I was just thinking

g1g · 01-18-2008, 12:43 AM

As I was surfing other RV forums I noticed another post of RVing compared to motel stays. As I was thinking about it I don't think I ever saw anything like this on a B forum. It is easy to see why as I calculated the number of miles I would ever even care to drive between nights will never be reached. I havent calculated it out recently but I still think It would be 300-600 miles would need to be driven just to offset gas mileage alone. Bs are a lot less expensive than the large As, fifth wheelers and even Cs.
Did anyone else ever calculate expenses out?

renrut · 01-18-2008, 03:16 AM

I can only guess a "B" would get better gas mileage. I have a 20ft "C" with a Dodge 360 and it's not too bad on gas. On the larger highways, it gets 10mpg. On back roads doing more reasonable speeds, I've got up to 13.5mpg. I won't say what I got when I was pulling a 5000lb trailer behind it from the East Coast to the Prairies.

markopolo · 01-18-2008, 04:23 AM

I prefer RVing over motels. Heck, I even preferred driving my Roadtrek over driving a car.

The hotels / motels allowed for in my budget aren't great

and usually they're not in the best locations. The quality of the rooms in the larger chains really varies also.

For me, it's not about the money saved or spent. I enjoy RVing. I enjoy beaches, trails, nature etc. RVing lets me do all of that.

Camping 7 nights x $30 = $210
Motel 7 nights x $100 = $700

Camping meals for the week = same cost as staying home
Restaurants meals for a week = probably more than $500

That leaves me $1,000 for gas........... hmmmm Where should I go

renrut · 01-18-2008, 11:37 AM

I agree Mark. I have a family of 5 with 2 dogs. Trying to stay in motels or hotels is a real pain. We would need a room with 2 beds, and a cot or 2 rooms with joining door. We would also need to find one that allows pets. Food for 5 at restaurants is not cheap.

When we moved this past summer, we stayed in a Holiday Inn for 8 days while we waited for our new house. We had 2 joining rooms with a connecting door. We also ate in restaurants. Work covered the cost but I would never do that myself. When we traveled, we stayed at camp grounds. It was far more enjoyable than the hotel. Having 3 kids couped up in hotel rooms is not fun. Camping, there's play areas, beaches, walking trails and much more for kids to do.

Greg · 01-18-2008, 04:55 PM

One thing about motels I'll never miss is the bumps in the night or 5 am shower.

There are times on extended trips where a break from the B could be warranted, especially if the weather is drippy. In those scenarios, a nice bed and breakfast is ideal. Gives the boss, er wife, a nice break.

-Greg

zigzagguzzi · 01-18-2008, 07:48 PM

Next time you are in a motel room, think about who or what may have spent last night there and what they may have been doing. The bed, the bathroom, even the floors. I'v traveled more than 400,000 miles via motorcycle and spent every night on the road in every kind of motel,hotel. When I got the B, I said never again in a motel unless it is an emergency. Just my opinion, but remember that your kind of clean may be far far off what someone else's might be. Also, a 200 dollar room does not always mean a cleaner room, it might just mean richer people with the same habits as poorer. zz

julievojo · 01-19-2008, 01:28 AM

We used to do our random roadtripping in our Toyota 4-Runner. We figured that it cost us about $125 a day to travel, staying at modest hotels around $75 per night and eating 2 meals per day in restaurants. In the B we can go for about $35 per day or less, food included. We rarely stay in RV parks, we're more likely to choose BLM campgrounds or those operated by State or National Forest Services . Now granted, those costs do not include the cost of gas, but, we do get better MPG with the B than we do with the 4-Runner.

We have pulled into a hotel for a night with the B, but that's been when we've had to attend a wedding or business meeting out of the area and wanted to be able to take a nice long hot shower and stretch out for a night. I think that's only happened twice. Once was in Seattle where we just could not find a reasonable campground, the hotel was about the same price. The other was at a wedding down in Iowa in extremely hot weather. We knew we couldn't find a place with a hook up to run the AC and we didn't want to listen to the generator all night.

renrut · 01-19-2008, 02:07 AM

I hate to say it but some campgrounds can be pretty disgusting. My wife and I traveled the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton Nova Scotia about 10 years years ago. We stayed at mostly privately owned campgrounds and some were not the very nice. One had metal showers that were all rusted and the bathrooms were not in good shape. I'm glad we had the motor home. I felt sorry for the people in tents and campers with no toilet or shower.

