Did you miss part three of this series? Read it here.
If you missed parts one and two, Read them here.
PART FOUR
There is, however, more to this than a shortage of RV parks. There are countless campsites available every night. But they are either in unpopular tourist areas or along dirt roads where there may be no cell service and no hookups. When surveyed, 25% of RVtravel.com readers reported that cell service was “critical” to where they chose to camp. Another 64% said it was critical, but not essential. Those RVers, I suspect, will never or seldom camp somewhere too isolated to even receive a cell signal. That rules out thousands of Forest Service and other government campgrounds.
In other words, it’s not just about a shortage of campgrounds that has caused a need for reservations. It’s also about a shortage of campgrounds that meet the requirements of the many RVers who wish to use all the creature comforts their RVs afford, which most often means at least an electrical hookup.
When we asked our readers how far they would travel to a campground along a “good dirt road,” nearly 60% of the almost 3,000 respondents said a mile or less. That, too, rules out thousands of primitive (and often beautiful) campgrounds.
Many RVers need power to run all the electronics they have come to rely on, including residential refrigerators which can only operate on electricity, not propane. So unless the RVer has a sophisticated solar setup, an inverter and a big bank of batteries, he or she can’t stay for long without hookups.
Last summer, we asked our fulltime RVer readers how long they could live in their RVs without plugging into electricity. Two-thirds reported they could last “a few days, but less than a week.”
Did you read our recent article about KOA opening a new RV park near Maine’s Acadia National Park? Don’t bother to show up with your RV: You are not welcome. The entire “glamping park” is permanent “glamping” tents that rent for $218 to $315 a night. And it’s not like this is a new location for KOA. It was a traditional “campground” for nearly 50 years. Now the RV sites are gone, replaced with luxury tents.
KOA has every right to do this. It may turn out to be a big money maker. If so, you can bet other KOA parks will do the same. And, of course, so will other independent campgrounds. But how does that help you and me find a place to stay when every RV park in the area has already been booked for six months or longer?
RV parks across the country are already removing RV spaces in favor of “glamour” accommodations — cabins, cottages, tents, yurts, treehouses, tee-pees and cabooses. Expect this to continue.
Where will they stay?
Depending upon who you ask, there are 13,000 to 15,000 commercial RV parks in America plus another plus 1,600 state parks that cater to RVers. At first, that seems like a lot of places. I believe that figure is misleading.
Off the top of my head, based on my many years of RVing, I would like to ask you some questions to help you determine how many of those parks might be, or not be, available for you. Get out your calculator. Okay. . .
• How many are in the area where you plan to camp? Do you do most of your camping in Oregon, Indiana, Georgia, etc.?
• How many are so dumpy you would not want to stay there? (For example, rule out any with a rating of 2.5 or fewer stars out of five.) I’d guess that’s about 25% of all parks.
• Are you younger than 55? How many are 55+ parks, where younger RVers are not welcomed.
• How many are a long drive away from where you want or need to stay?
• How many charge $75 or more a night, when your budget doesn’t permit that?
• How many are already reserved for the dates you want to stay? (In a popular tourist area many, if not most, may be booked a year ahead.)
• How many are occupied or nearly occupied with seasonal RVers (snowbirds in the winter)?
• How many are essentially “trailer parks” where RVers live year-round?
• How many do not offer Wifi or adequate Wifi, if that’s important to you?
• Is your RV older than 10 years? Some parks won’t allow it – too old.
• Do you have a dog? How many do not permit dogs or have restrictions on size or breeds?
• Is your RV 45 feet or longer, plus a tow vehicle or dinghy behind a motorhome? How many sites are off-limits because your RV won’t fit?
• Do you need to 50-amp service? How many only offer 30 amps?
• How many are open the time of year you want to travel?
• How many don’t allow campfires (if you want to roast marshmallows with the grandkids)?
• How many do not have a swimming pool, if that’s important to you?
If you think long and hard about those questions, you’ll realize that you may be severely limited in where you can stay that fits your needs. Twenty years ago, sites were much more readily available in most parks.
New RV parks and resorts are being built, but slowly. Many of them, a high percentage, from my observations, are “resorts”, where the RVer buys a lot for six figures or more (often far more) and then pays annual homeowners dues. Some have attached cabanas or casitas. Some are for motorhomes only. Others are available as rental spaces similar to traditional RV parks, but the price tags are commonly $100 or more a night.
Twenty years ago I never made a reservation, never had to. I remember a newspaper reporter who was writing about me asking what my biggest decision of each days was. I told him it was whether to turn left or right when I departed the campground! I had no reservations ahead so I could travel any road I wanted, and take the fork in the road that looked the most interesting. I would check my watch at about 3 or 4 in the afternoon and then start looking for an RV park or campground. I almost always found one with an available space within a couple of hours.
Back then an RVer could truly “go where you want, when you want,” without a reservation. The RV industry still promotes that message in its advertising, but it is no longer true. The slogan should have been retired 10 years ago. It’s far easier today to find a hotel reservation on the fly than an RV park, at least a decent one.
I grew up 20 miles outside of Los Angeles in West Covina, in what was then the rural San Gabriel Valley. The town’s population was 4,000 when my parents brought me there at age 1. My home was surrounded by orange groves. My buddies and I would walk a quarter-mile to the hills behind us to play. We built a raft on a small pond. I grew up a “country boy,” not a “city boy.”
The chamber of commerce could well have advertised “move to the country,” where the pace of life was slow and the air clean.
