StargazerAL

Greetings, I am wondering how to remove myself from this forum? I didn't see any method to remove myself. Any help would be appreciated. AL

Hi Barbaraok, I don't know if it would cost me more in other locations of the country. We have been in 19 different states and traveled 30,000 miles in the five years we have been RV'n. Since I am an astronomer we tend to select sites away from big city lights, and campgrounds in more isolated settings. We like to hike and bird watch. We've been southwest, Oregon, Florida, Quartzsite, Wyoming and many other places. We do camp in Indiana with grandkids. Beside living expenses (I retired around 62) we maintain a stick and brick house out in the country and also have a house in town. We have been blessed with good health (that can always change). I have a free spot at my sister's place when I go to visit so that probably shifts my numbers a few hundred dollars lower. My sister has full hookups, as they had an Airstream trailer at one time. By heading home, spending time there and having a several months to plan our next adventure, it allows us to save dollars for our next RV trip, a sort of unfair advantage. Based on our costs, I believe I could maintain those and full time and still be in the range price wise that I have been. Using one of the budget sheets that someone linked to an Escapees site that include the health care and other expenses, I was at $2,212! I will say that so far we haven't had a major breakdown (knock, knock on wood) as that would change things and make our costs per month go up. Still, spread out over a decade and it becomes acceptable. We also live near most of the RV manufactures and have the ability to have things fixed well on our coach.

Hello, I'll chime in again after reading and giving this some more thought. I give a lot of credit to the people on here so I'm sure this has crossed the minds of people here. My house where I live is worth roughly $200,000 more or less. In some places, that would be poverty. It's an average price house here on an acre. Put it on a property in other parts of the country and it would be worth $500,000 or more dollars. Because the cost of living here is much lower than in some places, when I RV for $1,200 per month, that would be the same elsewhere for $2,400 to $3,000. Sorry I am still not counting eating, health insurance and a few other things in my RV expenses. I did plug in my numbers to see what they were that included those things, just out of curiosity. I realize I am camping along side of others who have a higher budget than my wife and I. We have covered a lot of miles in the 5 years we have been doing this. I've been able to chip down expenses without lowering our quality of travel and activities. I do have some things that keep my prices lower that not everyone might have. We have boondocked but not extensively. We have used Passport America for discounts but we have also stayed places that the cost for a month is in the lower $300 level but still a nice place for what we like to do. We have seen and done a lot of things the first five years of travel. We don't sit places, waiting for money to come in (I've got four sources). Our trips are planned and we have enjoyed our stay at resorts as well as the desert, boondocking. My perspective is our standard of living we are use to, plus working to get the most from the money we spend and some cheap locations when we are out west is the reason we have been able to keep things down in price. Hopefully I haven't offended anyone as that is not my reason for my comments but just the way I tend to see things as I travel by RV.

Greetings Kirk W, Barbaraok, As far as the rest of the budget, I tend to look at RV'n as what it actually costs me to travel and perhaps I tend to look at things a bit differently that others. First We aren't full timers. We travel several months out of the year. While food is an expense while traveling, we all have to eat regardless if we travel at an RV or sit at home and eat. Your going to have a food bill regardless of where you are and I personally can't count that as an RV expense. You might pay a higher price by not knowing the best places to shop or different areas might be higher than where you live and that is a true RV expense but shouldn't add up to anything real significant. As far as health care, I personally don't consider that an RV expense either as you would have that if you sat home or travel. I put those in other categories. The cost of clothing, entertainment, is again something you have to have weather you travel or not. The entertainment part should be added into the cost of travel with a budget of some sort. There are some fringe areas where one could and possibly should include in an RV'n budget. When my RV sits for a few weeks or a couple of months, I don't add that cost into my traveling time but it is a cost of RV'n. Figure I pay several thousand to have the RV there ready for me to use when I want to travel. Again internet is something that most people have regardless if you travel or not. It might cost more in order to take something along when you travel. I don't use WiFi anywhere and certainly wouldn't sit outside of someplace to get online. (good way to get hacked) I can see that different people's perspective on RV traveling and cost is the way they look at things. I can't deny that food, health insurance and a number of other things are expenses but the way I look at travel is what it actually costs, aside of other bills I will have regardless of if I travel in an RV. This is a good topic and address some important considerations when traveling and the counter points to my post are good ones and do have merit.

