Hey, Gang! We just want to reiterate that we are making a separate video about Thousand Trails, which will include ALL of the membership fees and annual fees. No need to try to be the smarty pants in the class by saying we're missing those fees when we clearly stated they weren't included in this video 😉Thanks all!!
Would love to get your opinion of each of the TT parks you've visited. We are going to join and wonder which parks to visit as we travel across the country.
Definitely interested in hearing more about TT. We have mostly just been restricting our trips to passport america where we can to save money haha. Pretty sure that membership paid for itself in the first week. Thanks for the info guys! - Shane
you spent 175 nights using the TT / encore. they both dont have any states thru the middle of the country. did you travel along the southern states to get to NY?
Sorry but you do need to factor in the membership costs in your per night prices. Based on your membership video your 1000 Trails membership costs approx $3700 and I assume covers TT-Encore, RPI and TT. Based on nights used, that breaks down to just under $10 per night. Add that on and the Encore nights are getting close to KOA prices. If you boondock, your overall price will go down but your cost per night at 1000 Trail resorts goes up.
Interestingly, there are no national or state parks. That’s probably due to the size of your rig, because there’s not a lot of spots for one that size.
Yes, lots of people live in RVs year round and travel. Some parks have long term stays. Here is an article we did about it: www.getawaycouple.com/can-you-live-in-an-rv-park/
Such a cute couple. Thank you for all the info you provide in your videos. My wife and I won't start rving for two years, due to work and family. We are in our 60's, but hope to squeeze in as much as possible when we set off on our journey. Take care and be safe.
This was a hugely helpful video. Thank you guys for doing this. You have helped my wife and I just by doing this one (and some of the others, like RV mistakes for beginners). PS love the out-takes!
I was amazed at the total cost for the year. It’s a lot lower than I thought it would have been. And yes, y’all have been to some great locations this past year. These are great short videos that break down categories of full timing. Are y’all planning on others like this? Thanks again.
Hey! Thank you so much, we're so pleased to hear you found this information useful. We kept really good track of our campground fees over the year, but don't have such exact numbers for other things. We're on the fence about sharing what we do have just because it's a hot topic and people LOVE to tell you how you're spending your money wrong 😂Always feel free to email us at info@getawaycouple.com and we will try to answer your questions the best we can privately 👍
HOWEVER...you REALLY need to add the price of your TT membership into the costs. It not fair to show them costing so little when you have to purchase the membership. That should be amortized into the costs of your RV parks. I don't know which you have but if you are doing US wide, then $4500 one-time cost (Amortized over how ever MANY years you feel comfortable with) + $500 yearly fee brings your cost of those WAY up in price.
We have and use Passport America. Yes, I know it's not good for long stays and only certain days. However, we used it while going from the West coast to the East coast and it paid for itself in the first 2 nights. We got Good Sam while on the East coast to save us a little bit while camping at the beach. We also used it in TN. My favorite discount is my Intra-agency Access Pass from the National Park Service. It's similar to the National Park Pass but it's a lifetime pass for those of us who are disabled. We just recently got California Disabled Persons passes. We haven't had a chance to use them yet, but they are lifetime passes and save us half on fees for all sorts of state parks, museums, etc. Luckily, neither of us is into resort type camping, but we don't really boondock either because I need my CPAP machine.
Yes, Passport America is good for passing through areas! The additional passes you have sound great, that's so awesome there are programs out there to help save that much!
haha, we still have to add in the buy-in cost for the TT membership but it's definitely still way lower than your annual mortgage 👍All of that information will be realized in a deep dive video for Thousand Trails!
Do your KOA fees include the KOA pass membership for $39 a year. It gives you a 10% discount and points toward free KOA nights. Just asking since if you are staying at KOA there is a way to make it a little cheaper.
I was just about to write that we could hear Carmen, but couldn’t see her = and then she made a last minute appearance! Did you color coordinate your clothes? 🐶 Kari
I had no idea of the cost to travel in your 5th wheel. Great info for people wanting to do this type of life style. You still have gas, food, possible medical, vet bills and don't forget the fun.
