Some people like camping in its most natural form: tents, campfires, roughing it in the wild… it’s fun, for some people. For others, being exposed to the weather, the elements, the wild animals, and the bugs is not such a delightful idea. But that doesn’t mean they can’t go camping because there’s the RV rental option!
Enter the RV, a mobile apartment of sorts that has beds, a roof, a bathroom, and a small kitchen all on wheels. If you want to go camping but don’t want to do the bit with the tents and the cold, an RV is a great way to go camping with a greater degree of comfort. The best part is, it’s cheaper than you think!
Why Should You Consider Renting an RV?
Whether going camping for an extended time or going on a road trip, RVs allow you to do that in significantly better comfort. With most RVs, there are amenities on the road:
- A bathroom no matter where you are
- A shower available at all times
- Kitchen appliances like microwaves and small ovens
- Beds to sleep in wherever you are
- The ability to take all those things with you wherever you go
- Heating and air conditioning
Needless to say, most of these are things you wouldn’t be able to get if you were doing conventional camping. That alone is worth a lot.
On top of all of this, renting an RV isn’t as expensive as you may think. Sure, just like a hotel, renting an RV for a longer time will cost more money, but for a single night of camping or even just a weekend, it’s not bad at all.
Important Things to Consider Before Renting
Before you go about renting an RV, there are a few important things to consider. All of these need to be taken into consideration before committing to an RV rental.
- RVs come in different shapes and sizes.
- The bigger and more luxurious the RV, the more expensive it is to rent.
- RVs require hookups to use all their features, which can often be found at official campgrounds.
- RVs don’t get particularly good gas mileage, so expect high fuel costs on long trips.
- RVs do not handle like cars, as they are much bigger and bulkier.
We understand that a lot of these sound pretty bad, but remember, this tradeoff is being made to effectively have a small moving house at your disposal. You can’t have that without some drawbacks.
Here are some links to check out:
The Cost of Renting an RV
Several factors have an impact on the price of a rental. We’ll cover all of those here. Before that though, we’d like to point out that there is no universal metric that determines the rental price. Different businesses will offer different prices, so be sure to look around.
Size and RV Type
The bigger the RV, the more space it has and the more comfortable it is. But of course, that also means a more expensive price tag.
The type of RV makes a difference too. Just like how renting a Corvette would cost more than renting a Honda SUV, RVs have more ‘prestigious’ models as well.
It’s important to consider how many people you plan on bringing with you in an RV. You want to get enough room for everyone to be comfortable, but don’t want to rent a bigger RV than necessary. Most rental services will let you tour the inside of an RV before renting it.
The Age of the RV
Just like renting a car, renting a new, right out of the factory RV is going to cost more than renting one that is ten years old. Of course, older vehicles aren’t automatically of vastly lower quality: if they are maintained well, they can be just as good as newer vehicles.
Still, you don’t have to worry about how well the vehicle has been maintained quite as much if it is a relatively new RV. You also don’t have to worry as much about what people may have been getting up to in it over the years and how well they’ve cleaned it each time.
The Time of Year
Certain times of the year are more popular as far as vacationing goes-and RV rental businesses are very aware of this. Make no mistake: they will bump up prices during vacation season because they know they can make more money that way.
Of course, almost every RV rental service does this, so you can’t get away from it. Just keep in mind, what time of year it is when looking for a rental.
One-Way or Round Trip
As you might imagine, the more you drive an RV, the more you have to pay for it. So if you are taking the RV on a roundtrip, that too is going to affect its cost.
Other Expenses
RV rentals, being unlike car rentals, have other special expenses to take into consideration, such as the price of renting their kitchen appliances, the amount of mileage you put on it every day, and the price of operating its generator.
Most of these special expenses are more notable when going on a long road trip, and won’t be as much of an issue if you are just camping for a bit.
RV Rental Conclusion
While it’s true that renting an RV is an experience with many expenses, it’s still much more affordable than, say, renting a hotel every single night at various locations on a road trip. It’s a lot less of a hassle too.
As far as camping is concerned, we’ll admit that pitching a tent and sleeping under the stars is more affordable, but if comfort is more up your alley, then renting an RV for a night or two of camping is both an affordable and rewarding course of action.
