Ah, the open road. It seems so inviting to get an RV, a fifth wheeler or a camper and head out for parts unknown during retirement. What could be better than picking a place and going there when you want to go, staying as long as you want to stay, and leaving whenever you are good and ready to leave?
“Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina” (or anywhere else an RV owner may choose). Many long to see the country their way, packing up and moving out at a moment’s notice. “As long as there is a Buc-ee’s between here and there, I’m good to go anywhere,” Debbie Davis says laughingly.
“We had an RV before my husband retired, and we spent most of our spare time on the road back then,” Davis added. “But after he retired, we sold our house and spent the next eight months on the road. We decided we needed a home base, so we bought a driveway for our RV in Tennessee, and a house came with it. We even go there sometimes.”
Debbie and Ron are the quintessential RVers. They have familiar places they go back to often and new places they discover along the way. They have fellow RV friends they’ve made across the country and meet up with some of them regularly.
This past year, they spent several months in Durango, Colorado; then moved on to Apache Junction, Arizona; and later to Corpus Christi, Texas, meeting up with old friends and making new ones at each stop.
Debbie speaks of a unique “sense of community in her RV travels as they encounter others. “When we pull into an RV park, it takes minutes rather than weeks or months to get to know everyone,” she says.
The configuration of the RV park helps facilitate that, she explains, with neighbors right next door to each other.
Some of this may be self-selection, Debbie goes on to suggest. “Grumps don’t like RVing, so they don’t do it. They stay at a hotel when traveling instead. Just ask any hotel receptionist,” she says wryly.
Estimates vary on the number of RVers in the country, but a recent survey found that 1 million Americans are full-time RVers (usually defined as being on the road for eight months or longer). About 40% of those full-time RVers are 55 or older, but increasingly, young adults also have jobs allowing them to work anywhere.
RVing offers unique experiences unlike other kinds of travel. “We take our house with us,” Debbie says. “We don’t have to pack and unpack every time we move on. We just unhook our utilities and hit the road. It’s a different kind of freedom and flexibility than traditional traveling.”
“We can get closer to nature than traditional travelers as well,” she notes. “Instead of being tourists, we are more a part of the landscape. Our front yard can change from the mountains to the beach to a forest anytime we are ready for a change.”
“But RVing isn’t for everyone,” Debbie says. And according to a recent study, 88.2 million American households agree with her. That’s the number who say they never want to own an RV.
One drawback to full-time RVing can be limitations to contributing through community service or participating actively in a church. These kinds of disruptions to longstanding relationships and responsibilities can be real.
Even so, many RV travelers prioritize finding various places to worship and participating in ad hoc community projects in new places along the way. They can also stay connected with home base groups or neighbors through technology in ways that were out of the question 20 years ago.
Furthermore, owning an RV can be expensive. Maintenance costs and park fees can add up. Lyle Everton, a former RV owner, says that when you buy an RV, you better buy a pair of coveralls as well. You will need them to take care of your unit.
While actual operating costs vary greatly depending on RV age and usage, one owner’s detailed assessment of operating costs (excluding fuel) over a five-year period showed maintenance costs averaged around $3,500 and storage/insurance costs averaged nearly $6,000. Park fees also ranged from $35 per night to $150 per night, depending on location and amenities.
Debbie agrees that maintenance costs can be both expensive and unpredictable. “The road can be brutal on an RV. There’s plenty of potholes, sharp debris, uneven pavement and speed bumps that can cause all kinds of vehicle damage. It just goes with the territory.”
Her husband, Ron, doesn’t mind doing required maintenance and doesn’t mind asking others for help when needed, either. “If we find an extra washer or bolt or something that’s not where it’s supposed to be, we just hold onto it. Sooner or later, we’ll discover where it belongs. Sometimes a new neighbor in an RV park will notice something is wrong or missing. Then, before you know it, Ron and the new neighbor are under the chassis fixing something.”
About 500,000 vehicle accidents occur each year involving RV trailer swaying. And occasionally, RV drivers fail to notice the clearance required for their vehicles on an overpass. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens, Debbie says. And it can definitely ruin your day (if not your RV).
So, while there are benefits to this travel approach that draw many people, there are also some drawbacks that keep others away.
Is it worth it? “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Debbie says.