My wife and I have always enjoyed travel. Who doesn’t? Any trip we have taken has ended too soon and there was always more that we would have liked to have done. I have always wanted to see the National Parks of the Southwest, especially the Grand Canyon. I guess you could say this trip was on my bucket list. Now I have retired and time is not so much the problem, but there is still that money thing and it is even tighter now than ever. Much of what I have to say in this book will also be of interest to those who have not yet retired.
As I was sitting at my desk paying bills and staring out the window at our camp trailer; it hit me. Being over 62 and retired might just solve the problem of time and money. There are now many new discounts available to us. Other discounts are open to everyone. Could it be that a long camping trip could cost little more than staying home? Let’s take all of that extra time and simply drive out west, see the sights and only come home when we felt like it. I decided to take the idea and run with it.
The biggest advantage we had was our Golden Passport for those over 62. Still available for $80 and it is good for life. This gave us free admittance to all federal parks and half off for camping. There are also other free camping opportunities available to everyone.
To take advantage of campground prices like these you will need to be dry camping in many cases. Dry camping means no water or electricity provided. In return, not only are these sites very inexpensive, but they are usually in the more natural, outdoors setting that we prefer. This is back to nature camping with an RV.
I decided to work the whole thing out on a spreadsheet and discovered that a month long trip of this nature would run a little over $2000. The biggest expense was gas. I’m happy to say that we took the trip and had one of the most unforgettable experiences of our lives. The expenditure of time and money worked out much as I had calculated.
