Thrifty Travel in Your RV

Road Ventures: Your RV can make for thrifty travel, too Special to The Oregonian 06/16/2012 6:30 AM Traveling and living in an RV can be an expensive proposition, so my wife and I are always looking for ways to cuts costs. Our premise is that the less we spend, the more time we can be on the road. That means we look for low-cost RV sites, cheap fuel and eat as many of our meals as practical out of the motor home's pantry. June and I began planning our latest winter trip about last July. Once we figured out where we wanted to go, we started looking at the options on how to get there. Using the Internet and some of the trip planners available on it, we plotted a variety of routes, so we would have multiple choices in case we hit bad weather or decided to skip a stop or two to speed the journey. We are modest in our planning, and figure that about 300 miles on secondary roads (more if we stick to the interstate) is the absolute most we want to drive in a day. As the guy behind the wheel, I prefer shorter drives and more rest between road stints. Then we began an Internet research of RV parks and campgrounds in the areas where we figured we might overnight or spend an extra day. We don't lock ourselves in with reservations, so if we decide to spend some extra time in one area, we don't have to be concerned about forfeiting a deposit at the next stop. Instead, June calls the next RV park from the road to be sure there is room for us at the end of the day.

Living for less in an RV

from: http://timetraveler2.hubpages.com/hub/Why-Would-Anybody-Want-to-Live-Full-Tim...

The decision to live full time in an RV is a decision to make a total change in lifestyle. Doing this requires a lot of sacrifice. Those who are unwilling to do without some of the luxuries they enjoyed in their homes will never be happy as full timers and are wasting their time and money by trying to live this way.

Unless they are very wealthy, they will have to sell their homes and just about everything in them. They will also have to sell every vehicle except one and all of their "toys" such as big screen TV's, king sized beds, and other luxury items. Those who choose to pursue full timing need to learn right from the beginning to live with less.

Some of the things they will have to do without are: Anything that takes up a lot of space such as hobby materials, holiday decorations, boxes of family photos, libraries, magazines, newspapers or collectibles. Pets, unless they are very small Desktop computers, printers and scanners Excess clothing, especially bulky items

Duplicate household goods such as second sets of dishes and silverware Decorator items Heavy cleaning equipment such as full sized vacuum cleaners

Duplicate tools Recreational equipment such as kayaks, skis and clunky sports equipment. The rule of thumb for successful full time RV living is that for each item you bring into the RV, you get rid of something.

As a full time RVer you must decide which is more important: your things or your desired lifestyle. If you choose "lifestyle", you will quickly learn the concept of "less is more", and you'll find you've made the correct choice. If you’re still reading, you obviously see my point and want to learn more. So, here are some other things you need to know: http://timetraveler2.hubpages.com/hub/Why-Would-Anybody-Want-to-Live-Full-Tim...