RVing is not for everyone... Or is it?

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I think the punch line is RV'ing is for anyone who is willing to make the commitment.

RV'ing requires:
-Driving Skill
-Handyman Skill
-A sense of adventure.

None of us were born with driving skills or handyman skills, so for those who don't take naturally to those things, the learning curve might be steep.

I got kind of a negative tone from the article, and there were unfortunate and clumsy events. At the end, the wife said it was a worthwhile adventure, but she'd never do it again.

There's a lot to know. A lot of people are attracted to the allure and kitsch of RV camping, but it's like have hosting a party. It's a LOT of work, and easy to enjoy and appreciate if you don't have to do any of it.

I think a lot of people "enjoyed" similar first-time RVing experiences during the pandemic, and in about a year, used RV lots will begin overflowing.
 
Allot my kids grew up camping in tents, pop ups, and travel trailers. Two want to continue, two don’t want anything to do with it. It just isn’t for everyone, and it doesn’t really have with skills. All my kids have the requisite skills and knowledge.
 
I thought it was a pretty good "eyes open" article for the "Clark Griswold's" who read Bloomberg. A cautionary tale that basically says, "Renting an RV for a vacation is completely different than renting a hotel room and a Hyundai Sonata from Enterprise.

We take for granted that you have to read 400 pages of manuals to make everything in an RV work. Today's twitter feed population doesn't have the attention span for that and too many think that if they read about it on Facebook and watch a YouTube they are instant experts.

The article was clearly biased towards the wife's experience. I am sure the kids had a blast. Kids always do. From the wife's perspective her husband almost cut his hand off (no fault of the RV), it was pretty cold throughout the trip. Poop leaked out of the drain pipe and at least one dinner was Pizza. It wasn't the sit by the campfire cooking smores and singing Kumbaya that she thought it would be and when it was, it wasn't the open skies clear spaces she thought it would be. It was shoulder to shoulder with other campers.

I am reading between the lines a lot but I have introduced my SO to flying, scuba diving, sailing and all kinds of things. The first experience has to go well and it has to be fun and trouble free.

Part of it is writing style. He isn't that funny although he takes a stab at humor a couple times. He also offers no "coulda, woulda, shoulda" advice for his own failures and dumb-a$$ery.

I did like the historical section on RV makers although brief and superficial.

RV life ain't for every urban yuppie and I'm fine with that.
 
RV’ing, camping or whatever you call it surely isn’t for everybody. And if the spouse has to included and is not onboard then forget it. I read some of the article and it would seem very little research was conducted before they took off with a donated RV. You can’t read an article and decide if you like something or not. I think you have to experience that “thing” in order to make up your mind if you like it or not. If I just read about haggis without trying it I’m sure I would say I wouldn’t like it (L love haggis).
 
Our oldest son and his family prefer the 5-star resort style of vacation, and has pointed out several times that for the money we put into RVing we, too, could stay at those resorts. The problem is - I don't like 5 star resorts! I prefer getting into the middle of nowhere and sometimes meeting others who like to RV - in general they are a very friendly group of people.
 
Skookum said:
I think the punch line is RV'ing is for anyone who is willing to make the commitment.

RV'ing requires:
-Driving Skill
-Handyman Skill
-A sense of adventure.

None of us were born with driving skills or handyman skills, so for those who don't take naturally to those things, the learning curve might be steep.

I got kind of a negative tone from the article, and there were unfortunate and clumsy events. At the end, the wife said it was a worthwhile adventure, but she'd never do it again.

There's a lot to know. A lot of people are attracted to the allure and kitsch of RV camping, but it's like have hosting a party. It's a LOT of work, and easy to enjoy and appreciate if you don't have to do any of it.

I think a lot of people "enjoyed" similar first-time RVing experiences during the pandemic, and in about a year, used RV lots will begin overflowing.
Click to expand...
I agree.
 
We once went to one of those free condo weekends that include the sales presentation. At the time, we hadn't bought an RV yet and were still tent camping from our motorcycles.
The salesman couldn't wrap his head around the fact that we didn't want to go somewhere and stay for 2 weeks and that we'd rather travel and stay a different place each night. Before we retired and went full time, that was also the way we vacationed in our RV, once we got one.
So, different strokes for different folks I guess.
 
