By Chuck Woodbury
PUBLISHER
In 1981, Barbara Mandrell recorded a song titled “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.” For those of you new to RVing, there was a time when RVing wasn’t cool. In fact, 10 years ago it wasn’t cool. It was still “Grandma and Grandpa’s Playhouse” (popular bumper sticker for a few decades). It was for old people. If you were 20, 30 or 40, it was for your parents or grandparents.
The pandemic has changed that. The only safe way to travel now is by RV. For anyone accustomed to hopping a plane to Europe every summer, or booking a cruise in the Caribbean, hitting the road with an RV and exploring the USA sounds a lot better than sitting at home. Europe can wait. Even if you’re 25, RVing is okay. It’s hip! Everybody wants to do it.
But this coolness has come with a huge price – crowding. RV parks are packed. Good luck finding a spot in a National Park campground without reserving it a year ahead. Some National Parks now require a reservation to just drive through the front gate!
I liked RVing better when it wasn’t cool. I could move around easily. I never made camping reservations.
THE RV INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION predicts more than half a million new RVs will ship to customers this year. KOA, the chain of campgrounds, predicts that nearly 20 million people will camp over the July 4th weekend. If you think you might want to join them but don’t have reservations yet, then plan on cooking your holiday hotdogs in the microwave in a Walmart parking lot (“America’s Overflow Campground”).
The relatively sudden “coolness” of RVing struck a nerve with me last weekend when Parade Magazine featured a cover story. “This could be you,” a caption near the top said. And there, in full color, occupying the entire cover of a magazine that would be read by 20 million people was a Class C motorhome crossing a beautiful highway bridge along the Pacific Ocean beach. I’ll tell you, if I were not yet an RVer, I’d be drooling: “I want to do that!”
I’m a road trip kinda guy. I don’t like parking my motorhome for months on end at a fancy resort to play pickleball and make jewelry in the craft shop. I want to be out searching for the world’s largest hairball or wolfing down any hamburger with a weird name (my all-time favorite was an Earl Burger). I want to drive blue highways, walk small town main streets, and grab coffee at the local cafe. “What can I bring you, Hon?” That’s what the servers ask (they used be called waitresses). They’re always women. Half are named Betty. I love ’em.
But those days are going, going … almost gone.
Okay, I’m venting about the good ol’ days just like every other old fart in the world. It’s a new world – yeah, I know – and most of the folks buying RVs nowadays don’t remember when you could drive whatever road you wanted, any direction, and at 4 p.m. find an RV park, pull in, and spend a night or two. They accept today’s realities of a crowded world.
What peeves me big time is that the RV Industry Association and its advertising and PR agencies are still pitching RVing as the way to “go where you want, when you want,” like it really was 20 years ago. That’s a whole lot of B.S. I suggest that today it’s far easier to find a hotel or motel room closer to a popular tourist attraction than a campground or RV park.
To be honest, I don’t even know what RVing means anymore – is it traveling with a $400,000 motor coach with built-in heated floors or a 20-foot travel trailer? Is the RV for camping or living? Do “houseless” people living on the streets in $150 junked Class C’s qualify as RVers? Do people who live year-round in a 45-foot luxury fifth wheel – are they RVers? Do workers on pipelines and wind machines, and traveling nurses, who spend three months in one place and then move to another, home-schooling their kids – are they RVers? Do van dwellers squatting on public lands, pooping in Home Depot buckets — are they RVers?
I don’t know. I really don’t.
Thank you for listening (reading). I needed to get this out.
Please leave a comment.
##RVT1005b
Me and my wife have been full timing for 5 years now. Started while I was still working in a 5th wheel. Had a work change and loved boodocking I the 5th wheel so with that work move we were full timers.
Just 2 years ago something bad happened and my working days ended and we moved over to a Country Coach Magna class a. Much easier to move around for our disabled butts.
Now we stay monthly when not making big moves but don’t stay outside of one season in 1 place.
The changes have been bad. Almost all of the new RV owners don’t know how to be good humans or how to keep there dog or herd of dogs (6 yes 6 weiner dogs in a 16 foot camper…..) on a leash and off of other people. Not one dog attacked us before last summer. But have had 5 since then. And yes dog owners letting your dog jump onto someone without permission is assault.
