Week 750 - Happy New Year, 15 Year Review - 12-31-2020

Happy New Year, 15 Year Review

Our travels for 2020 were only for the 5 months after we sold our house. They were driven by several goals. Stay out the heat and away from forest fire smoke. Get RV repairs in Oregon and get to Arizona for the winter. Check, check and check!

The China virus put a damper on our favorite "place", meeting people. We did manage to connect with some family and friends.

Recap of our first 15 years of travels.

1 Motorhome
2 Engines
3 Set of Tires
3 Churches Stays 3 Days
3 Pickleball Court Stays 35 Days
4 Crackerbarrel Restaurant Stays 15 Days
5 Canadian Provinces 44 Days
5 Fuel Station Stays 14 Days
6 FMCA Motorhome Rallies 35 Days
6 Windshields
7 Sower Projects 133 Days
7 Casino Stays 26 Days
8 Oil Changes
19 Business Stays 41 Days
22 Service Centers 109 Days
22 Boondocking Locations 30 Days
35 Pickleball Tournaments
37 Walmart Stays 61 Days
43 Government Campgrounds 87 Days
47 Home Stays 1902 Days
50 U.S. States 5,218 Days
50th State Alaska 58 Days
118 Elks Lodge Stays 1,062 Days
338 RV Parks & Camps 1,709 Days

131,718 Miles

As you can see we want to "see it all". You can't, but we are trying. Most full time RV owners settle in on a couple of favorite locations. Usually a Southern wintertime spot and travel during the summer or they pick a Northern summer site. We will someday, but we are still looking. We have made hundreds of good friends at dozens of locations. And we enjoy seeing them each year, as we did in a limited fashion this year.

So what does it cost to travel so much? Your three main expenses are food, fuel and RV parks. Food is the same as staying home, unless you eat out a lot.

Our 15 year monthly average for diesel fuel is $488.00. We average about 7 mpg as we mostly avoid freeways. We do get 8-9 mpg on freeways.

Our daily overnight stays have averaged $14 / day. You probably can't match this unless you stay as we do. We have stayed free at churches, Elks, homes, fuel stops, pickleball courts and boondocking. We have stayed for very little at Elks lodges and Passport-America RV parks. And we have stayed at some the most luxurious RV Resorts in the U.S.A.

Well, that's it for 2020. There has been a lot of disagreement among people this year. Lock-downs or not. Travel or not. Riots or not. Trump vs Biden. But, we think we can all agree on this.

Happy New Year!

With love, Pete, Ellen and Mandy

Photos from 2020