I can't help but comment here, a thread close to my heart, because I live traveling 100% without a permanant residence. Last year I spent 80% in hotels, 19% in campgrounds, and 1% otherwise.

Having looked at RVs from every angle, I cannot make it work financially. The RV industry, which is slightly below used car salesmen in the level of honesty, paints a rosy picture of the lifestyle which doesn't exist. I do have a pickup truck, which I have been consistenly advised to overload, or industry salespeople suggesting camping units that really put me on the edge of what I can pull, not even talking about what I should pull. It's really frustrating to explain to the guy that "yes, just because the sticker says it's ok" doesn't mean I want to put myself at risk of killing a family because I was working on the edge of the envelope. But I digress.

Many campgrounds now charge $30 a night for RV's, add in the the other $10 a night for the camper, $10 for misc charges, and $10 a day for gas, and you're talking a good hotel room, notwithstanding actually buying a tow vehicle. I have figured my tent camping cost is $60/night, and RV cost is $100/night. I do enjoy tent camping so I am willing to shoulder that cost, so someone who actually enjoys RV'ing and is not doing it to 'save' money, but instead as a hobby, shouldn't worry about the numbers. But it is commonly (wrongly) perceived that RV'ing is cheaper than hotels. In just the initial outlay for $20,000 for a decent 5th wheel, that will buy someone 266 nights of hotel stays at $75/night. How many people will camp 266 nights in their lifetime? My average hotel cost is $62 a night, just slightly above my average tent camping cost.

I did have the fortune of spending some time working for a campground a few years ago, and saw two types of RVers. First type: Retired people who spend their retirement money traveling a few months per year, and second type: the guy who watched the RV commercials, didn't do the math, is now stuck with a towable that is worth 50% of what he paid for it just a month ago, and is forced to commute in a large truck/suv because they camp a few times a year. These are also the people who spend all day and night inside their camper watching TV in the climate controlled comfort.

I just think of the entire RV industry as an organized racket. Now there are many private campgrounds restricting the types of campers that can park there (which is their right to do so), but precludes older campers, bus conversions, etc.