Thoughts on the Cost of RVing
In the process of planning a trip next summer out to Glacier NP, Yellowstone and all the NPs in Utah. About 3800 miles, round trip, and at least 30 nights. So, I just read an article in Barrons predi...
Forum Discussion
For 2020, I budgeted $0.35 per mile on gas, assuming $2.50/gal and 7.5 mpg.
Yeah, it's probably on the high side but gas prices fluctuate by state, and whatever is left over will pay for the pre-trip oil change.
$50 a night for campgrounds isn't unreasonable, but you can bring that down considerably by finding state parks, COE/NFS/NPS campgrounds, and a few nights in a Cracker Barrel, Walmart or casino parking lot. We do a lot of distance running, so that's our preferred option unless my wife absolutely needs air conditioning...
A couple weeks back we debated flying vs. taking the trailer with us to visit family about 800 miles away. I work for an airline, so airfare isn't a consideration for us. $99 per night for a hotel, $30 a day for a rental car plus eating out two meals a day came out to be more than what we paid in gas and camping fees at a nearby NPS campground. Plus we were in our own bed with a closet instead of trying to stuff a rollerboard bag with clothes for the week.
Since the food we pack, the trailer and truck are already sunk costs, there's not much point trying to justify those when looking at the cost of taking the RV with us. We pay that out regardless.
The equation usually works out to be food/hotel/car > gas/campground every time. In this case, running gas at $5/gall was only $140 more than flying and getting a hotel, and it gave us a lot more flexibility in deciding when we came and went.
Yeah, it's probably on the high side but gas prices fluctuate by state, and whatever is left over will pay for the pre-trip oil change.
$50 a night for campgrounds isn't unreasonable, but you can bring that down considerably by finding state parks, COE/NFS/NPS campgrounds, and a few nights in a Cracker Barrel, Walmart or casino parking lot. We do a lot of distance running, so that's our preferred option unless my wife absolutely needs air conditioning...
A couple weeks back we debated flying vs. taking the trailer with us to visit family about 800 miles away. I work for an airline, so airfare isn't a consideration for us. $99 per night for a hotel, $30 a day for a rental car plus eating out two meals a day came out to be more than what we paid in gas and camping fees at a nearby NPS campground. Plus we were in our own bed with a closet instead of trying to stuff a rollerboard bag with clothes for the week.
Since the food we pack, the trailer and truck are already sunk costs, there's not much point trying to justify those when looking at the cost of taking the RV with us. We pay that out regardless.
The equation usually works out to be food/hotel/car > gas/campground every time. In this case, running gas at $5/gall was only $140 more than flying and getting a hotel, and it gave us a lot more flexibility in deciding when we came and went.
