Truthfully is RV'in becoming less enjoyable

[okcnewbie]

Originally Posted by Old Scout

.....if anything, I have become a little "less enjoyable," RVing is still great!!!!!!

Very funny!
RVing is still great. It's just not for everyone.

[Jim.B1]

.
We started a Class "C" back in the 80's and travelled every weekend in the Summer with our Kids for 10 years. The time spent together as "a family" was priceless and our Kids ended up carrying on the tradition with their families today.
We got out of RVing and into Boating for 25 enjoyable years, and now back into the RV Lifestyle for the past 7 years.
This time around we are retired, just moved to a Class "A", free to come and go when we want, for as long as we want, and could not be happier.
Yes, there are more people in the parks, yes the parks can be full, yes you do need to plan further out, but the end result is a very enjoyable lifestyle of travelling with your significant other.
We have met some very nice people in the parks, experienced many areas across North America that we would have never seen if we were not travelling, and at a much more economical rate than staying in hotels and dining at restaurants every day.
If the RV lifestyle is indeed such a bad thing, the market would be saturated with units being sold and no one interested in buying them!
Give it a try, if you find you like it, great, if you don't, there are many many people looking to buy previously owned RV's.

[Busskipper]

Originally Posted by nonrev321initial

Need truthful opinions based on experience.


My wife and I have been investigating traveling after I retire in two years. We were about ready to pull the trigger on a travel trailer than my wife got talking to some folks in her church who travel a lot with a travel trailer.


Seems they are not as happy with the experience as they used to be. Too hard to find nice places to stay, RV parks are too crowded. You have to make reservations 6 months in advance for the nice places in good locations. The ability to just pick up and go and/or stop anyplace and stay awhile is becoming increasingly difficult due to the demand for spaces.


Truthfully this kind of freedom was one of the major attractions for myself and my wife. We recognized that some parks would likely be crowded and there would be some need to make reservations in advance... but 6 months ?



Also a RV park that is packed to the gills really isn’t too appealing to me, especially if there is nothing like a line of shrubs or other divider to keep me from looking into my neighbors window.



Can people comment? Is it becoming less enjoyable due to overcrowding?
Thanks

One Word - BOONDOCKING.

Where are you and where do you want to go/see?

Will you go to the spots that are well Known or will you do Like this RV'er - Look, Mom, We're Camping!

I have done this RV'ing thing for over 50 years - First RV was a 49' Packard that I took the back seat out of to make a bed - those were the days - just go - find - camp - just easy, now those locations almost all have Condo's in place of open areas that we could camp at.

So Now, when we camp in season at a place the World Knows we Make a reservations - sometimes a year in advance - but in my case that is the exception not the rule - as we will enjoy using the generator and batteries to enjoy Wild and Beautiful palaces in the Off Season - when they are EMPTY - might be Cold - Might be Snowy - but we always Know it will be Fun - Beautiful - Rewarding.

So think about what you are searching for - if you cannot find it in an RV then .............

One last thought - even when we are in crowded locations we are seldom in the RV - as the RV park is generally not where we enjoy being - we are out exploring the areas and searching for the sights the Beauty the Adventure that you only find if you RV.

JMHO,

[Cooperhawk]

Just this morning we made reservations at a campground near Galveston for three weeks. No problem.

We have been doing this for twenty years and almost never reserve ahead and almost never have we had a problem finding a CG. In this case where we want to stay an extended period of time we went ahead and did.

The only place we've had a problem is Florida. Not the northern half, the southern half. The area around Fort Lauderdale and Miami or the Keys is usually pretty booked up. Went there to visit family a couple years ago and although we were able to find a spot, don't look foreword to visiting there again any time soon.

As for crowds, sometimes you make great new friends and sometimes folks are so busy seeing the sites that you never see your neighbors. At any rate we've never had a bad neighbor.

Don't listen to idle sour grapes, just go and have fun.

[nonrev321initial]

Thanks everyone. Its been very helpful.

I think that we need to reexamine our travel trailer selection (Grand Design 32ft). We did plan on doing some boondocking but perhaps we should plan on doing more boondocking and dry camping and shift trailer suitability a bit more in that direction. My wife and I are both outdoor people so this shouldn't effect our pleasure very much.

Thanks again

Rgds
Nonrev

[dexters]

Originally Posted by nonrev321initial

Can people comment? Is it becoming less enjoyable due to overcrowding?
Thanks

Yes, don't do it.
It is a combination of several factors ...
Large number of people retiring
Large number of poor people who can't afford traditional housing living in parks
Smaller and lighter RVs that don't need a pick up to pull
Overall growth in the population
RV park prices are increasing

[nothermark]

The argument over reservations has been going on since reservations started being taken. The good camping spots get booked early for the holidays. It gives the folks with kids a fair shot when they used to get pushed out of the good spots by geezers who could go a week early and sit on the site through the holiday weekend. We just skip holiday weekends.

