The years ahead for RVers

[Fish]

Recently, hubs and I woke up at 4:30 a.m., packed and ready to drive to Boise ID to purchase a used bumper pull. He says to me, while we were waiting for the house to warm up, Honey we are making a mistake. So we cancelled the purchase.

Why? Reports of crowded campgrounds with rude campers, increases in cost of gas, insecurity of what is to come with the economy, sky high storage costs for an outside spot.

Sad? Yes, we had so many good years with two prior bumper pulls and a fifth wheel. Toting Grands around the Western US. Seeing places that my Calif Native husband had never seen. We truly enjoyed our travels.

Next steps? Wait. Wait patiently. We are selling a rental with a goal of a modest profit, even after short term capital gains. Hunker that money down. Letting America turn the next corner; for RV crazies to exit the game; to remain healthy enough to go to see the rest of the US in our travel trailer, moseying down the road enjoying the sights as we roll.

I made the reservations for our stops on the way to Florida the other day. I had no problem getting spots at the places I chose. While we're only spending the night I'd have no problem spending a week at any of these places.
While last winter was great at our lease with 3-4 empty spots on each side of me I don't expect any campground to be able to make money like that. The lots aren't small so if I have people on each side of me, I have people on each side of me. No big deal.

 

[High Desert]

This is an interesting thought about retirees and future expenses. Inflation is increasing, but we have all been through the up and down of that before. Social security is seeing an increase in payenmts for 2022, but Medicare cost is increasing, but still a net SS increase, bottom line. Fuel prices, who knows. Historically, it is a cyclic event, driven by anything and everything. This time around is very curious as prices are very high but the barrel cost of crude is around $80’ish a barrel, not reflective of high pump prices. all in all, what I have generally seen in retirees and RV’ing, is people with pretty nice coaches, staying at pretty pricy places, enjoying a higher end life style. Will some people get squeezed out? Probably, but based on my experiences and observations, retiree RV’ing is going to stay somewhat constant. I think the biggest factor for retiree decline in RV’s is heath issues more than inflation issues.

 

[FLSteve]

This is an interesting thought about retirees and future expenses. Inflation is increasing, but we have all been through the up and down of that before. Social security is seeing an increase in payenmts for 2022, but Medicare cost is increasing, but still a net SS increase, bottom line. Fuel prices, who knows. Historically, it is a cyclic event, driven by anything and everything. This time around is very curious as prices are very high but the barrel cost of crude is around $80’ish a barrel, not reflective of high pump prices. all in all, what I have generally seen in retirees and RV’ing, is people with pretty nice coaches, staying at pretty pricy places, enjoying a higher end life style. Will some people get squeezed out? Probably, but based on my experiences and observations, retiree RV’ing is going to stay somewhat constant. I think the biggest factor for retiree decline in RV’s is heath issues more than inflation issues.

@High Desert ... we are fairly new at the retirement phase of life (only 2-1/2 years into it) but what you say makes sense. Especially the last sentence.

FLSteve