Can't afford an apartment or mortgage or just tired of opening the windows to the same old scene? Hit the road. It's a decision more and more Americans are making, per a new study that shows living in an RV is at an all-time high.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
About 486,000 people live full-time in an RV, twice as many as did in 2021, according to survey data from the RV Industry Association.
Who are they? The survey found about a third have children, and a vast majority earn less than $75,0000 a year. NBC News reported a separate survey by the Census Bureau found a similar trend: In 2023, the most recent data available, it estimated 342,000 people were living in an RV, boat or van, an increase of 41% from 2019.
Among those who spend days and nights living in an RV on the open road are legendary Detroit news anchor Mort Crim. Crim, who was a inspiration for Ron Burgandy in "Anchorman," is spending long stretches in his retirement living in an RV and documenting his travels with his cat Groucho on Facebook and You Tube.
Most recently, he mused, "An isolated RV camp, cut off from internet and phone access, provides the perfect setting for "thinking about life" and its challenges. That's what this camper did, and shares the results of that quiet time in this video about smooth roads and gravel roads and what they teach us."
90 years old now, Crim spends days doing things like riding a scooter around the rim of the Grand Canyon. "Part of the fun in driving across the country in an RV is the serendipitous nature of the journey. You never know what you'll find that you aren't expecting," he wrote recently on Facebook.
RV life for those forced into it because of financial constraints and not enjoying it by choice, isn't necessarily idyllic, experts noted. Issues include costly repairs, the price of fuel and space rental, quick depreciation, and long payment schedules that can last long after an RV has value.
NBC profiled Kat Tucker found, a disabled veteran who moved into an RV in 2017 to cut down on housing costs. "But after two years, she’d had to replace six tires, the refrigerator and toilet had broken, and the generator stopped working. Then the engine started acting up, which would have cost up to $10,000 to fix. Without money for the repair, she had to move out of the RV even as she continued paying the $500-a-month loan for several more years.
“It can be a great lifestyle, but it can also be yet another trap," she said.
That was echoed in a Reddit threat about RV life where someone asked whether it was a sound financial decision, and this was the answer, "Site rent can be upwards of $1000 a month on the low end in desirable locations. RV parks are price gouging like crazy since the lifestyle has become more common. Add the costs of propane and the never ending maintenance needed to keep an RV and you’d be lucky to be spending less than you would on rent - but with none of the comforts you’d receive from a home/apartment.
"RVing full time is only worth it if you’re moving around and seeing the country. But even then, places that used to charge $30 a night are now $75+, and when we travel we can spend $100 or more a day on fuel alone."
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM