How much does it take? $$$$$

[mwilliamsmd]

Alright folks, I want as many opinions as I can get. If I were to ask you the cost for "frequent" camping? OK what does that mean?? If I wanted to take frequent trips after retirement, not full time travel, but just pick up and go type traveling. As I plan for retirement, I know what my expected expenses will be, so I can calculate these (healthcare etc). What is hard to figure is what is the cost to take the AS on a relatively frequent basis. So... Give me a number I want to camp frequently, nothing extravagant, what will this add to my monthly budget?

[cameront120]

Too many variables. Cost of State vs. private campgrounds, distances travelled, cook or eat out, types of activities and their costs, etc.

[nvestysly]

Danielle and I refer to this as any-timing as compared to full-timing and weekend camping. As you might imagine, there are a variety of approaches to any-timing. Some people focus on short distance trips even if the duration might be long. Some people focus on longer distance trips even if the duration is short.

Our version of any-timing falls somewhere in between. Other than weekend camping within our state or nearby states, we find our trips tend to be 6 - 12 weeks, with round trip distance from 2k - 8k miles.

We keep an accurate account of our expenses (while on the road and otherwise) so we have a good amount of data to go by. As I said, your situation may be very different.

We spend in the range of $70 - $100 per day on our trips. Our single biggest expense is fuel. The second biggest, but much smaller than fuel, is campground fees. Groceries, eating out, admission prices for sightseeing, etc. all add up but equal the typical daily amount for campground fees. The $70 - $100 total includes everything associated with the trip but does not include fixed costs such as insurance, tires, tow vehicle repairs and other significant maintenance.

[ckottum]

Everyone's different. We travel a lot far from home using rv parks and resorts, national/state parks, as well as Walmart, truck stops, rest areas, etc wen stopping just for the night on a trip. Budget $50 a night for paid camping, plus fuel, meals, sightseeing, tourist traps, admissions, and fun. Money well spent.

cheryl

[AWCHIEF]

That is one of those impossible questions as only you know your limitations and expenses. Some trips only cost me a bit of gas and food. I boondock at a couple of spots not far from home on Federal forest lands with nice quite spots by a fire tower and small ponds. Usually I am the only trailer there. Other trips can easily exceed a couple of hundred just for the camping spot, plus several tanks of gas and more for food. For longer trips gas is the largest expense.

[TG Twinkie]

Depending on how far we travel in a day. Usually 300-350 miles. And how much we eat out. We figure between $100.00-$120 a day.
Now that fuel prices are down somewhat. One may be able to knock $20-$30 a day off.
It is less expensive to stay in one spot. Since campground fees are fixed. Fuel cost will be determined on how far and how often you travel.
Traveling during peak seasons is always more expensive.


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[mwilliamsmd]

great responses. The daily averages is what I was considering. I too figure 100-150 daily for the directly associated type expenses. Fixed costs are what they are.

[rodsterinfl]

Your question is a good one, just hard to answer. I am working on this too looking at reduced and free options, state parks, campgrounds, etc. My two cents is based on an overview of my findings. Vary your camping during your stays. Go for some free then state parks and then a night or two in a campground full hook up resort if on the move. You will probably benefit the most that way depending on what is in your path. Right now in FL, for example, there are a few free options for a night at a time. Then the state parks are $18-30 a night with regular taxes, then there is the private parks which are about double the cost but offer full hook ups, perhaps a pool, and charge resort tax, etc. If you can stay a few nights for free, then hit a park or two for some nights; dump, OR go to a private park a night and dump, that saves a lot.

[Florida 55]

We are fortunate to have a beautiful Airstream only park within a two hour drive of our home. The park gives us a place to inexpensively position our Airstream through the late spring and summer months when we aren't on the road with it. By leaving the Airstream sitting in a wonderful mountain setting it serves as a low cost second home in the cool mountains during the hot and humid summer months. While at the park we often use our more fuel efficient automobile for transportation, instead of the tow vehicle, which affords us additional cost savings.

For members of the park, the overnight fee is negligible, and the annual dues are extremely reasonable when computed on a per day basis. If you live within a few hour drive of an Airstream park, you might consider membership as a way to enjoy low cost camping as well as make some terrific new friends. Even if you don't want to join, the overnight rate for guests is lower than most private parks and there are discounts for stays of more than a week at many parks.

We've visited three of the Airstream parks, and even though they all have different personalities and amenities, we've liked them all. For a low cost place to camp with some terrific folks, they are hard to beat.

If you haven't yet visited an Airstream park, I strongly recommend the experience.


