Who has a camper?

[idoinjuly]

Do you use it often enough to justify the expense?  What unexpected expenses have you encountered?  We live in an HOA neighborhood and will have to pay to store it.

We are becoming more interested in owning one.  My husband and kids love camping and I mildly enjoy it.  I feel like we would camp a lot more with one.  Especially since I don't see us traveling in the traditional sense anytime soon.

[outnumbered]

We are considering a camper too. All my friends who have campers use them frequently. My Aunt and Uncle had a pop-up and traveled all over the country with their kids. Most people that I know back them up next to their drive way or park in the corner of their back yard.

[idoinjuly]

Jun 1, 2020 11:13:49 GMT -5 outnumbered said:

We are considering a camper too. All my friends who have campers use them frequently. My Aunt and Uncle had a pop-up and traveled all over the country with their kids. Most people that I know back them up next to their drive way or park in the corner of their back yard.

A pop up seems like the most conservative choice to me, but my husband says they often have a problem with leaking.

[idoinjuly]

Jun 1, 2020 11:20:56 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Pandemic is making look at crazy things! I’m looking into campers and boats 😂 I have no business owning either!

Lol, yes!!  But you may use a camper!  A boat would be fun too but I think we could just rent one when we want to go boating. 

[firedancer10288]

We have a camping trailer. We try to plan 2 trips per month April-Oct (we live in MD). We take it in once a year to get everything checked out and caulked. He also winterize for us while it’s there. It’s about $150 for that each year. We park it at a storage lot which is $500/year. We’ve upgraded some things and added things as we go that make trailer life easier, but none of it is necessary.

ETA- someone below mentioned registration/plates. We just got our registration renewal last week. It is $156 for 2 years. Also insurance on the trailer is $10/month with Geico. Insurance only covers it while it is parked. If something happens while you are towing, that is covered under your car insurance, so check your policy.

[ssmjlm]

We do not, but my MIL and her husband have a travel trailer (one step down from a 5th wheel) and it's pretty much the only way they vacation/travel. I'm not sure if the expense is worth it since they had to buy a better truck when they bought their current one, but they also don't take any other type of vacation.

They belong to a camping club that camps 1 weekend a month from March-October. I think having a group to go with makes it better for them. They can store it at their house, but did modify their "driveway" to a gravel area for the trailer. Honestly, driving/parking the thing would be too much for me. I hate towing anything in our truck, my anxiety is too high.

They've had some unexpected expenses in relation to weatherizing and something with an axel. I don't know if it's because they bought used or just normal wear/tear.

[Cappy]

We did briefly own a vintage Shasta. Long story short -- I keep getting the itch but it makes zero financial sense now that I know what I know about ownership. We'd have to store it ($100+/month), plate/register it ($200/year if I remember correct), keep it maintained (tires blow out, lights get chewed through by rodents, alignment was a hinky after towing), maintain a towing vehicle, go drive to get the thing when we wanted it, repairs/redecorating were not really possible since there were limits on parking per the HOA (I'd start a project then have to take the camper back to storage), then the fights when trying to park it :-D Campers of all kinds also leak/rot/bend way more than I realized too.

If I lived in the country or had a place where I could park one in a barn/garage, I'd totally reconsider but given the HOA and lack of place to park it makes no sense for us. We can rent a fancy Class C for well under $1000 for a week which wouldn't even cover a year of storage if we owned.

[Dznyprnces]

Lurker here. We have one. We just took it out this weekend for the first time this year. Luckily, we don’t have an HOA and have room to store it in our side yard. Unluckily, my H didn’t winterize it properly, and all the plumbing had leaks. We had no water this weekend, it sucked. We’ve owned it for 4 years, and the plumbing has been the biggest issue for us.

[BlondeSpiders]

I love camping! I don't hike, but I love car camping and trailer camping. Since we had to postpone our Hawaii wedding until next year, we decided to rent a teardrop trailer and do a week in Eastern WA. I have a hybrid Rav 4 that doesn't have the largest towing capacity, but it can handle a teardrop. This is a trial run to see if we like it enough to buy. I don't see us upgrading our vehicle size anytime soon, so this is what we get.

Having a camper will definitely make you camp more. The HOA/storage issue may give me pause, but if you include storage fees as part of your vacation budget, than why not?

[stephm0188]

We bought a travel trailer last summer after renting a popup the summer before that. The popup helped us determine that we did enjoy camping, but we didn't love the setup/teardown that a popup required.

