The real cost of camping vs not

RPreeb wrote:
For us, the trailer is for camping. We don't "RV" in the way the many on this forum do it - we go camping in the national forests and parks. We go to mostly hang out in nature.

When we do destination travel, we generally leave the trailer at home, even if driving, because we have other reasons for making the trip that don't involve "camping". There is generally less hassle involved in checking into a hotel, going in and out from a location close to or right at the activity we are there for, No worries about using water or battery or LP. No decisions on whether it's time to disturb the campground by firing up the generator to recharge.

So we see it both ways. We live at home in a fixed, immovable house, but we trip out away from there both ways as necessary.

We mostly use it as a camper too, but the trailer worked surprisingly well on a vacation to Disney in California last summer. It made the travel part easier since we had a bathroom and our kitchen in tow, and once we were down there it was not only cheaper than a hotel but with young kids it actually worked better since they were in a familiar environment versus bouncing off the walls at a Hyatt or whatever. It kind of opened our eyes and with as much as we use it my wife and I have decided that it's going to be worth investing in a nicer toy hauler within the next few years. It is more work in some ways but I do like the greater independence and being able to pack what we want. With a family of five and a big dog vacations via air travel aren't going to be very practical in the foreseeable future, and frankly I fly enough for work to more than get my fill of all that noise.