Touring or Camping?

[eric1514]

What's the difference? Is it how long you stay in one location or is it how many different places you visit in the same amount of time?

Eric

[gerrym51]

a tourer is someone who stays a max of 2 days(to me) in one place. a camper is some one who parks at a campsite andy stays(?).

now you can be partially both. say you tow a trailer/5'er/or big motorhome and tow a car. you set in one place and go on day trips with your tow vehicle/big rv.

In my opinion(just mine) b's are for touring. if i was a camper i would not go with a b.

[Davydd]

gerrym51 is right. Touring is traveling and stopping long enough to take in an area's amenities and then moving on. It's possible it could be longer than 2 days. We were a week in Galveston, TX this spring taking in things that were on our itinerary. Camping is a destination to go to and then go home. Maybe a weekend "camping" is fine for a B but if it is habitual akin to a lake cabin alternative or snow birding, maybe a larger, more comfortable RV solution would be better.

I say all that but am contemplating our next B will afford us longer stays in place. Another question, is, are you a tourer or camper if you drive to Alaska on the Alaska Highway and back? Our experience is every type of RV under the sun was doing that.

But really, the bottom line is a B can generally assumed to be the most convenient RV if traveling every day or every few days and going everywhere possible. A B is linear in travel with little backtracking. A 5th wheel, trailer, or toad is a travel and spoke touring around a radius of out and return in a day. That is not touring to me considering we get down the road someplace and pickup and move on further.

[Davydd]

One more thing. Touring can be confusing. I mentioned the Alaska thing and I came across this couple with two dogs traveling in a Class A and a toad two years ago and have been following their blog ever since. I met them in Talkeetna, AK. I consider them tourers for the most part.

http://ourroadlife.blogspot.com/

[wabbit]

We fit the definition for a tourer. We seldom state at a campsite for more than a couple of days before moving on to the next National Park, state park, forest, or some cute little town. On a recent trip, we moved to a different state park about 10 miles away after two nights, but stayed in the same area. The first was in a redwood forest and the second overlooked the ocean.

I would say that one of the philosophical differences is that when touring, the journey is part of the destination.

[Davydd]

Here is another thought from our experiences. When we visit our son's house in La Crosse, WI on an inner city street we parallel park in front of the house on a semi busy street. I don't think that is something I would attempt with a Class C or even so called boxy B+ and definitely nothing with a slide. When we visit my daughter's house in Virginia, a townhouse with standard parking stalls in front we fit easily but again would be too wide if a B+ or a slide. When we visit my sisters house in Carmel, IN they have a hoity toity homeowners association that frowns on RVs but we've gotten away with it with our B. If we can find a parking spot we are usually home free. Those are examples of touring. We just are not restricted to the usual RV destinations. If we had a trailer, 5th wheeler or Class A with a toad we would have to seek a campground and then go visit. That's the spoke approach. I guess if we had anything larger than a van like a B+ (C) we would be SOL in those family locations or it would be a major pain in the A.

[stanw909]

I know a guy who takes his family to Lake Tahoe every year to the same CG and they sit there in a tent for a week. They live in Victorville California and take the 395 up and back and have never stopped anywhere along the way. No interest what so ever. What do you call that besides boring? We have used all our motor homes as tourers.from out toyota class Cs to our current 33' Bounder. We have been all over except the southern states because our trips are in summer and we don't do hot and muggy. We never tow because we're almost always moving. When we go.We go. The camper van is only for short local trips with maybe one kid along. I'm slowly grooming my wife for the class B lifestyle in our future. When we retire we will really do some touring and we will want compact and comfortable.

[Fastpaddler1]

We do both. With our B being van size and not wide we use if for day trips up Island or even to a shopping centre where my wife shops for grand-kids and the pooch and I relax in PW. We also Camp too from a couple of days to as long as 10 days or even 2 weeks last year. Dont find it cramped as we are outside most of the time including cooking. We also use our B as a second vehicle for hauling boxes and stuff for our various charities we work with ie for underprivileged kids overseas.
Better than using the BMW and risking scratches etc. And, we tour in the BMW too.
On long trips we usually go to commercial rv parks or to Provincial campgrounds. Dont use places like Walmart or side of the road. We also stay at the odd Resort for a week or two but still use our B for day trips and for shopping.

A, B & C Rvs tour or camp but the B is, of course, easier to negotiate those tight turns and small parking lots.

