Cheap Van Life Living - Thousand Trails RV Membership
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- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- Today we meet Kim who has a membership in the Thousand Trail Campground System and is very pleased with it--it works great for her! However, it's a little complicated and it is NOT for everyone, so pay close attention to the video to decide if it is for you or not!!
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Thanks for watching!
Everyone has their comfort zone, she knows her limits. Good for her.
well said
Bob, you are such a non-judgmental, all inclusive, caring human being. You were so supportive of this lady. It’s a pleasure to watch your videos!
Judy Abernathy
Bob is the Best! I totally understand his presentations and appreciate his knowledge.
MTrefiner - Jealous, I see. In a world of people so quick to judge such as yourself, it is with great joy that I give Bob the compliment I did. You should try it sometime. Positive words seem to help everyone.
MTrefiner - Was going to respond, but then I realized you can’t fix stupid!
MTrefiner - Blessings to you , as well.
@@CarolCox211 ALL HAIL THE BOB!!!
As a single woman RVer, I completely understand her security concerns.
Thats what guns are for. The great equalizer.
We were vandalized by other members for telling on them for having a huge banned fire. They should have been evicted per TT rules but weren’t. Sense of security is false at TT. Cost us $1200 to replace & repair wheels that were vandalized in retaliation.
Was at Rancho Oso TT CA.
Trip Wires that use 22 bullets don’t kill. Cameras in conjunction. Gun last resort
@@thegoodtom1718 I agree. Everyone I know who has a gun has had terrible tragedies including children and other family members accidentially killed .
We are Thousand Trails members and we love it. We started with the zone pass and upgraded to the elite pass. The nice thing about the elite pass is that in addition to the 21 day stay park to park, you can make reservation 120 days in advance. I have never had a problem making reservation.
same here. wife had surgery in Florida, we have been here for a year and paid nothing for resorts, and used about 3/4 tank of gas for the year.
Thanks for the information. It sound very interesting to someone like me.
we bought the Elite package and for another $200 they added all the encore resorts. you can go on their website and look at the map where resorts are.
until now Jeannine. Internet hug now applied to Thousand Trails as 10000 people buy memberships and try to get into the parks. lol. Hope it does not happen.
I didn't see Colorado in any of the zones.
Love my TT membership! She forgot to mention how you can just visit a park that's full for use of their amenities.
I've picked up fresh water and dumped my tanks for free as well as hang out in the pool for the afternoon without having a booked site.
That has helped out so much during the summer when these parks are very busy.
SEOforHire Thank you do much for that interesting tip about day use. Wow! One more good place to dump and get fresh water. And use the pool and hang out. Terrific!
And so far all of them I have been to on the east coast have Laundry and Stores on premise, some better than others and I tend to like the one's with the hot tub next to the laundry ;-)
i believe this is for the upper grade memberships. You can visit a resort and use their facilities even though you are not staying there.
That's interesting information!
As full timers with a membership in TT since 1984 we love our membership. We often swap back and forth between two or three parks continuously. We can stay 14 days, swap to another park and do another 14 days with no breaks between. We pay two bucks a night, 50 nights a year free and a yearly fee of only about 500. Older memberships are the way to go, just really read and study comparisons on contracts. The parks vary greatly, some are parking lot style, some are great campgrounds with space between. All seem to have laundry, pools, rec areas, many have small stores. We mix it up with some boondocking but really like having the membership in the winters especially as we use electric heaters and pay no generator fees or propane except for our oven, we even use an electric hot plate as a stove. Another thing to consider is the length of time you can make your reservations, we have 120 days we can make reservations if we wish, meaning like now I have reserved nights all the way to January. So I know where I will be and don't have to worry about full parks. Some memberships only give you 60 days and parks can fill up... I hope this was helpful to someone. Cheryl
you have the best of the older contracts....i wonder how difficult it is to find that same type now...
