The future ..down the road ????

[JCR-1]

If reservations continue to be the accepted practice for camping then the selected same shall remain the occupants year after year after year. Newbies will have little opportunities to find a campsite in the more chosen areas. Like having to be on a wait list for someone to cancel their time slot or rather their reservation to get a spot. Could take years as found in many boat marina slip scenarios. As RV ownership continues to escalate boondocking also will be more and more difficult as cities will stop allowing RV's to overnight inside city limits. Just don't see many new RV campgrounds going up?? Troubles ahead you think , price escalations as the supply continues to dwindle and phone reservation battles the first of every year.

[temccarthy1]

JCR-1 wrote:
If reservations continue to be the accepted practice for camping then the selected same shall remain the occupants year after year after year. Newbies will have little opportunities to find a campsite in the more chosen areas. Like having to be on a wait list for someone to cancel their time slot or rather their reservation to get a spot. Could take years as found in many boat marina slip scenarios. As RV ownership continues to escalate boondocking also will be more and more difficult as cities will stop allowing RV's to overnight inside city limits. Just don't see many new RV campgrounds going up?? Troubles ahead you think , price escalations as the supply continues to dwindle and phone reservation battles the first of every year.

DAH... then learn to make reservations and plan ahead! ... or sit home sucking on your Coors Lite...

[_1nobby]

The one thing I DON'T do is camp between June 30 and Aug. 31.

I skip those 2 months entirely.....mainly because kids are out of school and parks are full of families....as they should be.

Me? I like peace and quiet, now.

I camp in May, June, Sept. and Oct. and usually get the site(s) I want.

[rbpru]

We do not book early because we rarely plan our route or how long it takes to get there. We do occasionally have to book ahead if we run into an annual event or a very popular tourist sight.

You can "What if" the future of RVing, but RVers will adapt.

[trailer_newbe]

Plan 6-12 months ahead. The days of weekend quick decisions are over. In southern Az however, in the summer, you can plan two days ahead because all the snow birds are gone and it’s hot as hell.

[CavemanCharlie]

JCR-1 wrote:
If reservations continue to be the accepted practice for camping then the selected same shall remain the occupants year after year after year. Newbies will have little opportunities to find a campsite in the more chosen areas. Like having to be on a wait list for someone to cancel their time slot or rather their reservation to get a spot. Could take years as found in many boat marina slip scenarios. As RV ownership continues to escalate boondocking also will be more and more difficult as cities will stop allowing RV's to overnight inside city limits. Just don't see many new RV campgrounds going up?? Troubles ahead you think , price escalations as the supply continues to dwindle and phone reservation battles the first of every year.

OK, I'm one of those "I didn't read the whole thread type of guys".

Yes, I see it becoming harder and harder to find a place to go. The biggest problem in my area is that many "public" parks are now seasonal parks. People keep there RV's there year around. Why do my tax dollars go to fund a park for some rich person with there six digit RV to use as a summer home ?? The next problem is the parks that take reservations for every camp spot. For example one place I go takes reservations exactly 3 months in advance. So if I want to reserve a spot I need to get up at 12:00 am and be on-line on the day 3 months advanced to get a spot. My favorite places are the ones that have some spots reserved in advance and some on a First Come First Serve basis. Those are the ones I go to most often.

I do worry about the future . But, for now I just go camping and enjoy it.

[mosseater]

I'm not losing any sleep over it. This is our tenth year camping and we have always booked early. We do State Parks almost exclusively unless its a trip out of state and private campgrounds are the only option. We have not had an issue yet. Every once in a while we have to change which park we are staying at, but there are plenty to choose from. Book early is the key.

[DiskDoctr]

What if various pressures forced "temporary and mobile dwellings" (ie RV's) to be limited to 30 days in one location or be deemed actual long term dwellings and subject to more code inspections, property tax fees for the park to offer the site, "permanent/semi-permanent" sewage connection regulations, etc?

I don't suggest such a thing, but when the next generation's Sally and Sammy, political constituents, can't find a place to camp in their RV, who do you think they will blame and how do you think they will choose to resolve it?

"Why should THEY get all the camping spots AND get them cheaper? Everyone should have an equal chance to get a spot. If they want long term, then tax and regulate them like the rest of our bricks and sticks homes."

Not as impossible as one might think 😮

[fla-gypsy]

Those who do not plan ahead will be disappointed and left to sort through what's left.

[LVJJJ]

Depends where you go. Last year we took the blue highways from Blaine WA to Arches NP in Utah, crowded, further south was Monument Park, lots of room. We stopped in places like Wells NV, no prob getting a site, can't remember the name but along the blue highway in NE NV, sign said golf course RV camp, mile and a half later, a beautiful RV park only half full. Stay off the beaten path, we usually don't make reservations, we always find something, never WalMart.

Goldfield NV is a run down old mining town, many RV parks, few in them, we camped in one that had four spaces, us and one other. We don't like crowds or neighbors, and don't seem to have problems finding that.

[goducks10]

We have 5 different reservations at 5 different CG's for this year here in Oregon. I do see a big uptick in the amount of new campers at some of the spots we go to. One particular area has several CG's along the river. Used to be you could get up there Friday late afternoon or at the latest 7:00 pm and get a spot. Now if you're not there by Thursday evening you out of luck.
During the week it's very easy to get a spot.
One other thing I've noticed is the huge amount of RV's in storage lots. The ones I drive by on a regular basis have expanded or are full most of the time.

[afidel]

rbpru wrote:

Who would have thought you could sell water? Who would have thought people would play $800.00 to $1000.00 for the convenience of a smart phone?

While I agree with your overall premise I have to say that I knew people would. I spent $1500 on my first computer in 1993, the idea of a handheld computer with an always on internet connection back then was literally the thing of sci-fi shows. One that could play games, act as a GPS receiver with realtime traffic updates, browse the web, play movies, etc was pretty much pure fantasy but if you had told me that in 25 years I'd be able to buy it for the inflation adjusted equivalent of less than 1/3rd of that desktop I would have jumped at the chance.

[GrandpaKip]

Before we started RVing, we traveled a good bit in Europe. Everything was set up and reserved many months in advance. We do the same with campgrounds we want to go to, especially ones at the beach.
We haven’t really had a problem getting reservations, but we hardly ever go to commercial parking lots, uh, I mean campgrounds.

[BizmarksMom]

I can honestly say, I never have this problem. I guess that's the beauty of dry camping and boondocking. (Not "boondocking" in cities, boondocking on BLM or FS land.)

[valhalla360]

Yes, the world will change. Expect it or be disappointed but it's always been that way.

Reality is I can remember 40yrs ago the family either getting reservations or hauling the camper up on Wednesday before a holiday to get a site. Prime time in prime locations has always required forethought.

Outside of prime, it's still easy to get a site.

The market will correct to match the needs.

PS: Never had an issue getting a slip for the boat either but again, the prime time/prime location holds true.