This time last year, road tripping across the country in a motorhome wasn’t the kind of vacation many families had in mind.
Summer adventures were already set for some, including Dr. Joanna and Bryan Drowos of Boca Raton, who couldn’t wait for their trip to Israel with their two children. Flights were booked and all other arrangements had been made.
But then, the pandemic hit. Airplanes were grounded. Countries closed their borders. Cruise ships were docked. And families, including the Drowos crew, found themselves cooped up at home with quashed plans and, eventually, the yearning to get away. So they did what many others decided to do - they rented a recreational vehicle, otherwise known as an RV, and explored the good ole’ USA.
“Neither of us grew up camping. It was never on our radar,” said Joanna, a family medicine physician and associate dean for faculty affairs at FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. “But it was a way where we could still do something nice for our family. For us, there are all kinds of silver linings of the pandemic and this is one of them.”
When COVID-19 rocked the nation in March, would-be travelers stayed home, fearful of getting the virus, and travel companies began to panic. Pandemic-related travel restrictions were enforced and people with booked vacations were flooding phone lines to cancel trips. RV rental companies such as Allstar Coaches in Fort Lauderdale were in limbo.
“It was dead for three months,” said Rob Tischler, president & CEO of Allstar Coaches, a luxury, Class A motorhome rental service with locations throughout the United States.
In May, things began to look up for some places. State and national parks were allowed to reopen as long as they followed social distancing guidelines - and that was enough to trigger a surge in RV travel, one that Tischler was relieved to welcome.
“It was like somebody hit a switch,” he said. “Normally in the summer, we average 50 calls a day. After May, it was 500 a day. We were a bit overwhelmed.”
But in a good way.
While many businesses had to close their doors due to lack of customers, RV rental bookings began to skyrocket.
Outdoorsy, a global RV rental company, experienced a whopping 90 percent cancellation rate the first few months of 2020 because of the pandemic. But even that didn’t keep them from having an amazing year. “Bookings surged in 2020, leading to the company’s best year on record, with a more than 4,500 percent increase in bookings throughout the course of the pandemic,” said spokesperson April Cumming.
Nearly 90 percent of the customers were first-time RVers hoping for a vacation without hotel stays and restaurant meals.
Some of the calls into Tischler’s South Florida office were from customers whose parents were visiting Florida for the winter. Those snowbirds usually return to their northern homes in the spring, and their families either didn’t want them to fly or flights couldn’t be booked. So for a fee, Tischler provided drivers for his motorhomes so his older clients could relax.
Other clients were looking for an upscale apartment on wheels that they could take across the country.
‘No limit’ on options
Tischler’s fleet of motorhomes are all in the Class A category, which means they provide many of the amenities of home, and are great for long periods of travel. Many cater to families, where bunk beds, a bedroom, a bathroom (sometimes two) and a washer and a dryer are at your disposal. Others cater to business clients, with a more executive floor plan including desks and high-end furniture. Most of the RVs have tracking satellites and 24-hour phone access to technical support assistance.
“We’ve had clients who are billionaires who want to get in the coach with their family and just go and they don’t want any special services,” Tischler said. “Others want an itinerary planned. We have requests for catering, we can stock it up with everything they need. There’s really no limit.”
While there are plenty of options when it comes to renting an RV, there are also plenty of choices when it comes to where to travel.
And one of the best ways to learn about amazing destinations is to ask experienced RV travelers, such as the Drowos family.
Before 2020, this family may have scoffed at the suggestion of exploring the country in an RV. They liked the outdoors, but they preferred to fly to destinations, stay in hotels and enjoy the city life.
Fast forward to today and Joanna and Bryan can tell you just about anything you need to know when it comes to traveling in a motorhome with two children: theirs are 8 and 10 years old.
When they first decided to rent a motorhome, they chose a 28-foot, Class C RV. Bryan watched videos to learn how to drive and work the vehicle while Joanna planned the trip. Class C RVs have sleeping space above the cab and most also include a futon and a bed in the back. With the help of a Facebook group, Joanna was not only able to create a detailed packing list, she was also able to create the perfect itinerary.
The Drowos family spent three weeks last June on a road trip to Niagara Falls in upstate New York. They cooked most of their meals outside on their grill, stopped at Walmart when they needed supplies and learned little tidbits about RV life, for example that unbreakable dishes are a must and when you can’t get Wi-Fi access, you can always get a signal from a hotel parking lot.