We shopped around casually for awhile. We wanted to keep it within a certain weight range, and there were particular features we wanted- (Murphy bed, outdoor kitchen, double bunks, no slide.) We already live in a fixer upper of a house and decided we didn't really want a fixer upper camper, so it made sense for us personally to buy new and get what we wanted. Since it was new, we really haven't had to do anything aside from seasonal stuff.

We store it on a friend's farm and pay $10 a month.

We keep it stocked with dedicated dishes and linens, and all that stuff definitely adds up. Some of it we were able to re-purpose from items we had in our home, but we did have to purchase quite a bit.

We use it a lot though, both for local camping trips and out of state vacations. It's been a good purchase for us.

[laurack]

We want to get one eventually, the one I want is 100k unfortunately lol. We ideally want a class b camper similar to the old vw campers, with a pop top to allow sleeping 4 without a huge vehicle.

The Winnebago Solis checks all my boxes except the part where I want it to cost 25% of what it does. This reminds me a lot of real estate perusing so is a familiar feeling 😂

[egishere]

My DH wants one so bad and since we live in a great state for camping I can see the appeal. But...I feel like its one of those toys we would use a lot the first summer then slowly stop using it. I don't know. And then there's the cost to insurance and store it.

[flygirl]

You have to pay to store it, insurance and then if you don’t pay for it outright you have the payment.  You need to have the correct tow vehicle as well. We see people all the time with vehicles that shouldn’t be towing the large campers they have, There are a lot of little things that can go wrong too-friends of ours had a valve which went out while camping, he paid $12 and replaced it and still had water to camp. If you couldn’t fix it, you might be somewhere which you can’t get a part and won’t be able to use something in the camper...or you have to pay $150 for a mechanic to fix it.

Also, camping isn’t free. There are state parks which are relatively inexpensive-we went to one this past weekend and it was $16 a night, but the sites were very small. Other state parks in our area are $32-60 a night depending upon hookups. And pulling a camper costs more in gas.

There is also a lot you need to buy with your trailer initially, like sewer hose, water hose, etc. Some will give you a kit to start with when you purchase an RV but a lot of the stuff is the cheapest you can find and won’t last long. We mostly used extra plates and cups we had to outfit them kitchen, but still needed some knives, pans, plus some bedding. We also bought some outdoor luxuries like a rug and screen tent.
I’d also much rather have a hard sided trailer than a pop up, but people often like pop ups for storing at their own home. We have a friend with a pop up and it takes him 3x as long or more to get set up and same with tear down.

With that said....it’s FUN!

ETA-someone else’s post reminded me of this-if you buy one from a dealer, make sure you go to one with a good reputation. Ask around..ask questions of dealers....  We bought ours and they checked over everything to make sure it was all running properly and then went over it with us (how everything works).  We have some friends who have friends buy theirs from a big chain-it’s even a higher end 5th wheel, and they haven’t taken it out yet this year because it has so many issues and then they can’t get it in for weeks.  And dealers don’t generally work on RVs purchased elsewhere.  You want to be able to camp before your warranty is over!  

[amberlyrose]

We have a small travel trailer (Jayco 145RB) and we use it quite a bit. We bought it new and I would suggest going for something used. We spent way too much on it (12k) and there are so many for sale that have all the kinks worked out for a better price. Ours had a few plumbing issues that were easy to work on for us. We installed solar and a larger battery to use off-grid, removed the small bench seat and replaced it with a folding table, and added LED lighting on the outside.
In CO, we had it in our backyard and it was easy to move because of it's size. In CA, we have it in on a military base in a storage lot, which runs us like $50/mo.

If you want to test it out, check out RV rental sites like outdoorsy or RVShare. Different brands will have completely different setups and floor plans, so it'd be cool to check out a few before buying. You can also see what size works for your family. So many people buy the large ones because they think they need all the space but end up regretting it because it can limit where you go and how often.

[zelda25]

We looked into campers a few years ago, but we were scared off by the shoddy construction, costs, etc. We ended up getting a roof-top tent and we love it. Expensive for a tent, but a fraction of the cost of a camper. We leave it on the truck during camping season and put it in the garage for the winter.

We can camp anywhere we can drive, which means we're not limited to crowded campgrounds. Takes less then 5 minutes to set up when we get to our site.