Great share, I'm considering a 14 day park to park with no fees per day. Right now I have a 2 zone membership with the collections package which I also like. Hope to upgrade to the bigger package at the end if the year
Thanks for sharing Cheryl
Our used Elite membership was $3850.00 including the transfer fee. It allows us to stay 21 days in a park and we can either move out of the TT system for 7 days and go back to the same park or we can go directly to another TT park for 7 to 21 days then go back to our original park. Bottom line 21 days in a particular park and you must be out of that particular park for 7 days no cheating the system. Only been using it full time for 3 months but has saved us money so far. Figure $250-$350 per week in a regular rv park. You can do the math and see it would not take long to pay for the membership and then you are only responsible for the annual dues which mine are currently $556 per year and yes they can creep up. We used Campground Membership outlet to purchase ours. RV Love has a complete article on what to look for when buying a TT membership. Happy Trails....
Cheryl Ownbey 👍 ty
Actually one of the most informative video I have seen regarding RV living. Maybe because it was real, off the cuff, and not rehearsed.
She is staying within her comfort zone. That's great. So much better than someone afraid of the dark coming out to the boonies and crowding the first hermit they find.
Some of us are not people kind of people.
I am totally with Kim. My level of Terror and anxiety would be through the roof. I would definitely do what Kim is doing if I ever went this RV Living Route.
I like the annual New Mexico State Park pass for $220, with $5 a day (extra) for electricity.
If you don't need elec, you can't beat that deal. they provide water, toilets, dumping & showers in the pass price
Cyn Ho -- There's a 14-day standard limit. Plus, other states have similar deals.
but it's my understanding that you can go from park to park every 14 days - New Mexico is probably too cold in the winter but with it's elevation would be great about 270 days a year.
Cyn Ho -- Yes; that's the way they work. ...kinda nice. It even gets cold in Southern NM. There's always something 😂.
I like that many of these parks have lakes you can fish in and HOT showers. Looks like the worst case is mid 20's at night low 50's as a high. Not sure if that is too cold for a couple months.
It varies by park but you can stay the 7 day "out of system" time still in the park and pay for that week. You could stay at a park for 5 weeks and actually just pay for one. Point is, you don't always have to physically vacate the park. You just have to be out of their (1000 trails) system for a week and if you're paying for that week yourself, you are therefor out of system. Many parks will allow you to do this. All you have to do is ask .
Wow! Another excellent tip! She could do that and avoid buying the annual $3000 pass.
Good idea!! Think I will try that one of these days.
Now that is a great bit of info right there... :)
Thanks for this great tip!
Case in point - I just booked 5 weeks in Apache Junction area for $200. First 2 weeks N/C, next week out of pocket $200 (with Thousand Trails discount) and the last 2 weeks N/C. And I don't even have to change sites! Same site for 5 weeks full hookups for $200.
What a nice lady. This seems to work for her. Like every other membership plan there are pluses and minuses. I admire her courage to forge ahead in spite of her fears.
I've been a full member for 15 years. Did a lot of traveling with my wife before she passed away. Dues are frozen but the annual service fee does tend to creep up every year (about $25). My break even point is about 14 nights. With the prices of campgrounds anymore I think that number is going down. I plan to travel with my fur-ever buddy this summer for a few weeks and all the lodging is pre-paid. Some campgrounds charge 50 cents a night for 50 amps. In my experience I have found that when the park is close to being full the ranger highlights where the vacant spots are, if they don't assign you a space. If there is a problem with cleanness in a rest room or shower, tell a ranger. They usually have it taken care of promptly.
I like Bob because he almost always thinks that regardless of the info presented "it is a good deal". Even when tell him their gas mileage he says "that's awesome". He's a good host.
this lady has an awesome vibe! glad to hear someone that is new to the full time life style is loving it, hoping I will too!
I was able to buy my membership from a friend who just wanted me to pay transfer fee of $750 and my yearly fee is $665 which includes all 5 zones. My friend wanted to upgrade her membership to the Elite so she made me a deal I couldn't refuse. She also bought her Elite membership used
Thanks Bob & Kim, My friend Mel has a lifetime membership and he just loves it. He's been saving lots staying at 1K Trails and hopes to recoup his upfront cost within a year or two. Some parks he reports are less then desirable but he puts up with the negatives like Kim. Safe Travels Bob & Kim
Very interested and informative. I like pools. Haha might look into this!