And we have seen Walmart parking turn into a rv park. Not something you use for 1 night while your moving to your next location.
People now live in vans in parking lots…. thus making those businesses not like the normal rv owners. We pay for others wanting to be 24/7 365 parking moochers.
And some people like to turn monthly parks into Survivor episodes where they are trying to mess with you and try and get you voted off the island.
The biggest problem is that many Americans don’t know how to leave others alone or treat others with any decency. Instead of talking to neighbors and finding where they are and going we avoid now because this new breed everything is a competition. I don’t miss office politics but now it’s where I live.
I can’t wait for the cool to wear off and we can go back to normal.
Honestly, the worst “camping” experiences I’ve ever had have been in established campgrounds or RV parks. Whether it be overbearing “hosts” barking out orders, noisy, messy, and/or disrespectful neighbors, shoddy substandard facilities that I paid good money for, or just too many people in general (I don’t go camping, in an RV or otherwise, to merely trade one “town” for another). Boondocking has ALWAYS been preferable to me, and I’ve always been prepared accordingly. Whether it be driving our Class C (worth well over $150!!) down some dirt road into the forest or desert to find a peaceful spot with no-one else in sight, or over the last few years, pulling our 2019 Passport down similar roads, the fact that everyone else has to have some amenities, or must see some overdeveloped historical site or geologic feature, leaves a lot of wide open spaces for us to roam…and there is plenty of history and gorgeous scenery in places without names.
Your editorial makes the same mistake that many do. You use the words RVing and camping interchangeably. Camping is what people do on weekends or during their vacations. They use their RVs to do all the stereotypical activities. RVing is what the rest of us do. We spend significant time during the year living in our RVs. Primarily it’s those who are “camping” that are flooding the campgrounds this year but this will pass, it always does. Sales of RVs follow the health of the economy. As a couple who falls into the category of an RVer, we would much prefer the comfort and amenities of a “$400,000 with built-in heated floors,” as we spend most of the year traveling the country because we’re RVing, not camping.
You paint a very sad picture. You may want to come east a couple of thousand miles. Our last trip out we got a reservation at a popular state park. On arrival we find it only half full. Didn’t even bother with reservations for the rest of the trip. Sure some parks were full but there were plenty of places. Our biggest complaint is post Covid the prices have changed from $35 to over $80 a night. We simply bypass those parks for now. Yes parks are busier around here but there is still the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. One simply needs to avoid the destination and resort RV parks. Of course that is easy for us to say as we never really liked them anyway. Too close together, too noisy and just not our form of RVing. Happy travels.
Not inexpensive! I think that very soon most of these “newbies” are going to discover the fact that, while they think RVing is a safe way to travel, the truth is it is VERY expensive. Over 7 years we owned two new RVs. Most of our travels were to places where we volunteered in either state or federal parks. I was a firm believer from the get-go that RVing was SO much a less expensive a way to travel than any other mode. After I finally adopted what my wife kept saying, “you can take a first class vacation once or twice a year for less”, I sold the 3 year old motor home and its three year old toad. Do the math. After you figure in depreciation, payments, cost of maintenance and fuel we found that flying (or driving our then hybrid car), staying in nice hotels, all rather stress free when compared to driving a 35′ MH with a toad. Much less road rage (especially at 35k feet), not having to set up after a 350 mile driving day in the heat, greedy RV park owners, RV payments + repairs.
You raise a good point, Arthur. I’d separate vacationing in an RV versus living in an RV, though, when talking about finances. Remember Motel 6? Just did a quick check for a locale near where I am — $110 (plus taxes and fees) for one night for two people. If you’re on a two-week vacation, you’re paying over $1500 just for lodging — and that’s at a relatively no-frills motel. You’re right — add that up and you’re in good shape compared to paying for an RV and all that comes with it (including storage when you’re not using it, for many people). But if you’re in it for the long haul, RVing is still much less expensive than a sticks-and-bricks home — especially these days, with property taxes likely to go up in most of America (thanks to the skyrocketing price of houses). Just my 2 cents.