Sent from my SM-G960U using proboards

[CrazyLucky]

We have a pop-up. We love it. DH and I loved camping in NY and when we moved to NC, we loved it a little less because it's so darn hot. When we had kids, and they couldn't take naps in 100+degree tents, we bought the pop-up. The set up is probably more difficult than a tent. But it's great to have a place to get away from the bugs or the rain, and ours has AC, so we can take a break from the heat too. In contrast to what someone else said, packing is pretty easy for every trip. Most of our camping stuff lives on the pop-up. The only things we pack are clothes and food. And the kayaks or bikes if we take them. But all the other camping gear is already packed. Ours has been through some pretty serious rainstorms and does not leak. We store it in the garage.
Also, some campgrounds can have gross bathrooms, but most of the ones we go to are surprisingly clean.
I picture us upgrading after the kids move out and we get older and don't want all the work of setting up. But for right now, it's great.
I wouldn't buy a new one. They're crazy expensive. Our first one was $2500. It was old. We didn't want to spend a lot of money in case we decided we hated it. The one we have now was $7k, but it's a 2014, a significant upgrade. We camp at least 8 times a year, fro 3-10 days.

[iheartbanjos]

My husband is actually picking up a used pop up from a friend right now. We are starting with a pop up, but this is a raised one designed for off road. We live in CO and only do dispersed camping on BLM land, which is free and off the grid. We have borrowed pop ups from friends a few times and have camped with this particular camper several times. It’s easy to tow, set up, clean up, etc. We will have to pay $100/mo to store, but might keep it in the garage this summer. For anyone considering this, I highly recommend borrowing one or going with a friend who has one to see what set up/clean up entails. I personally think it’s less work than car camping with a tent since you’re basically cleaning and repacking after each trip so that you’re ready to go with minimal prep for the next time.

[demofea01]

We have a small Palomino Puma, 22 ft hitch to bumper. It has a queen bed, dinette that converts to a bed, and two bunks. So we could, very cozily, sleep 5 people. We absolutely love it. We go at least 2 times a month from April - September, if not more. We’re fortunate that we don’t have to pay to store it, we’ve got a pad in our backyard. So for us the ongoing costs are really only the trailer payment & insurance. We winterize and de-winterize it ourselves, it’s very easy, and we’ve had no major structural or moisture issues. We’re very careful about inspecting the seals and roof when we go out so we’ve been able to keep them maintained. We replaced the front cap seals once. I don’t recall it being overly expensive.

We bought new and there’s a huge amount of deprecation, but there are also risks when buying used. It’s hard to know how well the trailer has been taken care of, if there’s been moisture issues in the past, frame or roof damage, etc. when you buy used. If you can, I’d recommend taking along some you trust who also has experience owning a trailer when you go to look. They can point out all the “little” things you don’t necessarily think about until you’re out there using it. Also take a good look at your tow vehicle, it’s capacity, and be realistic about the length and weight of trailer you’re targeting. Once you get over 30 ft. It gets harder to find spots that will fit your trailer and tow vehicle. Upfront, one time, costs in addition to the trailer are going to be battery, sewer hose, black tank water hose, potable water hose, chocks, and levelers of some sort. It adds up. Many trailer dealerships will give you X amount of money to spend in their parts store when you buy a new trailer so you can stock up on those types of things.

Campgrounds vary. We usually boondock on BLM land (free) or stay at state parks and USFS campgrounds, which can vary but I think the most we’ve paid per night is $35. The cost for a campsite really only gets super pricey if you’re staying at an RV resort.. $80-$100 per night is not unusual.

[campermom]

Oh I feel I have been summoned. Lol.

We bought our 2006 31ft travel trailer for $9k in 2015. It was very pricey to stock, including pots and pans, towels, placemats, crockpot, containers knives, kitchen stuff, flashlights, batteries, etc. We tried to use as many old things as we could. We stock it with toiletries and sunscreen etc so that we never have to pack it. A first aid kit and basically every medication you can think of-burn cream, Benadryl, tums, aloe, pain reliever, all that stuff. All the camping stuff like hoses, extra parts and circuits and tools.

.A grill. Nice sets of cornhole boards.We park it in our driveway and we don’t have a HOA

My husband is very handy and fixes things as they crop up. If you do not have a handy person, that would most definitely add up. Thisnyear he is doing thousands of dollars worth of work bc we had a leak and the wood rotted. He had to repair the ceiling, roof, and basically rebuilt the bathroom. I will say that although he saved the money, his time has really been a factor in that. He’s been working on it the past 4 weekends.

