Cardinal RV Club

Angie and I are planning a trip back east to cover the New England states and some extended time in Washington DC/Boston area in a couple of years. In discussions with our friends who do not RV questions come up about our plans to take the fifth wheel and truck considering the cost of fuel these days. All argument aside about the positive merits of Rving over motel/restaurant travel (i.e. your own bed, friendly neighbors in the RV park vs. no name neighbors in the motel, ect…ect…) it would seem to make sense financially to take the car and stay in motels. However, I use a small spreadsheet I built several years ago to monitor the cost of taking the RV/truck or the car/motel travel mode. When plugging the info into the spreadsheet for an extended trip it is very assuring to see the financial benefit to justify our preference to travel by RV/truck versus the car/motel. We bought the RV to enjoy in our travel plans and the fuel costs the last few years have not changed our preferred mode of travel. The picture of the spreadsheet shows significant savings on a 60 day trip and the dollar savings go up with added days of travel. The dollar amounts are just guesses as to what it might cost per day based on previous travels for us the last couple of years. Just thought I would share this for what it is worth. Dave

Trip Estimator:

Don't put the cost of the RV & Truck into the sheet or cost of repairs and maintenance.
I could travel around the world until I die many times a year, but I enjoy camping.

Same here, George!

And Dave, we have also found that staying a Week at most RV parks is less expensive than just a day or 2.. most have a price break for the whole week's stay.. And most of the time, we eat most of our meals in our RV - I like to cook, and that frees up more of our travel $$ to eat a special meal out (SEAFOOD, or other local specialties), and we like to explore whatever the area has to see in the way of scenery, or wineries, or other points of interest... We pretty much plan ahead (by a day or 2 ahead) what each new area has to offer, to decide if we WANT to spend more time, or if we need a 'rest break' for that week!!!!!! - for laundry, for instance!
And your numbers are not far off, from our experience... !! But, like most of us: Some day we know we will not be able to DO this traveling thing forever... so we are trying to cram as much LIVING in our LIVES as we CAN... So do it NOW!!!

We try to stay at a home base for longer periods to get the cost break and to explore that area. Some do not like staying in one place for very long but we enjoy it for our needs. We do not always need to be on the go to enjoy ourselves.

Ditto Mike....

With an extended trip of several weeks that is where the savings come into play. A week at an RV park greatly offsets the cost of a week at a motel. I know most of us prefer the travel and comfort of our RV over motel and that is why we have made the investments in our recreational vehicles. I find that once in awhile it is reassuring to run some numbers to compare the options for travel. Some people say you have to add the initial cost of the RV and truck into the travel costs but that is part of the life style Rvers have chosen for travel, besides those same folks do not add the cost of the car into the motel travel. I do not consider RVing a high cost option of travel.....it is a very enjoyable economical life style with travel options.

Another way we have found to keep the cost per day down is to try and use Campground America Campgrounds, especially when we're on the road. Some haven't been much to look at but for $15 to $20 a night for a 10 hour lay over sure helps.

Being retired from the military we stay at campgrounds on military bases whenever we can. It costs a lot less, most of them are really nice, and it always brings back memories.