How to Look at RVing, Objectively

My husband and I met late in life and jumped right into fulltime RV cruising after the wedding, inspired by the idea of a never-ending honeymoon. We made the RV our home and lived all over North America for five years, visiting forty-nine American states, nine Canadian provinces and territories, and six Mexican states. I even wrote a book about it, Carolina: Cruising to an American Dream. Now I recall the debate that raged in my head before we plunged into our great adventure.

at a campground in North Carolina

There are pros and cons to the fulltime RV cruising lifestyle. I wrote about them in this post. Today, I update that previous post with a better perspective, with the experience of all the RVing we have done, in hindsight. It is an objective look at this particular kind of travel to help those of you who are unsure of taking the plunge.

The following benefits are undeniable:

at the Arctic Circle in the Yukon

Experiencing new things-to-do

Seeing new places and sights

Meeting lots of new people

Being close to nature and the outdoors

Growing with a larger, refreshing view of life

Reducing negative stress

Because of the first three, boredom never had the chance to set in. The ability to boondock brought us closer to the mountains, the streams, the lakes, and the ocean. We had to adapt more easily to the nuances in daily living, becoming more aware of universal themes and larger concerns in the process.

at a Washington campground

Our lifestyles were quite driven before we married and fully retired. My husband was keeping a small business alive in a flagging economy after years of navigating the corporate jungle. In turn; I was juggling teaching at three institutions of higher learning while babysitting my grandson after years of pioneering in information technology in the Philippines.

Our RV cruising lifestyle was renewing, exhilarating and reinvigorating.

going into the Alaska Highway

And, though there was some stress looking for campgrounds, hooking-up and unhooking, planning itineraries, and choosing activities to do, it was the positive kind of stress; it wasn’t the kind where you earnestly pray that your situation will change or even wish you were somewhere else.  It was the kind that allowed you to sleep soundly at night with this: "That was an awesome day well spent!"

But we can also not deny the following disadvantages:

at a Monroe, Washington campground

Many unfamiliar situations

Loss of stability

Distance from family and friends

No involvement with worthwhile causes

Loss of income

Uncertainties in healthcare

The very benefit of having something new all the time also brought the disadvantage of instability. It was a preponderance of unfamiliar situations, especially in the beginning with our smaller 24-foot RV. The sad part was the increased distance with family and friends and the inability to work for causes we used to love.  Technology has definitely helped but the thing called “propinquity” was actually lost.

at a campground in Alaska

Since we moved to a new parish every other week, we could not participate in a regular ministry. What younger people would find most disturbing, however, is the loss of income, unless you can find portable jobs or work at campgrounds or even Amazon distribution centers. What finally made us settle down is to have better healthcare. 

at a campground in Mexico

But now we realize that all these disadvantages came about because we chose the full-time RV cruising lifestyle. We traveled in an unrelenting pace and covered the North American continent in less than five years. If you look at the benefits, they are the same whether you do it full-time or piecemeal. When you find a free week or two, escape to an RV adventure. There are ways to do this. You can buy a small camper, rent an RV or borrow a friend’s unit. At least try it and see for yourself.

parked at the side of a highway in Alaska

After ten years, we have modified our conclusion to the debate. We still believe RVing is something everyone should experience. Yes, we fully recommend you succumb to the lure of the open road. No other kind of travel will give you that absolute sense of freedom. But you don’t have to do it full-time like we did. Get the benefits. Skip the disadvantages. Escape the ordinariness of life. Go somewhere in an RV!

PREVIOUS POST
An Eventful Road Trip through the Canadian Rockies.

FOR MOBILES, click "View Web Version at the end of the post past comments and share buttons will appear.

CLICK THIS TO PIN THE IMAGE


CLICK THIS TO PIN THIS IMAGE

You Can Easily Sail Your Week Away with Food, Frolic, and Facilities in Carnival's Imagination

Let your imagination soar.  The ginormous fin lords it over about 2,500 of us on board a fantasy cruise of the Carnival Line. Imagination will give you four nights and four days of cruising on the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. It was our gift to us on our 10th anniversary. The last cruise we had was in 2014, before that 2012. We have missed this kind of easy-going, no unpacking kind of trip. Everything is fine except for the unwanted pounds you realize you got at the end!