When they arrived at Niagara Falls, it was bittersweet for Joanna because she grew up in Toronto and her family lives about an hour from the Canadian border. However, she couldn’t visit them because the borders were closed due to the pandemic. So the family recorded and sent a video of themselves waving from the falls, sending her Canadian family wishes of love.
“To be a couple hours away from my family and not to be able to cross was so weird,” she said.
But that was one of the caveats of traveling during a pandemic. Other negatives included the temporary closing of some popular tourist spots, the family avoiding dining in restaurants and having to wear masks outdoors.
But there were also some perks.
Because the number of people admitted to tourist spots that were open was significantly lower because of social-distancing guidelines, the family was able to avoid crowds as they enjoyed sites like popular waterfalls.
“Most of the pictures, when you look at them, you think we’re the only people there,” Joanna said.
From the Grand Canyon to the Florida Keys
The Drowos’ experience was such a memorable one that not long after they returned from their road trip, they found themselves wanting to travel in an RV again. That prompted them to start shopping for a motorhome of their own and now they are the proud owners of a 40-foot Tiffin Allegro Class A RV, complete with a laundry area and a fireplace.
Since their purchase, they’ve traveled to Georgia and hiked in state parks. They’ve enjoyed the crystal blue water of the Florida Keys and spent weekends visiting the state’s west coast. But perhaps their most exciting trip was in October, when they spent the month driving to the Grand Canyon.
Since both Joanna and her husband had the ability to work remotely and since their children were in virtual school, it was the perfect situation. Joanna started researching again and found some magical campgrounds along the way, their favorite being the Watchman Campground in Utah’s Zion National Park.
There are tons of things that Joanna and Bryan have learned about RV travel the past nine months, but one thing that stands out is the kindness they’ve received from others. They’ve met families who live in their motorhome full-time, retirees who spend half the year traveling the country and plenty of other experienced RVers, most who are willing to help others.
“That’s very much the RV culture,” Joanna said. “People are very thoughtful. They take care of each other.”
‘More travelers now than ever’
And that’s a good thing, especially now that an influx of newbies are on the road, all learning to navigate this travel lifestyle.
“We have more travelers now than ever,” said Maddi Bourgerie, a spokesperson for RVshare, a nationwide RV rental marketplace. “People turn to RVs as a way to get out of the house, but still social distance. Our demand has been so huge that we’ve been constrained on supply, especially during the holiday weekends.”
Bourgerie predicts that RV travel will remain popular throughout 2021 because people like the Drowos family are showing others just how fun it can be.
Their adventures have influenced others to try camping in an RV as well, and now Joanna watches her friends rent motorhomes, all wanting to experience this different way of travel.
She recalls when she and her husband first began to talk about planning a road trip in an RV and it seemed liked a crazy idea at the time. But that one idea has made it possible for the Drowoses to make some amazing memories, ones that they otherwise would never have had.
All thanks, ironically, to a global pandemic.
“I want our kids to look back on this time, and remember how much fun we had,” Joanna said. “I want them to remember, ‘that was the year we camped.’”
Packing Essentials
Not sure what to bring for an RV trip besides clothing, toiletries and food? Below is a list to help get you started. Happy travels!
- An outdoor rug to help keep the dirt outside
- Camping chairs
- A grill and charcoal or propane canisters
- Grilling tools
- Flashlights/extra batteries
- Bug repellent
- A vinyl table cloth to cover the site’s picnic table
- Paper products and food storage bags
- Cooking spray
- Aluminum foil and aluminum foil pans
- Skillets and mixing bowls
- Kitchen tools such as tongs, spatulas, knives
- A bottle opener/can opener
- Sponges/dish soap
- A drying rack
- Antibacterial wipes
- Trash bags
- First-aid kit
- Sunscreen
- RV-friendly toilet paper
- Portable battery chargers/cords and plugs
- Sheets and pillows
Top Florida Camping Destinations in 2020
- The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, Orlando
- Ginnie Springs Outdoors, High Springs
- Hanna Park Campground, Jacksonville
- Fort De Soto Park Campground, Tierra Verde
- Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park, Jacksonville
- Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach
- Hillsborough River State Park, Thonotosassa
- Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Hobe Sound
- Long Point Park, Melbourne Beach
- Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park & Campground, Live Oak