Will rising gas/fuel prices impact your travel plans?

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Next time you need gas or diesel in Needles, go north across the river on Hwy 95 about 2 miles into Arizona.  You'll find gas and diesel at the busy Arco station for a buck to a buck and a half less than Needles prices.

Needles' problem is CA won't allow refined fuel to be imported from other states.  Both gas and diesel have to meet CA's unique requirements, and Needles is about as far as you can get from any CA refinery.  Except maybe the gas stations in Shoshone and Death Valley's Furnace Creek Ranch.

 
In 1968 I was making $1.60 an hour and gas was 35 cents a gallon. I'd do whatever it took to come up with $2.00 every night to go cruising. I don't plan to stop now...
 
When I plan a trip budget, I figure worse case scenario on gas. I figure worst mpg and high gas prices. I add another 50% to the mileage for detours and getting lost. Basically at the end of a trip I have more than half my gas money left over.

RVing is about keeping a chunk of change set aside for emergencies and repairs that pop up when you least expect them.  A surge in gas for a planned trip can also be an emergency though the way I budget it out, it shouldn't dip into the emergency fund.

There is so much more to RVing than just filling up the gas tank.

Typically if you look around there are awesome opportunities in a 200 mile radius as well as a 2000 mile radius. Since I love nature, I can pretty much find there close by or far away.

I don't have to visit all 49 states just because the neighbors did.

Some RVers travel on enormous budgets while others make it a full time pursuit on a shoestring.

Gas prices have always fluctuated wildly in America and that just has to be part of the consideration in juggling a budget.
 
When we went FT in 1998 diesel was $.89 a gallon. I remember being somewhere in remote Texas and the diesel was $1.50 gallon. I almost didn?t get it but was close to empty. Gas in Dover is $2.56 at Sam?s and in Philly it?s $2.99.
 
I have just checked our stats for last year.

We drove 15,400 miles and spent $3872.33 on gas.  Which averages at $2.69 per gallon.  We filled up in 10 different states. :)
 
Oldgator73 said:
When we went FT in 1998 diesel was $.89 a gallon. I remember being somewhere in remote Texas and the diesel was $1.50 gallon. I almost didn?t get it but was close to empty.
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I can remember WAY back in the 60s when a resort town in Upstate NY was selling gas for a staggering $.50 per gallon!  ::)
 
jymbee said:
I can remember WAY back in the 60s when a resort town in Upstate NY was selling gas for a staggering $.50 per gallon!  ::)
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That was a staggering amount in the 60?s. I used to borrow a friends GTO in the late 60?s and we would rummage under the seats and anywhere else we could think of for change to buy gas at $.19 a gallon.
 
We use the "gas buddy" app to keep an eye on things in our part of PA.  Today FJ jumped a dime at I-80/US219 to $3.03 for unleaded.  Wholesale Unleaded gas today is selling for $2.50/gal at the Warren PA refinery (4000 gal min).
 
Oldgator73 said:
That was a staggering amount in the 60?s. I used to borrow a friends GTO in the late 60?s and we would rummage under the seats and anywhere else we could think of for change to buy gas at $.19 a gallon.
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Heyyyyyy... do I know you?? I had a 1968 GTO convertible and and can well remember scrounging for a few bucks to buy gas back then.  ;D

Of course they say that now, adjusted for inflation over time, gas has never been so cheap-- at least until this last price spike:

Lowest Inflation Adjusted Price of Gasoline:
$1.48 in 1998

Date  Lows
1931      $2.65
1947      $2.44
1972      $2.04
1998      $1.48
2009      $2.54
2015      $2.36

Source:
https://inflationdata.com/articles/inflation-adjusted-prices/inflation-adjusted-gasoline-prices/
 
Speaking of 60's gas...

I would ride with my mom to the neighborhood gas station where they knew her by name. The guy would come out and chat with her. She would hand him $2 and he would say "the usual?"

Her "usual" was he pumped 4 gallons of gas for $1 total in the tank, checked the oil, looked at other things under the hood, washed the windshield, and mirrors then walked inside the building, put the $2 in the register, grab4 packs of cigarettes then come back out, hand her the smokes, and ask her if there was anything else he could do for her. She would  usually say no, thank him and we would be on our way.
 
In the early '60s I'd usually get "a dollar's worth" which amounted to somewhere near 3 gallons (perhaps more), depending on what state the gas war was in at the time. Prices over the period of a week would go up and down as much as $.10 to $.15 when the "war" was at its peak, then perhaps only a couple of cents variation a few weeks later if the "war" died down for a bit. Of course you'd pay 3-6 cents more at a "major" brand, such as Standard or Shell, than at an "independent" such as Star.

But the jump in 1973 was dramatic. Car gas had been in the $.30-$.35 range while avgas was a tad over $.50, but during the gas "shortage" in '73 gas jumped to over $.50, and avgas soon went up even more.
 
We will still go and we will still ride our toys. We boondock most of the time but we would cut out things like $40 a night RV parks. Lets see here, 7000 miles at 10 mpg 700 gal x $3 =  $2100.  700 gal x $6 = $4200. I would shorten my route from going out to  socal and probably put up with  lower temps than we like and stay in southern NM and Texas. At $8 I would go directly from one kid to the next house and carry lots of ammo because we would be in chaos. :)

 
I am thinking rising gas prices won't have too great effect our future travels unless it hits well above $4/gal for an extended period.
 
Just to keep gas costs in perspective:

https://inflationdata.com/articles/inflation-adjusted-prices/inflation-adjusted-gasoline-prices/
 
We had to go to Philadelphia yesterday so I stoped at Sam?s here in Dover to fill up. Got on the road and noticed I didn?t get any gas. Still sitting at 1/2 tank. Not sure what happened but figured I could make it there and back on 1/2 tank. Gas at Sam?s is $1.64. WaWa across the street is $1.75. In Philly it is $3.03. I made back to Smyrna and filled up at Royal Farms where it was $1.75. To answer your question, no, we will continue to drive regardless of the price. When we lived in the UK the British were astounded that we would drive from Cambridge to Edinburgh Scotland. I said it?s only like 6 hours. They said they would fly and rent a car. I told them folks in the States will drive a couple of hours to go out for dinner. Driving is ingrained in us.
 
Oldgator73 said:
We had to go to Philadelphia yesterday so I stoped at Sam?s here in Dover to fill up. Got on the road and noticed I didn?t get any gas. Still sitting at 1/2 tank. Not sure what happened but figured I could make it there and back on 1/2 tank. Gas at Sam?s is $1.64. WaWa across the street is $1.75. In Philly it is $3.03. I made back to Smyrna and filled up at Royal Farms where it was $1.75. To answer your question, no, we will continue to drive regardless of the price. When we lived in the UK the British were astounded that we would drive from Cambridge to Edinburgh Scotland. I said it?s only like 6 hours. They said they would fly and rent a car. I told them folks in the States will drive a couple of hours to go out for dinner. Driving is ingrained in us.
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It's easier to drive in the US though. Over here the roads are so busy that 6 hours feels like 12!
 
jackiemac said:
It's easier to drive in the US though. Over here the roads are so busy that 6 hours feels like 12!
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Try driving from Delaware to Philadelphia or Washington DC. Crazy traffic. I was told by the locals in the UK that they do not drive any distance is due to the high petrol prices.
 
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