Long Beach Cruise Terminal

Checking in was a breeze. We parked at Carnival’s six-floor parking garage and paid $20 a night in the end. A huge domed facility, the Long Beach Cruise Terminal, housed all the departure and arrival activities. There were separate lines for early, on-time, and late arrivals so long queues were practically nonexistent. And there were great backdrops for souvenir photos right from the get-go. It’s so seamless it felt as if they had been doing this for years. And they have. The ship was born in 1995.

Long Beach from Carnival Imagination

Food

It was fine dining every night at the Spirit Dining Room. We were grouped with four other couples, three from around California and one from Hawaii. So the company was wholesome and the food was awesome. I had shrimp cocktail, flat iron steak, and tiramisu on the first night; crab cakes, oven-baked sea bass, and Carnival’s signature molten chocolate cake on the second (also cruise elegant night), steak, spring rolls, and chocolate tres leches on the third, and penne de mariscos, escargot bourguignon and baked Alaska on the last. Our Filipina hostess Ethel was unbelievably both charming and caring!

four nights of dinner with new friends

Open seating breakfast was at the other dining room, Pride. We loved their eggs benedict, Belgian waffles, Spanish omelet, and Breakfast on Board. On our day at sea (fourth day), we feasted on the buffet at Lido Restaurant with the special chocolate buffet, including truffle, fudge, and all kinds of things to dip into the rich brown stuff. I decided to worry later about the pounds I was packing in. It would have been cruel to disrupt the ambiance!

Frolic

nocturnal activities

day at sea

There was so much to do. My claim to fame was singing the Beatles’ “Act Naturally” at the High Seas Karaoke on the very first night. People recognized me the next day and congratulated me for my comedic styling. You see, I started my performance with, “Welcome to my show…” The next night, we watched a glitzy, high energy show called “Divas.” On the third night, we could not stop laughing at the hilarious Punchliner Comedy Act. Then it was “Epic Rock” on the last night.

On our day at sea, we lounged at the hot tub, couldn’t resist the discount shopping, and played some trivia games. A casino buzzed every night. Games for the kids were scheduled every early morning and late afternoon. You could dance, simply listen to the music, or chat with the bartender at the many lounges and bars. One of them even had Nadal in a tennis match that was ongoing at the US Open. So, of course, I was thrilled and stayed to watch for a while with other tennis fanatics!

fun facilities

Fun Facilities

All these were made possible by the ship’s top facilities. I found out later that a huge renovation was completed in 2016. On the top deck are a Water Park at one end, a Fitness Center/Spa, and a mini-golf/jogging course at the other. One deck below is the promenade with a pool, four hot tubs, a stage, lots of lounge chairs and the buffet and fast food stations.  The two decks below feature all the various lounges, Casino, Art Gallery, Fun Shops, and the Guest Services and Excursions Desk. A six-floor Atrium Plaza is carved out of the stern. Then there are five other decks below for staterooms and cabins.

Our room was spacious enough. Unlike on our second cruise where we had a tiny cabin and bunk beds, one on top of the other, we had a comfy bed. The staff cleaned the room, changed our towels, and vacuumed the floor every morning. Upon our request, the steward brought us a blow-dryer and extra pillows. And a play towel was left every morning with the next day’s schedule. The only thing missing are the chocolates and the turn-down for bed.   

our room

  

Ports of Call

The week is divided between two cruises: a two-night, three-day one that only goes to Ensenada, Mexico on Baja (Below) California. The one which we took goes to Catalina Island, 26 miles off the coast of LA, in addition. My next posts are about the two ports-of-call. Both cruises are very popular because you can simply sail away on either Imagination Getaway for food, frolic, and facilities. The only regret I have is that I gained 4.5 pounds! So the gym sees a lot of me now.

