Camping For $2000 A Night

Our 2004 Roadtrek just after a bath - to get rid of the pollen

I am a 70-year-old retired teacher living in Tallahassee FL. One of my favorite past times is puttering around the driveway - primping our cars - camper - and scooter. We do use the camper for trips quite a bit - but I get a lot of joy and exercise just keeping her up. I had just given her a nice bath and polished the wheels.

Last summer - I bought this 2004 Roadtrek with 12,000 miles on it. I paid way too much for it because it spent its whole life in a garage out of the elements. It looks and acts like new. I paid $32,000 for it after visiting Camping World and balking at signing the check for a new $80,000 Class B. I worked hard for my cash - and just could not do it. I bought this one on Craigslist.

My wife still works and we spend a lot of time overseas in her job.

A young couple pulled up the driveway to ask me questions about the camper. To me - anyone under 40 is young. Since we knew them from the neighborhood - and they asked a lot of "money questions" - I tried to give them a balanced view of "campers - good and bad."

First - they wanted to know how many miles to the gallon. I said I get about 14 miles per gallon - and that men lie a lot about gas mileage and hand size. The girl said - so that is about 20 cents per mile. I nodded. But then I said that gasoline may be the cheapest part about owning a camper. I told them that if they bought a new one - it could depreciate as much as $20,000 a year for the first couple years. I said that the price could fall $10,000 just sitting in your driveway. Their mouths hung open. They wanted to travel but wanted to avoid paying for hotels.

I did not even bring up the cost of maintenance - nor insurance - nor what the sales tax is on a $32,000 vehicle ($2240).

I did tell them how wonderful it is sleeping in your own king size bed. As an old man - I told them about the pleasures of having your own nice clean toilet wherever you go. I said it is great being able to watch your home television anytime you want. I said it was nice to be able to whip up any kind of meal you want without having to search for a restaurant. I did not express being able to travel with your pet or pets - because we do not have any.

Then I made a little joke. I said my goal was to sleep in the camper for 320 nights because that would mean I got the cost down to $100 a night. So far - we have stayed in the camper 13 nights.

The couple backed down the driveway - I had no idea what their plans were.

The next day - we met the mother of one of the "kids." She told us how impressed they were with the camper. With the next comment - I realized that my teaching skills have slipped a bit after 15 years out of the classroom.

She said - "How can you afford to stay in a camper that costs $2000 a night?"

Lulu is an excellent driver and enjoys time behind the wheel

We built the garage after we sold our last camper -
we thought our camper days were over