Retired vs. fuel cost ...

Wondered how the following reaction to gas prices works with "us" retired military ...

I've been off the camping road for awhile dealing with family stuff, but am making plans to leave again soon -- and thinking about the price of gas which as we all know, jumps frequently and not baby steps.

The primary effect for my plan has been to stay in a specific campground longer, or more days in each stop instead of one night, if traveling make it two nights, or instead of two make it four. That cuts the fuel budget in half over a month. Purely a budget strategy, of course. But, sure makes sense if one is full-timing, or camping a significant portion of the year.

As I remember my past years, it seemed that I spent plenty of time with "in-motion sightseeing" -- driving scenic highways, etc. Now, it seems to make sense that the "two-step" sightseeing would make the fuel costs less intrusive on the travel plans - shoes cost less than fuel. :

I know, some cannot extend the time-frame (vacation, or leave), but it sure makes sense for the retired campers to make that simple adjustment. Food changes little, we eat no matter where we are, and camping cost the same (close anyway) if one campground or another. So, that's my plan to combat the fuel increase -- use less of it and take longer to get there -- any comments ???

I had planned on asking the same question. We just shelled out over $3500, for a seasonal site. This is for a 6 months stay, near Rehoboth Beach. Most military campgrounds frown on long term stays, so this was the option we took. I guess you can say we plan on parking/staying at one place as long as we can. I don't think we will be traveling south, for as long as we had hoped. DH said a trip just to Fl
at today's prices, which are likely to change, would cost over $1000.00. Not only is the price of gas hurting our budget, but food prices are going up fast. I hope this is not going to get worse, because our plans may have to be changed again. Do you think the coming year's COLA will increase enough, to keep the increases from becoming a hardship? > >

QUOTE: "Do you think the coming year's COLA will increase enough, to keep the increases from becoming a hardship?"

You are joking here, right?? When has COLA ever been reality !!

Although we fulltime, we workamp for about 6 months out of the year. Not only does this generate additional income, our expenses greatly decrease during this time. The other 6 months is when we can do some traveling. We then try to follow a 2x2x3 rule. Arrive at a destination by 2:00pm (more relaxed, less driving, easier to find a location without reservations), don't drive more than 200 miles a day (more relaxing), and stay at wherever we stop for at least 3 nights (stretches the budget, since a night's stay is cheaper than driving all day). We rarely break our self-imposed 2x2x3 rule. We're rarely in a hurry to get anywhere.

I think I read that Military.com reports that next year's COLA will probably be 3.9%

When I joined the US Navy a gallon of gasoline was 25 and a half cents, a carton of cigarettes was 90 cents, the military did not come under social security and there was no COLA. Complaining about things you had no control over was as popular than as it is now. Adjust your budget and have fun because time is ticking off just as fast now as it was yesterday.

FastEagle