CHOOSING A RESORT LIFESTYLE COMMUNITY FOR A TRAVEL BASE

After Bill and I got married in 2008, we went RVing for eight years. It seemed like a never-ending honeymoon until we began to feel we had completed North America. So during the last three of those eight years, we parked our RV at the Viewpoint RV & Golf Resort in Phoenix during the winter time. The rest of the year, we stored it to travel abroad. Doing this enabled us to establish our healthcare needs in the #5 state in healthcare in the country. Admittedly, we were also getting old and tired.

We began to make many great friendships, more stable ones than those we found during our RVing days when we had to leave people just as we had gotten close to them. And we warmed into the lifestyle, literally and figuratively. Winter is when many snowbirds converge in Arizona (from the northern states and Canada), looking for activities in warm weather. That is the cornerstone of what is called the resort lifestyle. We bought into it and moved into Viewpoint as a permanent travel base.

To best describe this kind of living, let me list the facilities available at Viewpoint. It has two golf courses with a country club that has a golf-pro shop, a restaurant/bar/grille, and two party rooms. There is a Main Clubhouse with two swimming pools, three hot tubs, hobby and craft rooms, and two ballrooms. The third clubhouse called NorthPoint has a swimming pool and two hot tubs, a sauna, a fitness center, a dance studio, a laundry room, a card room, and four meeting rooms. The newest gathering area is the Fitness and Leisure Center (walking distance from our unit) that contains a Fitness Center, a pool and hot tub and two party areas. There is also a Ball field, ten tennis courts, and five pickleball courts.

During the height of the season, there are about fifty clubs in operation. While Bill plays golf or tennis or takes walks with the Hiking Club, I busy myself with the Technology Group, the Photography Club, and the Authors’ Forum and also participate in Karaoke Night, Scrabble Afternoon, Poker Night, and the Block Happy Hour. During the off-season, Viewpoint’s full-time residents created the Summer Socials Committee which is currently hosting an activity every 6:30 pm on Fridays and every 4 pm on Saturdays. If you feel lonely in Viewpoint, it would be your own fault. In fact, a calendar of appointments is an utmost necessity.

This lifestyle fits very well into our travel plans. Whereas we traveled full-time before, now we carve out certain periods of the year when we relax and relate at the Resort. Our travels are around summer when we visit our children and grandchildren in colder areas (Calgary, San Francisco, Melbourne, Anchorage, Boise, and Denver) and/or use our month of timeshare points in Europe or elsewhere. Now that we have another three months of all-inclusive timeshare in Mexico, we will spend our winters in a “second home” in Mazatlan (or alternatively Cancun or Cozumel) as snowbirds from Phoenix. Spring and fall we will spend in Viewpoint when fewer activities mean even more relaxation time.

PINNABLE IMAGE

It is indeed a great base for travels, this resort lifestyle community we found. It is ideal for us who have seen a lot but want to see more even at this age. Now we can do it more comfortably, in easy-to-use timeshares for our travels and in a resort lifestyle for the rest of the year. Perhaps, because of this home base, the family will visit us more than we visit them. It all definitely defines how cruising should be past 70!

PINNABLE IMAGE

PINNABLE IMAGE

PINNABLE IMAGE

PINNABLE IMAGE

Vegas Will Make You Go Back Every Single Time

Las Vegas is one unique destination. Glamor, glitter, and gambling are magnets for travelers. What's more, airfare to the city is usually low, lodging is inexpensive (especially on weekdays), and the food is awesome. No wonder it was voted the gathering place for my reunions in 2018. I have had three in a row since January 2018. After all three, we will go back again even if Bill again has to drive that 5-hour stretch through US 93 that connects Phoenix to Vegas. Having done so six times in four months, he can already do it sleeping. I have realized how Vegas will make you go back every single time.
  

Eating Our Hearts Out

The first was requested by my daughter Claudine who turned forty last February 7. She found great deals for the weekend of January 26-29 and convinced us to join her in a landmark celebration. Her family (husband Arnold, children Enzo, Kai, and Jax) and my eldest Trisha and her family (husband Deejay, children Krishna, Yeye, and Kenji), and Bill and I all congregated in adjoining rooms of Circus! Circus! My youngest, April and her family live in Melbourne and could not join us.

