1: There’s no rent.
Hotels are never cheap. RVs do chug gas but new RVs’ fuel economy is improving every year, and even with gas, water, and electricity, it can save a lot of money over hotels. Campsites can be expensive, but that’s only necessary if you need to empty tanks, and many don’t charge for that if you don’t stay overnight. If you go off the grid you can stop wherever you like, and places like Walmart and most truck stops allow you to park overnight at no cost.
2: It’s cleaner than most affordable hotels.
It’s no secret that cheap hotels can have bed bugs, dog fur, dirty sheets, and the stench of cannabis and bodily fluids. Many aren’t cleaned very systematically, some are covered in a layer of grime, and some are populated by spiders, cockroaches, and other distasteful critters. An RV, on the other hand, can be cleaned as often as necessary and can be kept a lot more sanitary over the years; plus you’re the only one using it, so you know exactly how clean or dirty it is.
3: There’s more space.
While RVs are often thought of as cramped, that’s comparing them to houses. Compared to cars, they fit a lot more stuff, including large items like bikes and kayaks if you tie them on top. Class As can be more spacious than most hotel rooms, and even smaller ones can be quite comfortable. In addition, there’s no careful packing necessary–unlike road tripping in a car, there’s no need for suitcases and bags for everything in an RV, and you’re free to bring a lot more stuff.
5: You can go off the grid without camping outside.
Camping can limit your destinations depending on temperature, rain, bears, and mosquitoes. But in an RV with tanks and batteries that last days, you can take any roads it can handle and spend days in the wilderness without worrying about many of the issues with camping, while also covering more distance.
6: You can go places you couldn’t visit otherwise.
Especially with an offroad van with off-the-grid capabilities, you can travel endless dirt roads and hit many remote locations that are too harsh to camp at but way too far to drive to in a day. Most of these places are also infrequently traveled since not many people can go there and even fewer want to.
7: You can make food.
Hotels often lack kitchens, and even if they have one, chances are it wouldn’t be used much since you can’t transport perishable food in a car. In an RV with even just a small fridge, a sink, and a propane stove, you can prepare food whenever you want, increasing your options and cutting your expenses.
8: It’s more comfortable.
Hotels vary in comfort and practicality, whereas an RV is dependable and customizable. In hotels, mattresses in particular can be worse than the floor on occasions, which is not an issue in an RV.
9: It can be whatever you want it to be.
You can set up any RV or van in whatever way it best suits your needs. There are thousands of models to choose from and unlimited ways to modify them. Your ride and temporary home can be exactly what you want.
10: It allows for a flexible schedule.
When you have to reserve hotels, you need to set up a schedule for yourself, providing a set amount of distance that needs to be covered every day, and limiting your options. With an RV, you can stop wherever and whenever you like, spending more time in places you want to see more of, and skipping the disappointing places. You can improvise, make spontaneous detours, drive all night and get twice as far, and in every way have far more freedom to do whatever you feel like doing whenever you feel like it.
Shadow Squadron 