What a lovely bubbly personality. I really enjoyed watching and some good information on another option.
Thousand Trails is not for everyone and it's far from perfect, but where else can you have access to a national network of campgrounds with (mostly) full hookups for pennies on the dollar? I have to remain on the east side of the country for my work and since there are very limited boondocking/public land options in this region Thousand Trails fills that gap with cheap places to camp. If I had to stay at privately owned RV parks and state parks I'd spend an average of $1000/mo. So even though I shelled out the big bucks for a premium membership it still pays for itself within the first year. I look at it as an investment because by year #2 and beyond my cost is $1.55/night 365 days/year. Can't beat that!
Bob is amazing, always helping others.
Thank Bob and friend for this video, I am new to r.ving, and am more inclined to campgrounds than boondocking, but am still working too. Good info
I like the idea of a zone pass. Because it's not so expensive, I wouldn't feel bad if I didn't stay at a park for a month or two here and there. I would hate to be limited to just the states I have a pass or passes for. I like to travel. Thanks for this video. Excellent info!!!!
We are new full time RV’ers and joined TT in May of this year. We absolutely love it! We have the elite membership and can stay for 3 weeks at a time at any TT Park in the entire country year round with no time out of the system. One thing not mentioned in the video is that you can pay your annual dues monthly (around $38 per month for a zone pass). Even with the elite membership, you can finance that as well (everyone is approved!) so you can pay less than $170 per month total for the loan and dues and stay year round in any TT in the county for 3 weeks at a time. After a few years the loan is paid off and you’ll just be paying the $38 per month for the rest of your life. So essentially, we are paying about $165 per month for our “rent” (RV space), electricity, water, sewer, trash, as well as amenities such as the gated community safety factor, pools, fishing, arcades, mini golf, and other amenities that vary from park to park. No generator gas (which can get expensive), no filling fresh water tank, no needing to find a place to dump sewer. Oh and some parks have free WiFi, some have paid WiFi (worth it!), most have great cell service. We are a full time family of four and we have two businesses we run from the road, two teenagers...we need connectivity. TT isn’t for everyone - certainly if you’re seeking solitude in nature it’s probably not for you. If you want the modern amenities of electricity, water, sewer, recreation, internet, and also safety, but you still want to be nomadic and see the country and live a more minimalist lifestyle than you did in your sticks and bricks with your 9 to 5, then TT makes the most sense. So far our only complaints are: not all TT have WiFi (free or paid), a lot of people do NOT follow the leashed dogs rule, and....I actually can’t think of anything else lol. We have had zero problems with noise or rude people. All the TT have been clean and the staff friendly and rarely have we been in a park that was jam packed full. Usually there’s plenty of room and no one bothers you. We have a 27 ft travel trailer and are primarily on the east coast for now. Very happy with our membership, it’s the best decision we have made so far other than choosing to go full time!
I’m replying to my own comment to say that before we chose this lifestyle, we paid $1,100 in rent, $300-400 in utilities and my husband was busting his butt working 60-80 hours a week in a job that he was only supposed to be working 50 hours as a salaried employee. We were barely making ends meet...and for what? A roof, a bed, electricity, etc. which we still have, only my husband and I work a few hours a week in our businesses, enjoy our lives, spend time with our kids and my husband’s health has improved dramatically (he was working himself to death literally). Bob opened our eyes to a new way of life and although we started out in a pop up camper, Boondocking....we adjusted to our needs as a family. My advice to anyone considering the nomadic, minimalist lifestyle is DO IT NOW before it’s too late. I think a common thread among us in this lifestyle is we all say our biggest regret is not having done it sooner. Whether you are going to be van-dwelling or in a luxurious Class A....or somewhere in between, just do it. Enjoy your life! And know there is a community of like-minded people who are rooting for you and want to help you!
That sounds like an excellent package, How much is initial cost?
Thanks.
What's the name of this package?
Thank you Bob, great vid as usual. You'll have to forgive me for this but I have to say you two would make a great couple!!!
