First season with your RV or travel trailer-what did you do?

[Lilrhody]

The husband and I are having a difference of opinion. One of us wants to find a seasonal spot relatively near by and use that as "home base" for our trailer, pulling it out for a few specific trips over the summer. That way, we have somewhere to go easily every weekend. The other thinks we should use the summer to try lots of places, looking for a seasonal spot with easy in/out for next year, and renting a storage space nearby for this year. This would mean more set up/tear down, but perhaps expand options going forward.

What did you do your first season? What would you do if you were new now?

[GaryWT]

Either way will work but the more you are on the road the first year, the better chance of finding a campground you will like. Also, take drives and tour campgrounds ahead of time to see if you will like them before booking.

Our first 11 years were in pop ups. We parked it at home and camped anywhere from 4-12 trips a year, our year being May to Oct. the kids were little and had some great trips, the kids started camping at young ages, 1 year, 5 months and the youngest camped at 4 weeks old.

When the kids got busy with sports etc our camping dropped off as baseball and softball went into the summer and soccer started before the fall. It was at this time we went seasonal. We found a campground that we liked that we had never been just over an hour from home. Bought a 30 foot trailer and after 1 year loved it so much we upgraded to a park model 12 wide. I know many don't like seasonal but it worked for us, our second home. Campground had 400 sites, kids had a second group of friends, we had more friends, some we still camp with. Things that we did not do or have at home: golf cart, campfires, 4 pool complex, huge breakfasts at the site (50 people once), bands, dj's, bingo, volleyball, and on and on. The kids could not wait to get up there. Sometimes we would go fot a day or one night depending on activities but we were basically up there some part of every weekend, May to Oct. for 11 years. The memories are great.

Now for the last 4 years, we tow the 35 foot trailer and get out 14-16 weekends a season. Love the towing and the wife and I do the setup pretty quick so all is good. The youngest is 19 and still joins us and our oldest tent camps with his wife and joins us from time to time. We love traveling and all, just love camping. We keep our options open as health might force me to go back to being seasonal but for now, all is good.

As you can see, many things will work and once you start, you will see what works best for you. One advantage I have is the trailer is in the yard, plugged in and ready to go all season. Happy camping.

[Mr_Biggles]

We have a couple of local spots where we go for long weekends at the beginning and end of our camping season. But during the summer we try and go to different places. This years big trip will be to Oregon and Washington.

[DutchmenSport]

We've always had the ability to park our camper where we live and it's never been in storage. (We did have to move the camper once and store it at the in-laws farm about 60 miles from where we lived for about 6 months once, but that's a different story). So in the last 15ish years or so, we've always had the camper at home. We've never put it on a seasonal site. We have always parked the camper at home in such a position that we could use the camper at home for driveway camps, sleep in it at night on a whim, use it as a portable office, a guest bedroom, and sometimes just for a change of atmosphere. So it's always home. It's always ready to hit the road.

Especially now, since we live in the country, and our country living is so much more peaceful than any campground we've ever been to, we don't mind using it right at home. We do use it a lot. Especially in the Spring, Summer, and Fall, and even throughout the winter snowy months, we driveway camp as much as possible. We love our camper and want to use it as much as possible.

Our first years with an RV (pop-up), we went out camping every chance we had. When we got our first travel trailer, we camped (away from the house), several years in a row, over 30 week-ends through the year.

For about a 4 year period our camping slowed way down. We actually owned 2 homes, were making mortgage payments on 2 homes, and were paying dearly for attempting to sell our old home on a land contract that went horribly wrong, which resulted in our lives being on 100% hold and over $100,000 loss and cash money out of our pockets! (I am not kidding). It was a total nightmare.

But even then we had the opportunity to driveway camp. And we did. The camper was our escape from all our headaches. Thank goodness we had it. Thank goodness we lived in the country. Thank goodness I could hook up water and electric, and could dump in my septic tank. I think it really was the ONLY thing that held our sanity together.

We have overcome the stressful years now. It's been a slow road to financial recovery, but we are once again single house home owners and are now once again in a position where we can book campgrounds, pretty much at a whim, (as long as it does not interfere with our work schedules. My wife and I both work in Information Technology, and sometimes the hours are insane!)

So for us, our original plans for our camper has never changed. We keep it at home, do driveway camps as much as we can, and do campground camping as much as possible. We have all the holiday weeks scheduled already for 2015, and am working to schedule short weekend camps too. We do reserve campground campsites now around our work, but for 2015, we're getting quite a schedule going.

IF.... IF.... you do not have the ability to store your camper at home ... I think you should do the seasonal site camping the first year, the second year, forever, as long as you live where you do, and pull the camper out as much as you can for trips. After all, you have to pay storage somewhere. Why not keep the camper where you can use it any time, all the time! Storage is never a good thing!

[Lilrhody]

I wish we could do the long trips everyone has described, but limited vacation time from work means our trailer will mainly be a weekend home for the next decade or so. Thus the inquiry - set up in a new place every Friday night or have a "home away from home" always waiting unless we've planned a different trip?

I should add that we can't park it at home, so will be paying regardless of whether it is at a campground or storage yard.

[Veebyes]

HA! First trip was from near Austin, TX to new homeport on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

Second trip that first year was back out west to Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta & return to MD again.

The second year was first trip to Alaska. We don't play around with local trips.