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[Glenritas]

Way less then motels and dinning out.

Figure $20- $45 /night for full hook ups.

Fuel will depend on how many miles you drive and what MPG you get. Figure 10-14 mpg. Fuel is currently $ 2.80 - $ 3.40 for regular gas depending where you are.
Diesel slightly higher / gal. and mpg slightly better.

Food will be the same as at home if you eat in.
Dining out same as around home.

Entertainment whatever you want to spend.

Traveling with an Airstream, priceless

[Protagonist]

Corps of Engineers has campgrounds in 44 states, so there are bound to be some within your preferred travel distance. Typical cost is $18 to $26 per night. If you qualify for the America the Beautiful Senior Pass (over 62) or Access Pass (handicapped) you can stay for half price at most of them— $9 to $13. If you plan your trip right, you could even travel clear across the country and back, and never stay anywhere else. Many of them will have water and electric hookups. Most have dump stations, not sewer hookups, but that's a small inconvenience for the price.

Remember this: When you're figuring your camping budget, don't budget for food. Why not, you ask? Well, if you didn't go camping, you'd still eat, right? So your camping meal budget is the same as your stay-at-home meal budget.

If you want to do the occasional restaurant meal on the road, consider this trade-off: one restaurant meal equals one night of camping. One fancy restaurant meal equals two nights of camping. Just for talking purposes; of course they're not exactly equivalent and some really high-end restaurants could even cost you a week's worth of camping! Anyway, if you want that restaurant meal enough to cut your trip short to pay for it, then bon appetit! This sort of trade-off means you don't have to budget separately for restaurant meals, the trip will cost the same either way; instead you're budgeting time.

Also, the more days you spend camped instead of towing, the cheaper it is per day. Fuel can be one of the biggest expenses of a trip if you spend a lot of time on the road. Plan your trips so only one day out of five is spent driving. Or one day out of four, or seven, or whatever works for you. The more camping you do for the least fuel burned getting there, the better your budget will like it.

[FCloud9]

Originally Posted by mwilliamsmd

Alright folks, I want as many opinions as I can get. If I were to ask you the cost for "frequent" camping? OK what does that mean?? If I wanted to take frequent trips after retirement, not full time travel, but just pick up and go type traveling. As I plan for retirement, I know what my expected expenses will be, so I can calculate these (healthcare etc). What is hard to figure is what is the cost to take the AS on a relatively frequent basis. So... Give me a number I want to camp frequently, nothing extravagant, what will this add to my monthly budget?

This is our first extended trip with our Airstream....80 days and counting. Others commented on varying camping sites and agree. We have utilized primarily state and national parks with senior pass the national parks have been as little as $5/night; most state parks do not offer discounts and ranged from $15-$35/night; and independent campgrounds ranged from $30-$45/ night for full hookups. This trip has been adventurous but very affordable. We generally cook at "home" and therefore groceries are similar to costs at our "brick home" only views are priceless!
This year has been great for travel with best fuel prices in years.

[jbroedlow]

I agree with the 100-150/day response. This does not include fixed expenses at home and no payments on AS or TV. This is consistent for us from month to month and we've been on the road since 9/15/14. There are four biggies: gas,groceries,campground expenses and dining out. You can control gas by not moving as much. You can control campground expenses by where you chose to camp. The groceries and dining out you can control by how you eat.

[Msmoto]

The actual cost for the first 50,000 miles on my Dodge truck is about $1.73 per mile...total costs of ownership. This does, however decrease as the depreciation factor becomes smaller. And, the Airstream has its own depreciation/cost factor.

While this may be a shock in terms of travel, it is not as severe as on my Tiffin Allegro Bus which cost about $3.15 per mile over 51,000 miles. Sold it to get back to an Airstream.

As has been pointed out, the other living expenses, assuming cooking "in" etc. should be close to that at home, with the exception of propane, campground fees which are added. I have a house which costs me whether I am there or not.

[paiceman]

Huh, good question. We budget a fair amount each year for the similar type travel you are talking about. Several small trips, a big one in late summer into early fall of about 7,000 + miles and then two to three months in Florida during the winter. We include in our budget yard maintenance while we are gone, mail forwarding by a neighbor on our extended trips - meals out and meals in are part of our household budget so they are not included. Vet care for the dogs and health care for us come under the same category - household expenses. So, all that said we do it for about $10,000 - which comes to $55.55 per day all inclusive - fuel and truck maintenance being the single biggest bite.

