The industry says 2021 is the year of the RV.
RV sales are going through the roof. Dealers are reporting that customers are buying them over the phone, sight unseen.
When you toss in the return of warm weather, the Memorial Day weekend, and the start of the summer travel season, still low gas prices and a virus-caused aversion for things like crowded cruises, airline travel, and even staying in hotel rooms, you can see why so many think this is the year of the RV.
Then there's the media feeding frenzy. Every major news outlet and TV network, along with regional and community newspapers, has been doing stories for the past year about this new boom in RV travel and how 2021 will be the best year yet for RV travel.
Why is this the Year of the RV and why are so many people buying RVs?
Year of the RV Reason #1:
They are self-contained: RVs are the perfect solution to being able to get away and self-isolate. One of the RV newspaper stories I saw said traveling in an RV is like being quarantined at home, but a home on wheels. You have your bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen all contained in your tiny home. You're only breathing your germs.
Year of the RV Reason #2
You can social distance in an RV: Most people certainly are convinced about the need for social distance and expect to be doing so for some time. Even in a campground, you can keep your distance from others and still be outside. Hiking, fishing, and lounging in the sun can be very satisfying solo and thus are socially distant activities.
Year of the RV Reason #3
Families can travel together in an RV: People have been cooped up so long but are wary of mixing in crowded places. They can stock up the RV with groceries, have an adventure but do so as a family, without having individual members exposed to “stranger germs” and bringing them home. As the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association says, “There’s no better way to recreate responsibly and control your travel experience than in an RV.”
Year of the RV Reason #4
The desire to get outdoors has never been greater: Personally, I think this is the most important reason that 2021 will be the year of the RV. It is just not healthy to be indoors for as long as many people have been since March. You can get close to nature in an RV, yet still have the security of having your own four walls to retreat to at the end of the day. It's like I say on our RV Lifestyle “Small House. Big Yard” T-shirt.
Year of the RV Reason #5
You can find plenty of places to camp close by as people emerge from lockdown, many are doing so tentatively. Just as they don't want to travel overseas or on a cruise right now, they are a bit wary of being too far away from their home base.
Most RVers are traveling in their own states, a tank of fuel away. With some states still on lockdown and openly discouraging out-of-state visitors, camping close to home is not so scary. If someone gets sick or concerns develop, they can jump in the RV and head back home.
I've probably done a dozen interviews from various media outlets on this being the year of the RV. Those five reasons are some of the driving factors, I believe.
Here are two more stories I've recently done that you should read if you want to understand more about 2021 being the year of the RV:
- 5 big changes to expect about RV travel and camping this summer
- 1o important things the RV Lifestyle is…and is not
- Surprise reason to buy an RV: It's cleaner than a hotel room
How about you? What do you think. Is this really the year of the RV?
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7 Responses to “Is 2021 year of the RV? Here are 5 strong reasons the answer is Yes!”
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August 21, 2020at9:30 am, Choosing a Campground: How to find a Good One in 5 Minutes | RV Lifestyle said:
[…] the open road an RV is one of the best ways to travel nowadays. However, if you are not a seasoned camper, RV parks and campgrounds around the U.S. can be hit or […]
June 03, 2020at4:47 am, RV Podcast: Summer RV Trip Challenges 2020 | RV Lifestyle said:
[…] Check out this RV Lifestyle blog post: Why this is the year of the RV! […]
May 22, 2020at3:00 pm, Steven Mitchell said:
I think that gas prices at an all-time low is another plus for camping. Lower prices and easy access to fuel allows family vacations to be affordable. Coupled with health life-safety issues, a family vacation more appealing to the budget.
May 22, 2020at2:44 pm, John D Goldsmith said:
I think this is a case of, “Be careful what you wish for”, because I’m not sure the RV industry really ready for an influx of new Rv’ers. For example, most RV dealers can’t keep up with present day service and repair demands. An increase in sales will have customers waiting weeks if not months for appointments.
And then there are the RV parks and campgrounds or, more specifically the lack there of. While it may be easier to book a local spot because of Covid-19 restrictions, what about next year or the year after when there are no restrictions? Even before the pandemic, there was not enough camping capacity and snagging a site, even at an out of the way spot was often more difficult then scoring a concert ticket. With more RV’ers on the road, “spontaneous travel” may come to mean booking reservations just a year in advance.
As Robert (above) mentioned, “I suspect there will be a lot used RVs on the market late in the year or next.” Me too.
May 22, 2020at12:20 pm, Dex said:
Possibly, but I suspect that some people will also adapt to the RV lifestyle as a way of living that they had never considered before.
May 22, 2020at11:52 am, Robert said:
I suspect there will be a lot used RVs on the market late in the year or next.
May 22, 2020at11:45 am, May said:
Good reasons to camp in your RV. I’ve said this from the beginning….it’s just like being at home only on wheels!!