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Old 02-22-2012, 12:42 AM   #1
southern thunder
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Fuel prices

With all this talk of fuel prices going out the roof this spring and summer, how high will they have to go to adversley affect your travel plans? I have a one month old Montana and I was plannig a trip out west of about 6000 miles. I think $5.00 a gallon for diesel may force me to retink and reroute my trip.
 
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Old 02-22-2012, 01:07 AM   #2
camper4
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$5.50 to 6.00 will slow us down and become a real part of our decisions.
Currently at 4.25 in our home area of upstate NY today. It is not pleasant filling up at this price.
But we will still use our Monty and enjoy it! We may just stay closer to home.
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Old 02-22-2012, 01:10 AM   #3
southern thunder
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We are $3.85 to $3.95 here now. It was $3.60 two weeks ago.
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Old 02-22-2012, 01:17 AM   #4
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SouthernThunder, I do understand your concerns but travel can still be workable with high fuel prices. We had the same thing happen to us in 07 on a 5700 mile trip and fuel up around $4.00 per gal. To get it in perspective fuel was probably $3.50 per gal when you purchased the 5'er so $5 fuel is a $1.50 increase. On a 6,000 mile trip your will probably get 10 mpg so require 600 gals of fuel. 600 gals X $1.50 increase in fuel price raises the cost of your trip $900.00. Some things we did to off set the increase in fuel was eat more meals in the 5'er, slow travel speed to 62 mph, moved the 5'er less taking longer day trips w/o the trailer, negotiated some better camp ground rates as there were lots of vacant spaces, and cut back on souvenirs. (Last item was a little tough convincing grandma 6 grandkids didn't need something from everywhere we went) Other than those things we did everything we set out to do on that trip. We can wait for fuel prices to come down but we can't guarantee the time waiting will be added to the end of our lives. Jim
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Old 02-22-2012, 01:30 AM   #5
southern thunder
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Thanks for the words os wisdom jimcol. You are so right we only go a round once and I have alredy eached an age where is I don't do iy now, I may never get another chance. I'm not still 21 and bulletproof.I see we have almost the same rig.
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Old 02-22-2012, 02:16 AM   #6
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I topped off all my tanks which total 125 gallons on my truck yesterday at $3.61 and also four 5 gal containers so I think I am set for the summer season here in MI. We have some nice coast to coast parks near our home which we will use and will take a long trip over to the sand dune area by Lake Michigan. I agree with Jim stay out of the junk shops and use the 5vr for meals and drink ATC beer. Anything That's Cheap.
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Old 02-22-2012, 02:37 AM   #7
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I don't think the rising costs of fuel will ever stop us from RVing, but certainly makes one consider ways to save dollars. We say it will alter our plans a bit then we go and buy something new like a truck, go figure. In our part of the world where we already pay over $5.00 a gallon many, many people have opted for seasonal sites for the summer months with demand for same far outstripping availability. Like most, the rising cost of fuel sometimes brings me to a slow boil but the DW keeps telling me life is short, AND she is right, again!
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Old 02-22-2012, 02:42 AM   #8
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Fuel has been stable at $3.79 @ grocery stores and $3.99 at all the other stations for as long as I can remember here. A $900 increase for a trip is just crazy! You could buy airline tickets with that alone for a trip. It's getting so difficult to justify long driving trips anymore. I really like pulling my rig and sightseeing while doing it.
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Old 02-22-2012, 03:21 AM   #9
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For us it just means the long vacation type trips are going to be few and far between. Seasonal stays and month long minimums will take over and that's not a bad thing in many ways.
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Old 02-22-2012, 03:33 AM   #10
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by DQDick

For us it just means the long vacation type trips are going to be few and far between. Seasonal stays and month long minimums will take over and that's not a bad thing in many ways.
You are sooooo right. Since the biggest expense is going to be the trip there, you might as well stay a while.
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Old 02-22-2012, 05:37 AM   #11
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Don't have a number, but, since I can feel a huge difference in my health and go and staying power in the last 5 years, (I'm loosing the war), I am going as much as I can NOW while I still can, hopefully I can travel away any future regrets.

We are just going LONG term, sit in a spot, see a lot, 2 weeks or a month later, move a few hundred miles, give or take, see more.

I have dreamed of travel this way for well over 35 years, and unless my doctors tell me I cannot go, and until I am flat a$$ broke, I am gonna do my best to GO GO GO! Do I like the prices, heckiedoo no. But, this is MY time, waited way too long for it, and it is fleeting way too quickly.

I don't want to regret it later that I did not go cause of $1,000.00 give or take, over a period of months.

GO GO GO!!
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Old 02-22-2012, 06:02 AM   #12
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I agree with Carol completely, the price of the fuel to me is irrelevant. Same as what MPG we are getting (don't know and have never really been interested in calculating it). When we travel, if the fuel gauge gets to 1/4 tank, we look for a place to fill it back up. We all only live once and how can you put a price on priceless moments and memories. Now, with all that being said, we do camp locally as well, so we can offset the fuel costs somewhat but the vacation trips will never change regardless of the costs. Before I get flamed, I do understand that many are on fixed budgets and the pain is proportionally larger, all I have to fall back on is that my planned retirement just keeps moving a little farther away from the present, but at least I will enjoy the present!

Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Mrs. CountryGuy


heckiedoo no.
Oh, and with regards to the quote, Carol, is that MI dialect, or did you pick that up somewhere along the route of you travels?? I like it!! Just that quote and wondering where it came from almost made me forget what the thread was about!

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Old 02-22-2012, 06:29 AM   #13
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Bingo, Have no idea where I picked it up, it is just one of my many little "sayings". Sorry I made you forget the subject matter! LOL

And, thank you for making the point of some having limited budgets, we so totally get that. Point WELL taken!
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Old 02-22-2012, 07:11 AM   #14
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by bighornram

Fuel has been stable at $3.79 @ grocery stores and $3.99 at all the other stations for as long as I can remember here. A $900 increase for a trip is just crazy! You could buy airline tickets with that alone for a trip. It's getting so difficult to justify long driving trips anymore. I really like pulling my rig and sightseeing while doing it.
Just remember after you buy that airline ticket you have to rent a car, stay in a motel, and eat all your meals out!
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Old 02-22-2012, 08:48 AM   #15
CamillaMichael
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Mrs. CountryGuy

Don't have a number, but, since I can feel a huge difference in my health and go and staying power in the last 5 years, (I'm loosing the war), I am going as much as I can NOW while I still can, hopefully I can travel away any future regrets.

We are just going LONG term, sit in a spot, see a lot, 2 weeks or a month later, move a few hundred miles, give or take, see more.

I have dreamed of travel this way for well over 35 years, and unless my doctors tell me I cannot go, and until I am flat a$$ broke, I am gonna do my best to GO GO GO! Do I like the prices, heckiedoo no. But, this is MY time, waited way too long for it, and it is fleeting way too quickly.

I don't want to regret it later that I did not go cause of $1,000.00 give or take, over a period of months.

GO GO GO!!
Agree with this mind set...travel while we can since it probably will not be too many more years when travel may not be possible and then, as pointed out, we would feel foolish for not enjoying travel opportunities while we could because of a few more dollars. For us, however, the price of fuel is relevant...just does not seem to be very much we can do about it.
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Old 02-22-2012, 09:11 AM   #16
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I have to agree we are going regardless of the cost of fuel. We enjoy the travel and the places we visit too much not to go.

We have actually found we spend the same or a little less when we travel. Some reason at home we tend to run around more and eat out more than we do when on the road. Does not matter if we are home or on the road, still putting fuel in the tank.

Also if it cost you $900 more for fuel, over what period of time is that? 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 6 weeks? In 2008 when fuel prices spiked our friends thought we were nuts for not cancelling our trip that fall. We spent $400 more fuel than we would have before the price spike. That $400 was over 3 weeks. So for an extra $133 a week we still got to have a fantastic vacation. Well worth the extra money we did not originally budget for. We ate out less that trip and had no problems finding the $133 a week in savings from restaurants.
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Old 02-22-2012, 02:39 PM   #17
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This reminds me of the Admiral Freebee song Ever Present
"The fears for tomorrow
Regrets of yesterday
Twin thieves that rob us, girl
From the joy of this moment" ...
"these roads can take you somewhere"

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Old 02-22-2012, 02:59 PM   #18
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I'm with Carol as well! So inspirational! This is our first year retired and traveling...who knows what tomorrow will bring, so God willing, we'll continue to enjoy life on the road! Truly blessed, D
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Old 02-23-2012, 02:43 AM   #19
stiles watson
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We took a trip from Texas to Nova Scotia about 4 years ago when the prices in the east and Canada got to $4,50 - 5.00 per gallon. Got to say it was a frog strangler. Took us a while to recover. Our current budget doesn't allow for any long treks at prices above $4.00. We are still thinking about the Murtle Beach rally in August. We will see.
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Old 02-23-2012, 03:04 AM   #20
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by jimcol

Just remember after you buy that airline ticket you have to rent a car, stay in a motel, and eat all your meals out!
Not to be misunderstood, I wasn't advocating airline travel instead of going over the road with my rig. It is really just shocking to me that a "spike" in fuel could be equal to the cost (another route) of travel. I can classify trips in my rig a couple of different ways. I am not retired so don't have the luxury (yet) to be gone from home for extended periods of time. I do have the luxury of 8 consecutive days off each month so we do hook up the rig and drive 2-3 hours (we have a favorite location) to boondock for a short week. Short trips exponentially increases the affect of fuel spikes. Now if I take vacation days in addition to my normal off days, I can get away longer justifying a road trip. The longer (time) you are away from home the less per day increase a spike will have on your expense.

Long and short of it is we all love our "homes away from home". I love the freedom it provides, our Colorado mountaintop favorite location where I can watch baseball with my feet up, sipping my favorite beverage. On the other hand the occasional long trip by gives me the luxury of a spacious travel vehicle and the freedom to stop pretty much anywhere I want to.

Benefits are still worth the cost to me.
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