Yes Chuck I too miss the good old days, I started camping in 1965 in a Special Services tent camper checked out at NAS Memphis, TN with my then wife and new son at KY Lake. Since I was in the Marines most of my camping was in a pup tent made from two shelter half’s. Really got into it in 1978 with my first travel trailer. It was definitely a different world then. I may be wrong but I think within a couple of years the pendulum will start to swing back the way we liked it. I don’t see the modern generation of RVers sticking with it, some will but I don’t think these young people will stick with it due to the amount of work involved in camping. It’s much easier to check in to a motel, eat at a restaurant and not have Mama cooking 3 meals a day like at home, and let room service worry about the mess, the younger generations aren’t as industrious as us old farts were, they’ve had everything done for them all their life. There will be many slightly used RVs for sale.
bargains, Bargains, BARGAINS!!!!
Just give it a few years….
I like the sound of that!
It’s true finding a decent campsite or RV park can be daunting. No, you can’t just pull in for the night anymore in many places. However, I think you’ll find that many who bought RVs to “go where they want when they want”, will find that keeping, maintaining, and paying for the RV will be too much and will end up selling them. Then, they’ll be a glut on the market of improperly cared for RVs. Those of us who are still on the road and make it through this, will come out on the other side the winners and things will be back to what will pass as normal.
We are weekend camping warriors. According to our local F&I guy at camping world they are seeing a lot of first time camper owners selling their rigs back to them after buying them in 2020. They are realizing the cost and getting rid of them. If this trend continues that should help the situation and bring some relief to over crowded campgrounds. 😎
Waaa Waaa Waaa. Everything’s ruined. I want my exclusive hobby back…
I just this week made the reservations I needed for a road trip from Cape Cod to Land Between the Lakes. In July! I had to go to my second campground choice ONCE. I haven’t done the return trip yet, but between Harvest Host and private campgrounds, I’m not worried. After all, nothing ruins a road trip faster than needing to be somewhere at a certain time. While it’s true that I made the reservations at LBTL a month ago, every place I called (call, don’t just go to the website) for stops on the way there had a site for a couple of nights.
Lay low for a couple of seasons. The 30 somethings will discover that camping (RVing, glamping, whatever they think it is) is too much work and dealing with your own waste is “Ewww gross”. In 2 years there will be a glut of lightly used campers on the used market when they all go back to paintball.
Paintball is for the more active types…..I think many will go back to video games.
We have been traveling full-time since July 2016 in our 2001 30’ Airstream trailer. 48,000+ miles, 330+ campgrounds and 48 States/4 Canadian Provinces so far. Before COVID, we hardly ever made reservations. Now, I try to book at least 3 months out, maybe further. It’s a different world out there. We write and podcast about the good and bad, pros and cons, tips, ideas, suggestions, locations and travel philosophy at: https://livinginbeauty.net/
Like you said Chuck. You are just and old fart wishing for the 60s to return. You need to get east of the Mississippi…it’s pretty easy to find nice parks.
Wow, Woodbury, you really need a time out. Rving is new to wife and me, but fortunately, we haven’t encountered you or like-minded individuals. While you might have more road miles under your belt, we have not experienced the scenarios you detail in your article. We have not observed van campers pooping in a bucket, parking lots filled with campers, or had problems getting into the parks we wanted into. We traveled the month of May thru 11 states, staying in national parks, private parks, and commercial parks, traveled 5410 miles. I’m sorry you are having a bad day. Maybe you should just go home and park in your driveway.
He was referring to the movie Nomad about the pooping in bucket reference.
Good movie review!
Wayne, under normal circumstances Chuck is genial and extremely supportive- a living legend for the “We were all beginners once” philosophy. But there are large numbers of longterm RVer’s who are not best thrilled the current crop of same- people who are selfish, neither know nor care about Leave No Trace, un-neighborly neighbors in the campground, etc. I do encourage you to read some of his editorials from the past 20 years to see why RVTravel.com is proud to be the only source out definitely for the RVer. Not for RV corporations, not for RV service industry, not for whatever else- Always and only for the RVer.
