That is why in recent years, more and more people are choosing to find a new American Dream – to trade the attainment of stuff for shared experience. This is to change our paradigm and redefine the meaning of wealth. True success now comes with a life well spent – with family and adventure. After all there is a whole world out there.
Why should we create a schedule that precludes us from enjoying it (outside a week or 2 each year)? Why not just go out there and LIVE in it? Why should we slave away to spend a week at Yellowstone and then proudly cast the pictures onto our 70 inch TV screen?
Why not go spend a MONTH at Yellowstone looking at it on the biggest screen imaginable – live and in person? We did and it was EPIC! Find out how many animals we saw at Yellowstone in one day!
Of course to do this means giving up the ingrained mindset that calls us to chase wealth – to live, in a word, cheaply. This is not to say that no-one gets wealthy living the RV lifestyle, it is simply to say that this is no longer the point of it all.
The point becomes to find comfort with less – to focus our time and attention on quality time spent and experience. So again we find ourselves in a place where it takes very little to measure yourself successful.
In the traditional world many people – without really thinking it through – consider those of us who are full time RV living to be a sort of underclass – after all we tend not to have as much stuff right? Those of us who have realized the true benefits of living this way know something that they don’t.
We consider this life to be an upgrade.
While a lot of states properly allocate tax funds to take care of County, State, and National parks other states (like New York) charge fees, especially during the peak season to enter/parking fees. Some of the rates they charge are exorbitant, especially if you get seasonal passes and that’s for residents. For example – on Long Island if you’re a resident of Nassau County you are NOT considered a resident of Suffolk County and therein will pay a higher rate whereas some parks will consider anyone with a New York address/ID is considered a resident. Resident and non-resident rates vary, sometimes by a good amount of money.
Just something to consider when traveling to certain areas of the country because sometimes these rates (especially for non-residents) can be unaccounted for and may not be worth it.
Great point, Jude. Even the National Parks are only “free” after you buy the $80 annual membership.
We’ve found that the slower we travel, the lower our expenses. Fuel is definitely our largest expense when moving long distances in the fall and spring.
Free camping is our go-to whenever possible to keep our costs down. We bought used and have been busy adding solar power to help make our boondocking stays longer. Overall, our expenses have dropped to 1500-2000 a month, vs 3000-3500 when we were renting.
We all love being outdoors so the kids never complain when we go for hikes or even walk downtown to see the sights. They have learned so much in the short time we’ve been doing this!
Fantastic Alicia. We have always tried to do a month at a time to keep the rates down. It also allows us to stay a little further from the attraction which also helps with cost. Boondocking is the BEST! Not only can you save a ton of cash, but the opportunities for truly awesome camping experiences is very high.
We work camp in the summer and stay in parks for a month or more during the winter. Your article didn’t really address the benefits of work camping. A lot of parks provide pay as well as free hookups. The work is not hard and generally is 3or 4 days with 3 or 4 days off to explore the area. This works for us.
Thanks Suzanne, We included work camping in an another article about making a living on the road. http://therovingfoleys.com/how-to-make-money-while-traveling-on-the-road/ but you are correct about being able to save as well. SO many people work camp. It is a great way to go.