[tenbear]

We went on a few short trips, a week or less, to find out what we liked and learn about the RV. Then we loaded up the trailer and went on a 3 month trip to Alaska.

We live in the boonies so getting a seasonal site has no appeal at all.

[Chock_Full_o__N]

Lilrhody wrote:
The husband and I are having a difference of opinion. One of us wants to find a seasonal spot relatively near by and use that as "home base" for our trailer, pulling it out for a few specific trips over the summer. That way, we have somewhere to go easily every weekend. The other thinks we should use the summer to try lots of places, looking for a seasonal spot with easy in/out for next year, and renting a storage space nearby for this year. This would mean more set up/tear down, but perhaps expand options going forward.

What did you do your first season? What would you do if you were new now?

Well, our first season started out with a bang. We bought the TT in Feb 2007, took it out a time or two, then hit the road the day after school got out and took the kids on a 2 month long, 6,000 mile cross-country tour. :B We had a blast!

I'm so glad we did it then, because we couldn't do that trip now--DHs health is poor. In fact, about a year ago we had the trip from HELL which convinced us that our towing days were at an end. We parked our TT up at our favorite campground in the North Georgia mountains and we go visit it periodically.

I was afraid that "out of sight, out of mind" would mean less camping, but that has not been the case at all. Despite that in 2014 my DH had his sickest year yet, we managed to get in 25 nights camping. And it is sooooo nice to toss the clothes and a cooler into the Prius and tootle on down the road. When we arrive, the rig is on site, leveled, and ready to go. It takes about 5 min to plug in the power and hook up the water, and then we're camping! 😛

[dshizzel]

DW has been using her Good Sam trip planner tool for the last 6 months planning our trips.

2 days after I retire in March, we're taking our new truck/5'er to California, first southern, and then northern, and coming back in June. In July, 2 weeks in SW Fla to visit my brother (yeah, July in Fla, I know). In fall, up the eastern seaboard for the changing of the leaves. In winter, Washington DC -- want to avoid the big tourist season.

Basically, we're only back to our S&B for about a month at a time for the next X number of years as long as we're having fun. DW has plans for almost all 50 states, but we haven't put 'em on a calendar yet.

So, we're starting out full bore and keeping the pedal to the metal.

[Bob_E_]

I'm in the "No Seasonal Site" camp. HAHA...see what I did there? 🙂 However, if you have to pay for storage anyways, it might make some economical sense.

My mother-in-law has a permanent camper at a CG about an hour away and, while it is nice and convenient and some of the neighbors are nice, frankly it is pretty boring to go there. Even my kids don't really want to go there very much any more. They've seen it and done it. In my MIL's case, her annual fees run about $700 and that includes electric, water, sewage, and garbage. I don't know what RV storage would cost, but that would work out to only about $60/month. The CG is open all year round, but they turn off the water once it starts freezing. They keep water on in the bath houses though. And except for the main road, they don't plow the snow in the winter. Most of the lots would be tough to get in and out of all the time because the roads are narrow with many mature trees. But others would be fairly easy. So if you could get a lot with good in/out access (would run about $3000-$5000 for empty lot at her CG), you could have that as your base camp and, if you want to travel, just go hook up and drag it out of there. 99% of the campers there are "park model" types that don't move. However, there is a nice motorhome that drives in and out on a regular basis.

So if you could get something that was accessible for a decent annual fee, it might not be a bad idea. The only downsides would be the up-front cost to buy the lot, and being committed to the annual fee until you found a buyer if you ever wanted out.

[bsinmich]

If I wanted a cabin someplace I would not consider an RV. This reminds me of the 10 years I had a 18; Sea Ray. It was trailerable and I like to go to various locations. When I sold it I checked back and found that every other year I had permanent dockage and the others it sat on a trailer in my driveway. I lived in Detroit area with Lake St. Clair 3 miles away and could go from Lake Huron to Lake Erie with no problem. I vote for variety!

[Bob_Olallawa]

We have an RV lot about an hour away from home and use it as a weekend get a way. Set it up with 4 sites and a bath house. Has a community pool, playground and beach. It is a good spot to stay for a weekend or a week and has easy access for clamming,crabbing,and fishing.

[Bobbo]

We have never done a seasonal spot for a few reasons. First, we don't want to pay for a place that we are not actually using if we are not at the camper. Second, we have never found a place that we like so much that we want to go back there over and over without going other places in between. Third, if we did pull out of the seasonal spot for a weekend, or a week, we don't want to be paying for 2 spots at the same time.

Our first season, we went camping every other weekend (I work every other weekend). We went a different direction/distance every time. We got a good overview of the camping opportunities in our general location at different distances.

[dieharder]

My first season, we went to Myrtle Beach for 2 weeks for Easter, PEI for 2 weeks in the summer, and weekend camping trips not terribly far from home.

Seasonal sites aren't for me. I don't like the idea of spending my vacation in the same place all the time. Too many great things to see. I wouldn't change a thing if this was new to me today.

[jplante4]

We live in a place where people go for the weekend, so we use the RV to escape the Cape whenever we could. We did mostly weekend (or Sunday-Tuesday) trips and one 2 week adventure to another beach spot (Hatteras). In between the coach sat in the driveway or storage. I don't think I could have gotten a seasonal spot around here for what we pay for storage.

For us, it was a discovery process. We didn't know if we would like the traveling life style and if we could do things we needed to do from the road. We discovered plenty, and those discoveries ended up costing us a lot more money :).