When my family moved away 16 years later, every orange grove was gone, replaced with tract homes and shopping malls. The air was often so smoggy that our school would cancel physical education classes. Two-lane Garvey Boulevard into Los Angeles was now the San Bernardino Freeway (now I-10). The hills where my friends and I played were covered with high-priced “view” homes. The population was 60,000 (and growing).
The West Covina chamber of commerce no longer had the right, ethically, to use the same “move to the country” slogan. And it didn’t. The “country” was gone.
Just like West Covina, the landscape over time has changed in the RV community. The RV industry has no right to continue advertising that with an RV you can “go where you want when you want.”
From GoRVing.com, where the industry promotes RVing:
“Take control. You decide when and where to go and what you want to take with you…. Your schedule is your call when you’re behind the wheel. Make unplanned stops along the way when something catches your eye. Stay as long as you like or hit the road earlier than planned.”
Nonsense! Not true in 2020 (it was in 2000)!
There are too many RVs these days and too few places to stay. The day of spontaneous travel is over. Today, reservations are the name of the game.
Today, travel with an RV can still be magical. But it’s no longer something you can easily do spontaneously, unless you’re willing to stay in Walmart parking lots when you can’t find an available campsite. For RVers who prefer to carefully plan their trips, plotting out stops and how long they will stay, then RVing today can still be a wonderful way to live.
Next: How fifth wheel trailers have ruined RVing.
##RVT937b
Retired 67 was testing rv waters it is a no go no mas for me. Too much of a hustle and cost for me. Rvs inthe same boat as harley davidson. New era baby boomers diminishing.
I really hope that a group of rv’ers doesnt look anything like the unshaved old timers trying to look like rebels …
What a joke these guys are !
Act real tough but in bed by 8
Have them all around towns now
Hope i out live them to get peace again …
Fear not everyone as the “Fat, 60 and up Crowd” (the Boomer’s) die off over the next 10 years there will be plenty of room in Campgrounds, Glampgrounds, State Parks, National Forests and National Parks for the rest of us who are left enjoying life.
GONE will be all the big Fifth Wheel Trailers, 45 foot Motorhomes, 30 Foot Airstreams and all those other LARGE RV’s with all the crap travelers bring along with them that they just gotta have. The younger generation is into smaller items and better design. They are not buying into the large RV market and never will. They will never own a vehicle capable of pulling such a monstrosity! Smaller is the name of the game and all you have to do is look at the types and amounts of RV shipments reported by RVIA. By far the largest segment of RV’s over the last 5 years that has seen the largest increase in sales is the small towable market. That ain’t the “Fat, 60 and up Crowd” buying those RV’s.
Therefore to solve this space issue at RV Parks, RV Resorts, State Parks, WalMart or wherever you like to came I respectfully request all Boomer’s to hurry up the git the inevitable over with so the rest of us will have an easier time finding a place to camp!
Another problem is the nationwide reservation services. Many, sometimes over 50%, of campsites in State, City, COE parks are “reserved” and empty. Many folks reserve and never show up or cancel so the site goes unused and those looking for sites cannot find one. If you don’t show up or call the campground those sites should be released for others to use after 24 hours. This way there would by a lot more sites available for us travelers.
Bob Konigsberg
THIS is the number one problem with accepting reservations. Countless sites are empty and you and I can’t use them.
Is there a directory for old campgrounds with small spaces and limited features? How about a place that generators are banned .
Oh how we wish!
We recently stayed at an “RV resort” in Jacksonville, Fl for 3 nights after making a reservation nearly 30 days ahead. Made the reservation via telephone and they assured me they had adequate places for my 40′ FW and Dodge Dually. Upon arrival, we found it was very tight for our rig and our neighbors “lived” there. Possibly hurricane evacuees from 2 years ago. Upon departure, my neighbor was kind enough to move his truck to accommodate my rig sweeping his site when pulling out. We had to laugh. Beware of “Big Rig Compatible”
Where I find the most difficulty is getting reservations for State or National parks longer than Sunday through Thursday. The local population reserves the entire campground Friday and Saturday.
So if I want to stay in a particular location for a couple of weeks I have to pack up an move somewhere during the weekend before I can even get back into the same site I just left.
Agree. But when we are at home during our off season, those weekdays are wonderful…quiet and peaceful.
Chuck, I’m really enjoying the series, Thank You for your travel wisdom and for sharing your truth based on many years on the road. Most of us today feel and share the pain believe me.
Problems sited are no different in Canada where I hang my hat, in fact to land a convenient over night or short stay camp spot here, you have to lock in in January or February, (the day the reservation flood gates open ) at most Federal/Provincial Parks (and increasingly private CG’s) I’m aware of.
As a result we spend no amount of time foraging for sites north of 49 – a spot that will be filled to the brim with every imaginable RV, packed in like sardines with kids, mountains of plastic crap toys, kennels, dogs, racket making ATV’s and drunks. Instead we head straight south for the American border to gain some hope of relative peacefulness in Montana, Idaho and formerly Oregon (unfortunately not anymore – although we do book Winchester Bay a year in advance)
Anyway the other night we dropped into a big church near us for a pancake supper. There I got talking to the Pastor about the possibility of making available his giant parking lot to RV’ers travelling through Southern Alberta. In Lethbridge, our city of 100,000 there’s only one campground and last time I checked it was pretty rundown and spotted up with full timers. Not a good place.
This town is the centre of the Bible Belt. There’s got to be a hundred churches, many of them with a large parking lot which sits empty all week long, except for weddings and of course on Sunday. I suggested opening these safe places to RV’ers overnighting, particularly benefitting large units who have a devil (pardon the pun) of a time finding spaces that will accommodate them.
