[A/S] Full Timing Costs

[Terry Tyler <tylerbears@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Sam,

We started full timing in the '80s and like Hunter, we used Coast to Coast.
During the years since then, we've used various other membership systems -
just because we liked staying in a wider variety of campgrounds.

It seems to us the industry of RV Resort Membership Systems is a volatile
one with yearly changes and so called "special deals."  Because Sandie and I
have backgrounds in math and statistics, the mental gymnastics games  played
by these companies are fun for us.  With a little common sense logic and
using scenerios like "if this - then what," we quickly recognize how to turn
the "special deals" to our best advantage - no matter how the sales pitch is
dressed up.  

Although we could (and for awhile, we did) live exclusively within the
membership system, it only kept our overnight costs down. The rub was we got
bored with it and wanted to find out if we could equal or better the
overnight costs WITHOUT living within any of the various membership systems.
Here is what we learned:

We kept track of our RV overnight costs for 1287 nights. It averaged out to
$6.74 a night while living inside the membership systems and $7.24 a night
while living outside the membership systems.  We decided that for all
practical purposes the difference was  insignificant.  We now use a
combination of both.

Sam, after you have had six months as full timers, I believe you will find
that "hunting a bargain" is no longer necessary. Why? Because there are
bargains galore. With a bit of attention to detail, organization and
planning, I'm confident you'll find thousands of lovely and inexpensive
places to stay throughout the entire continent.

You might start keeping a 3X5 card file by state - of places you have found,
but after four or five years, you'll pack it away and start winging it with
confidence. A slight cavalier attitude might begin to creep in.

True, Sandie and I go on caravans and attend rallies. On those occasions, we
pay the highest premiums - overnight prices at $15-20, but the "no cost" and
"minimal cost" nights during the majority of the year more than make up for
them. 

Within the last two years, I've described (on the Airstream email lists) the
process we follow for finding inexpensive places to stay. I haven't checked,
but it would not surprise me to find those comments within one of the
Airstream archives.

Granted, Sandie and I have been towing trailers around the continent for a
long time, but on hindsight, I believe we could start from scratch tomorrow
(09/20/01) as novices - and three months later (12/20/01), we'd have learned
how to live luxuriously on less than $10 a night.  With another three months
(03/20/02), we'd have learned how to trim the overall average overnight cost
down to $8 a night. AND, if we spent the winter in the Southwest (BLM land)
or Mexico (Baja, for example), we'd have learned how to trim it down to
considerably  less than that.

As an aside, it didn't take us long to realize the Full Timer's lifestyle
could be sustained easily on less than $1,000 a month income (for everything
associated with normal living, but starting with no outstanding loans).  We
have done that for more than ten years - and it gets easier with each
successive year. 

Sam - you are going to have a grand time with the full timers lifestyle.
There are 52 weeks in the year and during each week -- somewhere on this
magnificent continent -- it's absolutely exquisite - AND YOU CAN BE THERE.

Terry