Here he isonly voicing what many longterm RVers are now saying but have also been saying for the last 20 29 years. Yes, this attitude was out there even when I first started to lurk on RVtravel’s site 12 years prior to purchasing my first RV, just in much fewer numbers. Don’t take my word for it- go back in time to 2013 or so to read Chuck’s editorials back then.
And, just gently pointing out, since you are new, Chuck IS at home. He’s a full timer. You would’ve come to realize that after a few months of reading his columns.
Hi, Mitzi and Ed. I’ll be gentle, also. Chuck was a full-time RVer for awhile, but did buy a house a few years ago. That’s where he and Gail have been hunkered down during the pandemic. But he is definitely an avid RVer and has been for the majority of his life. I’m sure he and Gail will be putting lots of miles on their RV again pretty soon. Have a great day. 🙂 —Diane
The reference wasn’t just IRT ‘NOMADLAND’, as this sort of thing happens to ‘road workers’ and those experiencing homelessness issues who live in their ‘junker RV’s’ and need an easy way to dispose of their waste. Many states do not have RV waste dumps at their rest areas. Here in WA State, we have them at nearly every one, and I see homeless people using them constantly. However, when I was travelling through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama a few years back, there were not any ‘public dump stations’ that I could easily access – you’d have to go to a state park or private campground and that usually came with a fee. Now, all this said, there are more resources for ‘RV’ers’ than there used to be, so it IS easier to find what you need. However, parks are almost always full and access to what those of us who take our homes with us is NOT always available. Pointing out the flaw in the RVIA’s marketing is not, IMHO, ‘having a bad day’.
Well … I’m trying to be positive with the changes to our RV lifestyle. Like you, I love the way “some things” used to be, Chuck, but here is what I found traveling from northern CA to Alabama, leaving this past April, Hwy10E across Texas … I avoided holidays, high-end parks, KOA’s, and booking anything on a weekend. Visited San Antonio, the Alamo and many other venues. After 16 different camps, 2,864 miles and 32 nights on the road, we were never turned away. I admit, we sometimes had to drive the tug an hour to see something on our list of POI’s; no issues with that. Example: we camped on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain and drove across the causeway to New Orleans rather than find a local RV park. I do realize that some can’t take advantage of the things we do being retired, especially with school children. However, I submit the “new normal” is camping smarter. I use RVTripWizard and camp in a 34′ Class-A w/tug, and have all the club discounts!
I find the whining in several these comments kinda strange, as I am sure the old home grown camper (RV’ers) thought the same about you and your new fangled 5th wheels years ago. I think we need to realize that time is always moving and nothing stays the same. Of the 2-3 million new RV’s that have been built and sold (try to order a new rig, ain’t happening), maybe half will be sold back, or sit unused in the next few years, but half will be on the road as people like getting outdoors just like you do! This means a million new campers / rv’ers will be vying for spots. And of course, a certain number of us current rv’ers will be retiring from the road. Don’t like the newbie’s behavior then talk to them, help them, show them. We all had to learn. This is going to be the new normal for us of’ farts! Welcome to 2021.
Agree 100%. We hope that those new arrivals will tire of the challenges of RV’ing (reservations, crowding, RV maintenance, RV loans) and will sell them or leave them in the driveway. On the other hand, the Western states are being overrun by new arrivals and what was once quiet beauty now has to be shared with multiple visitors (or, heaven forbid, reserved in advance)… Argh.
Very well said. In my Golden years I had hoped to travel the back road of the US. I will still as much as possible. Thanks Chuck for the many years of delightful reading. Yours The Brandt’s
Unfortunately, in general, the world is simply much more crowded today, and it will get worse. That said, the Covid-driven RV frenzy will likely abate. Most folks who are still working will find that smaller is better and that sometimes staying home or using motels is easier. When you’re working full time, that packing up, having a couple of days fun and then unpacking and cleaning gets old.
Understand your frustration, but maybe you ought to count your blessings that you had that more unfettered experience for many years? So many haven’t.
And yes, you can still have that. Just get a nicely outfitted, boondock-ready van. You won’t even have to poop in a bucket 😉 If you can’t find a forest campground spot, chances are you can find something else just as good for free. Sounds like a nice road trip to me.
