A Less-Expensive Way to Travel

July 22, 2008 | Uncategorized

I think that John Steinbeck, the author of “Travels With Charley” among other classics, was one of the original RV-ers. Back in 1960 he converted his pickup truck into a camper and took off around the states with Charley, his French standard poodle. I remember reading his book and being mesmerized by it.

It’s ironic that years later I also set off on a similar odyssey, around the U.S. in an old VW camper. My Charley was Prudence, an oversize Old English Sheepdog that many along the way mistook for a weird-looking bear.

I did the trip twice, once with Prudence, another time without, both times writing about and photographing the country as a freelance journalist. Those trips — much like the one Steinbeck took — taught me a lot about America and our people.

It was a great opportunity to see the real U.S. from people level, not 35,000 feet, and it was fantastic. I remember one time in Wyoming coming around a bend right smack into a cattle drive, and then sitting out in a clearing talking with the cowboys. And seeing the Mississippi for the first time, appearing so broad and powerful. And standing in the snow on the lip of the Grand Canyon, with drifts turning mauve and rose in the frigid afternoon light. And those deep greens of the North Carolina forests, with their giant flowered rhododendron reaching for the canopy.

Driving across America, it’s the journey that’s the destination. And its memories stay with one for a long, long time. Which is why when I saw a headline a few weeks ago that said: “RV Vacations Are Least Expensive, Study Shows” I grabbed the article.

The study, as one would guess, was sponsored by the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association, an industry trade group. It’s their job to help get this type of information out in front of the public in hope of enticing you to buy an RV, and they’re usually very careful to remain dead-on with the facts.

Even so, I thought, “you have to be kidding me.” With today’s fuel prices over $4.00 a gallon who’s going to want to fill the tank of one of those behemoths you see all the time on America’s highways?

Then it hit me — perhaps there was something to this.  After all, we may be paying a lot more for gas and diesel these days but so are the airlines that are pummeling us with skyrocketing ticket prices and fuel surcharges. Besides, if you’re in a RV you don’t have to pay for hotels and restaurants three times a day.

According to the consulting firm that did the study for the RVIA, the savings on air travel, hotel and restaurants well offset the other costs, even when they factored in the cost of owning a RV and the cost of fuel on the road. They figured that on average RV vacations were 27 to 61% less expensive than the other types of vacations they studied.

One of their example showed that a family of four traveling from Phoenix, Arizona to Napa, California, with their folding camping trailer for 10 days — staying in campgrounds at the local average of $33 per night vs. staying in hotels averaging $122 per night and eating in restaurants — would save 52 percent, or $2,379, over the same trip taken by car.

Taking the same trip in a Type C motorhome — that’s a medium size motorhome that sleeps eight and looks somewhat like the vans the car rental agencies use to pick you up at the airport — would save $1704, or 37 percent, over going by car on the same trip. Airline trips would cost considerably more for a group of two or three people or more. They have other examples you can read about on the release on their website.

By the way, there is a reason why when I was touring they called these things vans, and today call them motorhomes — with emphasis on “homes.” In my old little pop-top VW I had a back seat that folded down for a bed, a small refrigerator that never, ever worked and a few cabinets tucked in here and there.

If you needed to use “the facilities,” as they say, find a gas station. Need to shower? Find a hotel or local campground. Sometimes they were far between, the reason I’m sure Prudence kept her head out the window for hundreds of miles at a time.

Today though, you can go whipping across Route 80 or down 95 steering a French chateau on wheels with full size beds, a living room and stand-up kitchen. Not to mention the flat-screen TVs, sound systems, fireplaces, toilets and showers! Toilets and showers! — I don’t know if my heart can take this much excitement all in one vehicle. Prudence, pull your head in and go stretch out on the couch.

These vehicles come in all different sizes and price ranges — the upper end can range up to the cost of a small home, or a tenth of a small studio apartment in New York City. They are also becoming increasingly fuel efficient. Winnebago told me that one of their diesel vehicles now gets up to 22 mpg.

People are renting them more for vacations now. RVIA says rentals are up 18% this year, with the average cost of a unit that sleeps two to six people running about $2,000 a week. And you can well image why — no long lines at security check points, comfortable seats and real food instead of peanuts. “Honey, could you make me another brie- and ham-brioche with a bit of Grey Poupon while I drive?”

If you want to see something interesting go to the websites of Winnebago, Fleetwood or Travel Supreme and look at the interior photos, or take a virtual tour, of their vehicles. Better yet, next time you’re on the highway and see a motorhome show in some large parking lot, stop for a few minutes and take a look. Even if, like me, you’re a not a RV-er, you’ll still be amazed by today’s chateaux-on-wheels.

Jim Ferri