Traveling vs Camping

[wredman]

Putting this in the class A section because I think it is more likely a consideration.



Do you consider your use of your RV more for traveling or camping? Is there really little reason to have an RV if you don't want to dedicate your vacation time to camping? How many still fly and stay at nice hotels or do you spend every vacation night in a roadside RV park, night time parking lot, and a campground when you get there?

As an example, how about a beach vacation - condo right on the beach, or an RV park 20 feet from your neighbor a half mile inland? For the most part, the more desirable real estate locations are not used for RV parks.

just curious

[cjoseph]

Mainly, it's our motel on wheels.

We "camp" one or two weekends per year. This is usually at a state park and we do the campfire thing, hiking, star gazing and fishing. Most often a paddling trip is worked in there too.

The rest of the RV time is our traveling/vacation time. This usually involves a beach trip. We only stay oceanfront on our beach trips. There are several out there. You just have to look for them and book well ahead. Our favorite is Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach. They allow you to reserve the actual campsite. That way, you can get one in the first row, if you like.

We have been in the RV lifestyle for 10 years. Of that, we have done a non-RV trip once with family. Hated it. Well, there was a really nice ice-cream shop nearby! That helped?

This upcoming summer, we will do another non-RV trip. My sister has offered for us to join them at their place in Aruba. Can't get an RV there, so we took them up on it. That will definitely cut down on our RV use this summer though. That will be our big trip for the year.

Even when we did our cross county trip and visited mostly National Parks, we didn't "camp." We used the MH as more of a motel on wheels.

[rk911]

wredman wrote:
Putting this in the class A section because I think it is more likely a consideration.



Do you consider your use of your RV more for traveling or camping? Is there really little reason to have an RV if you don't want to dedicate your vacation time to camping? How many still fly and stay at nice hotels or do you spend every vacation night in a roadside RV park, night time parking lot, and a campground when you get there?

As an example, how about a beach vacation - condo right on the beach, or an RV park 20 feet from your neighbor a half mile inland? For the most part, the more desirable real estate locations are not used for RV parks.

just curious

to me, "camping" is a generic term so when we head out in our MH we say, "we're going camping" even though we're not in a tent or sleeping on the ground, cooking over an open fire, using pit toilets and the like. I had enough of that BS in the scouts. no, we stay in campgrounds or RV parks with hookups. when we started this journey back in 1986 we did a lot of boondocking or electric-only camping in state parks and other places. these days, not so much.

[wallynm]

We never have considered what we do in a motor home as camping. Some time the kids sleep in a tent or the back of a truck and they call it camping. We do spend considerable time miles away from any motel or hotel but camping in not what we do.

[Mile_High]

We do 1/2 and 1/2. We are still vacationers, so winter time is flights to the tropics and beachside hotels 🙂 Summer is usually dedicated to the RV.

I travel a lot for work via airlines, so I grow more tired of it every year and long for a nice RV trip, but my wife is only exposed to the airline travel for vacation so she still loves it so we still do it.

[Dutch_12078]

We're "almost fulltimers", spending up to 11 months a year living in our motorhome. For us, the traveling is just as enjoyable as the camping part, although I'm not sure that parking on a site with all the amenities of home is really "camping". 😉

[Stormy_Eyes]

We are full time, so this is a traveling lifestyle choice more than camping.
Before we bought the rv, we enjoyed cruising, and we still do....we put the motorhome in storage and jump on a cruise ship. We also fly now and then.

As far as beach trips, there are places right on the beach. Some of the rv site are closer than the condos. Sometimes those are state parks while some are private. Examples Gamble Rodgers SRA in FL and Galveston State Park in TX. Not too far from those, there are private beachfront rv parks. Nothing wrong with the rental condos on the beach, but do not assume the condos are closer to the sand than some rv's.

[joelc]

You failed to mention the many Rvers that are full timers. We have been full timing now for 4 years. When we were employed, before retirement, we used our rig to go camping on week ends and vacations.