[NCWriter]

We tour in our B, but have stayed a week or longer in the Keys during winter months. We usually head out for one to two month trips, and pack in a lot of sightseeing.

What some RVers actually don't get, based on some forum comments I've seen, is how fast you can set up and tear down your "camp" in a B, possibly because big RVs seem to require an hour or longer. So nimble mobility is a major plus.

I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but a class B is ideal for touring everywhere - and really shines in a place like Newfoundland. Easy to explore and turn around on roads that dead-end in scenic fishing outports. Long stretches between places, so the fuel economy was welcome. Much cheaper fare on the ferry, too.

[wincrasher]

I haven't had a B for long, but I can already tell this will be the happiest experience with an RV that I've ever had.

My time is in short supply, as is my patience. I don't have time to deal with problematic RV's. The bigger is better midset forgets that bigger and more complicated equals less reliable and needing more maintenance. Love the automotive quality of the exterior. No worries about fiberglass blistering. No worries about leaks. I like that a weekend outing is $50 in gas and not $300.

I like not having to be restricted to campgrounds and can take my B virtually anywhere, often not having to make plans or reservations to enjoy an area.

I like the flexibility to driveway camp at friends or relatives homes as mentioned above.

I like being able to turn around if I took a wrong turn. I like popping into a grocery store. parking in a regular space and getting supplies on my way out of town (ever try to take your RV to Costco?). I like being able to pop in to just about any gas station and not have to worry if there is a "way out" that doesn't involve backing up, or checking if I'll hit the canopy.

I like setting the cruise on the highway, at the posted speed limit, and not having to watch out for approaching 18 wheelers that will blow me off the road.

Setup is basically setting out my folding chair and extending the awning.

I camp, I tour. Both are a breeze!

[olddodgevan]

Well said!

[Belzar]

I love the idea of being able to take my B to costco on the way out of town. Now if only I could find a place in it to store 64 rolls of toilet paper.

[stanw909]

I am using my B today to play a gig in San Diego then go back up the coast to stay in CG then hang out at the beach tomorrow then do another gig on the Newport coast at a resort. Mine only gets 16 mpg but it's payed for. I do have eyes for a Travato or similar in the future. Right now I need to be able to park in hotel garages so I make do with my poptop.

[gordonhks]

NCwriter hits a point. Breaking camp and hitting the road. When in a campground, we very rarely connect city water and almost never sewer. We do connect power most times, but could easily run on battery. At bed time, we swivel the seats back to facing forward. In the morning, we wake up, disconnect power, close all windows and roof vents and we are on the road in 5 minutes or less. When boondocking we do not have power connected. We just wake up, and hit the road, so breaking camp time is 1 minute or less. About the only thing that slows us down is when we need some time for the condensation to clear from the windshield.

Davydd, hit the nail on the head when he said that B travel is linear and not spoke and hub. We have learned that when we head out for the day, not to leave anything at the CG. In Canyonlands we took off for a little day trip and left a carpet/door entry mat out. We were tooling around and found ourselved about 50 miles from the CG at 10a or so. We we heard about a little off the way place called Hovenweep. We said, "Lets Go" so off we went to Hovenweep, which is kind of like a small version of Mesa Verde. Rather than backtrack to retrieve the entry mat, we just left it. Since then when we break camp, we do not leave anything. We just never know where the road will take us.

That level of freedom for me is what B'ing is all about.

[wincrasher]

Originally Posted by Belzar

I love the idea of being able to take my B to costco on the way out of town. Now if only I could find a place in it to store 64 rolls of toilet paper.

If you don't take advantage of Costco, you are really missing out! This time of year they have a lot of camping and outdoor gear in the center section of the store. Not everything you buy there is in huge quantities. It's definitely a good place to get your bottled water - I usually pick up a 24 pack for my camping trips on my way out of town. They can also fill your LP there.

Problem is, the parking lot is usually a zoo. In our town, their parking lot is connected to Cabela's. So if you need something there, you are out of luck. That is, unless you are in your B-van!

I have yet to do my monthly shopping run to Costco in my van - I can usually fill up the bed of a pickup truck. But with the Travato, I could just raise the bed, and fill 'er up with big stuff. Even perishables are OK with the overhead AC running.

[stanw909]

Perishables are no prob with Travato. You have a fridge.

