Roadtrip by car vs RV, a couple of thoughts...

We just returned from a 1,000+ mile 5 day trip from our home in Payson Arizona to San Diego. We combined an important business meeting with the opportunity to visit our daughter and SIL along with 8 of our best friends.

San Diego is one of the least friendly RV destination in the country. Parking restrictions and a expensive RV parks along with southern California traffic makes it less than ideal. Consequently we left the 24' Class C at home and enjoyed the 24 mpg of our Honda Ridgeline vs 9.5 of the coach. Full disclosure: I drive a bit faster in the Honda than our coach. :B

The first night we stayed with our friends in north county {Vista} ironically utilizing the master bedroom of their 40' DP as guest quarters. We enjoyed a great dinner with them and had a blast reconnecting as we had not gotten together in more than a year.

The next day we drove down to San Diego and checked into the Bay Club Hotel on Shelter Island. It is a very nice hotel and you can't beat the location overlooking the marina. Our room was $574 for 3 nights which with the fuel savings figured in and the cost of local RV parks enabled us to just about break even.

Food was a different story... Naturally we were eating out for nearly every meal and the costs added up quickly. We took the opportunity of being in our former home town to hit several of our old favorite restaurants. It's difficult to eat as healthy as we are accustomed in our coach when dining out but it was fun to just relax and enjoy. I was more than a little shocked at how high the cost of dining out had gotten as we don't do it often.

Bottom line... any fleeting/foolish thoughts about selling ther coach have disappeared into the spaceship along with Jimmy Hoffa's body {we get offers almost once a month as folks drive by and see the motorhome in the driveway}. I enjoy doing all of the cooking including when traveling in the RV where we do virtually all of our eating/imbibing in the coach saving serious dollars. While the hotel was awesome we really prefer to sleeping our own bed etc. and after 9+years and 74,000 miles have out pretty well gotten the coach dialed in.

Another factor for us is our habit of usually towing our 10' cargo trailer hauling either the Can Am Spyder or your Rzr SXS depending the destination and the nature of the fun we have planned. This drops the mileage to about 8.5 but we usually stay off the grid or in inexpensive CG's.

We had a great time in San Diego but it reinforced our enjoyment of taking the motorhome as we will continue to do. Coming up... Quartzite for the RV Show towing the Rzr {we'll camp out at Sadden Wash} followed in February by Payson to Pahrump NV towing the Can AM. From the Lakeside RV Park we will day ride the Can Am to explore Death Valley.

:C

Seeking Advice

1320Fastback
Explorer
Mar 09, 2023
Hello OP from Vista, CA.
dedmiston
Moderator
Mar 08, 2023
Grit dog wrote:
^Hows that work for cost coverage or reimbursement though if she’s traveling for work?
Presume her company will cover the same “amount” as if she did a typical fly/rent/hotel/eat out scenario?

She booked the RV space on her corporate card and she'll use it to fill up the truck too. We're going to meet our son up there, so the business/pleasure lines are going to get blurry. We'll probably limit the expenses to just the nights at the RV park and the fuel. It all hits her office's P&L anyway, so we're motivated to keep it lean.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Mar 08, 2023
^Hows that work for cost coverage or reimbursement though if she’s traveling for work?
Presume her company will cover the same “amount” as if she did a typical fly/rent/hotel/eat out scenario?
dedmiston
Moderator
Mar 08, 2023
We're headed to a business conference for my wife in a few days. I really didn't want to go, but I didn't put up much of a fight.

We got a spot at an RV park for three nights, which cost about as much as a local hotel (maybe more, maybe less).

The cost/benefit analysis is pretty easy though:

1. Hotel vs RV Park: Call it a wash.
2. Meals: Cheaper in the RV (even more so for the drinks)
3. Fuel: Way more expensive to tow the fiver.
4. Pets: Way cheaper and more convenient to bring the dogs with us than to put them in a kennel or have someone dog-sit.

So cost-wise, we're probably just a little on the happy side of breaking even.

But then factoring in the conveniences: We'll be in our own beds with all of our comforts and living out of our closets instead of out of bags.

And on top of that, I've got my fast internet connection and a convenient office in the garage of our toy hauler, so I can work and bill my time while my wife is at her conferences, which tips the scales way in our favor for taking the RV and ends up paying for the trip.
StirCrazy
Moderator
Mar 07, 2023
I prefer to take one of the RV's which one depends on what I am doing. A long trip then I use the 5th wheel, a trip that involvs a lot of 1 day here one day there the camper. I like the conveniance of having my own bathroom while I am traveling, my own food so I can pull over and make lunch when I am hungry, and my own bed. don't get me wrong if I have to go one a trip thats over 8 hour drive and I am only at the destination for 1 or 2 nights I'll fly if the price is reasonable but in Canada air line tickets are far from reasonable. its 180 plus taxes to fly from vancouver to edmonton so about 240 (return, but I have to get to vancouver so thats another 140 plus taxes so it is well over 400 to do the trip, plus about 5 hours of travel time. for me to go with my camper its about a 8 hour drive and costs me less than 400 in gas. so even there it makes more sense to take the camper and go even if I am only staying over night.

