It was like a siren call that I knew could not be ignored. Once the horrifying truth was out there, I knew the environmental lovers would feel compelled to call me on my decision to trot around the country in a vehicle that only gets 8 miles to the gallon. And I was right. Luckily, my Earth loving friends were not of the rabid “you’ll kill a baby seal with every mile you travel” variety. Instead, they were more interested in challenging me to make sure I was using my resources wisely- including my finances. I’m always up for a good challenge, so I was excited to run the numbers and see if traveling with a trailer (even one that gets such abysmal gas mileage) really saves us money.
So, we have two different scenarios here. We can travel with our trailer and stay at campsites, or we can travel in our family van and stay in hotels. Our van gets 22 miles to the gallon and the trailer gets 8 miles to the gallon. We are planning to travel 5500 miles on our MOART (Mother of All Road Trips).
So, even without a calculator, you can figure out which vehicle will win in terms of dollars spent on gas. Figuring gas at an average of $4 per gallon (and hoping to heaven it doesn’t go any higher), we end up with a $1750 difference between the two.
But that is only part of the story. In theory, we should make up the cost of gas in the cost of nightly lodging. The question is will we make up the cost fast enough to be worth the wear on our vehicle and the environment?
Our trailer is small, relatively speaking, but it has the benefit of two bedrooms and a full kitchen. In order to compare apples to apples, we would have to choose a hotel with a one bedroom suite and a full kitchen. That means budget hotels are out, but because we are a family of six, budget hotels aren’t really an option anyway, unless we book two rooms. Also, our average hotel cost is slightly inflated because we are going to some very touristy towns where hotel costs are higher.
Running the numbers, there is a $140 difference between camping and staying in a hotel. A quick calculation shows that we will make up the difference in gas in 12.5 days. If we were going to travel for less than two weeks taking the camper wouldn’t be worth it economically. On this trip, we will be traveling for the better part of three months, so the choice to travel with the trailer makes perfect sense.
But even if it weren’t the money smart choice, we would still be taking the trailer. The MOART is an epic trip, but it’s not a vacation. This will be a way of life for us, so we will need to have a place to hang our hat where we are not constantly packing and repacking. Our trailer will become the house that we can take with us wherever we wander, and since we will all be together, no matter where we park, we will be at home.
I think you could do much better on your hotel bills (my beloved Hyatt Place for one), but I totally agree that the adventure lies in traveling in the trailer. That's definitely what I'm looking forward to hearing about.
I agree – it's going to be far more interesting to hear what it's like living in a trailer with 4 boys for three months.