Cost of your hobby

[pitch]

I am constantly asked by non Rv'ing friends and family how expensive this hobby is.
I did not figure the cost of the truck as I have always had one,I spread the cost of the trailer out over a guessstimated life of ten years. Nor did I depreciate either the truck or trailer as I tend to keep things till the wheels fall off.
Any way I came up with a ballpark of 1.25 per traveled mile of outing. More if it is a destination trip much lower for simple short camping.
If any of you have figured it out where do you come in at?

[Bumpyroad]

BillB800si wrote:

Dog Folks wrote:

Maybe in Michigan.

It is different here in Florida, for example: Cheap hotel in Key West $250.00 per night without any add on, like taxes, resort fees, etc. Camping in a state park?=$36.00 per night+ tax.
No other additions.Other areas of the state have the same type of differential,just less dollars per day.

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From Hotels.com a cheap hotel in Key West right now $49 a night. Check it out.

Key West hotels from $66/night - KAYAK
bumpy

[Dog_Folks]

BillB800si wrote:

Dog Folks wrote:

Maybe in Michigan.

It is different here in Florida, for example: Cheap hotel in Key West $250.00 per night without any add on, like taxes, resort fees, etc. Camping in a state park?=$36.00 per night+ tax.
No other additions.Other areas of the state have the same type of differential,just less dollars per day.

------------------------

From Hotels.com a cheap hotel in Key West right now $49 a night. Check it out.

.


There is big difference between an opening showing and actually booking one. Try to book that $49.00 a night and see what happens.

Also, what some hotels call "Key West" is any location within 30 miles of the city. It is my opinion it is much cheaper to camp in state parks rather hotels, based upon 41 years of doing so, here in Florida.

Lets' just agree to disagree.

[BillB800si]

Dog Folks wrote:

Maybe in Michigan.

It is different here in Florida, for example: Cheap hotel in Key West $250.00 per night without any add on, like taxes, resort fees, etc. Camping in a state park?=$36.00 per night+ tax.
No other additions.Other areas of the state have the same type of differential,just less dollars per day.

------------------------

From Hotels.com a cheap hotel in Key West right now $49 a night. Check it out.

[BillB800si]

Padlin wrote:
3 days at RI beach fishing, gas = $200, $100 for all else.
10 days in the Caribbean in low cost villa, $2000 travel, $3000 all else.$100 vs $500 a night.

================

Try hauling your RV to the Caribbean for a fair comparison.. 🙂

[Padlin]

3 days at RI beach fishing, gas = $200, $100 for all else.
10 days in the Caribbean in low cost villa, $2000 travel, $3000 all else.

$100 vs $500 a night.

[mich800]

Tystevens wrote:
It is expensive, but so are other hobbies. Actually, as I get involved in something, I'm always blown away by how much you can spend on it. My "main" hobby is bicycling -- road and mountain -- and I wont even tell people how much my bikes cost! My wife is getting more in to sewing, and you can drop a travel trailer's worth of money on a sewing machine these days. Ever been into a top end cooking or fly fishing shop?

But these are some of the things that make life worth it, so ...

About 50% of our trips with the TT are to mountain bike races that our family attends. When I was younger the cost of the bikes on the car by far eclipsed the value of the vehicle transporting them. Now we have the luxury pit with amenities. Private shower after a race is priceless.

[Tystevens]

It is expensive, but so are other hobbies. Actually, as I get involved in something, I'm always blown away by how much you can spend on it. My "main" hobby is bicycling -- road and mountain -- and I wont even tell people how much my bikes cost! My wife is getting more in to sewing, and you can drop a travel trailer's worth of money on a sewing machine these days. Ever been into a top end cooking or fly fishing shop?

But these are some of the things that make life worth it, so ...

[Dog_Folks]

bid_time wrote:

Dog Folks wrote:

bid_time wrote:
It isn't any cheaper then staying in motel. The only difference is, a motel won't let me build a fire and roast marshmallows in their lobby.

Here in Florida, state parks are 1/3 the cost of a hotel in tourist areas.

Agree with you on the marshmallows though.