It turned out to be a weekend of gastronomic delights. The clear highlight of our stay was the Buffet of all Buffets for $60 pp. This entitles one to as many buffets as you want from Caesar’s Palace, Flamingo, Harrah’s, Paris, Planet Hollywood, and Rio within a 24-hour period. We started with the Le Village Buffet in Paris for our Saturday lunch, then for dinner we upgraded to the best Vegas buffet, the Bacchanal Buffet in Caesar’s Palace with an additional $35 pp, and then finished off with the Sunday brunch at Harrah’s Flavors, the Buffet.

With Vegas nights always ending in the wee hours of the morning, we just couldn’t squeeze in a breakfast buffet! Regular prices for each of the three buffets we took are $25, $60, and $25 for a total of $110. We still saved $15 pp. It would’ve been $40 savings had we been up in time for Sunday breakfast. We did not regret the decision to do this food indulgence but our tummies surely did! The Flavors Buffet was okay, Le Village was good, but Bacchanal was great. If you are going to choose just one, let it be Bacchanal, the #1 buffet in Vegas! It includes things like bone marrow, lechon (roast suckling pig), all kinds of seafood, steak, and lamb, and different styles of salads and desserts, etc.

at the Bacchanal Buffet

Reminiscing our Hearts Out

The International School of Manila (High School) 50th Reunion had been in the making for a year. We all got our acts together and met on March 15-19 at The Orleans Hotel and Casino. The first two days were the mini-gathering among a group of friends who sang together in high school. They called themselves the MJs (Marie, Miel, Mimi, Jo, Joy, Jean, and Judy). We couldn’t find Marie and Miel could not make it. Even if I was not part of the original group, I joined as a legitimate M-Me!

On the last three days, Alice, Florence, Stephanie, Hank, Ernie, Lynn, and Elmer joined us. We had a Senior Lounge where many pictures of fifty years ago were pasted onto the walls. It became our gathering place for the weekend. We had a welcome dinner and farewell cocktails at F&B outlets in our hotel but the main event was a celebration of all those who had passed on and a grand Filipino dinner bought from one of our fave Filipino food hang-outs in Manila, Goldilocks!   

And that was the distinctive feature of this reunion...a trip down memory lane. It wasn't just about friendships but also of Filipino food! The MJs looked for Max’s, Jollibee, ChowKing and Red Ribbon, all standard fast food places in Manila. So we had a fill of all the comfort food we had been missing. In fact, we all took home lots of goodies like ensaymada, sans rival, and empanadas. I suppose this happens not just to Filipinos. Vegas features all kinds of ethnic cuisines.

the Class of 67, ISM

Gambling Our Hearts Out

Four friends (and their spouses) from I/ACT, the Institute of Advanced Computer Technology in Manila, decided to just hang out together in Vegas from April 21-23. Precy, whom I had not seen for thirty+ years has retired in the Sin City with husband Pat. Fides, who still works for Microsoft, and husband Benjie flew in from Seattle. Loy, who still works for an IT consulting company in Chicago, flew into Phoenix and drove with Bill and me to Vegas. I/ACT no longer exists but we always feel the urge to see each other again, whether in the Philippines or in the US. It was just that type of company where people become friends for life.

One of the things we did after the office hours was to play Chinese mahjong. In fact, Precy and I did so from Friday after office all the way to Sunday afternoon, non-stop at a friend’s home, just alternating taking naps and eating food. So we played mahjong on the first night, right after we all arrived and after dinner, until the wee hours of the morning, at Precy’s Paris suite. I lost heavily ($2.50), Fides lost some ($.60), Loy was the big winner ($2.50) and Precy won some ($.60).

