In this week’s “Beyond the Headlines” we look at a new RV company, an interesting social media campaign, an article that’s a hit piece against all of us, and a look at Lance making strides.
An RV company founded by an experienced team
It was announced this week that another RV company will be coming on the scene, but this time, with some unique people behind it. Boundless Recreation is a new RV company that will be based in Bristol, Indiana.
“We didn’t start Boundless Recreation because the industry needed another manufacturer,” said Nate Nickell, founder of Boundless Recreation (who is pictured at far right in the above photo). “We started it because we believe the industry can do better. Better products. Better support. Better accountability. If we earn a reputation as the company people trust most, everything else will take care of itself.”
The company follows in the footsteps of others, including Brinkley and Alliance, in that it will initially only make fifth wheels.
There are some interesting people pictured in the photograph that was distributed with their press release, including Nick Buchanan, known as That RV Tech on YouTube, and Hunter Megowen, known as the RV Hunter.
The company states that they are carefully selecting dealers and list themselves as a boutique RV manufacturer.
I always have to throw in my own 2¢ in these stories. I would think that some way of tracking ownership satisfaction with the dealership, which is how almost all vehicle builders do nowadays, would go a very long way to avoiding a lousy experience for buyers and enabling buyers to have a voice in the product.
Source: https://rvbusiness.com/startup-oem-boundless-recreation-to-redefine-rv-ownership/
Go RVing partners with content creators
If you’ve been seeing a bunch of RV content—more so than usual—that makes sense, as Go RVing, the RV industry’s voice, has had a collaborative campaign going to show the world how awesome RVing is.
According to a press release, the organization partnered with eight “highly engaging” (hey, nobody called me!) content creators to share their first-time RV road trips. By the numbers, the campaign reached an estimated 4.2 million people through 202 pieces of content. Whew.
The content was shared across TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, and Facebook. Maybe ol’ Elon’s jealous to be excluded from this. Probably not.
According to the organization, the campaign targeted young families, outdoor adventurers, pet owners, and empty nesters with messaging around getting outdoors, celebrating America’s 250th, and skipping long airport lines and pet boarding fees by venturing out in an RV.
Ah, now I see it. Visiting trains, goofy tourist attractions, and breweries wasn’t in the game plan.
Supposedly, the creators showed what RVing looks like IRL (In real life. See, I’m hip!)—from setup and planning to cooking outdoors and traveling with pets.
If you want to see what hits with people nowadays, here are the top-performing pieces of content:
- Allison Bickerstaff (@allisonbickerstaff) – Instagram Reel and YouTube Vlog
- Jake & Kenzy (@thatsojakenzy) – Instagram Reel
- Molly Dombroski (@findyoursummit) – Instagram Reel
Don’t worry if you’re out there muttering to yourself, “I don’t get it.” This is what I do for a living, and I don’t, either. What I saw was certainly going to get clicks, but I’m not sure how it translates into educating buyers on the real adventures in RVing.
But I cannot wait to read your comments.
World’s Largest RV Show—but for real
While two big RV shows in the U.S. spar for a title as the largest, the Germans look over from across the Atlantic and laugh as the real world’s largest RV Show, Caravan Salon, is selling tickets and preparing for the 2026 event.
Held in Düsseldorf, Germany, the giant RV show will take place August 28–September 6.
There are a lot of seminars and exhibits at the show, as you would suspect, with some of the seminars being specifically addressed to newbies and others designed for those who wish to build their own RVs.
No. My wife will not let me attend those. I’m not supposed to be thinking about my cargo trailer build anymore.
This monster event is held at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf and is a shopper’s dream. Yes, I will attend one of these years. Heck, I could practice my German!
They say retirees will regret RVing
While we all wind up our single-finger salutes, Bob Niedt and Kathryn Pomroy published an article in Kiplinger entitled 15 Reasons You’ll Regret an RV in Retirement.
First of all, the article specifically admits that they looked for the downsides to RVing.
Most of the downsides to RVing fall into the “no kidding” category, including the fact that RVs guzzle fuel and depreciate. Well, duh. They also talk about black tanks and cramped quarters.
But then they say RVs can be a bear to drive, and overnight parking can be problematic.
Come on. I have never, ever been stuck where I can’t find somewhere to dream about my future RV adventures overnight.
One of the sections said that RVing can be lonely. Apparently, they have never ever been to an FRVA Convention, made friends, and then planned further adventures with those friends. We know people from states all over, and our biggest issue is making time to visit with all the wonderful fellow RVers we’ve met along the way.
The thing that bugs me about these stupid hit pieces (yeah, I called it stupid) is that someone wasted money paying writers for this drivel.
Lance Camper gets renewed passion
We’ve talked before about Lance Camper being owned by the REV Group and that, as part of merging with Terex, they sold off the brand to Bill Rex. The sole holdout to what was once a significant number of RV manufacturers in California is seeing renewed energy in maintaining the brand’s reputation as a premium product, according to an article in Truck Camper Adventure.
Bill Rex and his son, Paul, with Matt Koverman, acquired Lance Camper and went to work addressing issues they saw with the brand.
The brand is seeing a resurgence in sales with a particular spike in the sales of truck campers.
The article is interesting, reflecting on a respect for the past and a look to the future with a consistent theme of making detailed improvements to the products.
I know there’s a strong interest in the Lance brand, with my review of the Lance 2075, one of my favorite Lance products, still getting plenty of views.
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The 15 items in the Kiplinger story are certainly “no duh” to anyone who actually RV’s but I think the article is more intended for the nearly 43% of folks aged 55 to 64 who have no dedicated retirement account and think an RV is a viable solution for what little money they have.
It’s not just retirees but also younger folks as well.
Bad actors in the industry have caused younger people to think of an RV as a great “starter home” because home prices so out of reach. They downplay reality and sell the sizzle instead of the steak.
Anyone that owns an RV knows a different truth. RV’s have both positives and negatives, the difference is how they’re perceived but they ain’t cheap.