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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Teacher Terry
We bought a used 27 ft motor home and thought we would travel for a year. After a month it was enough. We have done many 2-4 week trips and are now selling it. I would rather be in a motel.
Very, very common occurrence... similar to article.
Can be mitigated (for most 'explorers').
The LAST place I go when traveling is a motel (thank goodness we are all different in desires / preferences).
I suspect the 'male camper(?)' in article also prefers and always did and will prefer motels.
As a kid, our family 'explored' RV life / travel.
My parents made it 3 days, then parked the rented RV and took a flight to complete the trip. (Thus, used RV 3 days, paid rent on RV for a month, and paid for family airfare and motels) A good lesson I am sure!
I have subsequently camped 1,000's of nights on the trail, on the road. +/-, just one of many options.
Frugal ? (subject of OP). I hope to never have to trade the rich experiences of Guest Home travel (3 weeks during the last month...) great stays $0 - $20/ night, many were beach front (Bar Harbor to St Augustine) Mtns (Lake Placid), and along the St Lawrence while in Montreal and Quebec City. Great stays + camping too.
Will cherish the Camper van / Class A, B, and C trips and great memories (now and in future). Our kids (now age 35+) always rave about our camper van trips when they were young.
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 11-11-2019 at 11:09 PM..
I'd like to just do short trips in a van, mainly, with some weekend camping trips, but keep my apartment. One of the reasons I'd like to have a van with a bed in it would be even just for long drives, so I could lie down and ice my bad neck and ankle. I'd like to have a little freezer for ice packs. When I need a break driving or before going home after visiting a museum or whatever, I could lie down, ice my bod, maybe eat or drink something I brought.
This is what I did after my back surgery. I tired easily and needed a place to lay down. Most van conversions (other than those done by amateurs) will have a refrigerator/freezer, 2-burner stove, sink, bed, etc.
One piece of advice I’d give to anyone considering this lifestyle is to rent or borrow a vehicle of the size you want to travel in and give it a whirl for at least a couple of weeks. Yes I know it’s expensive to rent a camper but how much more expensive is it to buy and then figure out that you don’t like it.
One thing I don’t understand is the need of having to be comfortable all the time. I mean, I like to be comfortable too but I made my van as comfortable as I could and I discovered one year while traveling around the world and tent camping that after three nights I could sleep just about anywhere and even without an air mattress and I’m a terrible sleeper. I’ve never yet managed to sleep on a plane flight for instance. My life has been a long career of dispensing with comforts and to a degree that fellow Americans might find shocking but comfort and convenience are not things I highly value and the need gradually diminishes if you don’t give in to it.
One piece of advice I’d give to anyone considering this lifestyle is to rent or borrow a vehicle of the size you want to travel in and give it a whirl for at least a couple of weeks. Yes I know it’s expensive to rent a camper but how much more expensive is it to buy and then figure out that you don’t like it.
One thing I don’t understand is the need of having to be comfortable all the time. I mean, I like to be comfortable too but I made my van as comfortable as I could and I discovered one year while traveling around the world and tent camping that after three nights I could sleep just about anywhere and even without an air mattress and I’m a terrible sleeper. I’ve never yet managed to sleep on a plane flight for instance. My life has been a long career of dispensing with comforts and to a degree that fellow Americans might find shocking but comfort and convenience are not things I highly value and the need gradually diminishes if you don’t give in to it.
I've worked my whole life so I didn't have to do without comfort and convenience but if doing without them makes you happy that's all that matters. Different strokes for different folks.
One thing I don’t understand is the need of having to be comfortable all the time.
One thing I don't understand is the need of having to prove how manly you are by making yourself as uncomfortable as possible so you can have cred.
I used to hike and tent with the scouts, and after a few rain storms that floated the clothes in the tent into the corner and ruined them, I don't feel the need to do that anymore. And lets not even talk about having 3 wet dogs in a tent with you... not going to risk that, either. Like the previous poster said, I've been uncomfortable, and I worked to not be uncomfortable anymore. I still like going new places, I just like taking a bit of my home with me so that my family and dogs can be comfortable while exploring those new places. Yes, there are hotels that take dogs. Very few will take three of them at once, and none of them tend to be where I want to be.
One thing I don't understand is the need of having to prove how manly you are by making yourself as uncomfortable as possible so you can have cred.
Wow that hit a nerve. I’m an old lady btw. I said nothing about making myself as uncomfortable as possible...I just don’t need to be as comfortable as possible either and it’s an addiction, like everything else in this culture and gets in the way of having adventures. As a Fer instance...blue herons mentioned a 42 ft luxury RV above and the real problem with those is that there’s so many places you can’t take them. I know several places I’ve been on the backroads where I haven’t seen many of the big rigs because they can’t get back there. That’s where the beautiful places are and I can camp for free most nights.
I have kicked around this idea a lot, to buy and fit a van for travel. Walmart and other places allow you to spend the night for free. Then I was informed by the person related to me by marriage that she has no interest in spending her retirement sleeping in a Walmart parking lot. All in all not an unreasonable position to take.
But we still camp and packing all the gear and sleeping in tents is getting a bit old. So I will probably do it but not for long trips, for 2-3 day camping trips. It would be great to just leave all our stuff in it and not have to load and unload. A porta potty inside will be good for the middle of the night pees. But with such bad gas mileage and the need to pay for a camp site (in the east at least) I never understood how it is less expensive than a car and a Red Roof Inn for longer trips.
We have done longish (10-12 days) roadtrips in out van. We usually stop at hotels at least every other day or camp along the way. Living in a van would not be for me. the only place i can stretch out is on the floor between the seats.
DaveinMtAiry, The east doesn't have much to offer in the way of free camping, from what I understand. The southwest, and many places have BLM, Bureau of Land Management areas that have free 14 day campsites. This is where the savings come in.
Check freecampsites.net to see if there is anything close to you. I think there are some free campsites in Florida, which may be the closest. There are lots of areas in Arizona.
Can anyone with knowledge of eastern campsites pitch in? I've never been there so I don't know. It would be interesting to find out though and I'll put those areas on my bucket list.
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I said nothing about making myself as uncomfortable as possible...I just don’t need to be as comfortable as possible either and it’s an addiction, like everything else in this culture and gets in the way of having adventures. As a Fer instance...blue herons mentioned a 42 ft luxury RV above and the real problem with those is that there’s so many places you can’t take them. I know several places I’ve been on the backroads where I haven’t seen many of the big rigs because they can’t get back there. That’s where the beautiful places are and I can camp for free most nights.
