The only investment the RV is, is in the memories and good times you will share. Otherwise, there is no monetary investment to them, unless you can buy one at a heavy discount and resell it for more than what you paid for it. Otherwise, it's loss money. Like renting an apartment. The longer you keep it and the less you put in it and spend, then the cheaper it will be for you over the long run. But you can't compare staying in hotels, eating at restaurants, and etc. We eat out at restaurants when we travel with the rv. Sometimes when we stayed at hotels, we ate in, especially when a kitchen was provided or the hotel provided free food (breakfast and dinner). Can you save on travel costs? Yes and no. We spent way less money on gas when traveling in a car than we do in an RV. We spend 4-5 times as much gas on an RV than a car. So you really can't compare it all....