RV Help Please!

[shonaeire]

Hi

My 2 friends and I are first time Burners and were naive enough not to book an RV before getting our tickets, we are now struggling to find one for less than $6k and our budget is, max, $3.5k. Can anyone please offer advice? We are flying in from London and Australia so pretty flexible where we pick one up from but SF, LV and Reno are all fully booked up. Haven't been able to find anything in LA either...

Any words of wisdom would be hugely appreciated!

Shona x

[AntiM]

Look at Boise ID and Salt Lake City UT.

Honestly, 3.5K would buy some kickasss tents and shade. You could prearrange to donate them to someone who could use them in the future and haul them off the playa. Why are folks so afraid of tents? Unless you have medical conditions, then that is understandable.

[chuckularone]

Honestly, 3.5K would buy some kickasss tents and shade.

No doubt! I wish I had that kind of camping equipment budget!

[TT120]

Try looking around Sacramento and the surrounding area.

[FlyingMonkey]

I'm not questioning how you chose to Burn but why are you so set on an RV? Have you considered a truck or van? I would think at this point a U-Haul would be much easier to reserve than an RV (not that it is all that close yet). But I have also heard people say the "local" rental companies are wise to people renting during that time of year & either refuse to rent, or charge a lot to get all the dust out of the vehicle after you return it. All that has been covered pretty well in other threads.

Have you ever driven/used an RV before? Since this is your first Burn have you considered things like having a plan to deal with black/gray water leaks & spills (poop water is Moop water), are you going to put a tarp under the whole vehicle to protect the Playa, will you have time to make sure you can get it acceptably clean for the dealer and not get charged an arm & leg for cleaning fees?

How much water will it hold, how much do you need? Do you need to fill the LP tank or is that covered? Does the company have any stipulations about taking it "off road"?

I have a bus that I may or may not be taking this year. Sometimes the idea of just taking my van & tenting seems really appealing.

Either way good luck & be safe.

[Fidget]

The further away you get the better your luck of finding one but the more gas and mileage costs you'll pay.
If that's not terrible for you, Portland, Seattle or even Vancouver (where I'm coming from) are options - and the drive down is beautiful.

[happydragon]

This is a little dated (from 2010) but I rented from Cruisa America in La Mesa, Ca (near San Diego) - a 37ft RV cost me $3500 for the week and change.

[Aurelia]

stop whining about an RV

look into other better options such as tents or hexayurts,


xoA.

[retro_revolver]

Hi Shona

Im also a first time burner traveling from far away lands (Australia). I started looking at RV's well before I got my ticket and wish I booked one then as they were much cheaper. After countless hours spent online, thinking we got 1 then finding out they had overbooked (this happened 3 times!) and emails and phone calls back and forth overseas, I finally booked one in SF. I used the website moterhomerepublic.com, They have a large number of other RV companys they book through and are based in New Zealand. Also try campertravelusa.com, they emailed me a week ago with availibilty. If you havent already try those sites out.

Good luck and dont give up. Theres always other options

[Eric]

stop whining about an RV

Wow - this from someone who posts "be nice" in every other thread. You actually managed to shock me - I don't know if I'm happy or sad to discover you can be as ... impolite ... as the rest of us.


Shona - if you feel more comfortable in an RV, go for it. Feel free to ignore the anti-RV grousers, there has been an eternal argument over whether you can really "get" Burning Man if you stay in an RV (interestingly, the only people who have this opinion have never done it in RV's). I've been in an RV every year since I've gone, I'll be in one again this year. Anyone who doesn't like it doesn't have to stay in one.

There are plenty of threads on ePlaya on the "how-to" of camping in an RV (remember - you have to be fully self-contained, there are zero external hook-ups like power or water): use the search window at the top & just enter "RV"

As for location, I'm with AntiM & Fidget - I'd look away from SF, LA or Reno because they're going to be more booked, and probably charge more. It's a holiday weekend in the US, so rates will be higher anyway, and the drive from Salt Lake or Boise (or Portland, Seattle or Phoenix) isn't horrible.

[Aurelia]

the several RV years have been my worst years

expectations were escalated and yet distanced from the reality of the event

[Eric]

expectations were escalated and yet distanced from the reality of the event

Thus the reason "no expectations" is one of the most frequent mantra's you hear. I've never felt distanced from the event in the slightest, and the only expectations I have with an RV is that I'll (probably) have a working fridge & microwave and (most likely) will have air-conditioning at some point. However, we've had a couple jank RV's that failed even those basics, so I tend to be pretty zen about it.

[theCryptofishist]

... so I tend to be pretty zen about it.

What, no loud arguing with d_g?

[theCryptofishist]

Although, I do not see much rending of garments in your case.

[Aurelia]

and Eric , if you have only attended in an RV , that speaks a great deal to your sense of "how"

Whereas I am able to say that I have divergent realities.

Consider expanding yourself , Dear Shona, as a portion of the experience.

xoA.

[Eric]

Although, I do not see much rending of garments in your case.

There will be no rending of my garments, unless they are already falling apart (like my punk-rock Santa coat that The Boyfriend just made me throw out - after 34 years of hard wear...)

[ProfessorChaos]

The further away you get the better your luck of finding one but the more gas and mileage costs you'll pay.
If that's not terrible for you, Portland, Seattle or even Vancouver (where I'm coming from) are options - and the drive down is beautiful.

Seattlite here- no luck. The dealerships are tapped out for the next 2 years up here and the individuals who rent theirs out have figured out this week is BM and don't bother renting during the week because of the costs/ware & tear. Head something on reddit about some people in LA who were going to try and buy one for the week cheap and then flip it when they head home. Said they did it last year and paid for the whole trip. Just a thought...

[lucky420]

try Craigslist Reno. lots of people here rent their rv's out for BM. I do not make any guarantee as to the condition, etc of any rv/trailer that you may find to rent there...

[markdavidhartley]

I have an RV booked in SF that I no longer want. If you are still interested I can ask them if they can do a transfer on the booking? It's within your budget...

[ProfessorChaos]

I have an RV booked in SF that I no longer want. If you are still interested I can ask them if they can do a transfer on the booking? It's within your budget...

Bump for awesomeness. Can you provide some dets?

[AntiM]

Details in PM only please.

[ProfessorChaos]

Details in PM only please.

My mistake. Thanks AntiM!

[AntiM]

S'alright, we have to puppy train everyone at some point.

[ProfessorChaos]

S'alright, we have to puppy train everyone at some point.