Truthfully, Is RV'in becoming less enjoyable

[nonrev321]

Need truthful opinions based on experience.

My wife and I have been investigating traveling after I retire in two years. We were about ready to pull the trigger on a travel trailer than my wife got talking to some folks in her church who travel a lot with a travel trailer.

Seems they are not as happy with the experience as they used to be. Too hard to find nice places to stay, RV parts are too crowded. You have to make reservations 6 months in advance for the nice places in good locations. The ability to just pick up and go and/ or stop anyplace and stay awhile is becoming increasingly difficult due to the demand for spaces.

Truthfully this kind of freedom was one of the major attractions for myself and my wife. We recognized that some parks would likely be crowded and there would be some need to make reservations in advance... but 6 months ? Also a RV park that is packed to the gills really isn’t too appealing to me, especially if there is nothing like a line of shrubs or other divider to keep me from looking into my neighbors window.

Can people comment? Is it becoming less enjoyable due to
overcrowding?

Thanks
nonrev

[john_bet]

Your thoughts on your way to RV is not how we do it. We have an RV to use to visit our kids in far away states. We spend 1 to 2 nites in a row at one place then move on the next day. When we get to our destination we stay a week or two then move on. This summer we were 7 weeks out roaming seeing kids, grand kids, great grands driving 6K miles in the process. We have yet to do the snowbird thing or parks/resorts at some touristy location for an extended time, like months at a time. We enjoy it.

[TomG2]

nevadanick wrote:
East coast problem.

East Coast? West Coast? There are one heck of a lot of great things to experience between the two. (I avoid both coasts)

[jplante4]

nevadanick wrote:
East coast problem.

There are a number of Californians here that would disagree with that.

[TomG2]

As Abe Lincoln said, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be". There are a lot of good things to experience in our world. Go for it. You will remember the night that you got caught without a reservation just as fondly as the night you had one ten years from now.

[nevadanick]

East coast problem.

[Padlin]

I haven't been doing this nearly as long as some, about a dozen years, but I've always had to make reservations for popular places and parks at popular times, the sooner made the better.

You can still find solitude if you look for it. We travel on 2ndary roads when possible during the off seasons. State parks can be close to empty off the beaten path in November. We'll be heading south after the holidays, it's fairly empty traveling the southern states away from the shore. We'll spend 8 weeks in the crowds of AZ, and another 3 weeks traveling each direction where it's quiet.

We're hikers, we can always find solitude.

[bikendan]

Living on the West Coast, we were used to making reservations.
Then we stopped camping in the summer and only camped spring, fall and some winter.
Made camping much more enjoyable.
Now that we retired, we are taking longer trips, at least 2 months long. We are enjoying RVing even more.

Sure we have to reserve at popular places but that's part of the game.

[free_radical]

Grit dog wrote:
Let me guess. You’re in crowded S FL and the people your wife were talking to were senior citizens. First, old people will b!tsch about anything. Complain about the clouds on a cloudy day and the sun on a sunny day.
Get out of the city and ditch the rv parks and there’s plenty of space to stretch out.
Enjoy the country!

Best advice yet..
When I go camping I go as far from crowded campgrounds as posible,,
Outback,,boondocks,,woods,rivers and lakes..

[jim1521]

jplante4 wrote:

jim1521 wrote:
@jplante4: Looking at your signature: How did you get to/from Florida without going through Georgia or Alabama? 🙂

We had a lively discussion a few months ago about what you should have in your states map. I went with "states camped in". If it were "states visited" they would be all filled in except North Dakota. I intend to remedy that this year.

That makes perfect sense. Thanks!

[LewMichele_Paws]

We do most of our RV'ing during the school year which makes our spontaneous trips doable. For our WA State Parks we have to reserve months in advance but on trips to Natonal Parks we usually just go. We just completed a trip to the Grand Canyon National Park and there was plenty of room in the preferred campground with all hook-ups. We were out 18 days with 17 at campgrounds and 1 boondock at a Walmart. I have noticed that many campgrounds are now allowing more long-term stays for people who buy an RV for a home. This limits their overnight spaces somewhat and may be a problem in the future for people who travel like we do.

[Chuck_thehammer]

just like anything in life that's "NEW".... and Exciting...

as time goes on..

little unpleasant things become larger...

besides what "I" like might be something "YOU" will not like.

its LIFE. LIVE IT.

I live 5 months a year in my 30 foot travel trailer ...
Summer on Ohio.. Winter in very south Texas "RGV".

[time2roll]

Popular national parks have been hard to get into for at least four decades.
Same for popular beach camping.

[Thom02099]

Truthful Opinion...


Others have already said it. And others have lived it. So have I.

Go during the week. There's substantially less competition for sites, whether it's commercial parks, National Parks, or USFS CG.

It is true, you do have to reserve well in advance for many popular locations. For instance, to get a spot that I wanted in RMNP for Memorial Day Weekend, I reserved that spot 2 Saturdays ago...when the reservation window opened. That's just the name of the game to play when the weekend warriors are out and about.

When I was working full time, my job was a 4-10 schedule. My absolute favourite days off were Sunday/Monday/Tuesday. I could go up camping any time I wanted and not have much in the way of competition. I was going UP on Sunday as everyone else was coming DOWN. In the Colorado mountains, that's priceless, to have that kind of availability. When I retire again for good, I'll look forward to doing that again!

[jplante4]

An anecdote from my corporate days.

A man had a hot dog truck that he took around to various office parks and served lunch to office workers every day. Each day he prepared a number of servings in the morning and sold out by 1:30 and went home. The profits weren't great, but it supplemented his retirement income and gave him some purpose in life. In general, the man was happy.

His nephew, who graduated from a noted business school with an MBa told his uncle that the economy was bad and the business climate for a single entrepreneurial business was worse. So the man quit making hot dogs and sold his truck.

[jplante4]

jim1521 wrote:
@jplante4: Looking at your signature: How did you get to/from Florida without going through Georgia or Alabama? 🙂

We had a lively discussion a few months ago about what you should have in your states map. I went with "states camped in". If it were "states visited" they would be all filled in except North Dakota. I intend to remedy that this year.