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What we learned about traveling in an RV
Okay, so what we learned may not apply to you, but hey--maybe
we'll save you a few thousand bucks! Based on our hard-earned experiences,
here's what we learned about traveling in an RV:
- If you rent an RV, it's expensive
Ours ran about $200 per day, not counting gas, camping fees, and food.
Compared to renting a car and staying in motels it was more
expensive--although we saved a little on eating, because we mostly ate in the
RV, rather than at restaurants.
- You don't stop on a whim
When you're driving 30 feet of wide machinery, you don't do a lot of
"Hey! Let's stop here!" Robert did that (once) for an Amish roadside
stand, and almost wiped the damn stand out (on the plus side, he reinforced
the Amish belief that modern conveniences are dangerous). Even stopping for
groceries meant cruising for a parking lot huge enough to easily park.
- It's very cool carrying around your own bathroom
Need to pee? No stopping! (Well, unless you're driving....) No hunting for
someplace with a bathroom (or waiting for a rest area). And you know the
restroom will be clean and will have toilet paper.
- It's great on passengers
Passengers can sit in comfort, or lie down on a real bed and take a nap, or
work on a table, or fix a meal. It makes long trips a lot easier to endure.
The driver, though, has more work to do and it's more nerve-wracking (you're
driving a huge piece of machinery!). And not everyone (like, say,
Laura) feels comfortable driving something the size of two tanks. With
a regular car, we trade off pretty regularly. With the RV, Robert did most of
the driving. If you have kids, though, it's hard to discount the
"passenger amusement factor."
- You only pack and unpack once
You unpack when you rent it, pack when you leave. In between, everything
can stay unpacked, which for us is pretty cool, because we tend to travel with
a lot of miscellaneous crappola. And when you need the autoharp, or the
espresso machine, or the CD player--you know where it is!
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