It helps to park it at our house bc it makes prepping for a trip way easier. I can take a trip or two out each night for clothes, have groceries delivered the night before we leave, and then be ready to roll right after work on Friday. My sister had to pay to store and it was always stressful bc they would need to get it to start packing and her HOA would only allow them to let it sit for 48 hours. Then the same to return, unpack, clean, and head back to storage.

Speaking of the cost of time, it also takes time to wipe it down, clean the bathroom, clean the fridge, sweep and vacuum after every trip. It has to be done right bc we don’t want bugs or mice. The unloading process...it’s always hot and the kids complain bc we make them work. We use bins-each kid packs bins of clothes. We bring al the food in and out in laundry baskets. Detailed meal planning is essential-we have it down to a system where we plan each meal as we go and help each other remember each thing. Like Oh don’t forget garlic, or butter. Sour cream etc.

That all being said, we use it anywhere from 5-8 times a year.

We go to a small local simple place about 3-4 times a year. Usually Easter, Mother’s Day, father’s day and one weekend in October. We also take one weeklong trip each year. We have done Ocean City md, Washington DC, and Williamsburg twice. This year we will go to PA.

It’s totally worth it. We have the absolute best family memories in that camper. It’s the best decision we ever made. We have had to cancel 3 trips so far this year but we will be ready for father’s day and we are extending it. We were all so scared when we had that leak bc we thought it was over and now we are so relieved. I am not a camping kind of girl like tents or nature but I LOVE that camper. This post has made me very excited.

[outnumbered]

Jun 1, 2020 13:22:15 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

Jun 1, 2020 11:22:14 GMT -5 idoinjuly said:

A pop up seems like the most conservative choice to me, but my husband says they often have a problem with leaking.

My sister had a pop up and the set up was just as annoying as a tent, plus there is no bathroom and not a significant kitchen or storage in them so you would still have to deal with gross and germy campground restroom facilities and have to load up everything each time you camp. 

Gear can be stored in the pop up easily. After a few times set up is quick. As with an camping endeavor it takes a few trips to settle in and get efficient.

[hbomdiggity]

We have an Airstream.

No, we do not use it enough to justify the expense. Lol. But my H loooves it and my kid loves camping so I deal.

We do not have space at our house so we pay for storage. It’s covered and they handle emptying tanks and stuff so it’s not cheap.

When we got it last year, we had missed the booking season so we were only able to take it out two times (a third trip we canceled due to an early snow).

We planned ahead for this year, at least a monthly trips and a big 2 week trip this summer. Thanks to COVID, our apr, may, and June reservations were cancelled. Hoping July and the 2 week trip will still happen (although that involves entering Canada).

Our kid is too young for serious travel sports, but when/if our weekends turn to that, H acknowledges that we may no longer be able to use it enough to justify the expense.

[gibbinator]

We have a pop-up tent trailer, 10ft I think. I love it so much. I've always loved camping, and have always tented until having kids. My favourite thing about it is simply knowing that we don't have to worry about rain.

There's just enough space inside to move around comfortably (unlike a tent where you're usually crawling over air mattresses), table, couch, storage, 2 beds (double + queen) when you're 4 people stuck inside and you don't have to worry about waking up to a tent filled with water because somebody's bag touched the wall during the storm and compromised the wall's waterproofing.

Having electricity when we go to actual campgrounds is a nice convenience for charging phones and tablets (again, for rainy days mainly).

It was about CAD$5000 used, and while we only use it maybe 3 or 4 times in a normal year (will likely use it a lot this year for lack of anything else to do but camp) I feel like it's worth the expense, despite the fact that it's essentially a tent that's raised off the ground. Anything fancier than what we have and I'd have trouble justifying the cost.

ETA: we did have to get the electrical basically totally redone this year as well as some other common maintenance stuff for about $400. It's a 10yr old camper at this point though so some maintenance cost is expected.
We also had to buy a truck, but we were sort of planning to do that anyway so I don't really factor that cost in, although it is a big consideration.

[picaflora]

H and I don't have one (yet), but my parents have had campers since I was in 9th grade or so. Our family went from tent camping for a week once or twice a year, to camping in the camper once a month during the summer, and any 3 day weekends in the spring/fall. Most of the time we camped at a state park about an hour away, but we did take trips to the mountains and the beach a few times as well.