In our limited experience our average cost per night are inline with your. We have not stayed in KOA, Thousand trails, encore or any other membership campgrounds. We also havent done any booddocking / dry camping at this point either. Thanks for sharing
Great review. We also have a TT membership (elite VIP) plus the TRAILS COLLECTION upgrade. We’re thinking about RPI and see where it pays back for even that membership.
You gotta get away from campgrounds! (you are missing the best part) Put on some Solar and Mix it up with Harvest Host, Mooch Docking, Boon docking etc. Yeah I know you are still working but you can get connectivity outside of a campground.
lol, it's not just about connectivity, it's also time. You can only stay at Harvest Hosts for a night so that doesn't really benefit us and our travel schedule. We are going to try to boondock more next year, but of course, the places we want to go definitely don't have internet lol.
Great Video... very informative !! I know Thousand Trails has saved you (and many others) thousands of dollars on RV camp sites !! It is amazing how little you were able to spend ($7500) during a whole year of camping !! (The annual taxes on my house are $12,000 + $6000 in utilities!) Did someone say FULL TIME RV? Very impressive and very encouraging !! What amazed me the most was your ability to only spend $33 per night average on privately owned rv campgrounds. (If you recall me - I am only a "future" camper - never done it - but watch and learn all I can). When I browse private campgrounds, they seem to cost $40 - $60 a night for full hookups for a big rig with slide-outs like yours. You must be diligent shoppers. I enjoy all your videos and thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences !!! The best to you both - I mean you THREE !!!
Thank you! We have splurged on campgrounds when needed (or when we planned poorly and nothing else is available lol). The location also plays a huge factor. When we were in towns that weren't populated areas, the camping was much cheaper! And as the other commenter mentioned, you do need to factor in gas. But that's also an expense that varies depending on how long you stay. Obviously, you'll have higher prices if you travel more frequently.
where did you stay when in New Orleans ?? just curious please answer cause I know of a campground that's maybe 20 minutes from New Orleans I live in the suburbs of New Orleans Joanna
So sorry to see people bugging and dogging you about thousand trails after you have plainly stated that you are going to do a different video concerning the subject.. Looking forward to it.
We personally don't do KOA's or Good Sam parks! Have always found them overpriced and having amenities that personally, we don't use. We have found that Passport America was the best bang for us and still do. We also have a TT Zone Pass and considering upgrading it next year to an Elite. Still considering that one! We just returned home from staying at Three Rivers TT in Wildwood.
guess you guys missed going to camp at one of our National Parks. Some of them are wonderful. i heard if you are over all longer then 35'. you can not fit in a camp spot. another guess is you guys are 62' long over all. looks like glamping to me. to each is own. thanks for your post
If I remember correctly watching your thousand trails video wasn’t that subscription around $3600. If that number is factored into those nights that number would be super high wouldn’t it ? That seems to be a bit misleading to me .
We're not trying to mislead anyone. What would be the purpose of that? We wanted to create another video for Thousand Trails total cost since a lot of people want to only know about Thousand Trails exclusively. This was a preliminary video for our other campground spending but apparently, we should have only made one combined video.
Getaway Couple don’t you think by not putting in the total cost of that entire program including the annual membership it makes them look much more favorable and cost effective when overall it really isn’t . If I had not seen the video on the members packages I would think that .
Thousand Trails is much more favorable and cost-effective. The annual membership cost varies between $550 - $750. The initial membership cost varies between $0 - $5000 one-time. The cost varies because "it depends" which membership package you choose. Our annual membership cost is $750/year ($750 / 175 nights = $4.29/night) so feel free to add that to your own math. We discussed the campground costs we track in our spreadsheet and even prefaced the video with the fact that we did not include membership costs. We have nothing to gain from people using Thousand Trails (it actually makes the park more crowded).
