Bluecat_Aggie94 said:
Sell me on the RV thing... all I see is towing problems, comfort problems, storage problems...
Seems to me that the money spend on an RV buys you a lot of nights in a comfortable AirBnB.
That's the logical conclusion I always come to, but I have visited people in them at times and it does seem nice.
It's definitely something you need to think about and come up with uses. If you're just wanting a "thing to use for vacation", then I'd stick with airbnbs or whatever.
You can see from replies that everyone uses their for different type trips. For us, it serves a few purposes.
1. I grew up RVing with my family and when my dad retired recently, they bought a rig and travel quite a bit. We've now picked back up our family tradition of an RV trip to Colorado every summer. We stay at a big RV resort on the Rio Grande that's like a time capsule. Kids riding bikes everywhere. Stocked fishing ponds. Not a care in the world and limited connectivity.
2. We wanted something that we could use for a few weekend trips here and there to enjoy the outdoors and weather. AirBNBs have gone up a ton in price. Want to go to Broken Bow for the weekend (Fri/Sat night)? You're dropping probably $1k on a half way decent place all in with fees/cleaning.
3. Like others have said, it's your stuff. Our TV, our fridge, our bedding, our shampoo. Ours stays stocked with this stuff at all times. For some of these trips, all we need are to add groceries, clothes, and we're gone. Storage place is ~15 mins away. We've got toys for the kids, chairs, etc. It's a home ready to go.
4. Keeping our kids grounded. I grew up poor. Our only vacation each year was pulling our trailer to Colorado for 2 weeks out of the heat and then back home. Cooked meals, fished, skipped rocks, hiked, etc. Multi-generational trip that really helped kids bond with grandparents (and they're a huge help with rugrats). These trips have helped with their relationship tremendously in today's age where you don't see extended family every day/week with busy work schedules. My wife and I do very well comp wise (not bragging, but context) and we have lots of peers that shell out 10s of thousands on vacations. I have friends now that only fly JSX when they ski. Their kids only want suite tickets or front row seats, etc. While RVing isn't tent camping, it can be a very "rub dirt on it and go throw a stick to entertain yourself" type trip.
5. Specific use - we now park ours in college station for football season. This year will be more pricey because it'll be there from week 1 to week 12 (thanks, notre dame game). Having our place set up and ready to go for every football weekend is clutch. We have an HEB pickup order ready to go when we get in town and what we don't use, just stays in the fridge until the following weekend. The park we stay at has a pool and other activities so it isn't just a "we're going for the football game" every weekend. We'll have a 5yr old and 6 month old this season. The years of couch surfing, day trips, cramming in a last minute hotel or airbnb and "sit at the tailgate all day until kick-off" are behind us. Now, we don't have to leave for the game until about an hour 'til kick. We tailgate at the rig. Whoever doesn't want to go (we have other friends with little ones, etc.) or doesn't have tickets, can stay back and enjoy the amenities of a home. Air conditioning, fridge, comfy seats, toilets - women and children need these things.
TLDR - RVs can fill in a lot of gaps for travel and memories outside of replacing an AirBNB in the woods for an outdoorsy vacation.