Love all of your videos. Bob, you are the ultimate author, host and caring person! Just discovered your 3 months ago as I am a former female, solo, trailer 'tear drop (1965) style dweller. I towed my trailer form North Carolina to the state of Washington and lived in it for 4 years. Lots of wonderful travelling memories, which will last me a lifetime.
Thanks, Bob, for all that you do!
Beautiful lady living her life as she wants!
I share her confort limitations as I have not started out yet. but will in 2 weeks...heading to RTR 2019, from MO by way of AR to AZ
Bob is no nice is encourages people to do what they are okay with! So wonderful! He is a wonderful human being and he empowers so many people
It started at $500 a year. Then bye the time she finished, it was $3000+$500 Yearly Dues. And you can't stay more than 14-21 Days and you can't go back to the same place ! 🤯 PLUS THE SUMMER ZOO ! Kids,Dogs,Loud music, parties, Packed in like Sardines. And you get to PAY for that Privilege. 😆 As always Bob has great info. Very much appreciated Bruther. Good vibes👣
It’s about $545 a year. Some who are families may enjoy the busyness. I know I would. I have two kids 😂
Thank you for this information. Not all of us who watch CRVL want to exclusively boondock and many of us are in RVIA certified rigs. Although I don't belong to TT, I have considered it. TT seems to be a budget-friendly camping alternative. So I do appreciate this information and I think it will be useful for many of your subscribers.
Newbie here. How do you know if your rig is RVIA certified?
If it was built by a manufacturer, it will likely be RVIA certified. RVIA certified rigs always have permanently affixed sticker somewhere on the rig (usually at a door entry) that will say it is certified.
Interesting. Thanks Bob and Kim.
Thank you, Bob, for posting this video. Although my camping days are over I always wondered about Thousand Trails when we were actively seeking campsites. Keep up the good work that you do because many retired campers like me are following you and Carolyn, too.
Great video. I am sure there are tons of people who would feel so much less anxiety about going full time if they knew they had some familiar spots they could always return to when they want full hook ups and security and maybe if they run through their monthly budget. Great, inexpensive option that makes a lot of sense. Certainly worth the money in the long run for any full timer who may not always want to boondock. Thanks for another great video!
Kim, you're fabulous! Thanks to you and Bob for the great interview. I hope I run into you on the Trail!
Thanks, Bob. Lots of choices out there. What it comes down to is: You just have to do what's right for you.
She seems to be a fun lady that is enjoying her new life.
She’s so lovely. 😊
You’re the best Bob!
Thank You Bob and Kim !! I like the New mexico deal that you had talked about Bob that was very affordable ! Not sure if thousand trails would be good for me , BUT I Can see Kim was very happy with it ! Thanks again Bob !
What a wonderful interview! I definitely would like to see more fulltime experience videos from her and Bob. Great information.
Great interview, thanks for the info, love her honesty.
For a single female, this sounds safe and makes sense.
Yes its a family love this life. Big hugs Bob. You r my inspiration
I had a camping buddy who had a TT membership and we camped all the time. LOVED it!!! Loved the parks. Yosemite, NV, Soledad Canyon, Idylwild, Oakzanita, Wilderness Lakes and Pio Pico were AWESOME.
This is what I'm looking at thanks for additional information. It's a learning experience for sure. I just bought my RV 7 months ago. Freezing right now in WA state. 12" of snow.
Thank You Bob for alerting me to this... T.T. has only 80 locations not evenly spead-out over the lower 48 states... T.T. another time-share headache at noisy camp grounds. No Thank You.....
Wow! She’s so articulate and analytical! I love her brain! Lol. I don’t have that kind of money that I wouldn’t rather put into my rig..... or rather, it’s not as valuable to me to invest in! But very interesting. I had never heard about 1000 Trails quite like that. Thanks for the introduction! Very informative!!
Lauri
A big thanks to Kim and Bob for this video. It's one of the best ever on CheapRVLiving. I did not really understand the Thousand Trails thing before. Now I do understand it much better - and that gives me another option (even though I'm not sure it's the right thing for me).
