Forum Discussion

Dennis_Smith's avatar
Dennis_Smith
Explorer
Nov 13, 2016

144 days in a 18 foot box

Well me and the wife did it 144 days in our little 22 foot (18 foot box) Fun Finder. We left Colorado Springs on 2 May, Headed north, Ended up traveling through 10 states covering 20847 miles. We kept track of just about everything we spent, the wife typed up a spread sheet and here are the results if anyone is interested. We Moved 44 times longest spent was 10 days, a few at 1 day but the average was about 4 days. We stayed in KOA’s, national parks, military campgrounds (I am retired Air Force) city run, private campgrounds and a couple of dumps. We do not overnight at Walmart’s or any free campgrounds. The longest we dry camped was 7 days. We try and make reservations at least 2 stays out, we just like knowing were we are going to stay We have three house batteries so electric was not an issue. The most we spent was $66, the least was $15 for camping. We canoed in every state but Oregon. So here are our totals by trip and daily average. Miles 20847, 145, camping $4749, $33, Gas $4399, $31, Groceries $1630, $11, Restaurants$3517, $24, Propane $62, $.43, Misc, $3063, $21, Museums $616, $4. I am over 62, so entry into national parks is free, we saw 41 parks, monuments, battle fields etc . We enjoy eating out so we do. We spent a total of $18,036, or $125 a day. That is what we budgeted for and what we spent. We could save money by not eating out as much, but other than that I don’t think we could cut our budget and see the sites we want to see. The tire pressure monitor caught it and we didn’t have to change it. A few loose screw etc in the camper but nothing we had to fix then. The only thing we would change is remove the sofa in the slide and put in two nice chairs. But we can’t figure out how to do that. The built in DVD on the 12 volt Television did quit working so we will replace that, we do like to dry camp and have our movies when we want one. Had a friend stay in our house and covered the utilities, and mailed us our mail 3 times. We used our discover card 95% of the time and our debit card when they don’t take discover. I paid the bill on line once a week, just to keep track of our expenses. It was a great trip, we saw a lot of stuff and really enjoyed our self. We DO NOT WANT a bigger camper, we pull with a gas Ford F250, crew cab with a topper on the back. We love it lots of room and lots of storage in the back. We are planning for next year and headed east this time. Our average gas mileage was 12. That is towing and not towing. Hope you find this interesting we had fun doing it.
  • No typo that is what we drove. We go see something each and every day. A couple of times we had to drive a couple hundred miles, ie get up at 4 and be there at 8 when they open. I need to do the math on how far we pulled the trailer, but just guessing I would say close to 10,000 miles. The west is a really BIG place.
  • Fabulous trip report - you have done what DW & I envision doing maybe five years from now. Glad to hear you had a good time and travelled safely. Well done!
  • Got out out log and map quest. We pulled the trailer 7145 miles. Average about 9.4 pulling the trailer and a hair over 12 without. Longest day was 465 miles from phoenix to Albuquerque when we were headed home. Shortest day was 17 miles in Spokane moving to the campground on the army base.
  • Thanks for a great report! I love seeing the numbers :)
    When the wife and I go out for a weekend or even week, by the time we have picked up food and trinkets it usually ends up at about $125 a day and I know we could get it lower but its good to see a couple PRO's getting the same round numbers :)
  • Thanks for a great report! I love seeing the numbers [emoticon]
    When the wife and I go out for a weekend or even week, by the time we have picked up food and trinkets it usually ends up at about $125 a day and I know we could get it lower but its good to see a couple PRO's getting the same round numbers [emoticon]


    Don't think we are PROs just learning as we go. Have learned a lot just reading this web page. The big thing is get out there and do it.