Getting expensive

Homework is required.

We've been traveling fulltimers now in our 14th year. Was it cheaper 14 years ago? Yeah, but not by that much. And have the opportunities expanded? Yep.

I reached geezerhood in mid 2013. Since then COE parks have been our go-to. Some of the most gorgeous places in the country and for an average of between $10-12/night for a widely spaced site.

Pool? No. Hot tub? No. WiFi? No, but available down the road. Activities? Well, for us, a 5 mile hike/day is ample, but no on the silly (to us) orchestrated stuff. Bingo? Seriously?

And to add to that, we are currently in a 22 site park in the NC hills at 2,000 ft. with our nearest neighbor 500' away. The leaves are turning and falling, it is so quiet that you can hear that ubiquitous pin drop and because we like it so much we signed on for a month. Ready for it?

With NO discounts we are paying $265 + electric (for us about $25) for the month. That includes water, sewer, good cable TV with about 40 channels, very good WiFi, and some of the nicest owners we've encountered.

If my math is correct, that works out to less than $9.70/night.

Yes, a remote find, but there are a lot of these jewels out here if you spend the time looking for them. And no, ain't no way I'm telling you where we are!

Everything has risen an average of 400%+ since 09 to us. The recent slightly lower fuel costs help a bunch. when there are five vehicles and stores and doctors are from 10 to 120 miles away.

It used to be much cheaper to tow an RV and pay for gas and an RV site than driving and staying at a nice hotel. True, prices of everything have gone up but lately in many parts of the country its not longer cheaper to RV.

Nicer RV resorts in California for instance are $80 off season and well over $100-$130 over holidays. So no savings as there once was to RV. It's a lifestyle you just have to want regardless of cost.

We can no longer afford to travel long distances by any means and it's why our RV will be for sale shortly. When we started out, GG fees were $15 to $20, gas was around $1.75. Now, it's rare to find a private CG below $50 and even SPs are getting up towards $30. Although gas has gone down in recent weeks, it was around $4.00 last season.

It has priced us out of the lifestyle. We have some condition issues to address, but our rig will be on the market within the next 45 days. Maybe it's not the best time to sell, but running it for trips is no longer an option.

We'd rather be RVing/Camping than staying in some hotel/motel where somebody else slept in your bed last night.

We can still visit the casinos when we feel the urge.

Yes, it is getting higher, and for those of us with only Social Security as our income, we are beginning to feel the impact. No, we will not quit going(yet). We used to prefer state parks, which we could afford then, and some states give a small senior discount, or in our case, a state resident discount. Even so, many of the state parks are getting too expensive for travelers, and the income is not going toward maintaining the facilities. So now, we are using more COE or free campgrounds, and have found that in some cases, a Passport America park with full hookups and amenities can be cheaper than a state park. for longer stays, volunteer jobs that come with a campsite can be a good option. Usually cheaper than staying home and paying utilities and such.

kcmoedoe wrote:

John&Joey wrote:

ccbb088 wrote:
Do you think the overall price of camping is starting to get to high? The price of campgrounds, diesel to get it there, camper payment if you have one. Etc. Just wanted to get some thoughts and opinions.

Yes, for us it seemed like it. When a campground is charging $30/night and I can get a nice hotel for $55/night and in the morning walk away from all the liability ??????

When I can drive my Highlander and get 24mpg vs my Class A at 6-10 mpg ??????

The only time my Class A made sense in traveling was when I turned the key off and stayed in one location for more then 4 days before moving onto the next location. Then an RV made sense for us as a means of traveling the country.

On what planet are nice hotel rooms $55.00 a night? A Best Western, a Holiday Inn Express or a Fairfield Inn all are generally $100 a night or more depending upon location and no one mistakes them for truly nice hotels...

Listen to you, big talker. You just need to get up to speed.

Join the clubs and learn the websites. Also take advantage of casino hotels. Yes it takes some work, but so does finding good campgrounds. Just because you fail at finding good hotels at the 50-70 dollar range doesn't mean we all do.

billkaufmann wrote:
Whatever it costs, it is worth it to me to get away from everyday issues.

x2 :)

Not so expensive. I owned a 36 ft. DP for 40 mo. Dep., Ins. and Maint. cost a little over a $1000 a mo. Throw in the cost of fuel and campgrounds so $2000 a month would be close. $80,000 for 40 mo. of fun, priceless. :B

ccbb088 wrote:
Do you think the overall price of camping is starting to get to high? The price of campgrounds, diesel to get it there, camper payment if you have one. Etc. Just wanted to get some thoughts and opinions.

No.