RVing is different now. Like everything in life, it’s morphed into something so different from what it used to be. But for those of us who love it, the wide-open (okay, traffic-packed) road still calls…
Today, do you still enjoy RVing as much as you did when you first started? Whether that was one year ago or 30… we want to know. Do you enjoy it more? Less? The same?
After you vote, please leave a comment and tell us why you answered the way you did. We’re looking forward to reading your responses. Thanks.
Good question, but people who don’t enjoy RVing anymore probably aren’t reading this.
Strongly disagree,
The difficulty finding and cost of RV parks has decreased some of the enjoyment for us.
Just getting older but still enjoy it. For trips we get reservations ahead so we have a spot. We stay a couple nights and enjoy the areas we’re in. Every little town has a ma & pa restaurant, museum, park, downtown to see. Have had outstanding meals and made long lasting friends with campers.
great comment, just how we travel as well.
Getting much older now n not as active. Been rving since 98.
In our 5th year and, now that we have the basics down and have learned from our earlier mistakes, RVing seems even more enjoyable.
That’s the spirit!
When I started in 1955 with my parents, my Dad just hooked up the trailer and we hit the road, I only once remember we could not get into the state park we wanted to, went down the road and got another park with no issue. Was that way for us until the last few years, the spontaneity is gone and I don’t like having to plan that far ahead to go site seeing.
The inability to travel without advance campground reservations has nearly destroyed the “freedom” to see and explore our country. Such a shame to no longer be able to travel and explore as we want.
totally agree, I used to enjoy looking at my calendar one evening and finding that I was checking out the next day, then thinking “where shall I go next?”
Nailed it. What we miss most after ten years of retirement travels is definitely the spontaneity, the ability to veer off on a whim, adjust agendas with no worries about reservations or finding a place to park for the night, to enjoy true freedom of the road. Something was always available. This year the budget is part of the mix, higher prices on gas, campsites and pretty much everything else prodding us to scrub a much yearned for 2,000 mile loop around the western USA. Maybe next year if things calm down a bit.
Been fulltiming for 12 years now & just added a triple slide truck camper to continue our fulltime adventures, in a little more compact mode, well into our 80’s.
We are in our early 70’s and still enjoy camping, hiking and fishing and are fortunate enough to have Hoosier National Forest 40 minutes from our home . HNF is kind of off the beaten path and rarely do we have any problems getting a site. Last year on a whim we even went down during the 4th of July and still got a site without a reservation. We are Lucky for sure having HNF so close.
Enjoying more now because we changed our routine. We used to take many short stay trips, 3 days to a week. Our current trip is a month long adventure. Two other planned trips each a two week stay. A couple short trips coming in the fall with our still working son and his family. Currently looking for a couple other two week stays someplace. Finding a place has been no problem for us at all. Love not going on so many short trips. It was draining me to drive so much. Stay longer you’ll love it again. Embrace the crowds. People are fun.
My wife’s health has deteriorated to the point that she doesn’t want to travel much. We have had many good trips in our small motorhome since 2005, exploring this beautiful country. But those days seem to be over for us. Sad.
We enjoy RVing more since we retired and downsized our rig, but we don’t enjoy driving as much. Traffic is heavier and our older bodies need more recovery time from long distance rides. Fortunately we don’t need to travel long days anymore to hurry back to our jobs.
We sure do. But that’s because over the years we’ve “graduated” from the pop-top tent we started with through two VW Vanagons, a 5th wheel toy hauler, to our present Country Coach diesel pusher. At this point we’ve reached RV Nirvana, and will stay with this rig until we are forced out of the game by decrepitude. Which, based on the evidence of the FMCA Rally ending today, will be sometime in our advanced 80’s… 🙂
👍👍
We enjoy going but it’s harder to find somewhere to go because of fuel prices, hard to get reservations, crowding and rude people. I’m still going but not as much.
We still enjoy going but it seems like every time we want to go it’s either something is not working on the motorhome or no place to go that we haven’t been already without driving a number of extra miles just to get there.
We used to “camp” now given the name of boondocking far more than we do now. Our present RV is more designed for the “comforts” we want for long term travel. We still enjoy it but truly miss the days when we found a spot on the beach or in the woods and simply relaxed. Of course then our trip was a few days or couple of weeks at most. Our present coach can only last a few days in the wilderness. I can’t justify the cost of the required batteries and solar to operate our residential refrigerator so remote camping is limited.. Ahhh yes the good ol’ days….
Enjoy the same but it is different. Back in the day we took our kids with us and were more active. Now the kids are gone and we are not looking for those all day hikes. Also what has changed was RVing back in the day was about getting away from home, now its taking your home with you. For me RVing years ago meant no TV, no AC, limited cooking and shower. At camp the RV was primarily a place to sleep out of the weather. Now we take all the ‘comforts’ of home with us — TV AC microwave etc.
Hi, hubby and I are still new at it, only 8 months but already I want to give up many days as I am disillusioned by rude camper neighbors, loud at all hours, barking dogs, dogs coming right up to our door (they can scratch it bad) their loud motorcycles that they start up at like 7am, the stink from their fire pits. I have had bad luck on RV parks, many have their own bonfires going with smoke everywhere and fear of setting my RV on fire, construction noise at all hours, near a farmers field with dust blowing everywhere etc. Mangers are too scared to handle my complaints make me do it instead. Just recently I was in a RV park and the neighbor thought it was ok to hit golf balls in the back of his, never once thinking he could hit mine with a ball. When I asked him to stop please, he said I’m almost a professional, I said Good, when you hit my RV, I only take cash as I don’t know you so I won’t accept a check or credit card. He stopped right away! I guess we are discouraged.
So sorry to hear stories like yours. That is why we mostly boondock away from the world.