The Pastor, said he thought it a “novel” idea, which he’d run past the “board” and “congregation” – siting concerns with liability, off the top of his head.
I think this may be worthy of checking into further – imagine if half the churches in America and Canada all suddenly opened their parking lots (and on Sundays their doors) and “hearts” to RV’ers.
There certainly would be no problem in the one near me accommodating the largest rigs on the road. Is someone doing this already? Might there be a registry in existence?.
Chuck could you expand on this, Readers?
Hi Alvin, I’ve thought the same when passing by empty church parking lots.
Unfortunately, look what’s become of RVers at Walmart parking lots. Destroying the pavement with their jacks down. The slideouts are out … some people just don’t care about abiding by the rules.
I can see a church running into people setting up camp for weeks at a time … and, will any church want to deal with this? I’d be surprised.
Hi Steve S. Thanks for weighing in. You pose some great questions not one lost on me or the pastor. I will report my finding. I prefer the
“there are no problems only solutions route
when embarking on a…….”
We travel to and from the south (Snowbirds) every year and stay at the same KOA along the way. They recently added on to the park and it is now full of “frackers.” Turned into a real dump. I see more and more working rv’ers moving in with older Rv’s and then leaving them when they leave. We would rather stay at a rest area or Walmart than these types of parks. We don’t feel safe anymore.
In many ways Chuck is right. The RV industry may promote the freedom to go anytime or anywhere you want and depending on your requirement that may not be true. I never looked at any RV promotional info before purchasing my RV. Having transitioned from a cruising boat where we could stop just about anywhere and anchor our boat, like boondocking in the RV world, I never gave much thought to finding a place to stay the night, before buying my motor home.
Because our motor home is 40ft I do have to be careful when I book, and I generally do book reservations in advance. This takes some planning in popular places like Florida in the winter or National Parks in the summer. But who’s to blame for this? The industry promotes itself to protect the many jobs it represents. To say you can go anywhere anytime is not necessarily misleading if your goal is to do just that. But if you want to go anywhere at anytime and stay at a full hookup site in a popular spot, well then if you believed the RV industries hype you might be disappointed.
In our capitalist free market society entrepreneurs step up to provide what people want and become wealthy for doing so. When the demand reaches the point where a profit can be made and the demand is sustainable you will see that demand satisfied. No one is going to build RV parks in places that have seasonal traffic without finding a way to make a profit.
We have had one of the longest bull markets our society has ever experienced. But that will end and so too will the demand for RV’s and it’s related products. We are already seeing that in the reduced shipments of new RV’s to dealerships. Perhaps those willing to build more sites are aware of that and are holding back.
I agree with the poster who mentioned the dysfunctional National and State Parks reservation system as being partly to blame for unused camping sites. When it costs more to cancel a reservation people won’t and these sites go unused. If a real effort is to be made to make available more camping sites, then focusing efforts here can provide cheap and immediate results.
So let’s not blame the industry or anyone else because years ago we could go anywhere anytime and get the site we wanted. Eventually supply will meet the demand, it almost always does. In the meantime I will boondock at some of the most scenic sites in North America knowing those sites are available because the glampers shun them.
Part of the problem is the reservation system and the usurious cancellation fees. Reserve America charges $25 to cancel a reservation. For a $30 one night stay, its not worth the effort or cost to cancel. Especially knowing that its more than likely that someone else will reserve this newly open site. Make cancellation fees more reasonable, maybe $5 or $10, and watch the number of reserved but unused sites decrease as more cancellations increase availability. But its not in the best interest of the reservation system’s bottom line. I understand this. So I don’t see this happening. Their system. Their rules. Our loss. So it goes.
Yes! And those $10 fees to make a reservation…even if for one night!? You don’t get those back either.
With all due respect for you and your glamorous RV lifestyle, in my adventuresome RV lifestyle it is your ilk that has made the RV life much more difficult to enjoy. Personally my perfect RV park has E/W and perhaps for a real convenience a dump station on site. Your “keep it as close to home as possible” RV style, demanding all the luxuries (plus) of home, has made the life of an adventurer, explorer, wonderer nearly unaffordable. As far as my choice of RV parks near popular tourist attractions goes some of us prefer to discover and explore our own attractions far from popular. You make a night along the way in a Walmart or community park sound like such a unacceptable inconvenience! For you, I am sure there is a $55.00 a night RV resort within driving distance. I by no stretch of the imagination am demeaning your RV lifestyle but you have relegated the adventurer to a crude, unrefined bunch of miscreants. I find great joy in finding a place to stay for a maximum of 10 days for $12.00 a night. I don’t require a swimming pool or dining facilities on premises or guided tours of the local attractions be provided leave alone a yurt. The possibility of an encounter with wildlife or local inhabitants is a big plus.
I am lucky enough to be retired and able to travel at will, no need to work on the road. Keeping in touch with family and friends at home is an enjoyable challenge. No TV or internet is a blessing of sorts. It seems the demand for these luxury amenities has made the affordable RV stop obsolete. Electric and water for $10.00 or $15.00 a night with a view is a wonderful find in my personal RV lifestyle. Moving into a neighborhood of permanent RVer’s isn’t all that exciting to someone who enjoys the outdoors and exploring hidden places. I may be the only Rver out here with this attitude but I feel, if I am not, some one of us needed to state our case and cause.
