Compare to just a motel

[offroad]

Lets look at motel costs. Seriously good motel. $150 a night. Lets say you are a part time camper doing weekends only and saving for a camper and the lifestyle.

$150 x 52 = $7800 a year if you traveled every weekend. Maybe half that if you are just trying to get out of the house with $3900

The part time RV folks just seem to want to be separated from their money. $4000 a year is small cost compared to the cheapest new RV at $15000 (Scamp - plus costs for RV space at campground).

Maybe if someone did RV part time for ten years, could see buying the cheapest RV. But never the expensive monsters.

******

Glad the van camper fix it up folks are getting vans for $5000 to $10000 and living full time.

 

[rvwandering]

&nbsp;Don't forget to factor in the extra money for all of the meals that you have to eat in restaurants. And for entertaining yourself. Motel rooms are boring. Campgrounds have plenty of free things to do even if it's just sitting around the campfire talking.<br><br>&nbsp;Still I agree that it doesn't make any economic sense to buy a big, new, expensive RV that is going to sit in a storage lot 90% of the time. The same thing holds true for all the boats that sit tied to a dock at marinas. What a waste of money! <br><br>&nbsp;We had a VW van for years. It took us all over the eastern states for many memorable vacations, was used every day as a commuter vehicle, became a work van when we did home repairs and a moving van for many of our family and friends. So I'd say to anyone who wants to enter this lifestyle someday but still needs to work, buy small and used. Enjoy taking lots of mini vacations. See how you like it and then up grade or improve your RV when you can finally do it fulltime. Don't wait when you can be having fun right now!

 

[highdesertranger]

ain't no motels were I go.&nbsp; if there were I wouldn't be there. &nbsp;highdesertranger

 

[TxGypsy]

I'm one of those people that loves to play with numbers (ok...I'm frugal). &nbsp;I hesitated to get an RV/Van for several years because I mistakenly thought it would be more expensive to travel in one.<br><br>Let's look at an average traveling day of lets say 300 miles. &nbsp;My camper van gets about 15 mpg if I'm not driving in the lovely West Texas winds. &nbsp;So at let's say $3.50 per gallon that is $70 (20 gallons). &nbsp;If I can find a state park campground or a Passport America campground to stay at that is going to be under $20.<br><br>Driving my last vehicle, an older mini-van, I averaged 20 mpg on a good day. &nbsp;So my gas costs for the same trip would be $52.50. &nbsp;An average Motel 6 room seems to be running about $65 with tax and wifi(I have a pet). &nbsp;Then I also have to purchase meals. &nbsp;With tip and tax at a sit down restaurant it's going to cost at least $12 for one person. &nbsp;A McDonald's breakfast will be about $7. &nbsp;So if I eat 2 meals a day and stop for a cold bottle of water twice on that same day, that one day of traveling is going to cost me $136-155. &nbsp;<br><br>Whereas in my camper van I make my own meals and carry my own cold drinks and the same day of traveling would cost me(with buying my food ingredients at a grocery store) $90-95. &nbsp;That's a pretty significant savings! &nbsp;Not to mention that my food is much better than restaurant food and healthier. &nbsp;Then when I get to my destination is when the real savings kick in&nbsp;<img src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img">