The other side of the coin for retired folks is that the good spots are often booked for the weekends but available during the week. We tend to hit the closer parks we like during the week thus avoiding the crowds on the weekends. Lawn needs mowing at home at some point. ;-)

Most of the parks are over 20 years old so they are more or less the same now as then... OTOH RV's have gotten a lot larger.

[jswharton]

Try it out and see for yourself. Why not rent different RVs, stay in different parks, boondock etc. May also help avoid buying a unit that doesn’t fit and ultimately save some money. Here’s one outfit, RVShare

https://rvshare.com/rental-discounts...BoCeo8QAvD_BwE

[dustyone]

I got a small camper in 2013 after retiring. DW and I camp every year since. We don't fulltime but have been out for a month at a time. We have heard the same stories. At times we will find a camp ground full. Usually around holidays. That is when working families get a chance to get out. That's when we head for home. Then back out. We love to see the country.

[RPr]

No bad times for us. We are retired and take advantage of the freedom to travel when we want.

We discovered that there are many out of the way attractions to see on our way to the popular sights. We may need reservations at the end point but rarely at the sights on the way out.

I always suggest that the newcomers rent a trailer similar to what they want to buy. You learn a lot during a week or ten days on the road.

Good luck.

[saddlesore]

Don't just limit yourselves to only looking at trailers, there's nothing wrong about also considering a class A motor coach.. especially if you are considering a lot of "boondocking in the puckerbrush"..
A Class C or a Class A will have a built in generator and leveling jacks also may have larger fresh/black/gray tank capacities..ie: a lot less things to fidget with when setting up or tearing down camp...(and your DW can go potty or fix you a sammich while you are still driving to your next destination..)
The options are boundless for RV'n with a little forethought and planning.
Good Hunting and Happy Trails during your journey!

[Hit_the_Rhod]

Originally Posted by nonrev321initial

We were about ready to pull the trigger on a travel trailer than my wife got talking to some folks in her church who travel a lot with a travel trailer.

Seems they are not as happy with the experience as they used to be. Too hard to find nice places to stay, RV parks are too crowded. You have to make reservations 6 months in advance for the nice places in good locations. The ability to just pick up and go and/or stop anyplace and stay awhile is becoming increasingly difficult due to the demand for spaces.Thanks

When we travel, we tend to not go to the places that are overcrowded. We stayed at one in Florida that we nicknamed "Sardinia" because we couldn't even extend our awning because the next coach was in the way!

That being said, we love RV'ing, just don't go where the crowds are. Pick your days, pick your weekends. Stay away from the overcrowded locations during holiday weekends etc. Lots of places to visit!

In your post you state that the naysayers in your church are all gloom and doom, but yet they "travel all the time" . . . . Maybe you should ask them why they travel all the time if they don't appear to enjoy it? Better yet, since they are telling you of all the problems, offer to buy their travel trailer CHEAP in order to help them avoid any more unpleasant experiences!

[crossup]

The beauty of reservation systems and even better, online access to them is one can see before hand just how crowded a place will be. Yes you might have to click on a lot of sites to check, but a lot of sites will only show available ones. That makes it easy to avoid crowds. Like many things in life, sometimes you can't have it all- empty RV parks on holiday weekends being one. We don't like crowds nor do we like going to popular destinations on their busy times because its not just the parks that are crowded, its also local attractions, so we plan accordingly but sometimes we do brave the hordes.

Another thing to consider is IF you want minimal restriction on where and when you go, you should consider RVs toward the lower end of the size spectrum and those more suited to primitive sites, meaning larger tanks, appliances and alternative power.
We purchased a 21' trailer thinking it would fit nearly any available site and that has proven to be the case, we have yet to find a place, crowded or not we couldnt go to and frequently had we been say 30', we would have been out of luck. Same goes with full hook up sites, they are far more scarce than partials. In our area of the east coast, state and national park/forest campsites are dominated by primitive sites and are for our time and money generally more interesting places to be than commercial parks.

[Charlie and Martha]

I'll throw my hat in too. We started full timing June 1st of this year. We couldn't be happier. As someone else noted earlier in the thread it's what you make it. We are "glass half full" people. The beauty of that is we can change plans easily and maybe even top the glass off on the way.

We are not rabid boondockers (yet) we are still learning the rhythm of how we like to do things. We migrated quickly from moving every 2-3 days to staying put for two weeks or more. I will qualify that by saying that we look at an area and decide how much there might be to see and stay long enough to see it.

We also make reservations for special places well in advance and there are tricks to doing that as well. Like arriving during the week. Yes, campgrounds are getting fuller. However, you can deal with it easily once you figure out the rhythm of a campground.

Someone else said boondock. We spent 28 days of our first six months doing just that and once you fall into the routine of Navy showers, conserving tank space and learning how much generator time is required to top off batteries you can stay a lot longer than you think. So much so that we are now saving for a solar system so we can stay even longer.

The bottom line is you have to be optimistic and tolerant of others if you are campground camping. We've kinda learned to go with the flow. Our Newmar is so quiet inside that after we go to bed only the loudest of loud campers can be heard.

Get out there and enjoy it!