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?

[concord32]

A lot cheaper than the car I restored and take to shows.

[Caveman_Charlie]

For me? I would say it has paid for itself. I'm just a weekend camper in a 3500 dollar Travel Trailer. I have the pickup to tow it with anyway. I live in the country and have to drive to a bigger town once a month or so to get supplies anyway. There is a county campground near to that town that cost 20 bucks a night so I stay there. As someone stated I get good exercise and eat healthier at the park so I've lost weight and I'm in better shape at 50 then I was at 40. The camping has caused my stress level to go down so I feel better mentally at 50 then I did at 40.

And,,,, most importantly of all I use my TT as a anti DWI device. If friends want me to stop over to grill out and have a few beers I take the camper and spend the night. So if it saves me a DWI then I'm many dollars ahead.

It has saved me countless dollars and as they say a penny saved is a penny earned.

[DutchmenSport]

Let's see, $55,000 for new truck (2014), $34,000 with rolled over loan from old camper for the TT, diesel about $4.00 a gallon, to keep my wife happy .... priceless!

[D___M]

I'm like most of others here. Who cares? It's fun. If I worried about all of the money I blow having fun, I would crawl under my bed and curl up in the fetal position.

I have been in Ocean City MD for the last few days golfing and carousing with a bunch of buddies. Weather is great and the beer is cold. Don't even care what it costs.

[2012Coleman]

fla-gypsy wrote:
The cost? Are you kidding? The cost is insignificant compared to the benefit derived. The ROI is priceless!

And to this, I'll add Who cares? Just have fun!

[fla-gypsy]

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.

My friend I would say it's closer to 1/4 the cost at our state parks and you have the option to eat at your campsite in some of the loveliest vistas available.

[Reader1]

We've never been asked that question. We love traveling, hiking, biking, Nat'l Parks, mostly dislike cities and hotels. If we were asked to calculate the cost we would also have to try to figure in the cost benefits of hiking, biking and all the exercise, stress relief we experience in the outdoors, relaxing at night by a fire, listening to rain on the 5th wheel roof at night, recalling all the memories we have given our children. Those items are significant when looking at health, wellness, motional and mental health. In other words - in our lives camping is priceless.

[beemerphile1]

I've seen T-shirts that read;
"If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand".

A variation could be;
"If you have to ask how much RVing costs, you can't afford it".

[Dog_Folks]

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.

[bid_time]

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.

[BillB800si]

Every year it gets more expensive. Last trip to Ft. Myers it cost $600 (one way) just in diesel fuel to get there from Michigan.
Upscale full service campgrounds are going for $50 and up a night now.
Figure in maintenance- insurance- storage fees wear & tear and it's no longer cheap. We've noticed more and more upscale RV Resorts are now providing cabins for travelers. Maybe lifestyles are changing.
Down South and out West it's rare to find campgrounds that allow camp fires now.
Things change I guess.....

[ncrowley]

We have done many calculations over the years and it is typically more expensive to take the RV then to stay in a lower cost hotel. However, on our trip to Death Valley, we saved a lot of money. We got an inexpensive full hook up site and we ate our meals in the RV. The rooms and the restaurants there were very expensive. If you stay in higher cost hotels, the cost starts getting more even. However, we can bring the dog with us in the RV and we can stay places that do not have a hotel around. We also like being able to cook our own healthier meals. We also like sleeping in our own beds in our own sheets. I have traveled a lot and have had some incidents in very nice hotels. In one hotel, I had hundreds of baby ticks on me when I woke up in a high end hotel. That incident sent me to the hospital that night.

[Community Alumni]

Yeah :C, no pictures yet though!

Traded our coach because we found ourselves rolling a lot less that when I first retired 6 years ago. Summer we spend weekends at our NY Adirondack seasonal site and winter we're at our Myrtle Beach campsite. We really wanted more traditional living space than our coach provided. Seemed silly to tie up a coach when we are not traveling. The coach more than paid for the new trailer. :C

... Eric

[SRT]

PackerBacker wrote:
As others have stated, it's a lifestyle. We live in our rv six months spread over a year and expenses associated with doing this are relative to living at home for six months.

Cost per mile is never a factor.

New rig, I see......:B

[Dog_Folks]

When I retired and told my doctor I was going to full time, he said:

"Good. You will live ten years longer."

What's that worth?