Thanks Bob and Kim for this information. As a newbie, I need all the information that's available. Happy trailing Kim.
This made me feel so much better about my TT Elite Membership I bought last month! I definitely made the right decision for my new full time RV life coming up at the end of the year!
Thanks, Bob. Another helpful video, as usual. You do wonderful work!
If you add on the trails collection it is another two hundred and a separate network to spend the 7 out days in that network and only just over $200.00 add on.
Well done BOB!!! Great info, and I appreciate your interviewing style! Tks another option to consider....
Very informative... as usual. Thanks, Bob & Kim!
So informative. Learning so much on this channel! Thank you, again.
WOW! Kim's info is very helpful. Bob another great video! Tks for sharing!
Bob , your inspiring and a very good dude , thank you for all you do !!
Thank you so much Bob and Kim! I have wonder how 1000 trails membership worked and the pros and cons. Great interview!
Great to meet Kim! She's my kind of camper!
Thank you so much for doing this video. I love both of your attitudes to RVing full time even though you are different. I was wondering about this very thing.
I just got my membership ... I’m so excited! Thanks!
Yea!
Bob as of today I’m managing the Thousand Trails Long Beach in Seaview, Washington on the Long Beach Peninsula. I love it! I used to travel and boondock and when I’m off work I still do.
Thanks Kim for clearing up the details.
what a fun lady, and a video full of great information! thank you!
It's perfect. I have my pass just havent been able to use it. Its summer here PNW. I hot my pass free when I bought my RV and adding CA for 59.00. Cant beat that... thanks Bob.
Bob, you have slimmed down. I hope your health is doing well. I so enjoy your videos.
Sweet lady. Really appreciate her candor.
I talked to them today. Can get a new membership for as low as $600 down and roughly $200 month, no credit check
Thank you Bob.
I have a one zone pass. We love it. Also, they have social events on the weekend at the Belvidere Illinois campground. Sometimes bands, pot lucks etc. they had a “Taste of camping” event our second weekend as members. Lots of freebies from the vendors. I won a tv and hubby won and hubby a. ice cream maker.
I had never heard of this group - very good information. I may look into this for traveling the ease coast where boondocking is much more difficult.
Just be careful with the used memberships. Thought I was getting just what I wanted.....Lifetime elite for $500. Called TT with membership number to confirm what this eBay guy was telling me. Yep all was cool. All went smooth until I got the new contract from TT and they changed the contract on me. Now to upgrade they want $5 K. I never got the name of the person I originally spoke to at TT. Plus the TT campgrounds are very few in the east, unless you have the upgrade and the encore parks and now for an addition $199 a year you can add some other parks nation wide. Hope this is helpful. TT personnel are very helpful so do your checking and TAKE NAMES. Good luck, Debbie
better yet, record everything
Jake2670 True and repeat the questions more than once so you have a good record of it. LoL
We are originally from NY and boondocking is nearly unheard of here. Other private membership parks are also jammed and very expensive. State parks are filled months in advance. We started out the with the zone pass but it just wasn't feasible moving very 4 days to stay in the system. Just the fuel costs alone with a large truck pulling at 37' RV can add up. So with payments spread out over 5 years and the dues, we have already paid for our lifetime membership considering how much these park cost on a daily basis. Bouncing from one park to the other every 21 days and being allowed to extend the stay to 28 days (twice a year) at a cost of about $29 comes in handy. We bought the RPI membership and the Passport America to cover places where there is no TT. Sure, the state park pass idea is great and we will also consider this later. Loving it!
I"m an Old dog trying to learn new tricks ( i like that better than RV newbie lol ) and started out watching your solar videos. Now I watch your videos to find out what else I didn't think of, like WATER! Thanks so much for sharing this wisdom with us and wish you all the best. now back to watching more of your videos!
John that's cute. I would rather be known as an old dog learning new tricks too.
