RV Travel Popular With Baby Boomers
Baby boomers launch RV Boom
Whether you realize it or not us baby boomers are right smack in the middle of an RV boom! Travel trailers like the McKenzie Lakota (Native American word meaning dialect of the Sioux tribe) pictured here are selling like crazy to those of us baby boomers who want to venture out and discover the world - one mile at a time. And thanks to RV manufacturers like the folks at McKenzie you can have all the comforts of home - on the road!
RV growing popularity with baby boomers no surprise
Why it would surprise anyone, especially baby boomers, that RV travel is growing in popularity, is beyond me. After all it's the number one thing a boomer wants to do when they retire. You can read the article by Sharon OBrien in the Senior Living Section of About.com that inspired this commentary. It was written in July 2007 so it is relevant news that reinforces my views about a trend that I believe will not be too much affected by the current economic climate and/or the price of gas. I can only speak for myself as a soon-to-be-retired baby boomer that I have been looking forward to the purchase of my RV for a long time. I am less than four years away from retirement at age 62 (fingers crossed). After retiring I will not have an extravagant lifestyle, spending my days in a private golf club community, not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just not my style. An RV of some kind is in those plans and it's going to be fun and challenging to find it, negotiate the price, and drive it off the lot.
Full time RVers or bust?
Whether our RV turns out to be the kind where we sell the house and seriously downsize our knick-knacks, spending the rest of our days on the open road or a just a three-month romp with family and friends when the mood strikes, has yet to be determined. This is the one thing you need to figure out pretty quickly before you jump into any RV purchase. Is this case bigger is not necessarily better!
But even if I was retiring tomorrow I still wouldn't let the price of gas dictate where I go or how I do it. I am a baby boomer for pete's sake, I not only have money for gas to take me where I want to go but I like to eat out occasionally too! I don't intend to spend my money foolishly but I am not going the cheap route either. Am I going to be irrational like my mom and dad and do without so that I can save, save, save, and my kids can fight over it after I'm gone? No way, not this boomer!
Baby boomers hard work finally pays off!
After working so hard all those years, sometimes feeling trapped in suburbia, a three week vacation once a year, kids in school, kids at home, mortgage, PTA, clubs and the usual responsibilities it's time for the baby boomer to take a deep breath and think about themselves for a change. It stands to reason that the RV lifestyle would appeal to baby boomers, especially when you see today's RV's. There is almost nothing you can't have in the way of amenities and creature comforts in an RV, including spacious kitchens, showers & baths, TV and surround sound, storage and beautiful window treatments. An RV is your window to the world and your back yard changes like a scenic slide show with each new destination.
So why is it that RV Travel is so popular with baby boomers? Not just a fad but a strong and enduring appeal to the adventurous boomer.
*RV's are a great way to bring the family together and journeying to the outdoors teaches a respect for nature.
*RV's get you away from the city without sacrificing comfort, like having to sleep on the ground in a tent or using a public restroom.
*RV's will introduce you to a whole new circle of friends, other RVers who are there to help if you need it.
*Have you ever been snuggled up with your significant other in an RV when it rains?
It's a baby boomers world!
More than 11,000 boomers turn 50 every single day! And what market do you think the RV industry likes to target? Baby boomers, of course! When those boomers finally reach Boom Gra La after retiring from the grind they rush out and either rent or buy an RV, as evidenced by the dramatic rise in numbers of baby boomers loading up their RVs and taking to the road. Baby boomers are hitting the highways in their newly purchased traveling homes in record numbers. U.S. ownership of RVs is skyrocketing, and the trend is expected to continue for the next 25 years. Our country's very first baby boomer, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, born at two seconds after midnight on January 1st, 1946, is already cashing her retirement checks! The "Silver Tsunami" is coming!
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