The difference between tent camping at the beach and having a camper is worth it all right there. Every time we tent camped at the beach, we'd have monsoon-like rain/storms and then awful humidity. The camper gave us A/C (yay!) and a place to escape the rain.

Because there were 3-4 of us (depending on if my sister went) we still utilized the bath house a good bit. Especially if we didn't have sewer hook up. But it was nice if you had to use the bathroom in the middle of the night you didn't have to traipse through the campground. The camper was also great when we had the dogs (my parent's dog, and later - my dog) as we could put them up (in crates!) if they were barking too much, got too hot, or we wanted/needed to ride off somewhere.

My parents have been through a number of them over the years though. I think the longest they kept one was 5 years before it started having issues. Some of the changes were due to finding a better layout/weight that worked for us - but not all. My dad also tended to change/upgrade trucks with each new (to them) camper, but not always. Not everyone trades them so often, but something to keep in mind when looking at financing.

H and I hope to be able to get one of our own in the next couple of years, as we have really enjoyed staying with my parents in theirs, and enjoying the flexibility of extending the camping season!

[shauni27]

I hate camping so this is extremely biased, but my in laws and my husband's entire family is obsessed with camping. They go every weekend in the summer as a group.

They basically have two of everything--one for their house, one for their camper. So double pots and pans, silveware sets, plates, towels, sheets, shampoos, etc. That way they do not have to unpack everything for when they are home. They just do the laundry for the sheets and stuff.

They do also always need a big truck for theirs and plan to buy an even bigger truck next year so they can get a bigger camper. But again, this is all they do in the summer, and they plan on retiring in the next few years and I can see them camping from March-October and then just coming "home" for the winter months.

[mel]

Jun 1, 2020 20:57:55 GMT -5 hbomdiggity said:

We have an Airstream.

No, we do not use it enough to justify the expense. Lol. But my H loooves it and my kid loves camping so I deal.

We do not have space at our house so we pay for storage. It’s covered and they handle emptying tanks and stuff so it’s not cheap.

When we got it last year, we had missed the booking season so we were only able to take it out two times (a third trip we canceled due to an early snow).

We planned ahead for this year, at least a monthly trips and a big 2 week trip this summer. Thanks to COVID, our apr, may, and June reservations were cancelled. Hoping July and the 2 week trip will still happen (although that involves entering Canada).

Our kid is too young for serious travel sports, but when/if our weekends turn to that, H acknowledges that we may no longer be able to use it enough to justify the expense.

Pretty much all the expenses have been covered by other posters. We use our camper a ton. We've had everything from a pop-up to a 32' travel trailer.

To add to the bolded, our kid IS in serious travel sports and our camper has been used a handful of time for weekend long tournaments that were too far to drive back and forth every day. We find a nearby campground and tow it there for the weekend. MUCH cheaper than a hotel. And, even being in serious travel sports, we still use our camper about 2 weekends a month from March through October (we're in Ohio). We've camped in the winter months, which is actually really fun, but it's only been twice in the 15+ years we've had a camper.

Our bucket list vacation is renting a motorhome for 2 weeks and visiting all the national parks out west. We love camping.

[fabkc]

I have had a camper for more than three years now and it may be my favorite thing in the world. But it is neither cheap nor easy. I actually kept the receipts for the extras I bought to get it set up and it added up to more than $3,000. Of course that included a new set of tires because if you spend any time learning about trailers, other owners will tell you the stock tires are cheap and prone to exploding when going down the highway.

Trucks are expensive to buy and maintain if you don't already have one. Get expert advice on towing capacity from someone other than the person trying to sell you the camper or truck - they will tell you anything to make a sale. I have seen so many people hate trailering because they don't have enough truck for their trailer and they figure it out during a windy day on the interstate or when there is a family of puppies in the middle of a back-country road (true story).

If you live near BLM land camping doesn't have to be too expensive, but for those of us in the east a typical weekend of state park camping will run me $100-$150 in fees, firewood, and gas. 

Pop-ups can be a great way to get into trailering, but I skipped that step. I have watched too many people struggle to pack up in the rain and I wanted a shower.

And if you do decide to get a camper, make sure you both know how to do all the aspects of setting up, taking down, driving, etc. I know so many situations where one person gets sick on a trip and the other is suddenly forced to hook up and go and has no idea where to start. 