The following night, after a Japanese buffet lunch, walking the strip, and having cocktails at Planet Hollywood’s Diamond Lounge (Precy is a member), we tried the Fremont Street Experience with its computer-controlled roof spanning three blocks. Then we went back to The Strip, contributed $20 each, focused on one slot machine in Paris and alternated pressing the Play button. It was a major team effort, including in prayers. Although we lost all our money, the innovative way to gamble gave us a thrilling hour of anticipation, screams, and despair. In the wee hours of the morning, we consoled ourselves by feasting on Giordano pizza at the suite, courtesy of Loy. Then we triumphantly climbed into the High Roller at the Linq. Yes, we feel we deserved the name. We gambled our hearts out!

riding the High Roller

As I said Vegas became our venue for eating, reminiscing, and gambling our hearts out. My three reunions combined gave us a taste of the consummate Vegas experience. Unfortunately, I added two pounds to my weight which will take me a couple of months to shed. That is unless another reunion of some kind is scheduled again in the Gathering Place for all Reasons and for all Seasons! And I wouldn't mind going back at all. Vegas has enough to make you go back every single time.

There Are No Hidden Costs, Only Hidden Benefits, in Full-time RVing

In my previous post, I talked about the three kinds of RV cruising one might choose as part of his lifestyle.  The common feedback I got was “We want to RV but it’s too expensive.” I wrote a piece about the subject of The Economics of the RV Cruising Lifestyle in 2011 but it was mainly to justify our upgrade to a Class A from our Class C. Fortunately, it also compared full-time RV cruising to living in a home base and using a car for road trips. Here’s my update on the topic to see if, in hindsight, we still arrive at the same conclusion-that RVing full-time is cheaper! 

Fuel Expenses

It was shocking to see that our fuel expenses were so high when we galloped around the country every three or four days using our Class C motorhome. Clearly, we had to stay at a campground longer, like two or three weeks at a time. This is logical because we were covering a lot more miles in shorter periods of time. Besides, driving around an area using the smaller RV costs a lot. This eased a little when we got the scooter but I found it a very inconvenient way to go for longer trips. I was surprised to find out that a bigger RV, with an even lower mpg, plus a car for driving around, was a cheaper way of full-time RVing. And I was ecstatic about the bonanza of a 350-sq.ft. living space! Obviously, keeping a home base and using a car for road trips is the cheapest option, however.

Vehicle Ownership and Maintenance

Unlike houses, RVs do not appreciate in value. They are homes on wheels that are regularly subjected to the rigors of the road.  Like cars, their values take a deep dive in the first year or two. Buying a brand-new RV, therefore, does not make sense. Bill thought it would be smarter to let other people take that hit. We bought a 10-year old Newmar Mountain Aire, one of the better quality brands. Besides, owning an RV at late in life also made perfect sense because investing in properties was, and still is, no longer high on our agenda.

All in all, our monthly cost of ownership (depreciation + maintenance) for a used home on wheels was around $500 per month, computing the life of our motorhome to be ten years. Not bad for a space of about 350 square feet, translating to less than $1.50 per month per square feet, just slightly above the cost of rented living space in Kent, Washington, from where we came, at the time. However, the condos that we own and are rented out will be there even after we pass on while the rig will most probably last only as long as we live or even shorter (we actually sold it after 8 years).

Campsite Fees/Utilities

When we started RVing, we joined groups that gave 50 percent off for camping fees, which ranged anywhere from $10 a night for parks to $70 for resorts. Camping this way, we averaged $450 a month. When we committed more to the fulltime RV cruising lifestyle and bought the Class A, we also bought a Thousand Trails membership. This allowed us to use their network of campgrounds around the US.  The membership resulted in camping expenses of a little over $6 a day or $200 per month over the more than four years we used it. It was a smart move. We saved on campground fees. 

Furthermore, included in the membership were power, water, and sewer. Sometimes even cable and wifi were included. Thus, the major expense for utilities turned out to be just for mobile phones. You may also need to maintain lawns when you own homes, stuff nonexistent with RVs. Plus association dues can be as high as $350 a month for homes. These are all included in campground fees.

Taxes and Insurance

An RV is a second home, or if you are full-timing, it is the primary home. Sales/excise tax on the purchase of the RV and interest on future payments are just like those on a traditional home or second home. However, since an RV is not real property, property tax is nil. Insurance on the trailer/fifth wheel is lower than on home insurance; but, since a motorhome is a motorized vehicle, insurance expense is higher and may equal that of a home.