I’m sorry about your issues. However, for MANY of us, having a campfire is one of the joys of camping. Maybe you can get a site at a campground that does not have fire pits.
We retired 5 years ago, have now been to all 49 States and 7 Provinces and love it!!
In this time, we have camped at literally hundreds of campgrounds, CoE, State and private giving us the opportunity to see as much of this great country as possible. LOVE IT!
11 years on and there are more inconsiderate people now than there were then.
Not as enjoyable mainly because hubby has died and there is too much to do by myself. I am a full-time and don’t enjoy travel now so I stay in one place for a long time.
16yrs FT – Not as much. More government interference; higher prices; politically manipulated fuel prices; more spoiled people making ridiculous demands that inconvience or restrict reasonable folks. Still beautiful country.
OPEC sets fuel prices. The US is not a member of OPEC. Since its creation, OPEC has been the biggest impactor of oil supplies and pricing, because its current 13 members control almost 82% of the world’s proven oil supplies.
Bigger rig with more amenities and easier to set up.
I learned that smaller is better….up to a point! My 2nd trailer was a misfire- too small! Had everything…but ROOM. Had to trade it in for a rig just a few feet longer but WAYYY more comfortable …and thus lost thousands $$ in just 6 months of ownership! 1st trailer was too darn long…a BIG STRAIN at gas stations, tight situations, etc. That caused stress and that’s exactly what I DO NOT want. Our 3rd trailer is perfect!
Sadly the super-hyped, self-serving “RV mania” that the RV industry is now breathlessly reciting is RUINING the experience. I can’t wait for the whole fad to crash hard. And it will.
We have only had this coach for 16 years. The RVing we did before was all for other reasons and now we are traveling for enjoyment only. We are learning more about everything every year (except the last 2 were a loss) and so we are finding new things to discover. We are even going back to places we went a decade or more ago now that we have the time to wander and are seldom in a hurry to get going to “where ever” we need to be next.
that’s the question, isn’t it? between my wife’s mobility issues and my knees we don’t RV the way we used to 36-years ago. it’s been getting less and less enjoyable for several years now. i’m glad we kept the MH as it provided a base for us when we had to travel to CA from IL when my BIL passed away. but during the 10-day trip out and 10-days back it was a chore to drive, set up, break camp…rinse and repeat. been thinking of selling the MH for a while now but I keep vacillating. i’m concerned that world events might make it prudent to keep the lifeboat around for a while.
Yeah, If you can afford to, it’s probably a good idea.
Same level of enjoyment, but for different reasons these days. 🙂
Our main joy was wandering about until late afternoon and then staying wherever that took us. Now it is much harder if not impossible to stay somewhere without reservations. We don’t need hookups or anything fancy but we also don’t want to park in store parking lots or truckstops.
I enjoy RVing just as much but planning and getting reservations has changed so much making long trips a nightmare.
Enjoy it just then same though it is harder than it used to be because more people competing for the same spots.
Still enjoy CLAMPING. Now I’m retired hope to do more. Close to home of course
A bit less than when we first started, but mainly due to the hassles of being older and dealing with more gear to set up (Dish, lights, flag pole, sunshades, patio area, storage bins, etc…) for a night or two. When we both retire and can be ‘full timers’, then it won’t be so bad, because we can set up the site for a week or twelve.
This was a hard one for me to answer. I still LOVE camping but the love has been dampened by having to have reservations, if you can even get one!
I was 18 then and went anywhere to camp. Sometimes with only Backpack and sleeping bag. 84 now and things are a lot different.
The camping/rv lifestyle has not changed. People and expectations fluctuate to extremes.
1) Internet reservations have been the best thing to happen to RVing.
2) Internet reservations have been the worst thing to happen to RVing.
Take your pick…
I said I enjoy it more but that’s because it has gotten easier. Setting up and tearing down is so much quicker than when we started almost 50 years ago. All I have to do is push a button and it levels itself. I hit another button and the hose or power cord wind themselves up. Add to that being retired and not ever in a rush to see everything
I do a lot more local boondocking since traveling expenses have recently gone through the roof. While I really enjoy that, I’d still like to go places I like.
On line reservations and spots reserved and not used is a shame .
I love RV travel but it’s hard when all weekends are booked this will eventually kill travel staying at parks and say hello at Walmarts
The RVing itself I still enjoy as much as ever. It’s the “must reserve; must plan months ahead” I don’t enjoy
We still love it as much as we ever have, but so much has changed in the last couple of years. Finding a place to stay that is in our travel budget is really becoming limited, and with many spots being reserved and then not used is extremely frustrating. Gas prices going up have also impacted our budget. We will be limiting our travels this year to camping with our club (fairly close to home) and visiting family. We love the travel so we’ll keep going until the day it’s not fun anymore. Hope that is still a long way off.
I agree with you. We waited to cross the country from West to East until we retired, and that is this year. Campgrounds are full, as well as campground prices are high and rising, fuel is outrageous, and I am beginning to question if it’s worth it. We put off crossing the country, staying closer to home and visiting family this year. If next year isn’t any better, I think selling our rig and calling it quits is in the cards!
Doing more boondocking. We live in the West,so it’s not too hard here.
I chose a bit less to describe our frustration. We’ve camped and “RVed” for years, but now that we are retired it is so difficult to find a spot at places we’ve saved up to visit. And with diesel prices (thank you’ politicians), our camping is reduced accordingly. What next?
Don’t be a slave to the RV parks, Freedom Dock
Now that we are retired, we enjoy Glamping at great RV Resorts and wonderful locations so very much! Lake Havasu, Newport Dunes, Sacramento River, Moro Bay, Pismo Beach, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona have been so fantastic and enjoyable! Yes, enjoying RVing more each time! Our doggie especially loves traveling and getting walks in so many exciting locations too🐶