We full time it! Our VIP Elite membership has already paid for itself in less than 6 months. Only thing we paid for is our propane and when the resort does not offer free cable. Member services is fantastic with friendly gals, or doing your own itinerary online. Most resorts are very friendly and accommodating. The "Trails Collection" upgrade for $199 was well worth it and allows you to use the Encore Resorts. All together, 21 day stays, (14 days at Encore) resort to resort, nonstop and no bills other then the membership and dues. i believe the freeze on dues is 62. Remember, this is a lifetime membership, it's yours.
That is a Great deal and no worries about being moved at the middle of the Night.
And you have laundry and power and security
I started with the regular camping pass and couldn't get into a lot of parks so I upgraded to the elite . I see a lot of people say they have no problems but I certainly have. I'm trying to get into parks in Arizona than are over 55 and their Encore parks so you can't go from one to the next unless you're at the very high very expensive membership. So I'm traveling up-and-down the West Coast mainly in the same type of parks. You really have to fight to get into the nice parks and when they say you can get 3 weeks at a time and go from one to the other that's almost impossible... Or at least it has been for me. I'll get 10 days here or 14 days there every now and then I can get 21 days. Keep in mind some parks like the one in Palm Springs that is not on core and the one in Vegas are more like just parking lots clearly not "resorts". I'm hoping they said to build a few more parks and upgrade the ones that they have.
In the late 80s and early 90s my grandparents had an Airstream trailer and then a Coach and we visited them at Thousand Trails on Native American land in Washington state. It was ALWAYS SUPER NICE and the vibe all around was awesome! I will save up to get a Thousand trails membership with my own Happy Little Camper that I now own!
Bob Wells. I just love your videos. I learn something new each video. I think that 1000 trails sounds good
I like Kim. She seems like a nice and fun person. I hope maybe I can meet her at the RTR.
1000 trails might be attractive to families. We're considering it because I have kids and I want the amenities for them.
hey Bob, good video, always ask the bigger questions, be well out there, tc
Thank You for this interview Bob!😁 I've been looking up info on this but got confused and heard too many varying opinions and just want the straight info and make my own choice.
Good information especially for the east coast. You are always so gracious Bob. This next comment is off topic but I would be interested in a video about the different propane hot water heaters such as Zodiac, eco temp, triton etc. Covering how much water pressure you need and if they work in a shower tent etc. thanks!
MTrefiner okay thank you.
Thank you for the information. I had not heard of TT until this.
Very good information! Thanks so much! Devo💋
Thank you for the information about about Thousands Trails
Bob thank you I am kind of like her I'm a little bit nervous and being a lonely woman out on our own I really want to start living a nomadic life but I've been kind of nervous about doing it trying to figure out how to do it and you have helped me a great deal thank you for the website appreciate it
Thank you - good balanced information
Very informative, thank you!
You can buy membership contracts from individuals that want out. There are probably a hundred different contracts, so be careful when you shop. Some of them will not include all of the parks in your area. Some contracts are yearly some are lifetime, (which means you are obligated to pay over $600 a year maintenance fee even if you no longer use it). This is why people want to sell their membership.
I would start out with a yearly zone pass to see if you even use it. Some States have very few parks.
Good advice
I love her thinking!! Great video..
Can’t believe that you are accepting this as a possible solution for RVers but I am very glad you did. It is an interesting possibility and especially for East Coast folks.
We stayed at a 1000 trails campground by Whitney Texas, they must have taken Coast to Coast points. We liked it, nice shade, pool and hottub, nice walking trails. A little older but we enjoyed our stay!
Thanks for this video!
Hi all. You video was interesting. I am new at the whole ordeal. I just retired and want to see the states and travail continuously. I don't own a house anymore and do not want to rent anymore either. I have a truck just don't know what I want to pull yet. She seem to be a brave lady to do this on her own. Good interview Bob. Bob in Pa.
Thanks for sharing! It might not work for everyone, but it does make my short list to do more research!
Not for everybody obviously. Some folks need to stay connected While others prefer to cut the cord altogether.
Nict to learn we have options. Something for everyone
Thanks so much for your wonderful information !!!!
I don’t blame her at all for wanting to stay in a place like that; I would do the same as a single woman out by myself. It sounds like a great idea (to me)!!
Thanks for sharing this option.
This is a great option! Thank you for the information.