Once again I am in no way saying that the requirements you prefer are any less than commendable, I am simply writing to remind you that ( I think) there are a number of us out here who don’t require the luxuries of home on the road.
Chuck, nailed it. In TX almost anyplace west of a line running from Houston through Dallas, heading west, you must have a reservation for the next evening, or you won’t have a place to stay. AZ/FL is also heading this way in winter, make a long term reservation or forget about staying. The area east of Yuma, AZ is state and BLM land, it’s closed to RV’ers now, why? It’s because someone dumped gray or black tank on the ground, or left a bunch of garbage, so forget staying there. Plus, some of those rigs looked condemned, and the nice houses west of that area complained and their voice was heard. Even membership parks are getting harder to make a reservation into. We struggled to get into TT’s Lake Conroe, why, so many 5th wheels with families using it as a base for work. We have learned if we want to go anyplace, state, federal, private, or even a public campground, we always make a reservation. FWIW-If necessary I can most likely stay out in boonies for a week, then I would need dump and fresh water, and top of diesel tank. My solar panels and generator would keep me going for that long A/C wise. So going 3 or more miles off the beaten track is fine, we like the quiet more than the convenience.
If you could not find an opening in the Montgomery County TX area (that is where Lake Conroe is) you did not try very hard. Yes, there are several people who are transient workers travelling with their families, but they don’t fill up all the campgrounds spaces by a long shot.
Chuck – If any article would turn off people from buying an RV and enjoying the lifestyle, this one sure did. I realize there are issues with the campground situation but ….. you just can’t expect people to sign up for the RV lifestyle if all you present are all the negatives. Change is inevitable. It’s never going to be the same as it was when you were that young wide-eyed kid reporter travelling the country in your first motorhome. The world is a different place. More people, more cars (SUV’s), more disposable income, more choices, more pollution, climate change, the list goes on and on. I’m a snowbird. I sold my Class A a couple of years ago and bought a mobile home in an RV Resort in Florida. Why? Not because it was hard to find campgrounds (and I’m not sure that’s the right word to use anymore – should be RV parks) but because I wanted to have a stable place to stay with friends for the winter months. I decided my travelling days were over. So after 20 years of RV’ing, I settled down. There are still thousands of people out there who want to enjoy the adventure of seeing the country, meeting new people, being able to pick up and go when they want. So you need to make a reservation a long time ahead – so what? It just calls for a little planning You complain that parks are being filled with construction workers, non-transient folks, older RV’s and 5th-wheels. Don’t they need a place to stay. The park owners are entitled to cater to all sorts of clientele. It’s a business. A full park makes money – a half empty park goes out of business.
So I’ve heard all the problems. Why don’t you get on the bandwagon for solutions. Maybe there aren’t any easy ones. But to put the blame on the manufacturers of RV’s, 5th-wheels, travel trailers for encouraging this lifestyle of “go where you want, when you want”, is just wrong. It’s not their job to address the inadequate reservation system, the lack of facilities, the lack of wifi, the lack of 50 amp. service, etc., etc. Their job is to sell what they produce. Make money. It’s called free enterprise. Sure it’s always “buyer beware” – no different when you buy a new TV or computer and find that it doesn’t come with some fancy feature you wanted. Maybe the manufacturers should be compelled to list the adverse, potentially bad things that can happen to you if you buy an RV like they do with drugs on TV. “This drug may cause adverse effects ….. up to and including death”. This list could include – You may not have wifi, no water, no dump station, no electricity, can’t find a convenient gas or diesel station, you may have to back into a site because there’s no pull-throughs, up to and including no convenient place to park overnight.
Complaining about the system is negative. Pointing out the issues and helping address the potential solutions is positive. Time to get a different soapbox, Chuck.
This site informs warts and all. Thanks once again Chuck I’m a paid up fan, How many of the me myself and I’s weighing in are
There is no doubt that the industry is promoting an outdated slogan. And I know that you have devoted considerable time recently to the idea that RVs are no longer used for “camping” in any traditional sense of the word. That said, if a person has decided that he or she cannot function without WiFi (or even just a cell signal), cannot function without electrical hookups (of 30 amps, let alone 50), and can’t drive a mile on a *good* dirt road . . . then some of this is on that person. If your RV experience has to be *exactly* like living in a sticks-and-bricks, well, then, it’s not hard to imagine the solution, here.
I just made reservations for the last part of May…..
OK…so what’s wrong with making a few reservations?
No problem making reservations, the day when you could decide at the last minute to visit Ft. Wilderness in the winter or Zion in the summer are gone.
But, I tried to make reservations for 2 weeks at Gulf park in Alabama for next February – 11 months away but could get only 1 week and that was the last site they had.
We don’t use the $75 a night or age restricted RV parks. When we did in the past, they were $35/night!
We’ll stay off grid as much as possible using a combination or solar and wind for power. Our only significant limitations are fresh and waste water. For communications, we use VHF/UHF radio programmed for local repeaters; some link into a telephone system. We use big box stores for an over night en-route to a destination and sometimes state parks for the 2 week limits… but the reservation system can be a challenge without wifi for any long range planning.
Even 35 years ago, in the west, you needed to book ahead in the summer.
We did also in the NE. I started camping as a kid in the 60’s and my parents and all my “camping friends families” did the same. We had 3 state parks in a 60 mile radius and they were always booked, as well as the privately owned campgrounds hundreds of miles away. We had to book Columbus Day weekend (basically our last camping for the year further up north) 6 months ahead of time. In the winter we headed south and had to book ahead of time. The Woodalls book was a must back then.
