Blog Recommendation...Slow Sally & Crew presents a Realistic Picture of Class B Travel

 

Slow Sally & Crew is an interesting blog for those who own or are interested in vintage Class B van life. Nat and Marc are a Canadian couple traveling in a 1994 Dodge Roadtrek. They travel throughout North and Central America with their dog,Walter. 

Their most recent post, "Vanlife: the Mundane, the Bad, and the Ugly," is especially good. It was posted on February 17, 2024 and offers interesting details from their travels that present a more realistic picture of what happens when a couple and their dog take off for adventures.

RV Shipments for 2023

Data from the RV Industry Association’s monthly survey of manufacturers for December was recently posted and the numbers continue to reflect weakness in the industry.  

RVIA reported that RV shipments through December 2023 with 313,174 units, a decrease of (-36.5%) compared to the 493,268 units shipped in 2022 and a decrease of (-47.8%) from peak shipments of 600,240 at the end of 2021.

You can see in the second chart that towable RVs, particularly travel trailers with almost two-thirds of shipments (65.6%), make up the bulk of RV shipments in 2023. 

Together, conventional travel trailers plus 5th wheels comprised (82.7%) of all RV shipments in 2023.

Motorhomes represented 14.6% of RV shipments in 2023 and Class Cs account for just over one-half of the motorhome shipments (52.6%). 

Class B or van campers surpassed Class A shipments in 2023. The overall Class B shipments of 11,932 in 2023 represent (3.8 %) of all RV shipments. 

Class B shipments in 2023 represented (26.0%) of all motorhome shipments, a decrease from the peak of (29.1%) of motorhome shipments in 2022.

While relatively small when compared with other categories, Class B shipments are over 5 times what there were back in 2012. 

Comment below if you have any insights and observations or have questions and suggestions. While we are longtime campers, I do not work in the RV industry. I initially pulled together the numbers as a Covid lockdown project and maintain them now as a hobby.

Mid-December Day at Graham Cave State Park

 I'm playing around with StoryMaps as a tool for pulling together information from our walks. I downloaded data file from AllTrails as .GPX file. Then, uploaded the file into StoryMaps and added photos to create this post from a walk last week.  

I'll appreciate your feedback or if you know of other software tools people can use to better integrate information. You can leave your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks!!

Older Roadtrek 190 Featured by FMCA

The Family Motor Coach Association published a couple of short sketches on two van owners November 20, 2023, "The Travel Van: Where Compact Comfort Meets Adventure,"

One of the featured vans is an older Roadtrek 190 purchased by a woman, Mary, after her husband passed away. She notes that her Roadtrek offers comfortable sleeping, a small kitchen area, and a bathroom. I found it interesting that Mary sometimes uses her Roadtrek a base camp where she can grab her backpack to hike. 

One of the pleasures of our Roadtrek is this ability to park at a trailhead so we have access to our bathroom and can return after hiking to enjoy a pleasant meal or snack.

Roadtrek Family Featured

The November 2023 issue of Family RVing offers an interesting article by William H. Roberts, "The Roberts Family Loves RVing." 

Roberts describes the family's experiences after they purchased their first Roadtrek, a 190 Versatile, after 2000 and a second 1999 190 Popular ten years later. 

The family of five, was initially attracted to the Roadtrek for pulling a boat and for its compact size.

RV Shipments through July 2023

Data from the RV Industry Association’s July 2023 survey of manufacturers was recently posted and the numbers reflect a continuing downward trend in the number of recreational vehicles shipped to dealers.  

RVIA reported that RV shipments ended July 2023 with 20,520 units, a decrease of (-30.5%) compared to the 29,528 units shipped in July 2022.

For the seven months of 2023 ending in July, total units shipped reached 183,927, significantly below the yearlong totals of 600,240 and 493,268 for the peak year of 2021 and 2022 respectively.

You can see in the second chart that towable RVs, particularly travel trailers with 81.6%, make up the bulk of shipments so far in 2023. These numbers also reflect the increasing popularity of travel travel trailers over the past decade.

While Class Cs account for just over one-half of the motorhome shipments, Class B or van campers have surpassed Class A shipments so far in 2023. The overall Class B shipments of 7,524 so far in 2023 represent 4.1 % of all shipments. Class B shipments, while relatively small when compared with other categories, are over 5 times what there were back in 2012. 

U.S. 54

 U.S. 54 is an east–west United States highway that runs northeast–southwest for 1,197 miles from El Paso, Texas, to Griggsville, Illinois.

For a brief period from 1942 to 1971, US 54 reached downtown Chicago.

U.S. 54 runs through our home of Fulton, MO and we'll be occasionally posting content highlighting our travels on the highway. I created a Facebook page at https://facebook.com/USHighway54 where you can also follow along.

There is also a folder on Pinterest where I am saving postcards and other images that reflect life along U.S. Highway 54.