fautrever.com

So, here we are living and traveling in our RV when gas in most states is well over $3 a gallon and the summer price hikes haven’t kicked in yet. Are we nuts? Nope, and neither are the other eight million RV owners. In fact RV sales spiked shortly after September 11th 2001 and even with the recent economic downturn have only slightly dropped. Oddly enough, the high end models, in the $500,000 to $2 million range are continuing to break sales records.

Of course we are nowhere near that bracket with our eight year old, middle of the road RV but we have some of the same motivations. We want to explore this amazing country and this country is best seen by road. We want to stay awhile and learn about the places we visit, which can be done fairly economically in an RV depending on how you go about it. We want to spend time with loved ones, by dropping by in our own house we are less of an imposition and everyone is more relaxed and has more fun. After all, its always better to sleep in your own bed.

As for soaring gas prices, our RV should average just under ten miles a gallon which is abysmal, I agree. However, we only travel about 200 miles a week, sometimes far less. In fact, the main reason I can’t accurately tell you our gas mileage is because we’ve only filled the tank once since we bought it in November. As you might be able to tell we haven’t driven very far since then.

We are on the move now though, after waiting out the winter in sunny Tucson we are slowly meandering north through California and beyond. Yes, filling our 75 gallon gas tank will be expensive but as Michael A. Schneider, the chief executive of the R.V. trade magazine publisher Affinity Group, said in a recent interview “once somebody gets hooked on the lifestyle, sure, it’s not pleasant when gasoline goes up, but they adjust, because they’re passionate about the lifestyle.”

It’s safe to say that we are hooked on the lifestyle. Anyone interested? We thought you’d enjoy reading an article that was recently published in the USA Today that focuses on the higher end models.

Sales of RVs, which run the gamut from humble folding camping trailers to luxury motor homes, peaked at 400,000 in 2006. The industry attributes the subsequent drop in sales to 354,000 last year to the overall economic slump rather than rising fuel costs. But with the first wave of 79 million baby boomers poised for retirement, industry experts are betting that boom times are on the horizon.

Nothing is too fancy for these coaches (as the really expensive RVs are called). Italian marble floors? Huge flat-screen high-definition TVs with surround sound? Doors controlled by electronic palm readers? Two bathrooms? Not a problem, if you’ve got the money, they’ll build it for you. Lance notes that in the European market, some RVs are built with an area in the back (like a mini-garage) that can hold a Smart Car, as seen on the cover of the March 2008 Motorhome magazine.

Meanwhile, we’ll continue to travel around the country in our little home-on-wheels.