We have not been out for two years now (health) but expect to get back out camping here soon. We have NEVER made a reservation at a campground or a motel for that matter. We head out, follow our nose, and go, and have always found a place to stay, and have never thought about a Walmart until I started reading RV news letters. I hope I am not in for a rude awakening.
Well, pilgrim, (hawk, patooie) things just ain’t the same as they used to was… And they never were.
Sounds to like many RVers are self limiting in their choice of rig, choice of campground, and choice of destination.
Not every RV park or campground can, or should be able to take behemoth 50 amp rigs, and that is a good thing IMHO. And since our camping style evolved (or devolved) from tent camping to pop up to hard side trailer as we got more ‘mature’, we’re comfortable with smaller, funkier RV parks, many of which are clean and quite charming, and Gov’t campgrounds.
Pilgrim, I totally agree!
Small and funky is our way too. Just not enough of them for us.
This is only the second time I’ve read your articles, and both time all I heard in your words is negatives. Why are you in this lifestyle? It seems you’re pining for the old days and resent the new RVers, no matter their age, because you blame them. I’ll give you some more time, but if you don’t ever write about the positives of this lifestyle, then I’m out. Who wants to hang around negative people.
Disagree, Chuck provides we folks living in reality a heads up on what we are facing down the road. Bravo Chuck and the team at
RVTravel.com!!!!!!!
Stay and learn or grumble and leave. I enjoy and learn from RVTs insight.
It’s OK to complain and Chuck sure does that to bring awareness to many of the downsides of RVing, but perhaps a grass roots attempt to fix some of these issues would be more effective.
We travel in a 41′ 5er 7 -8 months annually pulled by a dually. Our size limits where we stay often and we want full hook ups as our stay will be from 2 weeks to 3 months. We do not camp but explore an area and snowbird. There are some great CGs out there but all require reservations from 6 months to a year in advance. No one would believe the wonderful CGs in great locations we stay at for $133 a week, $435 for the month. Those are offset with the $1990 monthly where we snowbird (3 month minimum). The days of cheap CG nights are ending and I suspect weekends will soon have a 3 day minimum. Like my snowbird stay people will realize it is less expensive to travel in a Prius and stay in a motel or condo rental. I’m not looking foe cheap, just a comfortable place to return to in the evening or sit out at night.
I can hardly wait for next week’s subject on how Fifth Wheels ….
So many Govt. Campgrounds so little foresight.
Nice Campsites in private parks are $60.00-$100.00 Per night and are full.
Private Campgrounds have accountability to keep the Booger Eaters out and the noise down.
The Forest Service could actually afford to improve security, condition and behavior at most of their Campground if they raised their prices, staffed properly, (Including Night Time Security!)
People wouldn’t blink at $40.00 to have a nice, clean safe place to stay.
Everything changes.
Sure they could. If only they had the budget approval to make the improvements. The bean counters look at the cost to maintain and staff them currently and the organizational leadership doesn’t understand (or maybe care) that improvements would bring more people and revenue. Then of course there are the folk who trash the current facilities because they can (and don’t connect their tax dollars to the repairs).
My, how things have changed, good/bad/ugly and OMG! Can’t go back, got to roll with the punches and make it in todays world. Why worry about things you can’t change. Even if we all band together and say enough, will the RVIA say, alright you win? Will they now produce better craftmanship RV’s/TT’s? Will reservations for parks be dissolve to first come, first serve, cheaper fees for CG’s and anything else mentioned in Part Four? KOA’s? So, do you really care or RV’ers just chiming in just because it’s something to talk about. Really, how many of you have Maine on your “bucket list”? Thought so! Okay, you don’t like “social media”, face it, it’s here and here to stay and I’m in my mid 60’s, haha. 30, 50 Amp, get an adapter from one to the other or vice versa, problem solved. Hell, “Just Ask Mike” even talked about it. If you can’t reserve in your favorite or want to visit CG, go else where. Lots of undiscovered places in this Grand Ole USA of ours. You purchased an RV/TT/5-er, Class A,B,C, financed it for 20 years, go use it, travel, enjoy, make more memories. Agree or dis-agree, I’ll respect it. Faith is what you create.
Chuck, props to you, I know your trying to educate people venturing into the RV life. However, you tend to rant on doom and gloom.
90% with bad experiences go out of their way to fill RV web sites with Doom and Gloom and complaints about this and that because it happened to them. Not to say they aren’t all true but 90% of folks who’s experiences were good never tell anyone because there isn’t anyplace that promotes good experiences. Not even on this site. Doom and Gloom sells otherwise there would be a balance.
Head in sand equals…………………… you fill in the blank
my friend. Thank you once again Chuck for being brave enough to tell the truth of what is going on around us,
Gman, if I help some people along the way then I did some good. If I roll over and play dead, what good does that do for anyone? No, I will keep fighting, and, strangely, the harder and louder I fight the bigger our audience (and influence) grows. Or maybe I should try to please everybody and in doing so please no one?
You know, we have harped on RV electricity safety and fire safety, and people regularly write us and say “you may have saved my life.” We have had a few letters from people say they learned something from us that probably did save their life (in one case a little boy’s who might have died except for Mike Sokol’s advice on RV hot skin conditions). You think I should keep my mouth shut that RVs can actually kill people under certain conditions? That’s negative, right, doom and gloom? Well, maybe a few people are alive because I have championed electrical safety by hiring Mike when nobody else would because I thought it important. Or should I just shut up? Go back and read my body of work for the last few years and the thousands of staff and freelance articles we have published under my direction, and tell me that I’m gloom and doom? Am I being defensive? Damn right!
