The RV Lifestyle

Makes me a better person.

As strangers in an RV or state park, most people give you eye contact, say hello and are willing to chat.  Contrast this with the city where saying hello to a stranger is not usually reciprocated for personal safety reasons.  I much prefer the friendly approach and now that I am back home, I continue to say hi and am willing to chat with strangers on the street or anywhere.  It's a small town so I usually do get a warm response.

Now there does seem to be a bit of an RV life style perceived pecking order.

On top are the large Class A bus owners who usually travel with 2 exotic dogs such as poodles, miniature collies, terriers, spaniels etc.  They have earned the right to be on top owing to the sheer size of their RV, the air breaks and the large financial investment it takes.  Some do not own a home a live in their RV year round.

Next come the travel trailer crowd.  Trailers range from small to gigantic, from plain to the streamlined models.  What they usually have in common is a heavy duty pick up truck, usually a diesel, is used to do the hauling.  The growl of these trucks is incessant in the campground.  Fifth wheel diesels are the pick of the litter.  Some travel trailer people live in their trailer all year round and supplement their set-up with a gazebo, shed etc.

The Roadtrek (also Pleasure Way, Leisure Way, Great West Van brands etc.) or Class B group, are next in order  my view.  We own fully motor home equipped heavy duty vans that have a raised roof line.  We like to move frequently from site to site.  Our vehicles can be parked on a city street and are allowed on small ferries where larger RVs are not permitted.  We get 15 to 17 mpg (and up to 22 for a diesel) rather than the meager 7 mpg a Class A or 12 mpg a trailer pulling pick-up will typically achieve I believe.

Then there are the sportsman box campers set into the back of a pick up truck with ground mounting stilts.  These units are on the small side and not too common where we tend top go.  Finally there is a budding new vehicle called the "camper van" which is like a pop-top family van that has come to America recently from New Zealand and will likely grow as it is affordable

Another effect of RVing we have found is our need for keeping "stuff" is diminished.  We are in the midst of getting rid of a lot of "stuff" we have been storing in our basement at home.  While on our recent trip, we never once missed any of it!

RVing is effectively land cruising.  I estimate our typical all up cost for 2 on the road including depreciation, fuel, food, site fees etc is $100/day or $50/day each.  Ship crusing (which we have done 7 times) is much more expensive ranging from $90/day/person (bargain basement fire sale cruise on an old ship) to $500/day/person or more (Oceania, Regent, Crystal etc.).  We can afford to stay on the road a lot longer at $100/day rather than $400/day.

Finally is the freedom.  We can go when and where we want , stay as long as we want and move when we want in our RV.  On an organized tour or cruise, this is not possible although some have inadvertently tried, ha.

OK, we are currently hooked on the RV lifestyle.  Our next goal is to sell our 1999 Roadtrek 190 (189k km) and move up to a newer Roadtrek with a king side bed and diesel.  We are hooked on the smaller size RV - what do you need all that extra space for anyway?


D.