A breakdown of my travel-related costs by day for my 2021/22 trip south.

A lot of folks think it costs a lot to travel with an RV. These are usually the folks who “camp” by making reservations at a KOA, pulling into a paved or gravel parking space with dozens of other RVs, and plugging in. In that case, sure, it’s expensive. Those KOAs are getting $50 or $60 per night. But camping doesn’t have to be expensive, especially if you know how to take advantage of free or low-cost camping locations.

While last year I spent nearly 90% of my travel time camped out on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land in Arizona for free, this year I’m traveling a lot more and splitting my time between boondocking on public land and spending nights at campgrounds where I can dump my waste tanks, refill my water tank, and get a dose of socialization. As a result, this year will probably cost me about twice what last year cost. I’m budgeting $1500/month and am pretty sure I’ll stay within budget.

Here’s what I’m spending my travel dollars on so far. I’ll update this periodically throughout my trip. Note that this only includes expenses related to travel; I am omitting food costs because I’d be spending money on food if I stayed home, too.

As you can see, my biggest expense so far is fuel for my truck. That’s because I’m only getting about 11-12 miles per gallon with my camper loaded and I’ve driven about a thousand miles. But since I’ve pretty much “arrived” in the area where I’ll be spending most of the time, that cost has pretty much leveled out. I expect to spend, on average, about $50/week on fuel until I make the trip back home in February.

Updated: February 11, 2022

Notes:

1. Includes diesel fuel as well as diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), which must be added periodically.
2. Other fuel includes:
   (p) Propane (for my camper)
   (g) Gasoline (for my generator)
3. Other includes:
   (s) Shower
   (i) Internet
   (l) Laundry
   (d) Tank Dump