Hello, Original poster has not been on for about three years but here is my 2 cents worth. Like what others have said, depends on what all you do and want to do, how expensive your rig is and how often you travel, and what campgrounds you stay at. We have averaged under $40 a day for the last three years. That would be under $1,200 per month. This includes for us, fuel, campgrounds, and our RV cost. Our RV cost is what I paid for the RV, how long I plan to use it (10 to 12 years) and expecting some dollars back when we sell it. I allow $2,000 a year for upkeep and maintenance. If one boondocks, stays at an occasional campground and doesn't drive too many miles in a month, then I think staying under the one grand a month is very possible. Again it all depends on what you want when camping.

Greetings, Of course people who aren't regular campers can cause problems without regards to others who care and pick up after themselves and often others. My opinion is that a lot of these places are trashed by the homelessness in these areas. Ironically they are also hurting themselves if they want a free place to stay. When services were suspended about a year and a half ago, trash dumpsters were over flowing with trash and even piled around the containers which probably didn't help the situation. Guess what I am saying, pack it in and then pack it out if there is no place to put your trash. A stop over to a camp ground will solve your trash problem. Realize the season RV'ers are usually the most responsible campers out there with the exception of just a few.

Hello to all, In regards to saving money on gas. I know this isn't an option for everyone but I have been planing a trip. We usually do one trip at a time and then head back to home base in northern Indiana. I visit a sister out west along with my nephews and families. If we travel out west then return, I have about two thousand miles one way or roughly four thousand round trip. We were thinking of going to the southwest and staying for a month or two. If we go west later in the year (perhaps gas prices would be lower after summer vacations are over) then head southwest (from our western location) and stay a month or so we can save close to three thousand miles in travel or about 400 gallons of gas. Also saves us from traveling to the southwest and then returning after we have spent some time there. Only real problem with combining two trips, your gone about twice as long. Makes for a nice trip though. Overall I'd be saving about 2,900 miles. I would only be spending $410 more on the two trips combined for fuel. Quite a savings if we do it that way. Best!

Hello, Could this be the cicadas locust hatch? Suppose to be about 1.5 million per acre in most of the midwest. Good part is they don't bite but you have to be aware they will be around you.

Wondering, If this could happen in other regions of the USA? Realize the pipeline problem (hacking) was the cause of this problem but could it happen this summer in other locations?

Hi 2gypsies, I'd second that recommendation. I like the layered hills (mountains) in the area. Might add to make sure you have supplies as it is more isolated. In an RV you usually have enough supplies to last you the duration. Did a bit of rock hounding in the eastern part of Oregon.

Hi Kirk W and 2gypsies, Thanks for the warm welcome! I appreciate that. I've included a picture of their RV when they were camping one time. I will keep in mind calling ahead to the SKP Saguaro Co-op to figure out if I can stay for a month or so. I know that area is usually colder than the Tucson Area. I figure they have LP sales there to help keep you fueled for the cold. I like the city of Benson and it has the Walmart and a grocery store in town. I usually have alternate plans where I can go if I can't find a campground in the area. Not opposed to boondocking if I have to. My wife has been a good sport about that. I make sure she is comfortable for her sake and mine!. We stayed in New Mexico last year and it was pretty cold along with snow. Actually covered the ground and vehicles. It looks to me that the Escapees camp grounds if you are a member are very cost effective. While the money isn't an issue for us, I like to stay somewhere nice and enjoy cost effective parks to stay at. Our goal is to average $45 per day, that includes fuel to our camping spots, campground cost both travel to and from and staying somewhere for a bit, and our RV cost. If you stay longer it can average the price down. The higher price of fuel will be playing a part in that cost. Last year we were able to average $1.89 for fuel heading to NM spot. Was much higher when we headed home.

Yes, I have a class A Coachman Marada. We've been driving it for 5 years now. We've camped in Florida, Indiana, New Mexico, Arizona and Oregon. We average about 5,000 miles per year. I have an interest in the Benson, AZ park. You can't reserve per the website and is a first come first serve. Hope if we drive there sometime, they will have space for us.

Hello and greetings to everyone, I just joined this forum after spending a few days reading articles. I am not an escapee member yet but thought I would post here to find out more. There is a campground I would like to stay at which is an escapees. One thing that I like about this forum is the sensible rules and the polite posts. I have been RV'n for about 5 years now. My folks were also RV'ers and had a Superior Motorhome they traveled in, during the 70's and 80's. I camped several times with them including one fairly major trip with my wife and son at the time to the Worlds Fair in Tennessee. I look forward to talking with others here on the forum. AL