California Dreaming is something I do every Spring as I start looking toward the summer and our annual 3 week trip to the beach. I dream of the ocean, the salt air, the sand, the sun, and playing like a crazy kid with my crazy kids for three weeks straight, no interruptions, on the Southern California Beaches. It is my saltwater therapy, my rejuvenation and my reset button. There is no place in the world more conducive to my joy and happiness than the beach. And spending as many days and weeks as possible is always the goal. Hence, my new vacation hack: The RV Beach Trip!
Days spent swimming, surfing, boogie boarding and building sand castles are my favorite days! Photo Credit: Susie Kellogg, Unstoppable Traveling Mom
Why a RV Beach Trip?
I never saw myself as a girl who would enjoy something as unglamorous as an RV Beach Trip. I was a city girl, a hotel loving, plane flying, bonafide city girl. RV’ing was as foreign as camping when I first met my husband, Dan. But, as all good men are apt to be, Dan was an outdoor guy.
Falling in love with him changed me. I started to enjoy the rugged extreme things he so loved, mostly because I cherished those times alone. Without other people. I loved how the quiet, the beauty, and power of nature simply seemed to bring us closer together.
So when he started talking about how cool RV’ing would be, you would have thought I’d have been all about it. I mean, eliminating flying with lines and people and frustrations. Eliminating hotels and all the reservation hassles. Exchanging that madness for wild and crazy road trips in our own private home on wheels sounds (and is) like heaven.
But here is where I show my contradictions. RV’ing seemed like a copout.
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RV’ing seemed like a copout. Yes, this one-time city girl was balking at the mere thought of glamping. Our adventure loving, outdoor living, extreme family loves to camp, as in rugged camp. We don’t glamp, period.
Why Buy an RV?
But we did want to travel, at least to the beach. And I’m a horrible car traveler. I can’t sit still. I can’t handle being bored. I utter the words, “Are We There Yet,” more often than all my 12 kids combined. But still, one day we bought an RV … for two reasons.
1 – To get the family and all our gear to kayaking events in Colorado.
2 – To go to the beach for an extended period of time…an RV Beach Trip!
The first, we are whitewater kayakers, our kids compete in freestyle events and an RV was a way to get us to these venues with a place to eat and sleep.
The second was more of an afterthought but has become such a huge focal point of our year round travel.
I have to admit, I never thought an RV Beach Trip would be even half as awesome as it is. I thought I needed my hotels, but having my home is 10 thousand times better.
RV Travel is Affordable
RV A room with a View! Photo Credit: Dan Kellogg
Pre-RV we rarely ever traveled. I mean, we lived in a vacation mecca, practically living a vacation life at home. As such, we were pretty house poor, but didn’t feel that pain because of all the amazing activities we had at our fingertips.
But, getting away, from work, from stress, from whatever, is essential to ones health and mental well being. I believe this so fully, that we’ve made a life around travel now. And, I think our favorite place to travel, the place where our souls are recalculated and our minds and bodies are soothed is the beach.
Problem was, we couldn’t spend thousands of dollars for a 3-week beach vacation. The best we got was 1 week at a decent hotel on the beach, with a microwave and a fridge.
But, after the RV, our trips extended to a full 3 weeks at the beach … our home firmly planted on prime real estate with beachfront views and steps from the sand.
And to bring the affordability home, my 3-4 weeks at the beach costs a mere $455/week for beachfront property and all the comforts of home. THAT, my friends is a life hack!
RV Travel = Healthy Eating
Eating healthy at the beach is easy in an RV because it’s just like being home! Photo Credit: Kenny Kellogg
We are active people. Our kids are extremely athletic. Wherever we go our bodies are pushed to their limits, and it’s imperative that we eat well. This is an impossible feat to accomplish when eating out, or eating on the fly, stopping at fast food or convenience stores for meals. Hence, we prepare 95% of the food we consume.
The RV affords us this luxury, as well as full access to a refrigerator stocked with healthy choices. We are rarely tempted to down empty calories and shock our bodies with the toxins found in processed foods. We also have tons of cabinet space for Protein Shakes, blenders, juicers and more to make staying healthy and fit while at the beach simple and easy!
RV Travel with Beach Toys
We bring everything from duckies, kayaks, surfboards, boogie boards etc. Photo Credit: Susie Kellogg, Unstoppable Traveling Mom
When we travel, we travel with a ton of toys. Toys that we would never be able to bring if we simply traveled by vehicle and definitely not if we traveled by plane! Toys like kayaks and SUP’s and surfboards, snowboards, longboards, boogie boards, and all the other gear like chairs and balls, buckets and coolers and firewood, etc!
We would either have to buy all this gear at our destination — and who has time (or money) for that? Or we would have to go without. When the waves are decent, we take everything out and either try to better our skills at surfing or get epic beatdowns!! RV travel enables us to take full advantage wherever we happen to be at the moment, which is a win/win!
RV Glamping = Prime Beach Real Estate
Being steps from the ocean means we can stay well into the late afternoon for the best sunsets!! Photo Credit: Susie Kellogg, Unstoppable Traveling Mom
I mentioned this earlier, when talking about the affordability of RV’ing in SoCal. Nowhere in SoCal can anyone outside of a Billionaire afford to live on the beach. And, the hotels on the beach in SoCal are crazy expensive, like $400+/night. So again, most of us are priced out.
But not so with RV glamping! There are a few State Beaches in SoCal that offer on the beach camping,. By this I mean, you literally can step out of your RV onto the sand and walk to the beach.
Now, I am picky about what I consider on the beach. I literally expect to walk no more than a football field to the water. And while, many campgrounds claim to be on the beach, I don’t consider walking across a highway, around an inlet, or walk hundreds of steps down an enormous bluff.
Viewing the water and having easy access to the water are two distinct things. I prefer the former!
Where is your favorite RV beach trip?
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