Recreation and Entertainment

Entertainment and recreational expenses are not huge while RV cruising because cruising takes you to new places and new things to do all the time. Thus, this type of expenses while living in a home would be a lot more. There would be more out-of-town trips which would mean fuel costs for the car (or even airfare), lodging costs, and other charges associated with the place.

Food and Household Supplies

Food and household supplies can be considered the same for all the columns. Although, of course, food may be more for living in a home base because you may tend to eat out more often. In an RV, you actually feel like you are eating out all the time because grilling outdoors is so much fun and picture windows create a great ambiance. Household supplies may be less in an RV if it is compared to a larger footprint for a home base.

Health Maintenance

Although costs can be considered the same for health maintenance, it is definitely better, however, if you are at home, and more preventive in nature. You tend to postpone visits to doctors, dentists, or ophthalmologists when you travel so costs may be higher when serious health issues arise. This is the main reason we shifted to snow birding first, then getting back to a home base.

If cost were not an option, the best is to have a home base and escape with an RV. But, for most people, the cost is a major consideration. If you do not gallop around the country every three or four days, use a second-hand RV, and join a network of campgrounds, then full-time RV cruising is cheaper than living in a home and using a car for road trips. We have arrived at the same conclusion. We carved out several years from our life to cruising fulltime in an RV. We ended up having a home (the RV), financing our adventure with the rental of our condos, and getting to discover all of North America as a bonus. 

Here's a pinnable image:

Camping around America, the Beautiful

camping in North Carolina

Excerpts from Appendices 4 and 6 of Carolina: Cruising to an American Dream

Glamping, a recent trend coined from the phrase glamorous camping, technically refers to luxury cabins and tents.  I like to think that it all started with camping in an RV, something we did for eight years of our lives, in different campgrounds all over America. Doing so exposed us to different cities and towns around the country. And it allowed us to meet many “neighbors” along the way.  As a late-age immigrant, I am proud to have completed a fun discovery of America. I hope everyone who seeks citizenship can do so before becoming one.

camping in Joshua Tree National Park

In hindsight, we found four different kinds of campgrounds. They can best be illustrated with a grid having an x and y-axes. If we assign Location as the y-axis and Amenities/Activities as the x-axis, then four quadrants are created.  As you go higher on the y-axis, you go from urban to rural; as you move from left to right on the x-axis, you go from one with absolutely no amenities or activities to one with a ton of them. I call those with many amenities and activities, "resorts," and the ones with little or none, "parks." Then I use the term "nature" to differentiate the rural campgrounds from those that are nearer urban centers for which, in turn, I use the term "city."

We stumbled into the Nature RV Resort in Lenoir, North Carolina when we looked for a spot from which we could explore the Blue Ridge Parkway. We loved going home to the Green Mountain RV Resort. Our site had a sizable deck, looking out to a fresh spring.  Bill loved the large trees, went hiking in the many trails and dreamed of fishing and boating in the lake. We frequented a clubhouse with billiard tables, ping pong tables, and other games. Bill started his golf career with the nine-hole golf course in the resort. But the tennis and volleyball courts were left untouched. As for me, I learned the East Coast Swing from a family that was vacationing for a weekend at a Saturday dance!

camping in Orlando Thousand Trails

What immediately comes to mind as a City RV Resort is the Thousand Trails-Orlando in Florida. It’s just six miles from Disney World and within walking distance of strip malls and big grocery and other chains. My entire family staged a reunion there that Christmas. We loved going to the large clubhouse which was full of game kiosks, billiard tables, ping pong tables, a large TV, a gift shop, and even a diner. We began lots of things there: our religious observance of fitness center visitations, lazy afternoon lounging in the hot tubs and pools and energetic dancing to live bands with neighbors during the Friday night dances. Tennis courts, horseshoe pits, volleyball courts, and a mini-golf course remained unvisited though, as well as the craft and hobby clubs. I will never forget this Resort. It is where Bill suffered a heart attack the day we arrived. But it is also where we met Dan and Beverly who helped me through that episode. Another person I met was Roberta, a struggling writer. who published her book the year before I published mine.

