Travels Without the RV - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Russ Ranger · RV-Dreams Family Member

Travels Without the RV

Someday · RV-Dreams Family Member

Russ, a wonderful and very thought provoking for us read. Until now never really thought of it that way, and for sure we still have quite a few bucket list items that we couldn't row the RV to (LOL). Thanks for causing us to think outside of the box.

Happy travels,

SD

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

Russ, good comments, although for us we haven't quite realized the benefit of putting the RV in storage for an extended period. Since we're not yet retired our trips away have not been for more than 2 weeks at a time. Looking forward to the day when we could consider a 3 month absence.

For those thinking about Russ' comments, this is a situation when having pets can make a difference. Thus far when we have traveled for family visits or our cruise vacation we've parked the rig in an RV park and hired a pet sitter to care for our cat. Could we border her? Sure and that might save some $$, but thus far we haven't really considered it.

For those times when we have flown away for more than 5 days we have been on either a weekly or monthly rate which can save considerably on RV fees. But something to consider in the future if we find the right boarding situation and are on an extended trip.

Love the idea suggested by Russ and it's something we have discussed for the future when we are retired.

rodeojoe · RV-Dreams Family Member

I am not sure what we will do yet. I don't like the idea of a house payment and the RV payment. I am considering selling the home or at least renting it out. I don't want to be financially stressed on the open road.

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

You really can not know or enjoy the full feeling of freedom that comes from being on the road with no albatross around your neck.

Barb

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

Forgive me, Russ, if I'm being a bit dense here....

I'm not sure I understand how costs are being significantly cut when you travel without the RV. Where do you stay? If not with friends or family, I would think the cost of a hotel is much more than a campground (the same or sometimes less if you can get a good military rate or stay in a fleabag motel).

Someday · RV-Dreams Family Member

Cheryl, I believe Russ is referring to the expenses of RVIng when you step away and say put in storage is only the storage fee whilst vacationing elsewhere ie; no CG fees (rent), no fuel costs (not moving the rig) versus if you had a SnB and were vacationing from that = you'd still be paying property taxes, mortgage or rent typically, minor ticking over utility costs, check on service for insurance obligations, lawn/snow maintenance etc.

I think that's what he was referring to at least (LOL).

SD.

Russ Ranger · RV-Dreams Family Member

Good questions Cheryl. There are several different answers depending on the situation. I'll give a few examples but the basis of each is the freedom we have to choose how we spend our monthly budget.

One trip involved sharing a timeshare condo expense with my brother and sister. We were able to quickly change our plans because we could leave the RV behind and reallocated the next two weeks funds to going along with them. As I said in the original post our operational costs for the RV are almost nothing when we leave it behind. Food and entertainment budgets are about the same wherever we are. Our gas and campground budgets are spent on vacation expenses.

Now mind you we are frugal in many ways. One of the reasons we don't take our RV into Mexico is that travel costs here are different than in the USA. Hotels in the center of towns (where we want to be, in the action) cost about the same as an overnight in a typical RV park in the states. Good dinners eating out are typically under $10.00 US for us both. We ate out today (3 sopas and 3 pollo tacos and a bottle of real Coke) and the cost was 95 pesos (less than $6.00 total for the two of us). I am thrifty (cheap).

For full discloser you need to know that many years ago we purchased a home in Mazatlán, Mexico. We paid cash for it and the monthly expense of owning it is less than $200.00 per month. We view that cost the same as belonging to one of the camping clubs like Thousand Trails or Coast to Coast. It costs us $6.50 per day on a yearly basis. It is also an appreciating investment. Many years the financial gain exceed our costs. It was part of our long term plan before our early retirement.

As for the upcoming trip to Europe, here is how that is happening. I am proud to say we raised several kids that are great people. My son is career military (Master Sergeant - USAF). He is finishing out his 20 year career as a computer hacker assigned to NATO in Brussels, Belgium. He has a large home that we will use as our base to visit many different countries. I told him it was pay-back time for his early years.

Our monthly budget plus the moneys we save living in Mexico in the Winter will finance our months in Europe.

From the beginning we knew we wanted to pursue various forms of travel before we could no longer physically do those things. We sold our home so that we would not have the mental pull back to it. We purchased a very used motorhome to conserve our funds. I crunched numbers for several years to confirm our plans would work.

As we are in our third year of this plan, I can report that it is working for us.

Life is good for the Rangers.