to plumbing. But this first chapter is an overview of who’s RVing, why they’re doing it, and what effect it’s having on the culture. Friends and family, even acquaintances, ask us all the time, “What kind of people go RVing?” And, more commonly, “Why would you even consider living full time in an RV?” In this chapter, we try to answer both.
RVing is wrapped up with the romance of the open road. Sooner or later, the majority of RVers you encounter will say that they hit the highway because they wanted to actually see and explore the country around them. So, we talk about how and why those highways came about, why Route 66 is such a big deal to RVers, and why the United States, in particular, really is the land of the RV.
Everybody’s Doing It
Perhaps life on the road as a modern nomad sounds like an exciting adventure you’d like to attempt. Or maybe you want to take your kids on one last great adventure as a family before your oldest goes off to college. Or if you’re older, maybe you want to bond with your grandkids by exploring the country together. Maybe you just saw a magazine photo of a couple gazing out the back window of their RV at the morning sunrise over a bucolic brook and started wishing it was you instead of them.
Despite a commonplace media image of RVers as either a vast platoon of elderly retirees or out-of-work, flinty nomads chasing day-labor jobs like the Oakies in the 1930s, the truth is that RVers come from every age, income, education level, and socioeconomic status.
Whether they intend to use an RV only for a couple of getaway weekends a year, live in one year-round, or anything in between, everybody has their own very personal reason for buying a trailer or motorhome. Over the years, we’ve heard these reasons most often:
You fondly recall a wonderful summer trip to the Grand Canyon as a child, when your family borrowed your uncle’s motorhome.
You’re getting close to retirement age and suddenly that three-bedroom house seems like way too much expense and responsibility to hang onto anymore.
You despise the four months of cold weather and shoveling 10 inches of partly cloudy off your front stoop every time it snows, but you otherwise love your sticks-and-bricks home the rest of the year.
You realized during the COVID-19 pandemic that you really can work from anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection, and you’d like to see the rest of the country.
The idea of waking up to a new and different view outside your window every morning seems too romantic for your soul to pass up.
In short, there as many reasons as there are people, and there are literally millions of RV owners on the road today, chasing their dreams and loving the lifestyle.
In the following sections, we walk you through the main groups of people who are RVing these days. Don’t see yourself in one of these categories? See yourself in more than one? You’re not alone!
Weekenders and vacationers
The biggest group of RVers you’ll find on the road are the weekenders and vacationers. The industry says that the majority of RV owners are these types of campers. Most are still working for a living, and loads of them have families. They live in traditional houses, condos, or apartments year-round, but they use their RVs to get away for short breaks.
Because of that, the traditional travel trailer is generally designed and constructed for occasional use, and that’s partially why you see such a wide range of options and prices for them. Because of that wide financial spread, you should probably look upon a weekend travel trailer and a well-equipped one for full-time living with two very different levels of expectation in price, quality, features, and longevity. What you choose should be dictated by how you intend to use it. (We give you lots of information about picking and choosing a rig to best suit your needs in Chapters 3, 4, and 5.)
Snowbirds and retirees
There’s no denying that a substantial number of RVers on the road are seniors 55 and up. They make up about half of all RV owners in the United States. Like migrating birds, seniors have been fleeing from wintertime weather since the dawn of time, or at least since the founding of Miami Beach and the invention of the umbrella drink. These snowbirds, as they’re commonly called, flee their chilly, snowy, northern states to Florida, Alabama, Texas, and the other Gulf states east of the Rockies, or Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada in the West. In fact, a big swath of Canadian snowbirds cross the border every year in their RVs to head for the very same places. That’s why you hear a lot of ehs in Tucson every January.
The explosive sales of RVs has helped make warm-weather chasing a truly mass, mobile movement. But unlike the snowbirds of old who bought timeshares or vacation homes, RVs give them the ability to go wherever they like. Retirees like waking up to a new view out the front door every day, too, and RVs represent freedom of mobility and travel that airplanes and timeshare contracts can’t offer. And retirement generally means there’s more discretionary time and money than an average family has.
Full-timers
The number of RV owners who choose to live on the road 365 days a year is growing dramatically. According to the RV Industry Association (RVIA), 450,000 people were living in RVs in 2010; as of 2021, that figure is over a million. RV manufacturers have responded by offering models with as much living space as possible, using slide-outs that expand when you’re parked. More and more rigs are equipped with residential-grade appliances like refrigerators, dishwashers, and washer/dryer units — items that would have only been found in the most expensive units until recently. The largest fifth-wheel trailers and motorhomes feel more like a house than an RV.
On the other hand are “minimalist” full-timers in vans and Class Bs, with variations in between. Our parents once wisely cautioned us against being owned by our possessions. Singles and empty-nesters alike can feel overwhelmed by the costs, daily care, and maintenance of a house. Yet, a 25- to 40-foot-long home on wheels can be kept neat and orderly with a minimum of effort and expense. It can be incredibly liberating.
