Scanning the Media

Will high fuel prices discourage RVers from traveling this summer?

That seems to be the question about RVing that most fascinates the media, or at least that’s what I’ve gleaned from sampling a month’s worth of RV stories on the Internet.

The RV/fuel cost story is, or course, a natural. Any reporter looking for man-on-the-street comments on gasoline prices would invariably seek out the person with a fuel tank that costs $150 or more to fill.

But, like most man-on-the-street stories, the opinions expressed in the pieces I read are just about what you would expect. Yes, everybody hates the fact that fuel prices have gone up. But no, people are not junking their RVs, and RVs are still being rented and sold. Sure, some people will shorten their travels a bit this summer, spending more time in one place and less on the road, but nobody says they plan to stay home.

Asking the Obvious
As a news reporter, one assignment I dreaded was the man-on-the street interview, because the results were usually so predictable. In the Seattle area, where I live, some local TV newscasts treat every bit of news as an occasion to gather the reactions of neighbors and bystanders when they can’t reach the people directly involved. A robbery occurs and the neighbors are asked on camera if they were surprised. A tree falls on a house and the neighbors are asked if they were surprised. And if Lizzie Borden were to return to slay her parents with an ax, the neighbors would be asked if they were surprised. And, not to spoil the surprise, but guess what, they would be surprised!

Asking bystanders to comment on something they know little or nothing about is useless journalism. And, of course, just interviewing a few people is never a statistically valid way of gauging public opinion.

Nevertheless, there is some value in asking people at random how they are being impacted by rising fuel prices because how people react could have serious economic consequences for the RV and automotive industries. And so I am grateful that Google can send me man-in-the-street comments from across the country without any need for me to leave my computer and conduct interviews on my own.

From the Internet, I learn that on the “CBS Evening News,” J.T. Bolger, a 30-something RVer, said that even though it costs $455 to fill his motorhome gas tank, he still figures he saved half on his recent family vacation. “We didn’t have to stay in a hotel, we didn’t have to buy all of our food, we didn’t have to pay for airline tickets,” he said.

From the Decatur Daily in Alabama, I learn that retirees Bill and Martha Slate canceled their planned trip to Maine because of high gas prices, but still travel by motorhome at least once a month. The Citizen-Times of Asheville, North Carolina, tells me that high fuel prices aren’t stopping people from becoming full-time RVers, although some are staying in one resort year-round.

The Toledo Blade reports that attendance was smaller than expected at the Good Sam Samboree in Lima, Ohio, this summer and organizers blame high gas prices. Tom Maurer, the director of Ohio Good Sam, was quoted as saying, “With these gas prices, you can still manage, but you have to make adjustments. For example, we used to go out to eat on these trips, but now we don’t and instead we put the saved money into the gas tank.”

On RV sales, you can find quotes to support any thesis. A television station in Farmington, Arkansas, reports that a man who sells RVs on consignment has stopped trying to sell big motohomes because of high gas prices. But The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City found an RV dealer who says sales have never been better

Glories of RVing
The Times-Picayune of New Orleans informs me, via a nicely done story by Jonathan Brinckman of Newhouse News Service, that Jim and Cindy Schwab, who winter in Arizona and travel in a motorhome during the warmer months, are cutting the miles short this year because of the cost.

Brinckman’s story summed up the feelings of many RVers by quoting an e-mail from Jim Gregory of Vancouver, Washington. Gregory wrote that he was traveling with his wife in a 40-foot motorhome on a trip in which “we will have spent a week parked in the Death Valley desert staring at the stars and listening to the coyotes howl, a week in Las Vegas, a month parked in the Yuma desert watching incredible sunsets every night, five weeks in San Diego exploring and another month traveling the California coast.” He concluded that, “Even with the increase in fuel, (RVs are) still a wonderful way to see the country.”

The RV industry is hoping that the experiences described by Gregory are ones that many others would like to share, and that RV sales will stay strong despite higher fuel costs. We can gather lots of opinions about that, but only time will tell.

Columnist Lauded
While we are quoting from the media, we would like to call attention to praise being lavished on a new book by our Vintage RV columnist Douglas Keister. The book, Mobile Mansions, is packed with photos and text on luxurious RVs from the past and present. It includes some vintage RV photos that have appeared in Keister’s RV Life column. Here’s part of what reviewer Bettijane Levine said about the book in the Los Angeles Times:

“The photos alone would explain the magnetic attraction of these vehicles over the years. They form an upbeat catalog of mobile homes, from an early Craftsman style that looks as if the Greene brothers might have built it, to the classic ‘silver bullet’ that still comes off as futuristic. The text is light, yet packed with historical perspective and spiced with eye-opening tidbits...It’s a great book for anyone who owns or who lusts for a mobile mansion.”

The book, published by Gibbs Smith, is available at bookstores. And there is also a DVD version now available that contains historic film footage that puts the whole RV phenomena in perspective. You can find out more at Doug’s website, keisterphoto.com.

Write to Mike Ward, editor at RV Life Magazine, 18717 76th Avenue West, Suite B, Lynnwood, WA 98037 or e-mail editor@rvlife.com. Find First Glance on-line at rvlife.com