The City RV Park is used primarily to be near family or friends whom we would like to visit or as a base from which to explore a famous large city. I remember how we religiously went out every day to take the train and subway link to Boston. We did not meet a lot of people because everybody was busy, like us, visiting the sights in this city that is synonymous with the start of the American Revolution. It became part of my inner journey to becoming an American, where I started to hum the Star-Spangled Banner all day, to Bill's delight.

camping at Kirk Creek Campground in Big Sur

Last but not least, the Nature RV Park is probably what you need when you want to get away from it all. State and national parks, as well as parts of our national forests, Corps of Engineers’ land preserves, beach enclaves, etc., are of this type.  Some national parks, such as the Joshua Tree National Park, qualify; bigger national parks with plenty of facilities, such as Yosemite and Yellowstone, are more like Nature RV Resorts. The best one that comes to mind is the Kirk Creek Campground along Big Sur, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It has a trail that led down to the largest sand beach in the area. It has no water hook-ups, so when young campers ran out, Bill graciously donated some of our supply. I spent many a night by a warm crackling fire under a soft moonlight

chatting with an author, eager to learn about his roller-coaster ride to getting published.

But we also realized that there are available resources for fun other than what the campground offers. We have been amazed at all the possible things you can do, at what living in America offers. My post on Maximizing RVing Resources, Part 2 details things from: public centers like libraries, Visitor, Community, and Senior Centers (if you can already admit that you are a senior!); colleges and universities that make the campus a public center for enlightened living; commercial establishments that compete for our dollars; local governments/non-government associations that sponsor a variety of events; and churches that go beyond religious services. Treasures are also available in all the state and national parks that preserve America’s beauty for everyone to enjoy.

inside the RV when camped

There is a range of things to see and activities to do in and around where you park your RV. You will enjoy whole new notions of fun and meet people who can teach you simple joys or take you to life-changing directions. Camping around the country gave me the confidence not only to receive my naturalization papers but also, more importantly, to become a true American. Now I can say that those eight years were well spent. I came to know and appreciate all of America, the Beautiful.

Cruising in an RV as a Lifestyle

full0time RV cruising in Alaska

Excerpted from Chapter 1, Appendix 1, and Appendix 2 of Carolina: Cruising to an American Dream

Sometimes we cruise along with just a general direction, waiting to be surprised by what new things-- sights, foliage, wildlife, for example--that we may encounter down the road. After driving for a couple of hours, we may shift to cruise-control to relax our tired muscles on the freeways of America. Other times, we will deliberately slow down because the scenery unfolding is just so spectacular.

Now imagine doing all of this cruising, not just in a car, but in an RV! And imagine it being a lifestyle, even if it is not full-time as I wrote about in this previous post.  Cruising in an RV has become very popular. Consider how the RV industry has grown. Today there are more than nine million RV owners (more than thirty million users if we include renters), more than 12,000 RV-related businesses, and more than 16,000 public and private campgrounds in America.

Definition of Cruising

escaping to the beach

Dictionary.com defines cruise as 1) to travel about without a particular purpose or destination; 2) to drive at a constant speed that permits maximum operating efficiency for sustained travel; or 3) to travel at a moderately fast, easily controllable speed. Before I go any further, let me state that I have eliminated 4) to travel about slowly, looking for customers or for something demanding attention, i.e. taxi drivers, policemen, and prostitutes!” To the first three definitions, I add my own take: aimless (no big aims), effortless (no big efforts), timeless (no big limits on time), deeply personal and enjoyable drive through life, usually with a loved one(s).