Chuck and crew, keep up the good work. You’ve got the best site around when it comes to education. We have gone to RV shows every year for decades. Having been in the building and maintenance trades all my life, I don’t really see the bling. I have always looked at the construction.(My wife says I can see thru walls). The stuff put out in the last decade or two is junk built on a stick – nothing like my dad’s first 1950s trailer – or my first 1960s trailer (They were called camping trailers back then.) No fake leaking roofs back then either. Keep on “seeing thru the walls” and let others know what you find. I feel so sorry for those without construction experience. Unfortunately they think that they are buying something that is quality produced like a microwave, clothes washer or automobile, or something else that they can take back to the store when it doesn’t work. I’ve seen so many company produced factory tours that they are evidently proud of, and I think, ‘you have to be kidding me – you are proud of that?’ – check that one off my list.
As to PDIs: When I bought my last and final RV, (Roadtrek), I did a walk thru and had a small list of things, I pointed them out to the dealer and told him when they are fixed I will sign a deal. None of this “If you find something, bring it back and we will fix it.” I don’t understand who would buy into something like that? I’m not smarter than anyone else, I guess I am just careful.
You are not a dooms-dayer, you are a truth-teller. Yep, we are the ones that get in trouble until …. Then it is hard to not say, “I told you so.”
You and your crew keep up the good work. Keep tellin’ us so.
Fear not everyone as the “Fat, 60 and up Crowd” (the Boomer’s) die off over the next 10 years there will be plenty of room in Campgrounds, Glampgrounds, State Parks, National Forests and National Parks for the rest of us who are left enjoying life.
GONE will be all the big Fifth Wheel Trailers, 45 foot Motorhomes, 30 Foot Airstreams and all those other LARGE RV’s with all the crap travelers bring along with them that they just gotta have. The younger generation is into smaller items and better design. They are not buying into the large RV market and never will. They will never own a vehicle capable of pulling such a monstrosity! Smaller is the name of the game and all you have to do is look at the types and amounts of RV shipments reported by RVIA. By far the largest segment of RV’s over the last 5 years that has seen the largest increase in sales is the small towable market. That ain’t the “Fat, 60 and up Crowd” buying those RV’s.
Therefore to solve this space issue at RV Parks, RV Resorts, State Parks, WalMart or wherever you like to came I respectfully request all Boomer’s to hurry up the git the inevitable over with so the rest of us will have an easier time finding a place to camp!
I’m guessing you’re trying to be funny. You’ve failed. If you’re trying to be obnoxious, you’re having better luck.
I spent the afternoon at an RV show. The place was packed with two things: 1) giant RVs and 2) young families swarming all over them.
We were weekend/holiday campers from 1973 to 2016 We are now fulltime rvers since April 2016. I get really aggrivated at you folks who constantly complain about those of us who own a 40 ft diesel motorhome or big fifth wheel!. We worked our way up from a empty shell on a pickup truck, to what we have today, it took 42 years and 6 rv’s to get this big and I am darn proud of it! Stop your JEALOUS WHINING and COMPLAINING and putting those of us down who have paid our way and worked up to a nice rv. We made good choices with our hard earned paychecks to get where we are today!
We have had to make reservations at popular state parks for holiday weekends since mid 1970’s.
And as for the man who wants us boomers to hurry and die off, be careful what you wish upon others, it could come back on YOU!
Granma, I agree. Sounds like a Demo college graduate looking for relief from his student loan debt to me. lol .
Predictably Bull you hit a nerve, but in my books you are correct, whether the old set among us (of which I’m one) agree or not. The reality is there and the old boys will no doubt go down screaming. Those things never change, but change exist nevertheless.
Bull, The Millennials today will grow older and buy bigger RVs. They will be no different than today’s baby boomers who started small and moved to bigger RVs. I saw my own parents do the same thing in their generation: pop up trailer first, then a small travel trailer, then a pick up camper, then a Class C motorhome and finally a big ol’ comfy Class A motorhome. I’d love to bet you on my theory about the Millenials, but I’ll be in the senior home or be dead by then.
Chuck, on this you nailed it. I was chomping at the bit to reply to Bull’s comment but you took the words right out of my mouth.
Bull, I’m a 35 year old in a pre-boomer’s body. Believe it or not, you will be a boomer’s age “tomorrow afternoon”. I wish I could be around to listen to you then. (I camp in a van.)
Forget it, Bull! We Boomers are going to hang on and annoy you to the last, dang possible moment! 🙂
Perpetuating casual ageism through an overused and unfunny meme?
This isn’t reddit, mate. Maybe you should go back there,
Bull’s last name is: _ _ _ _.
Experienced a “first” for us last week. Booking a site for our spring/summer adventure, was using the campground’s online reservation site. It asked me to pick a site number — 1st through 3rd choices. Once I had done that, a notice popped up stating that they “could not guarantee the sites I had asked for, BUT for an additional $10 fee they would be happy to do so.” Really!?
I did not take them up on the offer and would have stayed somewhere else, but for one night it didn’t seem worth the trouble to do more research!
