Full-Time RV Travel – How Much Does It Cost?

How much do we spend?

Whoo too much, I’ll tell ya! Look, travel is expensive no matter if you are full-time or half-time. But let’s look at sticks and bricks vs. RV Life expenses. The most asked question to full-time travelers is, “How much does it cost to travel full-time?” Your budget will not be the same as others. It depends on how you want to travel and what works best for your budget lifestyle. I don’t really have a budget; I just watch expenses closely.

In today’s post, I will share how much money we spent on our first four months of full-time RV travel. This will include camping, fuel, and Propane. When you travel full-time, everyday living expenses such as insurance, auto payments, and food do not change. If you don’t keep your sticks and bricks home, your mortgage payment, power, and water become camp fees and Fuel. If your home runs on gas or Propane for heating and hot water, that becomes your propane cost. If you keep your sticks and bricks home, expect your expenses to double. Unless you utilize your home as a rental or Airbnb.

Are you thinking about full-time RV travel?

Let me know in the comments. Or ask me anything about RV life.

We shifted to full-time travel in mid-April, and the costs listed below will include May, June, July, and August.

Monthly Costs

May: Camping $1,184.54, Fuel $218.57, Propane $34.45.

Before Memorial Day, you are in the shoulder season (off-season), and camping costs are less high. (Since I am writing this blog during Labor Day weekend, the end of peak season is finally here! I can’t wait for camp fees to return to reasonable pricing. In May, we spent an average of five days at campsites, with our favorite to date fourteen days at Tillicum Beach, OR. We stayed at Blue Heron French Cheese Company for one night through our Harvest Host membership. We traveled the entire Oregon Coastline, starting May 1st in Brookings, OR, and finishing May 31st at Fort Stevens, OR. To date, this is our favorite time on the road. Highway 101 was a bucket list item, and we traveled quickly in April to reach our launch point.

June: Camp fees $858.23, Fuel $863.38, Propane $28.23

In June, we moved inland from the coastline. Our shocks went out, and we had to make a B-Line to Las Vegas for repair. Before that, our German Shepard, Sasha, got a virus and was sick, so we had an emergency vet visit for $490.00. Don’t forget to plan emergency money into your budget. When she was better, we moved further south. We stayed five days for free at Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville, OR, and four days at our home base for free. Our average camp stay in June was about 5-10 days. We traveled more miles this month vs. a shorter travel distance. You can see our fuel cost almost equaled out in camp fees.

We headed south down Highway 95 towards Las Vegas and stopped for an overnight spot at Walker Lake, North of Hawthorne, NV. Great spot. The temps were still reasonable in the 80s. We did make several stops while making our way south.

I have planned blogs on the famous Clown Motel in Tonopah, roadside stops, and Goldfield, NV. In all my years of traveling along this highway, I’ve never stopped to explore. I was missing out! Our stops were quick, and I learned enough information to return.

July: Camp Fees $1315.67, Fuel $441.27, Propane $17.81

I was a little shocked when I totaled up our July expenses. We did a partial fix on the shocks while in Las Vegas. The front shocks turned out to be more of a challenge for Wolf to do on his own. I was hot and wanted to get back on the road. I said, “We’ll fix them somewhere along the way”. Vegas in the summer months, UGH! One of the reasons I wanted to travel was so I DIDN’T have to be in Vegas in the summer. We decided to head north and resume our adventures in the northwest states. From previous years of camping with my family, Utah was always cooler. And far from the fireworks on the Fourth of July. One of our little ones is terrified of loud booms, and I haven’t slept in years because of the Fourth of July and New Year’s celebrations. We had camped at Panguitch Lake the year before and enjoyed it so much we thought we’d go back. No reservations. We decided to take a chance and try for a first come, first serve spot. We found one. We get excited when we luck out and get a good spot at popular campgrounds. I have to tell you it was the first time in the six years since we’ve had Lightning her and I both SLEPT on the fourth of July! No fireworks allowed. Thank you Panguitch.

August: Camp fees $1310.01, Fuel $906.29, Propane $30.70

Yes, Waaay out of budget for this month. We moved a lot and traveled across Idaho and Oregon in a matter of days. I wanted to visit a friend I had not seen in about thirty years, so we went. We were on track for low camp fees since we stayed several days at free sites. Two weeks left in the month, and I was tired of moving. Dodging fires in Oregon and Hurricane Hilary making its way through southern California. We stopped in the northern section of California at an excellent KOA, and I decided to stay put until after Labor Day. I didn’t want to pay a $700 bill for 14 days, but it was camp fees or additional fuel money going out. So that blew the camp fees way over budget. But, you see, our propane bill was higher. That is because we stayed at several free spots for up to five days, so we used more Propane without having shore power. We felt trapped; any direction we chose would be a mess.

Well, there you have our expenses of full-time RV life. Like I said, we don’t really plan. I don’t make reservations in advance of where we will stay. We do travel on the fly. I know that is why our budget is out of whack. But for our first year into this lifestyle, I wanted it to be an “on the fly” type of travel. We weren’t sure where we wanted to go. How would our rig do with its age and us not knowing its kinks and what we wanted to explore? I vow to do better next year… Well, I’ll try.

Thanks for stopping by and giving this blog a read. Next week, I want to share some road stops along our routes. Please help my site grow with a like and a share and subscribe to get notified of new content. It’s FREE, and I do not share my email list with anybody!