re: How many of y'all camp with RVs?

My wife and I want to drive cross-country next year from West to East and hit up a bunch of parks and small towns. I don't think we'd want to drive too big of a camper. Has anyone done this with those nice vans and maybe just stay at hotels instead? I wonder how expensive it would be to do a trip like that over 2-3 months or so.

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My wife and I want to drive cross-country next year from West to East and hit up a bunch of parks and small towns. I don't think we'd want to drive too big of a camper. Has anyone done this with those nice vans and maybe just stay at hotels instead? I wonder how expensive it would be to do a trip like that over 2-3 months or so.

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Depends on which vehicles you currently have. If you have a truck or SUV (not some weak-arse CUV), I recommend picking up a small travel trailer from Craigslist or FB Marketplace. Even if you paid $15K, you could probably flip it for at least $13K after the trip. Considering the fact that hotels would cost you at least $100/night plus eating every meal at restaurants 3X per day, you'd come out way ahead boondocking with a trailer and eating from the grocery store. DO IT!!! Yes, you and the wife will face some challenges, but you'll look back on those challenges after the fact with fondness.

We're in Hawaii so we're not going to have a car on the mainland. That's why we're kinda thinking a nice van. Although, I guess we could just rent a compact SUV or something if we do hotels. We have access to good hotel rates from friends and family at a major chain. I just like the idea of having a mobile hotel and like you said eating out and hotels will add up.

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We're in Hawaii

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Well, that certainly changes things. I guess the best bet would be to rent a small SUV, keep cold stuff in a cooler, and try to eat from the cooler as much as possible. For $200 you could get a propane camp stove or griddle with the 1 lb. Coleman propane bottles, along with pots and utensils, and eat on the road for at least two meals/day. Wouldn't be worth it for a weekend trip, but over 2-3 months it would save you a shitload. Personally, I have a single plastic bin with a griddle, stove, pots, pans, and utensils that keeps us fed on camping trips for far less than it would cost us to eat out. Here's my propane griddle on the tailgate at our campsite on Padre Island National Seashore. It saved us plenty in food costs.

We are retired and bought a used 2020 Forest River Super Lite. I tow it with a F150 Crew Cab with a 3.5 eco-boost with a 10 speed transmission it does fine towing. We love the trailer, it has 2 pop-outs and an outdoor kitchen. We took a trip last fall to Gatlinburg to see the fall color with my wifes siter and her husband (they have an trailer also) and it was fantasic in the mountains. The Great Smoky Mountains Park was great. We saw bears and turkeys driving though it. We are going to Destin in 2 weeks and staying in a RV park on the beach. Then we are going to make a loop down to south Florida to visit friends in West Palm Beach and Vero Beach and then head back home making stops in Naples and St Pete.

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What happens to the trailer if you go somewhere in the truck?

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Nothing. If I'm off somewhere in the truck, I won't need power to the trailer.

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What are the things to look for in off grid functionality? Which trailer are you rocking? What did you add to it?

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We're in a Living Vehicle and it came ready to go as is. We can run everything, including the A/C, indefinitely. We also have an onboard water generator. Before this one we were in an Airstream, then a class A.

There are a whole lot of ways you could go. If you're wanting to work from the road, install the biggest battery bank and solar array you can fit, along with a properly sized inverter. Alternator charging from the truck and a backup generator are also good things to have.

Then, add Starlink and a Peplink with SIM cards from a couple carriers. If you want to make your life easier, get a water bladder and a portable wastewater tank. Otherwise, be ready to break down your site and find somewhere to empty and refill your holding tanks.

Family of 5 here. Have a 44’ toy hauler I call the Kid Hauler. We use it on average 2-3 times a month when they are out of school and wife and I go every chance we get just for the weekend a lot of times. Even just trips to Dallas we hook up and stay in it. I also use it when I have tournaments at Toledo or Rayburn. We have had a campers for most of my kids life’s (Oldest 2 are 16) and some of their favorite memories are camping trips. Worth it to us.

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We're in one. We originally bought one to be able to bounce between Florida, Montana, and Ohio without staying at hotels or with friends and family. Then we just decided to hit the road and we haven't really been "home" in going on three years. We bought one that lets us stay off grid almost indefinitely, and it's been pretty damn awesome out west.

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That sounds great.. Have yall driven the Alaska Highway (AlCan) ? Starts just above Seattle and is a 1400 mi drive hugging the west coast of Canada all the way up to Fairbanks AK.. youll pass thru the Yukon, Whitehorse et al ; views are supposed to be spectacular and puts the Natchez Trace and Blue Ridge Pkwy to shame .. im hoping to do it in the next few years .