Steve
ppine
Explorer II
Mar 07, 2023
It boils down to personal preference. A car is light and fast. An RV is slower and comfortable. Go the the way you like. I don't think people really save much money with an RV. It is the wrong reason to own and use one. Take an RV because you like it.
corgi-traveler
Explorer
Mar 06, 2023
My side business requires a lot of short-term quick travel, so I still do a lot of driving and flying. Both options, plus the RV have their time and place for us.

Funny that I come across this thread after making the final decisions/reservations following about a month of penciling out a 5500-mile , 25 day round-trip jaunt this summer.
Flying would have actually been the fastest and cheapest, except Dexter the corgi needs to go with me (going to Ohio for a big competition). He is a bit too big to go in the cabin (the others are smaller and can/could), and there are only very narrow circumstances under which I'm OK with putting him in cargo. Direct flights on Alaska Airlines only, and only when temps are below 75F and above 50F. We couldn't get that to happen, so no flight.

I could have made far better time taking just the minivan and hoteling it, but because of the outrageous rates at the on-site hotel and pricey options along the way, taking the TT is just about a wash, even with the 10mpg towing vs 25mpg in my minivan. I have my own bed, everything is clean to my standards, and I like the food better! We will take a couple of layover days and explore a few regions that have made our short-list to move to after retiring, so it's a multipurpose trip.
valhalla360
Navigator
Feb 23, 2023
opnspaces wrote:
Cooking a nice meal every night? I'm sure that some of you do that and I'm sure that many of you are outstanding cooks. But I'll also bet that the majority of you will maybe cook a hamburger or just make a sandwich and have a beer or two. Me I'm on vacation I don't want to have to cook and do dishes and make the bed every morning. I do that stuff at home not on many vacation.
I'm going to go to the restaurant where somebody takes my order and serves me my hot food. And for some reason food almost always tastes better when someone else does all the work and you just have to sit back and enjoy it. Well with the exception of the cafeteria at Yosemite Lodge or Curry Camp. Yeah that food leaves a lot to be desired. But 20 minutes later I'm past that point and having fun again and not having to stop to do the dishes etc.

On a relaxed trip, we cook most meals.

But if the goal is to put in 12-14hr days (heck even 8-9hr driving), making miles, we would typically be eating-out at least 1 meal and often 3 meals a day. After a long day, we just want to kick back and relax. If it's just quick and easy sandwiches and such, you can take a cooler on a car trip.

Of course, for us, short of an emergency, we only travel 1-4hr per day in the RV and trips are usually measured in months, so we have all our cooking supplies on hand.
opnspaces
Navigator II
Feb 22, 2023
As a member of the still working class I will use both methods. My trailer is for a weekend to maybe a week camping. But even a week is rare.

If I need to go any distance I'm in the Suburban or taking a plane and staying at a hotel.

Staying in my own clean bed? Not concerned. The hotel beds are changed before I get there. If the place is really so cheap that they are not changed I'm never going to know it. AND I'm going to sleep soundly and wake up and since I have an immune system I'm not going to have cooties.

I take cruises on a cruise ship. My favorite is the three day booze cruises from Los Angeles to Ensanada. It's a booze cruise with a lot of young (30 something) kids. I'm aware of what happened in that cabin bed the night before I got there. Yep I stay in that bed and I don't worry about it.

Cooking a nice meal every night? I'm sure that some of you do that and I'm sure that many of you are outstanding cooks. But I'll also bet that the majority of you will maybe cook a hamburger or just make a sandwich and have a beer or two. Me I'm on vacation I don't want to have to cook and do dishes and make the bed every morning. I do that stuff at home not on many vacation.
I'm going to go to the restaurant where somebody takes my order and serves me my hot food. And for some reason food almost always tastes better when someone else does all the work and you just have to sit back and enjoy it. Well with the exception of the cafeteria at Yosemite Lodge or Curry Camp. Yeah that food leaves a lot to be desired. But 20 minutes later I'm past that point and having fun again and not having to stop to do the dishes etc.

Don't get me wrong I like my trailer. I like it a lot and I use it for weekends often. The bathroom fits me but it is cramped. My kitchen counter is tiny. My dinette table is on two poles so it's wobbly. The foam in the dinette cushions is fine for 45 minutes then you start to feel the wood base underneath more and more. The furnace is a bit loud at times but it does not wake me at night. The hot water supply is limited.
Would I sell my trailer and go back to a tent? Heck no not a chance. I love RV'ing and I love my trailer and I love vacations in it. I'm just not at a point in my life where I need or want to limit myself to one method of travel.
Your mileage may vary
ppine
Explorer II
Feb 22, 2023
Yes. Good sentiments. I just went on a trip to Elko for Cowboy Poetry. We take the car and stay in a motel. It is not ideal in winter with three dogs, but camping in an RV when it is below zero is a challenge.