Cost of Living vs Cost of Camping

Out of curiosity and since I keep pretty good records and since I have a lot of time on my hands, I looked up what we spent on camping during our first year of full timing in 2013 and then compared those prices to what it would now cost in 2020.

Short answer: More.

On average about 13% more: $35.84/day in 2013 vs $40.51/day in 2020. By the way, according to Social Security the Cost of Living went up 8.4% from 2013 to 2019.

From April through October 2013 we stayed at 37 campgrounds. All but 6 of these campgrounds have increased their prices. One of the six stayed the same and the other 5 campgrounds actually lowered their prices. These 5 were mostly state or county campgrounds.

However, the other 32 campgrounds raised their prices. While the median increase is between 25% – 29%, the highest increase was over 200%.

On Another Note . . .

People keep telling me online that they never or seldom make campground reservations. I wish them luck. Each year we find it increasingly difficult to get into campgrounds without reserving in advance.

So this announcement really didn’t surprise me . . .