[rgatijnet1]

I have a very large road map of the USA. We start out with certain destinations in mind and then we try to pick roads that we have not traveled on before. This affords us the opportunity to see places and people that we have not seen before, even tho they are not our primary destination. We travel without any schedule so if we find a place along our route that we like, we stay longer than an overnight stop. We have owned a vacation cabin in the mountains and have taken extended trips out of the country but we prefer the RV method of travel to see America by the back roads.

[CarnationSailor]

We camp about 100 nights each year, generally between May 1st and October 15th. However, we are also snowbirds and we rent a 2-bedroom condo for 3 months each winter in the Palm Springs area. We leave the 5th-wheel at home when snow-birding because we always have lengthy visits from family and friends; and a 2nd bedroom and bathroom is needed for them. So even though we enjoy the 5th-wheel and get what we think is a lot of usage out of it, we still travel without camping.

(We are retired.)

[crasster]

When we use the Bounder, definitely it is camping. The Toyota class C is definitely traveling. When out and about it is great to stretch out and mess around.... Walmarts are "camping" for us too... The yota is better for 1 night trips or quick boomerang trips.... Also day trips. For us a Day trip would be from Dallas to Waco, TX.

[JaredWPhillips]

Depends on the type of trip. During the whole year, we take short little trips to close destinations for a weekend or over night camping trip. For us, thats a rustic state park, wooded site, maybe electric/water only, cooking over the fire, escaping the world for a bit. Tent campers would disagree but I call it camping. I like tents too, but our camper is so much easier.

There's no better way to travel if you ask me, especially with a family. Anywhere we want to stop, we have our own clothes, food, bathroom, beds, etc. All the same.

[rookie_rv]

Rookie Rver :C here!

It's a combination of both. Whenever there is talk about a trip one of the first things is doing research if I can take "Da BreadBox"...aka motor home. Travel time, location, and if I'm traveling/vacationing by myself.

My first choice is always wanting to take Da BreadBox though........

[gbopp]

lakebum wrote:
The traveling (riding) is part of the adventure for us. We like being able to sop anywhere we want and eat, sleep, bathroom, etc. We are sleeping on our sheets and our beds, bathroom etc.

You also get to "see" more and enjoy the ride...

X2. I think the journey is as important as the destination.

[Dick_B]

The only time we stay at a motel is on the way back from Florida. Since we have winterized on the way we stay at a motel with a big truck parking lot in the back where we keep the TT set at 50 degrees and run the furnace all night.

[DutchmenSport]

Not a Class-A, but I'll try to bite anyway.

When NOT using the camper? On an "as need basis", that's when. It just depends.

Available time, distance, money, and time of year (and interest at the time of booking) are all factors.

We enjoy our camper .. A LOT! So much, we basically live in it year round, sitting beside our 2800 square foot (single floor) house in the country. But sometimes, the camper is just not possible.

In the past, we have tried to take 1 trip a year, sometime in January, to go to a motel with hot tubs, swimming pools, and a lot of fun. Then we got our own Hot Tub in the house, and simply didn't have the need for that any more in a motel.

We did Wolf Lodge in Cincinnati, Ohio once. Click here. It was a LOT of fun, especially with all the grandkids there in December.

Another time, my sisters and mother and all the nephews and nieces went to Branson, Missouri and we all rented cottages together. My brother in law brought his speed boat, we spent a LOT of time on the water.

One year, my wife and I got a good deal on a cottage rental at Nags Head, NC (Outer banks), so we drove (without the camper) and spent the week). The kids were much littler then too.

We've done 2 Carnival Cruises. One was the Western Caribbean and the other was the Easter Caribbean. One was over Christmas, the other was in March (about 5 years apart).

We've traveled to our daughters house (without the camper) a few times. She (then)lived in Iowa. She now lives near Kansas City, Mo. We did take the camper this last Summer to visit her in KC this time.

We not opposed to going anywhere without the camper. But as much as possible, we always take it with us. The exceptions are "exceptions" when it's just not feasible or doesn't make sense.