run into. This applies to not only the MH owners but travel trailers owners as well. Several of the trailer owners I know have not even take them out of storage yet, last year these same owners would have also been out several time already this year. A few have said that they will not be doing weekends and stick to a single vacation close to home. I have also noticed coming and going to work that there is an unusual high number of MH & trailers for sail as oppose to the last couple of years of only seeing 1 or 2 along my the routes I take.
Anyway I don't plan of selling mine and also plan on staying close to home. I have been out 3 times this year and am going again next week for several days.
Stubborness and my self-gratification addiction, I finally figured out why my MH is not for sale. The high cost of fuel, and the consequential high cost of everything else,....is starting to shock me. I only have enough money to go another 9 or 10 years. I'm just glad that I don't have to start from scratch 'cause I can't see how I could do it today.
It's easy for me to see why there's a significant number of RV owners who are "parking it", or selling it.
Willie & Betty Sue
Miko & Sparky
2003 41 ft Dutch Star Diesel Pusher/Spartan
Floorplan 4010
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