I would think that he cuts quite a few cords of wood.Alot of sweat equity in that.Must have lots of free time.Anyway I also camp within 50 miles of my house quite often.I tell my kids we will check phone messeges once a day.If you need us sooner then you know where we are at.We just got from a 9 day trip too the beach and we never once cut the T/V on.Like stated before on many other threads theres alot of ways to cut cost and continue to afford too camp/r/v.It all comes down to your priorties.Do it while your still healthy and enjoy!
2006 Dodge Quad-Cab 2500 CTD,4;10 gears,pulling a Forestriver Flaggstaff 831qbss
I think "Mr. October" (a couple of posts above) is Spot On! It is what it is - once you get over the initial "denial" of it all - and just accept reality (you can't change it anyway) - you can still enjoy RVing and have a positive attitude toward life - if you just adjust and alter a few things here and there that you were probably wasting money on anyway.
We used to drive in to town in 2 trucks - now I ride with my husband - and we are getting a more fuel efficient car for commuting - but we will keep our RV and trucks - and will not be beaten down by things we can't control.
In response to traveling short distances, well, I've discovered some really fun stuff within a pretty short hop of my own home. Here in Virginia, there's lots to do, with the mountains to the west, and the water to the east, and plenty of history in between, you don't need to travel too particularly far to find something interesting and fun to do! I imagine other states may be like this too.
I live in a city neighborhood on a small lot. It's big enough for me to park my HTT in, but I am constantly listening to highway noise, barking dogs, ghetto blasters, you name it. That's also not counting the pollution too, from trucks and whatnot. Just driving 50 miles outside of the city is enough to escape all the urban noise and pollution, and give me a nice change of scenery....to me, that's what camping is all about
As far as TV watching goes, well, I work for professional audiovisual company, so I see enough televisions during the week, and while I'm riding around town, I have plenty of rant radio to tune into in the work truck. When I go camping, I tend to enjoy just turning off all the external media and other man-made distortion. It's especially welcome to get away from everybody trying to sell s--t to me all the darned time. I mean, I turn on the radio and TV and hear ad's all the time, I see them on busses, people bug me on the streets, ring my doorbell, and call on my phone all trying to peddle whatever snake oil or political message they have. When I go camping, the only person I've had advertise to me is some college students drop by and say that they were holding a church service sunday morning at the ampitheater
I am one that likes nature a lot too. I enjoy just the simple things in life that God has made for us. When I go camping and RV'ing, I like to hike through the woods around the campground and check out nature. I like looking at all the beautiful plants and the way the sunlight filters through the leaves. I enjoy listening to a babbling creek, and the birds and other animals around. I'll frequently just sit down in the woods, and watch and listen to nature going on around me. It's amazing the animals that will come close when you stop stirring, and to just sit and notice things. I guess being autistic, I tend to see and hear a lot more that the typical person tends to filter out. At times, it can be assaulting, but at other times, it can be a great source of pleasure when it comes to escaping and enjoying nature!
I have wanted to try bio-diesel in my truck. However with a 20% decrease in performance and an additional 10 to 20 cents higher cost I'll just burn the ultra low for now.
Frank&Renae
2008 Montana 3075RL
2007 Dodge 3500HD DDW
Dino -- Gone to the Rainbow Bridge 2/6/08
Peppin -- Joined Dino at the Rainbow Bridge 3/3/08
Three cats -- Sunkist, Topaz, & Amber
Started Full Timing since March 17, 2009
TravelLust, USA
We camp from 4-12 days for our short camping trips near home but than my husband has to come in to work several times.. He changes the truck for the car which sips gas instead of guzzling it and we no longer drive into the nearest village for an ice cream cone.
We bought a converter for our TV and can now get lots more stations to watch in case of rain. We are less apt to eat out than we and combine trips to buy groceries, eat out, etc.
We began camping to hike and go to a campground with hikes in the park.
Will we stop if gas gets too high? No.
Here is our new RV Lifestyle: We've now store our trailer in at a RV Park/Marina that is about 50 miles from home. It is in covered storage on site. When we make camping reservations, it is towed out and put on the site by the campground folks.
We can now leave at 8:00 on a Friday night to avoid traffic. We stay until Sunday evening and then head home after dinner. The campground tows it off the site and puts it back in storage.
Our next trip up there, we are going to take my wife's sedan instead of my 'Burb. 25 mpg up and back.
The only downside to this if I want to RV somewhere else, I have to drive the 50 miles to go get the TT.
MFinCA
2004 Homestead Settler 255RS
1999 Chevrolet Suburban 2500
I don't get it. Buying gas to take a trip to a dream destination is 'wasting' it, but upgrading the boob tube to an HDTV is a smart move???
We're keeping the 14 year old Trinitron, getting a 'free' DTV converter box from the gummint, and 'wasting' 220 gallons of gas on a 4,000 mile family adventure to Glacier National Park with out minivan and popup camper. The whole thing will cost about as much as a decent sized HDTV and will surely enrich our lives a lot more.
My advice: eat out less and cancel cable/satellite TV (and radio for that matter). Use the savings to pay for the gas needed to have some actual fun in this life.
I agree with GUEST, but DishNetwork cannot understand why I cancelled a $80+/mo svc. for free 'rabbit-ears' - been calling for 9+ mo - trying to tell me I can't use my t.v. - already got my $9.00 (with govt.coupon) box.(works great) Let's see, 9 x $80 = $720. Paid for a lot of gas on recent 1780mi trip in MH.
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