[mwilliamsmd]

Great discussion, awesome responses. I'm gaining valuable knowledge. Let's keep it going. I appreciate the break down of how each variable affects your cost. Looks like 75-150 is reasonable daily expense assuming moderate frugality. Closer to 175-200 if driving more or choosing private campgrounds. I'm intrigued about the cost associated with the brick and mortar home. I'd love to down size but doubt the "boss" would go for it. I'd love to be able to spend 3-4 months a year traveling. So, 120 days X $150/day = $18K per year, above and beyond fixed expenses.

[timhortons]

I suspect somewhere at the RV makers association they know pretty closely what the average daily cost of RV travel is. I suspect the true number is something horrifying like 300-500 a day all in.

My feeling is that the overall economics is somewhat like Gym memberships, which theoretically should be costing dollars per visit, but on average are running $92 dollars a 45min visit, when you factor in the dropouts. 50 million people sign up for a membership in January, and by Feb 80% are on the couch but their credit cards or PAP is getting hit monthly untill June or July when they finally overcome their guilt and cancel what they aren't using.

To me the only way to beat the numbers on cost per day is to USE THE THING, a LOT.

Consider:

- Deprecation of 25% driving off the lot. 20% a year on motorhomes, 10-20% on trailers. (even if your AS is depreciating at 1/2 the rate of a car or RV in general, it's increased capital cost will make up for that)

- depreciation
- repairs/maint. on RV
- TOW VEHICLE, depreciation, repairs, maint., setup, gear,
- insurance/accidents, medical, towing
- storage
- upgrades
- camp fees
- fuel
- food
- accessories

now we have to get grim and consider the years which the average user will operate both the TV and trailer and put it on top of the entry and exit prices of the trailer on the depreciation curve. What's the *real* average period of ownership, 5 years ?

The tow vehicle debate gets me irked also. If your well maintained trailer depreciates 1/2 the rate of a motor vehicle, but you're still swapping out and or repairing new 50k+ heavy duty trucks every 3-6 years the heavy expense is not in the trailer.

Probably the best economics would be to use a modest but capable tow vehicle starting 3 years old, and a AS, starting 5 or 6.

Use it. Till the wheels fall off. Enjoy the Intangibles. Hey, It's cheaper than a boat. Anything is cheaper than a boat. Even planes are cheaper than boats.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by timhortons

I suspect somewhere at the RV makers association they know pretty closely what the average daily cost of RV travel is.

They do indeed. RVIA— Recreational Vehicle Industry Association— commissioned an independent study a few years ago, comparing the costs of various vacation modes. In fact, there were two parallel studies, one for the US and one for Canada, and the results were pretty much the same for both. I don't have copies of those studies anymore, but I looked them up when I was shopping for an RV, just so I'd have a better idea what I was letting myself in for.

Camping in a travel trailer is the second cheapest vacation there is, only beat out by tent camping. The average travel trailer gets about 45 days of use per year, if memory serves. People that use theirs more often can lower the per-day cost because the "fixed" costs are the same no matter how many days you use it.

That's for the total cost of owning the RV, including depreciation and everything, amortized only over the number of actual use days per year.

The most expensive vacations per day? Cruises, especially when you don't live in a seaport city and have to fly to the coast just to get on the boat.

Second most expensive? Camping in a Class A motorhome. For some reason, Class A motorhomes see the least use per year of all RVs— only about 16 days per year on average, if memory serves— so the cost (already higher than any other RVs) is amortized over fewer use days.

[mwilliamsmd]

The cost basis is relative to your associated variables. Some might say the cost is gas/food/campground fees. Some will add maintenance etc etc. Lastly, some will add AS and TV depreciation etc. It's all relative, you could say the cost is all those things plus home owners insurance, utility bills on your home property taxes etc. What I'm curious about is the cost differential of me sitting on my couch and growing old vs me driving around the country creating new experiences?

[larryglarson]

I have been camping for 5 years and the one thing I have found is that you have a choice in how much you spend. First in planning a trip you need reserveamerica.com and recreation.gov and the state parks web site for campgrounds. If over 62 fed. gov. campgrounds will always be cheapest and in my mind best. I like to boondock and with google maps can find a place to camp most times. Lots of states let you stay in rest areas, if you do not know if you can call the state (YP.com) for number.

The thing I can say is only you know what you have to spend. I have found that cutting back on costs has not taken the fun out of camping and we can go lots more. In the 5 years I have been at it I have cut costs a lot and we have more fun. Maintenance on you TV and AS are the most important thing in keeping costs down.

We spend about $100 per day and use the 200-2 rule. (Travel 200 miles per day and stay 2 nights or more at each place. We are 72 and 73 years old in modest health and this really works for us.