This is the type of RVer I can relate to! It's not a matter of not being able to live without your "things" while on vacation, it's going on vacation to "use" these things. I have an RV and regularly use "4-wheel (and 2-wheel) off-road vehicle sort of things" in the sand dunes in So. Cal. and other off-road areas of the West. You can't very easily ride these toys in a residential neighborhood, that's why they're "off-road" vehicles.

And yes, you probably can't imagine the amount of gas that it takes, and that's factored into these trips. And now that people can't use their homes as piggy banks and cash-out/refinance their way into these RVs and off-road toys like they could a few years ago, the camping areas are much less crowded.

To even compare flight, RV, and timeshare vacations is tough. I fly from the West Coast to East Coast twice each month, and take many flying vacations, while still doing off-road trips during sand season (winter, because it's too hot in the summer in the desert.) People do what makes sense for them and their family. I enjoy camping with friends, but when a good deal comes along, for flights and hotels, I'm all over it.

Now, as for timeshares, I was taught at a very young age that these are a bad idea for most. I've heeded this advice, and wouldn't go near one. Even if it did work out for me financially, and it really was a "great deal," I'm just not interested in going to the same place, year after year.