There is a group of rvers that will find everything you say to be true about a significant shortage of available campsites that will fit their needs. But I disagree with your overall premise that the days of spontaneous travel are gone. The secret to spontaneous travel in today’s rv world is being properly set up for easy & extended boondocking, of which Walmart parking lots play a very small role. In 3,700 days of fulltiming, we’ve spent less than 75 days in a Walmart. Boondocking is both an exhilarating & peaceful way to travel. Most of our top 10 most memorable & exciting experiences over our 10 years of fulltiming have been connected to boondocking. Whether you’re new to rving or experienced, if you want to put the excitement of spontaneity in your travels, research the components needed to boondock & go for it. We have a 34 ft fifth wheel w/ 3 slides, 500 watts of solar, 4 golf cart batteries, a 4500 watt generator, a catalytic heater, large water capacities, a 35 gal waste tote, a macerator & a 90 gal vinyl, foldable fresh water bladder; all items we use when boondocking. We’ve been to every state more than once, including Alaska twice. We have the same needs/desires as most rvers. We have a 32″ tv, 2 laptops with HP all in one printer, 2 tablets, 2 cell phones. & 3 wifi data sources with a quality booster for coverage in remote areas. We have a 1000 watt microwave, Cuisinart grill, hair dryer, WaterPik flosser, 150psi air compressor, rechargeable drill & grinder & various other electrical appliances, just like you would in a stick built home & we can use all of these anytime, regardless of whether we are “hooked up” in a park or boondocking. We started out fulltiming 10 years ago, rarely making reservations, & still rarely make them today. As an example, our last trip to Alaska in 2018, was 4 months long & the only reservation we made was for 1 week at Denali NP about 3 months ahead. The few times we make reservations, they’re usually only a week or two out. We have learned over 10 years, what the best times to visit the most popular tourist areas are. We still truly travel by the seat of our pants, rarely ever making long term plans.
Our travel motto was & still is “Chasin’ Our Dream Fulltime”. There is no other lifestyle that comes close to comparing to this.
Fred – do the book. A lot of folks would like your secret. Continued Happy trials
All that meat and no potatoes.
Your theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1v638jJiy4&t=3m53s
We are retired baby boomers, but not full-time RVers. We usually camp somewhere for one week out of the month. We prefer National & State Campgrounds or boondocking. We’ll drag our little trailer down any dirt road and we are fine without hookups. Also, I don’t have a problem making a reservation in advance and planning a little ahead. What bothers me is showing up at a popular State or National Campground and half the sites are empty because someone booked a year ahead, but their plans changed and the site sits empty. In Utah, where I live, the window is 6 months out at the State Parks and it seems much easier to get a spot then those that book a year out. I think the reservation window should only be 3 months out on those popular campgrounds and I bet it would be easier to get a spot and people would actually show up. Reserve America used to have a service where you could be put on a waiting list and when a cancellation came up, you were notified by email. I wish they would bring that back.
I don’t think it’s ever going to go back to the old days when you could show up and get a spot at any campground and it’s useless to pine on about that. What would be helpful is to try to come up with solutions to the campground shortage problem. Even though the environmentalists would have a fit, it might be beneficial to upgrade the National Campgrounds at popular parks to accommodate the big RVs. I’m not saying that you need to add full hook ups to the sites, but make the pads a little bigger and the roads a little wider. Add some more sites too. I think most people only stay at the National Parks a few days and most could cope without hook ups or WiFi for a limited time. Then more people would have access to experience and enjoy the “Peoples’ Parks”.
New Mexico’s policy for state parks is if a reservation doesn’t show up for 24 hours after the reserved date, the space becomes available, first come, first served.
They’ve also now created a policy where about 1/3 to 1/2 the spaces in any given state park are not able to be reserved. They are only offered first-come, first-served.
I can’t speak for any other area, but New Mexico’s policy seems to work well. We use Reserve America sometimes, but in some state parks, we just show up early. We’ve not been turned away.
Thankfully, my wife and I are always prepared to boondock if necessary. We’ve planned trips where I’ve searched out a few likely spots on freecampsites.net, or just using Google Earth. Sometimes, we have to make adjustments, but that’s all part of the fun for us.
Chuck. I have no problem Boondocking for a few days. No problem driving on what you call good dirt roads for a few miles. Like you, my problems are in the need to reserve so far in advance. We are making a 6000 mile trip this May and June and I have few deadlines. How could I ever manage reservations from place to place and expect no problems along the way. I have reservations in four different areas. I think I can make up a day or two here and there, but can not count on it solely. I think we will be fine but if not we may be doing longer driving days part of the time. Thanks for all you do to keep us informed on the changes we can look forward to.
I have enjoyed reading your magazine for some time but I must say this series is incredibly off-putting. Times change and we hafta just roll with it or be a miserable complaining mess no one wants to be around – or read for that matter. People, trends, technology evolve. It is obvious you miss your “good ol’ days” of travel and RV style. I miss being 20 something too. I also enjoy what technology and modern times has to offer me in my daily life. Doesn’t make me a bad person. I appreciate your knowledge. I respect your experience. I however did not sign up for this magazine to hear nothing but ranting and complaining about a lifestyle I enjoy. We have had multiple campers and have experienced reservation issues for the past 16 years in CO. We still love the experience and the memories we have made. We have worked our butts off to retire in our 40’s and are planning to be able to go full time in 21 months. Your ranting and raving will NOT stop us from getting out there. We will do the reservation dance bc that is what modern day RV’ing entails And that’s just the way it is. We will NOT complaint about it as we will just be grateful to be alive, financially and physically able to go on this adventure. You can complain all you want about anything and everything and die miserable. OR you can take the bull by the horns and go for it – reservations be damned.
Good luck to ya Mila in your travels but remember a head in the sand is worth……..
