My parents gave my husband and me a tent for our first anniversary. It was intended to be the gift that kept on giving, and it has. Mom and Dad knew from experience that family vacations in the great outdoors just have a way of reinforcing everything that’s good about being part of a family. Bugs, mosquito bites, dirty feet, and burned hash browns are all part of that equation as well, but the net result of a family camping trip was generally so positive that everyone looked forward to the next one. The few exceptions still tend to be the “bonding” moments that we laugh about at family reunions today. However, if the thought of sleeping on the hard ground and using a vault toilet has you feeling a little squeamish another great option is to rent a camping trailer for your next vacation. Here are 8 reasons I think it’s a vacation option worth considering:
1.It’s a Better Alternative than the 3 a.m Outhouse Trip
When my husband and I first started to discuss acquiring family assets, a house trailer was the first thing on his list. I was confused. What was wrong with our perfectly good tent? The whole point of camping, in my mind, was the fact that you can manage a family vacation to an “exotic” outdoor location on a very tight budget. But he persisted and we purchased a very small 1977 model camping trailer that we parked at the side of the house. It included toilet facilities that could be used in an emergency–a better option than tramping to the outhouse at 3 a.m. with a 3-year-old, as I soon discovered. While I still enjoy tent camping, I think renting a trailer has some additional advantages that merit consideration:
2. Campers Inside a Trailer Tend To Stay Dry During a Thunderstorm
One of the first times we used our little travel trailer was on an extended family outing to Goblin Valley, UT. The morning weather was mild and the kids ran wild discovering this fairyland of sandstone hoodoos! But an afternoon windstorm moved in at about the moment we decided to start lunch. Blowing sand landed in everybody’s potato salad and clung to the insides of our ears, and it looked like the 3-day outing would be shortened to a 3-hour event.
Our little trailer proved its value, as we all squeezed inside and played a few rounds of UNO and ate cookies while we waited for the weather to clear. The tent campers pulled up stakes and went home, but we were able to sit it out until the weather cleared a few hours later. We were able to finish our vacation as planned!
Every time we take the trailer on an outing and the rain descends, I think back on all of those camping trips with my parents when we fell asleep listening to the patter of raindrops on the tent roof and woke up in the middle of the night knowing that the puddle gathering around our cold feet meant that the waterproof tent was not at all waterproof. Then, remembering that I am in a trailer, I smile, pull the covers up to my chin, and go right back to sleep. While I sometimes miss staring up into the stars at night, I’m appeased by the thought that I’m not sleeping on rocks or a deflated air mattress.
3. Economically, Renting can be a Wiser Financial Investment
After we outgrew our little trailer, we discovered that it was possible to rent the latest and greatest models from a local RV rental agency. This seemed a little like an opportunity to test drive a car. What if we rented a trailer before deciding whether to purchase that model? That way, we’d have a pretty good idea if it would meet our long-term needs before we made the down payment. In fact, we discovered we could afford to rent a model that was much more “plush” than one we could afford to purchase. Our first rental experience was so positive, we discovered that for our family, renting was a much wiser option than purchasing. For about the same total fee that we would have paid just to
Our first rental experience was so positive, we discovered that for our family, renting was a much wiser option than purchasing. For about the same total fee that we would have paid just to store a purchased trailer for a year, we enjoyed a great vacation and left most of the trailer ownership hassle to someone else:
- There were no ongoing payments for a toy that depreciates very quickly
- Someone else takes care of winterization
- For a fee, someone else takes care of dumping the sewage tanks
- Someone else makes sure the propane tanks are filled, checks battery levels, fills the water tanks, assures that the tires have the right pressure, the outside brake lights work, the sink faucets function, the door hinges are intact, and a dozen other trailer maintenance issues that had a tendency to delay our vacations.
Late summer in the high Uintah mountains brings AMAZING fall hiking weather, but temperatures can drop to near freezing at night. The trailer, complete with a propane furnace, allows us to sleep comfortably on these brisk nights, extending our camping season into the fall months.
4. You’re never tied to visiting the same location again and again
Because a trailer can go where you want to go, it’s ideal for road trips where you want to change locations so you can extend your geographic “reach.” You could sleep under the stars in the Colorado Rockies on Friday and be on location at a lake in Idaho the following day. Fly cross country and rent an RV–saving your precious vacation time for the actual vacation. Unlike many timeshare options or a family cabin, you have the flexibility to visit a different location every time you travel.
5. You Don’t Need to Leave the Driveway For the Kids to Feel Like They Are Having an Adventure
For longer trips, we’ll sometimes rent the trailer a day early so that we can get the camp gear and groceries stowed inside before we leave. This means that there’s legroom in the car where there used to be a pile of camping equipment underfoot. But the big bonus is that the kids love to sleep in the trailer even if it is just parked in the driveway. More than one cousin sleepover party happened before the tires ever started to roll.
6. You Need Access To The Great Outdoors To Be Truly Healthy
A trailer gives you direct access to the sights and sounds of nature right outside your door. Breathe in the scent of pine trees, open the windows to feel the summer breeze, and cook breakfast while you listen to the birds singing. Hiking trails, canoeing, fishing, and much more are all within walking distance.
7. It’s an Economical Way to Enjoy a Vacation, Even if Your Travel Group is Larger
For about $150-250 per night, you can sleep anywhere from 4 to 12 people in a camping trailer, and since you prepare your own food, you can vacation fairly economically in a rented trailer. You’ll even find unique rental opportunities on sites like airbnb.com where trailer owners allow you to rent their personal trailers that have been parked in exotic locations, giving you access to private beaches, or the perfect fishing hole you couldn’t reach via public access roads.
8. Families Bond When they Play Together
Maybe the most important reason for renting a trailer is simply to provide your family with the experience. If your spouse isn’t gung ho about “roughing it” but you love to be in the great outdoors together, if Grandma and Grandpa need better facilities and a softer bed in order to be able to join the family reunion, or if you just want a really great vacation in an exotic area where there’s no campground, trailer rental might be an option to consider carefully. With plenty of room to spread out during the day, you’ll enjoy making memories toasting s’mores, playing cards after dark, and singing around the campfire together.
