Episodes

Diesel prices have soared past $6 a gallon, but are RVers canceling their trips and parking their rigs? Not according to our latest RV Lifestyle survey. In this week's RV Podcast News Edition, Mike Wendland reports on what hundreds of real RVers are saying about record-high diesel prices. We received 372 comments, and among roughly 300 people who directly answered our question, an overwhelming majority said they're either continuing to travel as planned or making adjustments to keep their RV ad...

They grew up camping together. Then life took them in different directions. Decades later, two sisters are finding their way back to each other, and back to the campground. In this week's RV Podcast, meet Joyce and Susan. One sister kept camping throughout her life. The other returned after losing her husband. Now she travels with caravans, takes solo trips, and shares camping adventures with her sister. We sat down with them outside their rigs at our RVCommunity Fall Rally in Pigeon Forge, Te...

The Federal Reserve says another interest rate hike is likely this year, and the RV industry is already hurting. Camping World sold 16 percent fewer new RVs and says it is "not satisfied with the result." Here is what higher rates mean if you are thinking about financing an RV. Also this week: Hurricane Isaias and Tropical Storm Rachel close campgrounds on the Gulf Coast and in Southern California Trump's red diesel order: why the White House pitch and the fine print don't match, and the late...

Three RVCommunity members wrote a song about life on the road and the feeling of finally pulling into your own driveway. They first played it at a campfire at our Smoky Mountains rally. Hear how it came together, the love story behind it, and the whole song, which you can download free. Also: an End-of-Season RV Shutdown Workshop reminder, why coming home after a long trip can feel like a letdown, and why your furnace drains your batteries on cold nights. Links: Download the song: https://rvl...

Is Harvest Hosts getting too big? Choice Hotels is buying the RV overnight membership company, and members are asking what comes next for prices, reservations and the small-business experience that made it popular. In the October 5, 2026 RV Podcast News Edition, Mike Wendland examines the deal, the membership growth and the questions RVers should ask before renewing. Also this week: Class B camper van makers are changing hands. We examine the ownership changes at Midwest Automotive Designs an...

John and Cindy are taking their RV across the country on Route 66, and high fuel prices are not stopping them. In this Stories from the Road edition of the RV Podcast, Mike and Jennifer Wendland talk with the couple about their trip, the cost of fuel, and why they decided to keep going. It is a firsthand look at what a Route 66 adventure means to RVers who are determined to make the miles count. Would today's fuel prices change your travel plans? Tell us in the comments.

More than 80 RVers made it to our Smoky Mountains rally despite diesel prices as high as $7.27 a gallon along the way. Mike reports what they are saying about fuel costs, RV quality, and noticeably quieter campgrounds. In this episode: What rally attendees paid for diesel Hershey attendance and the outlook for Elkhart Forest River's new rules for content creators The legal challenge to the Patrick-Lippert merger Proposed national forest access changes When to see fall color in the Smokies...

Mark and Barb Douyard, 72 and 77, rented out their Delaware home, packed up their fifth wheel and set off on a two-year RV adventure across North America. We talk with them in the middle of their first year about how they made it happen, what surprised them, what has been hard, and what has been the best part so far. Also this week: Jennifer answers a listener whose husband wants to go winter camping in their Class B van, and Mike explains why October mountain campsites are so hard to find and h...

Hershey drew its biggest opening-day crowd since 2021 while RV shipments stayed down almost 14 percent for the year. We separate the show buzz from the industry numbers and show you where the leverage is if you are shopping this fall. Also: Alliance RV opens its Elkhart Open House to the public for the first time, the BLM reviews a dozen AI data center proposals on public land, the Lippert and Patrick merger hits an antitrust delay, and Elon Musk moves into an Airstream in Memphis. Full transc...

We flew to Atlanta for a family wedding instead of taking the RV, and the two hour flight turned into an eight hour day. In this episode we run the real numbers on driving the rig versus flying and getting a hotel, with diesel now over six dollars a gallon, and we land on the one question that actually decides it. We cover why flying saves you almost nothing on a trip under about 500 miles, what 1,400 miles costs in a 14 mile per gallon diesel Class C now compared to a year ago, what the world'...

Diesel hit $6.05 a gallon Friday. That has never happened before. Not in 2008. Not in 2022. Never. I paid $6.29 in Michigan the morning I recorded this. California stations are posting $9.99. Then Thor Industries dropped a leadership shakeup Thursday night and never mentioned the man who has run Keystone for a decade. Sources close to the company tell me Jeff Runels is out, effective that day, and that big changes are coming to Keystone. All of it lands the same week America's Largest RV Show ...

After years of traveling almost entirely in fifth wheels, Mike and Jennifer added a second rig: a new-to-us 2026 Winnebago View, 25 feet long. They took it to Michigan's Upper Peninsula last week, and it changed how they traveled. The Brinkley isn't going anywhere. But somewhere in those years of towing 35 feet, they quietly stopped wandering, and never noticed they'd stopped. In this conversation they walk through the five things the small motorhome gave back, from pulling over anywhere to n...