If you think your only cost is the state park fee you're not being honest about it. It's not any cheaper than staying in a Holiday Inn, It's just different and I like to roast marshmallows.

Maybe in Michigan.

It is different here in Florida, for example: Cheap hotel in Key West $250.00 per night without any add on, like taxes, resort fees, etc. Camping in a state park?=$36.00 per night+ tax.
No other additions.

Other areas of the state have the same type of differential,just less dollars per day.

[GaryWT]

No one has ever asked. We look at our cost for campground fees just to budget, about $2,000 a year give or take.

Started to look at it per mile which I have never thought about, gas, trailer payment, extra food, camping fees and I was already up to $1.78 a mile so that is not a good way to go about it.d

As for hotels etc., just took a trip, hotel was $120 a night plus eating out all meals gets expensive and as others said, no campfire.

[69_Avion]

I bought my 1969 Avion camper from my grandfather around 1983. I bought a truck with it so I don't know exactly what I paid for the camper, but it was probably around $1500 back then. Two years ago I put $16,000 into rebuilding it and putting it on a trailer, so I figure that I'm into it for $17,500. Many folks are calculating a 10 year usage whereas I'm calculating 50 more years on this rebuild. I figure that it lasted almost 45 years on the original interior and this time I used better products, so it should last the rest of my life and then my son can have it. That figures out to $340 per year plus maintenance which I am going to put at $660 per year so I get a nice round figure of $1,000 per year to own it. It is also nice to have permanent plates on it.
My main cost is maintaining the TV.

[Gjac]

After 10 years of ownership and 70k miles of travel, it cost me $.57/mile (cost of Mh,repairs and maintenance). Trips cost between $60/day for lower 48 states and $107/ day for Alaska(gas,Cg's,food,gifts,etc). RV travel becomes cost effective if the trip is longer than 4 days vs hotel stays. The longer the trip the better the RV costs are. If you buy new and do not plan on doing your own maintenance the cost per mile will be much higher.

[Kittykath]

Not taking the cost of the camper into consideration because we'd have one, traveling or not, I compared a seasonal site fee to the daily reservation cost.

155 days of seasonal camping = $1,900
155 days paid per day @ $25/day = $3,875

That seems justifiable to me as we're not ready to take it on the road yet.

[2112]

I compare it to the cost of owning a vacation home in similar locations we camp, i.e. beach front, lake front, river front. Considering initial purchase, maintenance, taxes, lawn care etc. of a second home my hobby is cheap and fluid. I have a beach front home one week and a river front home the next. Plus I'm not stuck with the same neighbors.

We also use our camper when visiting my in-laws in a small town where the only hotel within 30 miles is an overpriced ($140/ni) run down flea bag. The small City Park RV Park in this town is right on the golf coarse, good location, clean, quiet and well maintained for $10/ni. I pay ~$90 for fuel round trip.

[John_S_]

I looked once and said never again. I have drive my motorhomes over 350k miles and fuel seems to be my biggest expense. I spent too much remodeling this 01 as it was totally redone inside but I needed a place to stay last summer for three months. I found a campground 20 miles from Johns Hopkins and it made everything I spent seem minor. There were a bunch of people spending three months in hotel rooms. I was home. So I spent 260 days in the coach last year. The first time since 01 I only drove 10,000 miles in a year. No extra oil changes. Was it worth it, in a word yes.

[mich800]

DutchmenSport wrote:

BCSnob wrote:
By staying in a campground in your own bed you're less likley to get bedbugs.

Yea, that is sooooooo true .... BUT... you could wake up with ticks, fleas, grasshoppers, beatles, lady-bugs, fishing worms (and maybe a hook to), a dog, or a cat. You may hear sounds under your bed (trailer), like raccoons playing, or even a passing skunk! (hope that never happens to anyone). You also might have squirrels or chipmunks running over your roof rafters (you'll never experience that in a motel room!), and you wake up to the smell of fresh bacon cooking over a campfire! ... Ah ... you'll never get that in a motel!

Yes. After 15+ years traveling for work I never got bed bugs. But I have picked up my share of ticks camping. But for the benefits I get camping I would not trade it.