I think it can also be a stage of life thing. I traveled for work for over 35 years. The last thing I wanted to do on vacation was travel. We were also expats so a trip to the US involved multiple stops to see relatives. Are real PITA living out of suitcases for 2+ weeks.

Our coolest vacation at that time was a friend's 3 bed condo on New Smyrna beach. We told relatives they could visit and we planted for 3 weeks. People actually came to us. it was great.

We also did resorts at that time, which was fine - planting for 1-2 weeks at a time.

Now as I approach retirement I really want to do more exploring of this country. Tomorrow we are off to AZ for 2 weeks, then 5 more work days, then retired!

Spring next year we'll embark on our first long trip. 3-4 months exploring west of the Mississippi...
 
We had several TT's and van conversions over the years that we used for weekending and vacation, but after many years of traveling for work both nationally and internationally, I was really looking forward to staying home when I retired in 2005. Then I spotted a 1986 Toyota based 21' Dolphin Class C for sale on a lawn on my way home from my last day at work. I stopped and looked it over, and after deciding refurbishing it would be a great hobby project, I bought it on the spot. Six months later we took our first trip with it and were thoroughly hooked on long term RV'ing. Three motorhomes later we've now been fulltimers for 10 years and still love the life. And some of our friends and relatives still think we're nuts... ;)
 
Old_Crow said:
We once went to one of those free condo weekends that include the sales presentation. At the time, we hadn't bought an RV yet and were still tent camping from our motorcycles.
The salesman couldn't wrap his head around the fact that we didn't want to go somewhere and stay for 2 weeks and that we'd rather travel and stay a different place each night. Before we retired and went full time, that was also the way we vacationed in our RV, once we got one.
So, different strokes for different folks I guess.
Click to expand...
We venture away from our RV and tent camp on our KLR650. I don't think most people realize how cool it is to be in the middle of no where and looking for shooting stars.
 
I too had my share of so called 5 star hotels when I was working, our company was a member of an association that would have 2 conferences per year, and I would often end up drawing the short straw to go, sit in meetings, watch motivational speakers, etc. The one nice thing is they were usually held at nice places a few that come to mind are Atlantis resort, The Greenbrier, The Bellagio, The Contemporary resort at Disney World, and other places whose name start with The.

In many ways I much prefer traveling in our motorhome, part of it is having access to more of my stuff, it is living out of a closet vs living out of a suitcase, I have a kitchen stocked with my preferred snacks, a pillow I like on the bed, with sheets washed in my preferred detergent, ...
 
I wasn’t a true road warrior like some I know, but I did fly over 1,000,000 miles during my work life. That included hundreds of nights in hotels. Back in the “old days” the perks were nice - fairly roomy seats even in coach, decent service, sometimes business or first class tickets, good business class hotels. Now I would rather drive for days rather than spend more on an airplane or one more night in a hotel room. Airplanes are the new greyhound busses, and I have to investigate even quality hotels for bed bugs. Yup, RVing all the way for us.
 
I love flying, but not commercial aviation... best flight I ever took was aboard a 1931 Stearman Sr. Speedmail biplane, with Addison Pemberton as pilot. The Pemberton Family restores vintage aircraft, you can see some of their work on the web. That old biplane ride was so much fun, nothing like the airborne stock cars found in commercial aviation nowadays. Livestock cars, I mean, as in cattle cars, not stock cars in the racing sense. Ugh... I swore off commercial aviation back in 1999, haven't ridden aboard a jet since, I'd sooner drive clear across country. At my age, there's no place I have to be in such an all-fired hurry... statistically, ground travel is more dangerous, but I don't drive like a crazy fool (anymore), it's all about getting from A to B safely and in one piece, lol.
 
A ride in that Stearman sounds like a real thrill that I'd love to experience, but I still preferred a 1st Class seat on Virgin Atlantic for getting from my company's US facilities to the plants in England and France... ;)
 
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