Judy Feigel was already an RVer before her husband died. Short trips, sometimes with her granddaughter, sometimes with a group of women friends. A small thing that was hers. When her huband died four years ago, the question wasn't what to do about the RV. It was what to do with the rest of her life. Four years and four RVs later, she's in a rig with a music studio and a quilting studio built into it, traveling with a 100-pound Bernese mountain dog named Winston, and surrounded by a community s...

RV parks are quietly turning into industrial worker housing. A $100 billion SpaceX spaceport in Louisiana and a wave of data center construction in Texas and the Midwest are filling campgrounds with long-term crews, and recreational campers are the ones getting squeezed out. In this week's Monday News Edition: RVs as work camps. SpaceX announces a $100 billion spaceport in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, new RV parks are expected to house the construction crews, a Texas park near Abilene advertis...

Alaska tops the RVer bucket list every year, and most people never go, because the logistics look like too much. Jim and Marcia Badhorn skipped the caravan and planned their own 90 day Alaska trip, and they just got back. They tell us how they planned it, what had to be booked ahead, what they would change, and what it is actually like out there on your own. Also this week: we are camping for the first time all summer after Jennifer's knee replacement, we are heading to an RVCommunity mini mee...

California has charged 14 people over the Montana LLC scheme, the same sales tax strategy being sold to RV buyers at shows across the country. Montana law says it is legal. The state where you park may disagree, and investigators are now checking RV storage lots for those plates. Also this week: Roadtrek's new owners announce two new Ford Transit Class B models and a major service partner. What the US-Canada tariff fight is doing to Canadian RV builders, and why the uncertainty costs you money ...

What should you expect when you call for RV roadside assistance? Mike and Jennifer go behind the scenes with Jerry Aldridge, founder and former president and CEO of Coach-Net, to learn how an emergency call is handled, how the right service provider is found, and why help can sometimes take longer than RVers expect. Jerry also shares the story behind Coach-Net and his new book, The Road to Coach-Net. Also in this episode, Jennifer reports on her progress six weeks after knee-replacement surgery...

Winnebago Industries is closing two RV manufacturing plants and moving production into other facilities with unused capacity. The company calls it a "strategic manufacturing alignment." We call it what it is: contraction in an RV industry that is deep in the woods. Also in this RV Podcast News Edition: Used RV values are up 11 percent from a year ago, and we took our own advice. We just bought a used small motorhome as a second RV. We are keeping our Brinkley fifth wheel for longer trips, whil...

Fall may be the best RV camping season of the year, but it is no longer a well-kept secret. October campsites are filling quickly as Halloween weekends, fall foliage trips and seasonal festivals turn autumn into one of camping's busiest seasons. In Episode 634 of the RV Podcast, Stories from the Road, Mike and Jennifer explain why RVers should make the pivot from summer to fall camping right now. They share strategies for finding campsites after popular weekends appear sold out, including booki...

It is officially an RV buyer's market. New RV sales are falling, dealer inventories remain high, and manufacturers are cutting forecasts. For RV shoppers, that means something we have not seen in quite a while: real negotiating leverage. But a buyer's market does not automatically mean every RV is a good deal. In this week's RV Podcast News Edition, we dig into what is happening at RV dealerships, why so many 2026 models remain unsold, what buyers should be paying attention to with financing, ...

After years of RV travel, thousands of camping nights, and more gear than we'd like to admit, we've finally learned an important lesson: the most expensive gadgets aren't always the ones that improve your RV lifestyle. In this episode, Mike and Jennifer share the RV purchases they'd happily buy again tomorrow, along with the products they wish they'd skipped entirely. From washer and dryers, lithium batteries, solar power, mattresses, dash cams, air fryers, and cordless tire inflators to gravi...

Camping World is cutting another $100 million in costs. What does that mean for RV owners? In this week's RV Podcast News, Mike Wendland looks beyond the headlines to explain why Camping World's latest announcement could matter the next time you need service for your RV. Also this week: Camping World lowers its sales forecast as the RV market continues to soften A tariff break brings some welcome news for RV manufacturers Why your next RV trip could cost hundreds of dollars more than last s...

Retirement isn't the end of the adventure. For many RVers, it's just the beginning. In this episode of the RV Podcast, Mike and Jennifer Wendland celebrate the release of their new book, The Complete Guide to RVing in Retirement: What to Expect at Every Age, and share some of its most valuable lessons. They discuss what RV life typically looks like through each stage of retirement, from the Bucket List Years to the Sweet Spot, the Adjustment Years, and beyond. Along the way, they explain the 3...

This week, Mike examines a string of reckless incidents in America's national parks, from Yellowstone "tourons" walking across fragile thermal features to dangerous wildlife encounters that could have been avoided. He also questions the RV industry's growing optimism after spending time in Elkhart and seeing signs that manufacturers are still slowing production while inventories remain high. Plus: • An AI-powered fake RV dealership scam targeting buyers on Facebook • Roadtrek's latest owners...