I like to compare and contrast this cruising lifestyle with the driven one because, for years, I had to endure the latter, bringing up my children as a single parent in the corporate jungles of Metro Manila. Bill was driven in America, too, though not as a single parent. His children were already on their own when his wife passed on due to cancer. While the driven lifestyle is usually characterized by big goals (building a home, bringing up kids, getting an MBA), cruising is marked by little ones (baking a pie, spotting a deer, gazing at a sunset). While the driven lifestyle needs lots of energy to sustain, cruising works at whatever energy level one may have. The driven lifestyle means deadlines but cruisers often say: ‘When I woke up this morning, I had nothing to do; when I went to bed, I was only half done.’

motorized RVs

Kinds of RVs

Let me first give a description of RVs.There are two general classifications: motorized and non-motorized. The motorized version is a vehicle that includes a housing area as well as the engine to run it. The second is a housing unit that is towed by a motor vehicle powerful enough to do that.

There are four kinds of motorized RVs according to size. The smallest are camper vans, very popular in Europe where the roads are pretty narrow. Class B and Class C motorhomes can go up to thirty feet in length and are complete with kitchen, dinette, and bathroom. The distinctive feature of Class Cs is a sleeping area on top of the driver’s compartment, while Class Bs has the sleeping area at the back. Class As is upwards of thirty feet in length with as many as four slide-outs that make the living areas so much bigger when parked. They can tow a dinghy, a dolly for cars, or even a big toy hauler.

non-motorized RVs

There are two kinds of non-motorized RVs: travel trailers or fifth-wheels. Travel trailers are tagalongs of various sizes, from the lighter pop-ups to teardrop campers, to the bigger Airstreams, and even larger ones. Fifth wheels, on the other hand, are those tagalongs with large noses that engage to the load bed of powerful pick-up trucks. These are usually as big as Class As, and like the larger travel trailers, often have slide-outs can also be used to expand living areas. 

                     

Types of RV Cruising

The various kinds of RVs give enthusiasts the appropriate one for the type of RV cruising they choose. In hindsight, there seem to be three types. The first is called escaping when you still want a home and just need to pause to be recharged. You may be a student, an employee, an executive, a business owner, or a housewife with a nagging urge to escape from everyday life. You want the benefits of cruising without suffering the disadvantages of being away from a home base. So you escape with your RV on a weekend or a longer vacation. Smaller, motorized RVs are perfect for this. Bill and I did not go through this type because we were already on the road to retirement when we met. But now that we have settled into a home base in Viewpoint, we may buy a campervan for the hot summer months.

We jumped straight into the second type, the fulltime RV cruising lifestyle. We finally had the time to attend to our bucket list that had grown long because we could not escape often enough in our past driven lifestyles. Given the number of years we had left on this planet, we focused on an intensive exploration of America. In the beginning, we stayed for just three or four days and used a 24-ft. Class C Telstar and a Vino scooter, a pair we fondly called Star and Vino. When we decided to stay longer in the areas we visited, two to three weeks at a time, we upgraded to a Class A with a slide-out and bought a little Saturn for a tow vehicle. We finally had a 350-sq.ft. living space and began to receive guests from family and friends. We did this for five years, stopping only after we had almost finished visiting all of North America.  Motorized RVs are perfect for this RV cruising lifestyle.

snowbirding in Viewpoint, Arizona

The third type is snow-birding. We follow the sun to be warmer, much like birds do when it gets too cold where they stay. During the winter months, we migrate to someplace in the warmer south;.during warmer months, we return to our primary homes. Droves of Americans who live in the northern states, along with many Canadians, drive to Arizona, Texas, Southern California, or Florida for three to six months a year to do this. After a search of the best campground/resorts in all the candidate states, we chose Viewpoint in Mesa, Arizona because it was the biggest and offered many amenities and activities. We did this for three years, using our RV as a home base during winter and exploring the other continents during the other months. Large, non-motorized RVs are ideal for this stage.

Whether you are in a camper van just escaping or in the larger motorhomes fulltime RVing, or in a fifth wheel snowbirding in the south, RV cruising is a lifestyle that can catch anyone's fancy. I have met people who continue their RV cruising well until their 80s; or, like us, moved from one stage to another over eight years and stopped. It was "one hell of a ride," one which we will never regret we took. We were pleasantly surprised by all that we saw and experienced. And now in our 70s, we have gracefully slowed down to a life of cruising saying "We've been there; done that!"