[bobojay]

Agree with DavyDD on his definition. We seldom, in fact with our one year old with 16k miles ERA, we have yet to hook up to water & sewer other than to just fill & dump. That's what the water pump & tank(s) is/are for.
The thing about a B or a small C is the freedom to just, go when we feel like it, and to be able to park almost anywhere....

[accrete]

Originally Posted by Belzar

I love the idea of being able to take my B to costco on the way out of town. Now if only I could find a place in it to store 64 rolls of toilet paper.

Way funny, and oh so true.
This summer marks my 21st Costco employment anniversary (and my wife's 15th).
We live out on the Oregon Coast and work at the one located south of Astoria on HWY 101. From Memorial Day week through late October our parking lot looks like an RV show.

Thom

[accrete]

I agree with the _short_ stay and move on = touring, and _stay put_ = camping posts in the thread. Like others we do both.

When we _tour_ we typically take only our van conversion.
When we _camp_ we will usually take both our van conversion AND 15ft TT. Though sometimes, like last week's exploratory adventure to an unknown-to-us campground up in the hills we only took the van even though we have a campground and stay-put attitude. As many have stated a class B is hard to beat in its agility, and i sure don't want to find myself having to back a rig+trailer down a single track forestry road!

The rest of this post take with a Salt Shaker full of Salt

My wife and i aren't your typical RV'ers. We currently live full time in a 5th wheel and it is _camped_ out at a RV/golf course. We've actually been here since the 2011 holidays (after getting out of our 3bdrm+1acre place) and have no real intention of moving it for some time. We love the simple lifestyle and someone else doing all the yard work. And when your front yard view includes a gold course it's all good.

BUT...once we say good bye to the 9-5 in a few years we are heading out on the road with no intent to return to stationary living. How will we go about this? (and this is where we differ from the majority)...we will do it most likely in a class B conversion. Our plan is to have Van-Version-Two well in the works by my ~60 bday in three years. The rig will be probably the longest wheelbase/floor available in whatever we settle on. It will have an all in one set up so we won't have to bring along the small TT in tow. Some/most will call us crazy to head out like turtles in such a small rig, but for us, even full time in one spot in our 38ft 5'ver there is just so much wasted room/space. For 30 + years we've rarely been a hug apart. We both would make great submariners or astronauts as we like small cozy places. And like most here, the rig is typically a place to call home at the end of a fun filled day of outdoor activities in some beautiful setting.

---end of crazy Happy Hermit B-RV-ronaut talk.

Happy Trails on your _tours_ and _campouts_.
Thom

[Davydd]

Right now Thom the longest wheelbase and length true Class B as you mentioned is an extended body Sprinter. By the time you retire they say the 2019 will be a new style again. They already offer 4x4. By then maybe gasoline. If they made it as wide as a Promaster then they would have by far the best van for conversion. The new Transit is closer in size to the old Sprinter and I don't think the Promaster could ever be a fulltime satisfactory RV for two people.

There are still many advantages of a true van over the cutaway chassis small Cs or B+ if one desires to call them that. The height is a debit and the extra width is both a debit and a plus. The width is a debit for touring and a plus for living. The driveability is a plus for a van though people compensate in their mind with a wide body cutaway and accept what they have.

I don't have any plans to ever fulltime but we have been out for as much as 3 months in our Bs. We've had a T1N Sprinter and now an NCV3 Sprinter. We have on order a NCV3 extended body (24 ft) Sprinter. What we have been working toward is more zoned living in having stay up living space and sleeping space at the same time as well as comfort inside in both locations. Comfort has been my biggest goal as we progress to a third B. Storage is another goal and I think I have a design that will maximize that aspect. We will go all electric. After 9 years and I think less than 35 hours total on a propane generator I have figured out how to get around the air conditioning in our travel habits. So we are doing away with propane. Compressor refrigerators, induction cooktops, solar. LED, large battery banks and diesel generated heat and hot water have helped in that decision. It is not that much of a stretch for us. Our 30 year old passive and potential zero energy home is all electric.

How long will we keep touring? Good question. We are not quite ready to stop after 125,000 miles. Age might knock it out at some time but I doubt we will ever consider a larger RV as a substitute. I think we have gone as large as we desire and I even had reservations about the extended body Sprinter but that extra 16" added an amazing amount in not only storage (55 cf vs 15 cf) but design flexibility and I did not think a hitch cargo carrier adding 3 feet more length was a good substitute. That is one thing I have observed about Bs. The shorter the B the greater odds the owner adds a hitch cargo carrier.