Mila, I do not try to please everyone. If you are not affected by what I am writing about, then you have at least 200 other decent RV websites and blogs out there that gush constantly with articles that are basically “oh, isn’t everything wonderful.” We write that, too, but we also look at the other side. But, with all due respect, you do not read my mail from readers, so you have no idea that there are actually people out there besides me who see problems in what was once paradise. So, please feel free to unsubscribe. We are not for everyone. And, no, I will not just stand by “and go for it” as you suggest and pretend everything is just wonderful. Oh, it is for many people and for me, too, most of the time. But there is a dark side to this industry that adversely affects a lot of people and we are out to help them. If life is good for you, that’s great. But Mila, you are not everybody!
I think what the author is saying is that Demand will shortly out strip Supply (Supply & Demand) And while not all of us have felt the pinch, allot of the campers in New York have, not that I’m speaking for all of them. The Industry has the money to continue to hire the best that the advertising industry has to offer, which is misleading to newbies as they have little experience to draw upon. It’s like buying a boat only to find out that the lake has dried up. What also compounds the problem is the Reservation system in general. What I mean by that is since it’s so difficult to get reservations I think allot of people are booking sites as soon as the booking system opens whether they plan on going or not. And why shouldn’t they, I can book sites all over the place because I know there hard to get and if I change my mind I just cancel and get most, if not all of my money back. How many times have I booked a site and arrived as planned only to find out that the sites on both sides of me are empty, yet when you go online there booked. By the time someone finds out it’s available it’s to late for most people. What also doesn’t help out is people who book a site for the maximum allotted time that one can stay, and then turn around and put it in their wife’s or husbands name and continue to stay on the same site for weeks or months at a time instead of allowing someone else to have a shot at it. OK, I got a little off track but I believe things are only going to get worse before it gets better. It’s kind of like the Coronavirus, maybe it hasn’t effected you yet, but give it time !
My wife and I must be opposite the trend. We purchased our travel trailer about a year and a half ago specifically to “fit” the tow vehicle we already had, and we bought it with the idea of it being a “go anywhere” type rig in mind. It’s actually a little bigger than we had initially planned at 24 feet, with dual axle, but it will pull down any decent dirt road, and we aren’t afraid to do so. Our tow vehicle is a Jeep Grand Cherokee, so we sometimes set up a bit beyond where the “good dirt road” ends. We purchased an inverter generator that will run the rig, including A/C if necessary, and we purchased a suitcase solar panel setup to keep the batteries charged. We always have a couple of five gallon water jugs with us to fill at any gas station, store, park, wherever we can, to haul water back to the rig, so we don’t do without unless absolutely necessary. We prefer being out away from others when “camping”. For us, that is the best part of it.
C. Lee that was us 40 years ago. Time does change things. the fine lady here now likes the refinements – minus the racket which we summersaults to avoid, -just off the pavement. All thebest to ya.
Ditto, only we don’t have 4 wheel drive, but we will walk the end of the good dirt to see what lies beyond.
Chuck, I think you paint too much of gloom and doom scenario in your fourth installment in the series about RV’ing today.
This is especially true with your list of reasons why a campground wouldn’t work for you. Wi-Fi, well that’s great, but it really hasn’t been around that long. Give the campgrounds a chance to spend the money needed to upgrade to a good reliable system. I stayed at a CG in Ohio that had a $2.50 daily fee for Wi-Fi use. I asked why the fee? They had a great response telling me that a very good system was expensive. So they bought into it by borrowing the money from a bank. They then would charge the daily fee until the loan was paid off. After that, the system would be free to use in their CG. Perfect if you ask me.
I think as today’s electronic needs grow, including all-electric RV’s starting with residential fridges the CG’s will adapt, or lose business and close. Give them time, most are small family-type operations that don’t have a huge cash flow.
We as the camping-RV’ing community have become too damn picky and demanding in our expectations in campgrounds. For crying out loud, it is called camping! I don’t mind gravel or dirt sites, gravel roads, no pools etc. If I wanted glitz and sizzle, I’d go to a Marriott.
Although you have traveled the country to share your experiences with us, thank you, It is my un-knowing opinion that things are a bit worse out West where it seems every driveway has a camper in it, more so than here in the East.
We are newbies even tho I’m 68 and my wife is 66. I finally retired and wanted to travel for a couple of years. We bought a slightly used 21 ft single axle trailer to pull with a half ton truck. We know now that it should have been about 5 ft longer with maybe a slide out, but we didn’t want to invest a lot in case we didnt like it. So off we went last April. Didnt know much. Had a blast. Another adventure in july. Had a blast. Still another in September. You guessed it, had a blast. Over 6000 miles last year. I don’t know what RVing was like 20 years ago, but its sure fun now. We stayed at friends and relatives along the way, boondocked on walmarts, cracker barrels, and cabellas. Pulled over at rest stops to enjoy lunch and rest a while and best of all , always had our house with us. Never had anything like it before. So much better than motels. We always were able to find a spot in a RV park if we wanted one. We stayed in one on the shore of Lake Huron, outside of Yellowstone, and outside of Big Bend as well as others along the road as we traveled. Fun., fun, fun. And we’re heading out again in about 3 weeks. If RVING isn’t as good as it used to be, it must of really been gosh almighty awesome back in the day. And, if my health holds out, I’m stretching that couple of years out a lot longer.
So glad you’re enjoying yourselves!
I agree with Danny! Another thing we love is that we can take our pets with us, instead of worrying that they’re being taken care of, or missing us, at some far away kennel. We’re about to take off on a 6-month road trip, partly reserved and partly boon-docking, and the fur-babies are coming along.