I always smile when I see these lamentations by Mr. Woodbury.
Here is a gentleman who has worked tirelessly and skillfully to basically advertise RV’ing for 20 years. To make it known and more popular.
And now it is popular. And now he does not like this state of affairs. Is there a certain irony here?
Boondocking is also a limited resource. “Leave No Trace” is unknown to many visitors. Picking up sofas and human waste strains limited budgets.
Are we in danger of “Loving our resources to death” once again?
I totally agree. I first saw Chuck Woodbury’s name when all he talked about was the sadness of a last adventure before his daughter went off to college. He posted a picture and I thought,”what a beautiful memory for a young woman going off to college.” I have been following off and on and love all the articles. I’m going to send a $ gift for the endurance, great article and lived through the ” good old day’s ” of camping and full time living.
The US population has nearly doubled since 1960. It stands to reason EVERYTHING is getting more crowded.
As I tell my kids – the more things change, the more they stay insane.
I’m pretty confident that once the memories of the last 18 months fade, people will be back in the air, flying 500 miles instead of driving, staying in hotels with room service near downtown….and there will be a (literal) million 2-year-old RVs glutting the market. RVing really isn’t for everyone, and a lot of those people will decide they don’t need to be spending $250/mo (plus storage), twelve months a year, plus membership dues, when they only use the thing for 2 weekends over the summer.
Please, tell me more about the Earl Burger. I travel for burgers. Thank you.
we started our RV thing back in 1986 when we were in our mid-30’s. we were unusual because of our age. grandma and grandpa were almost always in the campsite next to us. we are not party people so the quiet of a campfire and a dark, moonless sky was the experience we craved.
the last few years have seen our travel limited to snowbirding. we’re currently in CA settling my late bro-in-law’s affairs. when we return home to IL the MH will be parked until snowbird time. our MH is paid for but it seems pointless to keep it and yet i can’t part with it. like Chuck I yearn for the past, a world that is nearly gone. he perfectly described what we loved about RVing and we miss that.
yes, it’s been a wild, wonderful and glorious ride. but i fear it’s almost over. not just because of the crowds…that’s bad enough..but my wife has developed mobility issues which severely limits our activities. she still likes to travel but the joy is rapidly fading away for us both.
Hopefully more RV campgrounds will be built.
RV’ing and Camping have become like ‘Kleenex’ and ‘Facial Tissue’. Camping is what you do when you are in a ‘wild’ environment. It can happen in a government built/run Park, private campground or BLM land. RV’ing is doing RECREATIONAL things in any type of RV, but that is NOT always camping. When you full-time, and spend months at a time in a ‘spot’ then that’s not RV’ing in my view. Is it really ‘recreation’ when you have to move from Walmart to Cabelas to Cracker Barrel every day? When I fully retire in a few years, I plan on chasing the NASCAR series for a few years in my class A, but that’s not really camping in my view.
I think we need better terms for HOW we live. For over two centuries, Americans have looked at a ‘sticks and bricks’ home as the ideal. For years people with little or no means rented rooms in boarding houses, but those have been replaced with shelters, ‘couch surfing’ or ‘junker RV’s’. Are these RV’s a ‘rolling mansion’, or a ‘sleeping shuttle for work’?
Right; we don’t just Park and we don’t really cAMP. So I call it Pamping.
So that’s what you do to pamper yourselves, Michael? You go pamping? Sounds good to me! Have a good night. 😀 —Diane
The hard truth is, many of us, new RVers were either too young or when younger could not afford the RV lifestyle described buy many of you. I fall into the later group. I think its great you guys had an experience this relatively new RVer may never see. It took 48 years of work to buy our new 2018 rig F350 & 5th wheel. Yes it makes us RVers. Over two decades of that 48 years in the US Navy while some of you explored without reservations. I don’t resent needing to work thru easier RVing times but I think those of you who didn’t, should be more happy for what you had and not resent those of us, that had to wait. I chose to enjoy every trip we get going forward reservations in hand
crowded or not.
