Traveling by R.V. - now this is the life

I recently decided to head down the road so to speak with some people I know in their monster mobile home or R.V. (recreational vehicle.) I had never been inside one of these goliaths while they were moving ever before and I gotta say "wow." The problem is now I really want one.

This particular beast has what i perceive to be, all the bells and whistles. As you can tell from the photo, it is massive - i would imagine it has the same chassis as a bus and from what i could tell it actually has a stronger suspension and more tires. When parked, two sections of it extend away from the motor-home to further enlarge the size of the living room, kitchen, and also bedroom. However, i did not sleep in it, but rather just hung out while we were going down the road. I sat up front and talked to the owners for the most part but I could have been sitting a number of other places or even lying down in a full-size bed :)

These people I know travel all over the country and get to stay in some pretty awesome places that would normally cost a lot of money for hotels or would involve staying in a tent. Some would say it is kind of like cheating at camping but whatever man, i think i would prefer the comfort even if a bit of judgement comes along with it. It can't really be seen as "saving money" on accommodation since these things can cost well over $100,000, but I can certainly relate to why someone would want one.

You may recall earlier I wrote about how great the Elk's Lodge was to be a member of and these folks told me that they frequently stay in the parking lots at an Elk's and their membership with the organization entitles them to do so for free.

The only downside that I could think of as far as one of these things is concerned is that it is enormous, and this couple were towing a full-size Jeep behind the RV as well - therefore you must be very careful when driving it. Furthermore, you definitely do not want to end up in areas with a bunch of traffic, because you are likely not going to be able to move / park without assistance. I was just a passenger so I didn't need to worry about such things.

Obviously it consumes a bunch of gas but after just one trip in this machine, I can say for sure that I really want one. Now I just need to figure out where I am going to get a hundred thousand dollars from. :)

It is my understanding that many countries allow for the rental of an RV (perhaps the USA does, i've never looked) and this seems like a wonderful way of seeing an entire country. If you have ever done that, i would be interested in hearing about it because I think I see such an adventure in my future.