How much money does it take to support a vagabond lifestyle like this? Actually, that's not quite it. What has been the average per night camping rate with full hook-up? 50-60 per night? I am not unaccustomed to primitive camping, but that's getting tougher to find (at least on the east coast) and even that has certain expenses. One of these days, I will hook the truck and trailer together and not look back but I haven't quite broken all of the ties that bind me.
Wow, where to start? First off, and I truly believe that Vrai will back me 100% on this, it's an amazing lifestyle. There is a freedom that comes with it that is hard to put into words. Each new destination has it's own excitement. Heck even planning our trips months in advance gives me a euphoric feeling. But let me get back to cost.
First off the RV is paid for. That is a huge benefit. Last year I put the rig in the shop to take care of a few little issues that needed to get done. I do this about every other year or as needed. There are also mobile RV repair people that will come out and service you onsite. Most of those issues are with the living area and not engine related. I get the RV oil changed this Friday. So in the last 2 years, let's say no more than $30 per month for maintenance. Now if an AC goes out then the price will certainly be a lot higher. But owning a home also has similar carrying costs.
If you have access to the Solomons rec center, you can get a campsite for the month for $480 off-season for water and electric. Works out to around $16 per day. Utilities are included. And you have laundry, boat ramp, fishing pier, dog park, fitness center, driving range, nature trails, game room, tennis, basketball, jungle gym playground, softball & volleyball fields, kayak rentals. Most are free to use.
Camping in Florida in the winter time can be pricey. We splurged when visiting the Keys. The most we spent so far. Over $2000 for the month. The other campsites sort of balance that out over time.
Food costs should be the same as you would spend in a home or apartment. Just remember the refrigerator is a lot smaller. Eating out is part of our entertainment. We don't eat out every day. We almost never eat at fast food or national chains. Those are just personal choices.
Here in Florida I have a state park pass that was free for military with a 10% or greater VA disability rating. Saves us $8 each time we go to the park to ride bikes locally. Weeki Wachee & Homosassa state park entry fee was $13. Both of us get in for free with my pass. So far we have done a few splurge activities like zip line, horseback ride and helicopter ride. These are things that people normally do when on vacation. Since we are on permanent vacation, we have to be a bit more judicious when we splurge. We are at the point in life where we are going to spend a few extra dollars to do what we want. Of course all within reasonable spending.
Prior to hooking up with Vrai, I did some volunteer camp hosting. I got a free campsite in exchange for a few hours of work. I also spent 5 months as a paid camp host. I got a free, full hook up site and got paid for 20 hour a week. I babysat 16 campsites and most weeks had very few campers between Monday and Thursday.
I took a seasonal job in Yellowstone National Park in 2011. All seasonal employees have to live in the park since it's too far to commute. All employees are housed in dorms or put up in full hookup campsites. I didn't really want the job but I did want to stay for free in the park for 3 months. We talk about doing that again but don't have a set time for when we would do that.
I feel it's less expensive to live on the road than it is to stay in a home or apartment. If price was your only concern, there are parts of the country where you can stay in a campground for less than $400 a month. I'm not sure what you get for that and I doubt we would even entertain a place that didn't at least have a few amenities like a pool.
So that is my take on this. You should do more research if this is something you are considering. There are plenty of blogs and vlogs on full time RVing. Like anything else you have to watch your costs. Since we don't have a permanent address, we just exchange a rent/mortgage payment for campground fees. We meet a lot of people that do 5-6 months on the road and return to their home. That is a lot of upkeep and things to worry about. We each have a storage locker in Maryland for the stuff we didn't want to part with.
Let me know if you have any other questions. I have some old posts in the Travel and Vacations forum that highlight some of my adventure.