Trending Young

RVing is gaining in popularity with young families, a fact that is reflected in a new industry study of RV ownership that shows significant gains are occurring among the under-35 age group.

In keeping with that trend, our magazine this month welcomes a new columnist who is part of the growing segment of RVers who are a long way from retirement. Brent Peterson is 35, married and the father of two boys, 4 and 2 years of age. Despite his comparative youth, Brent has acquired a wealth of knowledge about RVing since he entered the field a decade ago. In fact, he is the author of one of the best selling RV books on the market, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to RVing.

Brent grew up in the Chicago area, attended Cornell College in Iowa and worked as a reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison and for an entertainment guide in Philadelphia before getting a job with Woodall’s, the RV publisher. Working as a writer and editor, he became well acquainted with the RV industry, leading to the publication of a book in 2001 and a career as a freelance magazine contributor.

In writing The Complete Idiot’s Guide to RVing, Brent says it helped that he was closer to being an idiot than an expert. He knew little about RVs until he started working for Woodall’s, but then began educating himself and when he started writing the book, he knew all the questions that novices would want answered. He consulted with experts on technical matters, and produced a comprehensive guide that tells would-be RVers what they need to know in easy-to-understand language. The book has been so successful that a second, updated edition will be published in March.

In his column entitled The RV Guy, Brent will write about his experiences as an RVer, offer practical tips, and report on industry trends. And, he’ll do it in his own breezy style that always provides a few chuckles along the way.

RV Trade Show
The RV industry’s increased attention to young families was reflected in the products introduced at the recent National RV Trade Show in Louisville, Kentucky. In this issue, you will find a report on some of these new RVs, including those designed to appeal to big families by sleeping up to eight people.

It is the younger RVers who were also on the minds of the GMC design team, which created a vehicle called the GMC Pad in the Design Challenge competition for this month’s Los Angeles Auto Show. This concept RV is aimed at meeting the needs of young urban professionals.

GMC was once a major player in the RV industry, producing motorhomes from 1972 to 1978. Does the production of a concept RV mean the company might reenter the business?

Not necessarily. The Design Challenge is a competition in which 14 Southern California automobile design studios, representing automakers in the U.S., Europe and Asia, create vehicles responding to a theme. This year’s theme is “an L.A. Adventure.”

The Mercedes-Benz design group produced an amphibious rescue vehicle to roll along the beach and also plunge into the ocean. Honda’s design team came up with the Jacarzzi, a sleek sports car that doubles as a hot tub.

Steve Anderson, head of the GMC design team, said his group’s entry combines transportation with home ownership. In other words, it’s an RV, and a natural response to the L.A. adventure theme.

“If you really want an L.A. adventure,” Anderson said, “try finding affordable housing in Los Angeles.”

Urban Loft
The GMC Pad is an urban loft that the owner could park near his work, and then take on weekend trips. It features a diesel-electric hybrid system to provide propulsion in DriveMode and serve as a generator in LifeMode.

Anderson said the concept has a number of unique features. For example, it would use General Motors’ OnStar system to run crime statistics so that the owner could be assured he was staying in a safe neighborhood. Then, OnStar also would function as a security-protection system to detect intruders and summon emergency help.

The top of the vehicle would serve as an outdoor deck, complete with a built-in barbecue grill. Anderson said that should appeal to the NASCAR crowd, and to people who would like to park along the beach or other scenic spots.

The sleeping quarters are underneath the elevated cockpit. Kitchen appliances are in an island, creating a spacious environment with a sleek, modern, minimalist look. It would be a media-rich environment, with big screens and lots of entertainment options.

The GMC Pad is just a concept vehicle consisting of computer images. But Anderson won’t rule out the possibility that it might advance beyond that stage some day. He said that he showed it to top GMC executives and they were intrigued. Some of the ideas in the vehicle are out of left field, he conceded, and may not be practical. But he thinks recent college graduates might well like to have something they could both live in and drive away, given the difficulty of finding affordable housing in an urban setting. “It seems like an idea whose time has come,” he said.

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