All that being said, I do 30-70 nights a year in my trailer and have explored so many great places with hiking, kayaking, and general sight-seeing. I've been to Maine, the Florida Keys, Colorado, and everywhere in between. I kept a blog of some of my the things I've learned and places I've been at lessintentslife.com if you are interested.

[glitzy07]

We have an RV that we bought from my grandparents a few years back. My H has always wanted one and my grandpa gave us a good deal. It's a 1996 Shasta Class C RV that you drive.

We park ours on the side of our house (no HOA), and it's stocked with the essentials (old sets of sheets, pillows, kitchen utensils, etc). We really only use it a few times a year, but the kids and my H love it. My H would really like to sell this RV and instead buy a fifth-wheel or pull-behind kind. The thing that keeps us from traveling with it a lot, besides time off work, is that when we go somewhere we're stuck there once we set everything up. If we had a pull-behind kind of camper, we could set up and still drive to other places to explore in the truck.

[soccermama]

We bought a brand new 32 foot Grand Design travel trailer about a year ago, and we absolutely LOVE it!! We have always been into camping as a couple, used to tent camp several times a year back when we were dating. Then, my in-laws got into doing the RV thing, first they had a class C and they upgraded to a Class A Tiffin for their last RV. They let us use their RV's a couple times a year and we loved it. So we decided to buy our own! (plus they sold their Class A).

We also live in an HOA 'hood so we have the storage issue as well. We were able to keep it at my in-laws house for about 8 months before they moved to a much smaller house. I figure at least we had those months without having to pay. We found a storage place about a mile from our house and the monthly payment isn't too awful bad. My husband is also very handy so he is able to keep up with any maintenance on our trailer (huge help!) and he is OCD about keeping everything clean too.

So far we are taking it on trips at least 4x a year I would say. We just took it to the beach this past w/end (about 2.5 hrs for us) and we had such a great time! We will take it for our annual OBX trip (10 days) at the end of June, can't wait! I also feel like RV is a great way to getaway with kids and it feels more affordable to us versus paying for hotel rooms or condo, etc.

[bobbi]

Lurker here. We have a 32ft Forest River camper and we love it. It has 2 opposing slide outs so it is super roomy. It’s nice when the weather is bad and you have to take cover.

We have a group of friends we camp with and probably take 8 to 9 trips a year. It’s fun to explore different areas. We usually find a local restaurant/bar to eat at one day. I love our camper and having a group to camp with makes it even more fun.

[missmaddie]

Jun 2, 2020 8:13:28 GMT -5 mel said:

Jun 1, 2020 20:57:55 GMT -5 hbomdiggity said:

We have an Airstream.

No, we do not use it enough to justify the expense. Lol. But my H loooves it and my kid loves camping so I deal.

We do not have space at our house so we pay for storage. It’s covered and they handle emptying tanks and stuff so it’s not cheap.

When we got it last year, we had missed the booking season so we were only able to take it out two times (a third trip we canceled due to an early snow).

We planned ahead for this year, at least a monthly trips and a big 2 week trip this summer. Thanks to COVID, our apr, may, and June reservations were cancelled. Hoping July and the 2 week trip will still happen (although that involves entering Canada).

Our kid is too young for serious travel sports, but when/if our weekends turn to that, H acknowledges that we may no longer be able to use it enough to justify the expense.

Pretty much all the expenses have been covered by other posters. We use our camper a ton. We've had everything from a pop-up to a 32' travel trailer.

To add to the bolded, our kid IS in serious travel sports and our camper has been used a handful of time for weekend long tournaments that were too far to drive back and forth every day. We find a nearby campground and tow it there for the weekend. MUCH cheaper than a hotel. And, even being in serious travel sports, we still use our camper about 2 weekends a month from March through October (we're in Ohio). We've camped in the winter months, which is actually really fun, but it's only been twice in the 15+ years we've had a camper.

Our bucket list vacation is renting a motorhome for 2 weeks and visiting all the national parks out west. We love camping.

Our friends have 4 kids, and 3 of them play competitive travel sports (one is the same age and plays with our DS). They always camp, and add on an extra day or two to enjoy the area we’re staying in when they can. They’ll end up maybe 20 minutes from our hotels max, and they may come swim at the hotel with our team or meet us for dinner at a restaurant, or another family may join them at a beach or for a camp fire for a bit. It’s the best of both worlds for them, and they don’t need to pay for 2 hotel rooms as a family of 6 nearly every weekend all summer. $$$