As far as restaurants go, I've managed to get food poisoning from at least 3. One was a bad pizza, another was a bad Caesar salad and the other was a chicken sandwich. I've never got poisoned from food we cook. The chicken sandwich was while we were out traveling and camping. We had to stay 2 to 3 days at a campground and it changed our traveling plans.

Steve_Guelph · 01-21-2008, 06:10 PM

We go to Florida from Ontario a few times a year. I don't like staying in the motels along the way although we do need to stop for a rest break in the 24 hour trek. If we don't take our now sold B or a camper we still go in the Dodge Grand Caravan. We leave the stow and go seats down in the middle and back and put a make shift bed in there. We will stop at a nicer rest station for the night or I will pull into a shopping mall and catch some zzz's while my wife shops for a few hours. We bring water in a storage jug for a quick wash up and brushing teeth. I even bring the porta potty along and empty and clean it when we reach Florida. This works fine for us till we reach our spot in Florida. So three times a season x 2 nights return = 6 nights savings from motels. The hotels alone would cost more than our fuel back and forth.

Steve

julievojo · 01-21-2008, 07:23 PM

That's what we used to do with our 4-Runner, Steve. We'd put all the luggage over to one side, then put down a ThermaRest and a sleeping bag on the other side so one of us could snooze while the other was driving.

Then, we saw a Class B at a dog ahow and spent 2 years looking for just the right one for us. The B is sure a lot more comfortable than that sleeping bag in back of the Toyota!!

Steve_Guelph · 01-21-2008, 07:44 PM

We never sleep in the back while driving. Lisa will put the seat back and have a snooze if I am driving. I have been tempted to go back for a snooze while Lisa drives but never did. Oh and the same rules apply for the porta potty. Could you imagine if you had an accident while sitting on that thing

.

seraphim · 02-02-2008, 11:34 AM

We sometimes nap while the other is driving, but in our seats. We haven't driven an all-nighter for some time. A lot of the enjoyment of the trip is each other's company.

I don't think RV'ing is as much a savings over motels as it once was: with room ($90) vs campsite ($45 ), gas mileage (13 Class B / 20 Mazda MPV), and food (free breakfast with room - all other food expenses about the same), I figure a $300 savings in the Class B on a 3000 mile 2 week road trip. Of course, there's only the two of us, now. With kids there's an exponential savings on food and entertainment costs. I also figured a slightly higher campsite cost.

I didn't figure in LPG costs as I have no pricing info at the moment (being a n00b *grin*). Wouldn't have that in a motel room.

We just figured there's a bit more flexibilty with an RV, and we have more room to carry our recumbent bikes.

julievojo · 02-03-2008, 03:44 AM

We normally stay in State Forest, BLM or COE campgrounds that run about $8-$10 per night. Food is a bit less than what we spend at home, because we make smaller and less elaborate meals when we travel. Fuel costs are about the same as driving the 4-runner. The Sprinter gets better mileage, but diesel cost more than gas so that's a wash.

It's sure a lot more fun with the B!

seraphim · 02-03-2008, 11:44 AM

Julie

I guess we've spoiled ourselves over the years *grin* - we could fin less epensive sites, and that would increase the savings by about 490 dollars on that 2 week trip.

julievojo · 02-03-2008, 05:15 PM

NICE van Seraphim!

We are spoiling ourselves! After camping in tents with 2 boys for years and years - we love staying in "The Little Hilton". We bought it about 2 months after the youngest son moved out into his own place.

We still love to visit the remote places though. It's just that now with the B we can do it with our own clean potty and soft bed. We're hoping that one of these days we'll be able to get (ie afford) one built on a 4WD so we can get back into the really remote campgrounds.

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