I stayed in a camper van in Hawaii for $119 a night, and it was a trip from hell in paradise filled with hidden costs... (Honolulu: car rental, for sale)
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Have you checked the cost of AirBnB these days? After adding on their fees and cleaning fees and other stuff, the nightly rates can double from the quoted rate. I guess sleeping on someone’s couch may be cheap enough, but we ended up paying nearly $800 for two nights that started at $200 a night.
I did, and found some private rooms less than $119/night with all in fees. It isn't for me - nor are hostels or camping - but it can be done.
The volume of camper/RV listings did surprise me - quite a few of those.
Alternatively - for literally a little bit more than the camper rate, Kamaaina rates at the Aqua Aloha Surf Waikiki with all in taxes and fees with a room category upgrade are also reasonable, a spot check of the weekend of Oct 14-16 yields an all in rate with taxes and fees of $271 for 2 nights
I'm seeing a lot of younger folks writing about their various experiences and there's usually a common theme of confusion about how to deal with the real world. In her case, the van is too big to drive easily. Well, duh! That's just what is and expecting anything else is just wishful expectations. Maybe she came from a very sheltered environment where everything always worked?
There also generally seems to be an expectation of things being easy and upset when they're not. Such as when the back up camera goes out on the RV. She did figure out to get help for backing up since perhaps it didn't have mirrors? Generally, when driving something large like that, one plans things out to minimize backing up. She did seem to finally realize that it needed different parking situations than for a regular car. Well, she seems like she can learn, that's a good thing.
At least she was bright enough to not try to take it into downtown Honolulu.
Her article also had the flavor of someone looking for content.
This was a new one for me. Another example of a fool who should have known better, IMO. Turns out she didn't even save any money after everything else was considered and would have been better off getting a "cheap" vacation rental or hotel.
Some of the takeaways from the article:
Renting a van includes the risk of last-minute changes.
Finding legal places to park overnight was a challenge.
There was no user manual with the van, so I had to inquire about a lot of things.
With a rental, you're on your own for any cleanliness issues.
Maintenance issues can be high stakes when your mode of transportation is also your temporary home.
Maneuvering the van was nerve-racking.
Parking such a big rig was challenging, especially when technology failed me.
In some cases I adjusted my travel plans to suit the camper van and my safety concerns.
On my first night, I arrived at the campground late and got locked out.
She learned a good lesson on camping. Now she knows how it works. She should have sought out someone, on line, with camping experience, RV Forums, to guide on how a camper Van works and drives, takes up space, then one is used to with a car. Looks like where she rented the Van should have been a red flag when the van was not ready. I sought out RV People when I have camped. It helped me when i was not sure of a issue on backing up, and to practice before hand in a big parking lot, before you got to the camp sight. A lot of info out there.
That whole story was pretty whiny. She was worried the van was too wide to drive on a road? How does she think things get delivered to stores and such?
That whole story was pretty whiny. She was worried the van was too wide to drive on a road? How does she think things get delivered to stores and such?
Yeah, just not very well thought out by this woman.
Finding affordable lodging requires a strategy. It's always a good idea right before the cancellation date to check to see if there is anywhere else (or even the place you've reserved) have dropped their rate for close dates to try and fill rooms. If it's at the same place you've booked, sometimes you can switch to the lower rate online, sometimes you have to call the hotel. If you just show up tell them the rate dropped they will have some excuse why they can't do it.
Another strategy is to call them and explain you're there for work and won't be using any of the resort amenities and ask if the resort fees can be waived. They are less willing to do this if the date is far in the future and they think they can fill the room, but if the date is soon and they have vacancies they are more amicable to doing it. Hotels use "dynamic pricing" that adjusts prices up and down depending on availability to maximize profits, and that translates into what they are willing to do with resort fees etc. If they won't remove the resort fees even after explaining you won't be using any of the amenities, you can ask if they will substitute something you would actually use like a free breakfast (or whatever). It also helps to try to email them. I've had the person answering the phone tell me NO but then I email the hotel which usually goes to a manager and they give a different answer. It also sometimes works the other away around.
There's a lot of other strategies if one is creative, but I don't consider them ethical and would never do them myself.
I'm seeing a lot of younger folks writing about their various experiences and there's usually a common theme of confusion about how to deal with the real world. In her case, the van is too big to drive easily. Well, duh! That's just what is and expecting anything else is just wishful expectations. Maybe she came from a very sheltered environment where everything always worked?
There also generally seems to be an expectation of things being easy and upset when they're not. Such as when the back up camera goes out on the RV. She did figure out to get help for backing up since perhaps it didn't have mirrors? Generally, when driving something large like that, one plans things out to minimize backing up. She did seem to finally realize that it needed different parking situations than for a regular car. Well, she seems like she can learn, that's a good thing.
At least she was bright enough to not try to take it into downtown Honolulu.
Her article also had the flavor of someone looking for content.
Back in the mid to late 1960s I had a "camper", really a motorhome like this:
It was a 1948 Flxible converted to a motorhome. (Mine was blue instead of the yellow/red combination.)
She should have tried to drive that! No backup cameras at that time, just the big old mirrors. It could be fun trying to back it up. It was fun to travel in to see the country.
Mickey
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