Thank you and amen. I’m just about to get into retirement and RV-ing after 22 years in USMC followed by another 22 in church service. Great work but neither was great pay. Whatever tomorrow looks like, I’ll try to enjoy the days.
I’ll turn 70 later this year. Occasionally, I remember the “old folks” of my youth. Neighbors who were born in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. People who survived World Wars, the Great Depression, medicine and health care that by today’s standards would be considered medieval. I remember them being shocked at price increases that I took for granted. Every generation has to cope with and learn to deal with “advances” as the world grows and changes. I think the big issue is that inevitable changes are occurring at a MUCH faster rate than ever before. True “leadership” by government officials and others in power is SORELY lacking (just look at how the Corona19 Pandemic is being “handled”). When I was a child, MOST people seemed to be more tolerant and FAR less likely to go off in a rage about relatively minor issues. Back then, I think that far more people lived up to their Civic Duty of voting and being good citizens in general. I do NOT see America returning to those less hostile times
John, you’re right. When we were kids, everyone would have been in line to get a vaccine to eliminate a virus that has killed 600,000, read six hundred thousand Americans and several million world wide. But today, it’s I don’t want to get this, but you should! Everyone loves RV’ing as long as new campers don’t interfere with my camping, Oh and by the way, I want all the new technology at 1950 prices! Seems many have a severe an*l-cranium inversion issue nowadays. Time to roll with the times!
My wife did “camping” since 1952 with her Mom, Dad, and two older brothers. She finally got me hooked in 1981. Made many vacations of 2 weeks without reservations [except places like Disney World]. Both retired in 2000 and typically spent 2-3 months in a state or two down south – without reservations. Can’t do that for probably 5 years now. The “not overcrowded” time was great. Spend a weekend now at a campground and you have to watch out for kids on bikes, etc. as they don’t even slow down or swerve out of your way. You have to move off the road – and watch out as they ride through your site! Now spending more weekdays camping [Monday-Thursday]. Much quieter and relaxing. I like seeing kids having fun but not running through my campsite. Hope more campgrounds are opened soon.
Times always change. Life is always changing. We can choose to either complain and whine or we can choose to make the best of things. Personally, I choose to continue to camp in my trailer. I choose to plan ahead if I want to stay in a popular campground. I choose to help the newbies I encounter (included three of my neighbors who recently bought their first RV) and help them learn the ropes whenever I can. I choose to NOT be selfish and begrudge anyone who wants to get into RVing because guess what, as far as I know people still have a right in this country to buy an RV and go camping if they want. I choose to enjoy my camping trips. I choose to look at the glass as half full. Sorry to say this, but I think if RVing has become such a nightmare for anyone that they have to constantly complain, then it’s probably time to hang up the keys.
Great article Chuck. I just bought a 37 footer and it is hard as heck trying to get a reservation.
Does anyone think the population explosion might be a factor here?
Funny I just made a reservation at one of the nicest state parks for next weekend with no problem
I harbor the hope that one day we will venture far enough west for our RVing paths to cross with yours. However, I wonder if they already have. 😉 You described our RV pretty closely when contrasting it with a 20-foot travel trailer. 🙂 I do readily describe what we do with our RV as “traveling” not “camping.” As you note, having an RV with long list of amenities essentially identical to those of an upscale house calls into question whether one is “camping” when using it. Having grown up in the country among hayfields, pastures, and forests all right outside our back door, camping never appealed to me. I relished a warm bath and cozy bed after the end of a workday on the farm. So, I lobbied for as luxurious an RV as we could afford after lobbying for years to get an RV. Happily, we finally bought an RV five years ago. Since then we have covered 40,000 miles in it. Perhaps surprisingly our favored places to stay are “campgrounds,” not “RV parks,” and certainly not “RV resorts.”
I downsized from a class A to a class C just to have better access to state parks, but I still enjoy the traveling.
Another recent change to consider. Massachusetts campgrounds now REQUIRE proof of Covid stab. I’ve removed MA from my summer itinerary. Oh, and BTW – as a fulltimer, I like to take a break from the traveling, and enjoy staying in one place sometimes for 3 or 4 months. It allows me to join a pickleball or golf league. That doesn’t mean I’m NOT an RVer.