Caravan, camper, or more commonly used in the U.S. as RV (Recreational Vehicle) refers to a motorhome. In this article, I would like to share the experiences we gained during our three-week road trip in a rented RV across the Southwestern United States. We traveled in the smallest type of RV, a 19ft model for 2-3 people; some details may differ in larger models.
-
Table of Contents
- Renting an RV in the USA – Booking, Vehicle Pickup, and Rental Company
- What to Expect from the RV Equipment and Interior
- RV Operation and What “Dumping” Means
- How to Drive an RV and Park It
- RV Parks and Paid Campgrounds
- Free RV Camping: How to Do It Without Spending a Dime
- Some Tips for the End
- Photos from the RV Road Trip Across the USA
Renting an RV in the USA – Booking, Vehicle Pickup, and Rental Company
We booked the vehicle online through Cruise America in Los Angeles about four months in advance. Booking early is definitely worth it. There is high demand for small RVs, and additionally, you can save up to a few hundred dollars. The basic price per day is $99 (updated March 6, 2025), with extra charges for equipment, generator usage, miles driven, airport transportation, etc. All extra services are charged according to your needs and preferences. The formalities are similar to those when renting a car.
Additionally, the rental company will send you instructional videos so that everyone can familiarize themselves with operating the RV at home. It is certainly worth paying attention to these videos, as you will have time at home to watch them, and it will save you time at the depot when picking up the vehicle.
It’s worth noting that in the USA, you cannot pick up an RV on the same day you arrive from overseas. You must first check into a hotel (preferably near the airport), spend the night, rest, and only the following day can you pick up the RV. There is no way around this rule, as the rental company will verify your arrival date.
Upon picking up the RV, we had to present our driver’s license along with an international driver’s permit according to the 1949 convention. The second type of international driver’s permit, according to the 1968 convention, is not valid in the USA.
An additional driver incurs a separate fee. The minimum age to rent an RV in the USA is 25 years.
The physical handover of the vehicle, both upon pickup and return, was quick. Everything was prepared, demonstrated, and a standard protocol was completed with us. As an interesting point, we discovered some minor issues and defects only during our use of the RV, which were not listed in the handover protocol.
These included a malfunctioning drain valve and a missing seal on the water hose. These were minor issues, but we had to address them during our use, often improvising. Therefore, I pointed them out upon returning the vehicle. To our surprise, the rental company reimbursed us $70 as compensation. I must say that the rental company was very professional.
-
What to Expect from the RV Equipment and Interior
Living in an RV is modest, but it includes everything you need – a bedroom, kitchenette, dining area, shower, and toilet. Everything is compact to fit into the interior. The living area and the vehicle’s cabin are not separated. The 19ft RV has only two full-size car seats, while a third person sits on a seat in the living area. Larger RV models for more people will be similar. The seats in the living area have seat belts, but lack headrests, and some face sideways to the direction of travel.
You sleep above the cabin on a double bed, which you need to climb into. The vehicle has heating, air conditioning, sufficient lighting, curtains for privacy, and insect screens. It also includes a refrigerator, microwave, and cabinets.
Kitchenware, bedding, towels, and camping furniture are available for an extra charge. You can rent them, but it is not mandatory. Personally, I recommend renting everything – it’s hassle-free, you get bundles with everything you need, and at the end of the trip, you simply return it.
-
RV Operation and What “Dumping” Means
Having your own shower, toilet, and sink naturally means you need tanks for fresh and wastewater. Water pumping and waste disposal are done at designated stations known as “Dumping Stations”. These are usually inconspicuous locations. RV campgrounds always have them, and you can use them for a fee, even if you are not staying there. They are often marked near roads. A “dumping station” has a utility water stand and a sewage pit. You have all the necessary hoses in your RV. You simply connect them, open the valves, and pump the water in and out.
Operating the system is not difficult. Inside the vehicle, there is a control panel where you can see how much water, gas, and waste you have left. Some stations are free, while others charge $20.00. The website SaniDumps.com helped us find free stations, or I simply searched for “free dumping” and the location in a search engine.
If you want to camp freely outside campgrounds, you need to keep in mind that the RV’s water supply is limited. If you don’t conserve water, you may find that your supply runs out by the evening, even though you filled the tank in the morning. We conserved water and made our supply last about 3 days. If you don’t want to be limited, you need to use paid RV campgrounds where you can connect to the campground’s water and waste systems.
I would also like to warn about the risk of freezing temperatures. Many American national parks are at high elevations, and during our stay in May, the temperature in Bryce Canyon National Park (elevation 8,530 ft) dropped to 19°F at night. So, be cautious about potential damage to the RV due to freezing temperatures.
The RV has its own generator, which is operated with a single button inside the vehicle, and a backup battery. When everything is off, the refrigerator runs on LPG. If something serious breaks, you need to contact the rental company. Even changing a tire, as we are used to doing at home, is not recommended to be done on your own.
-
How to Drive an RV and Park It
Driving an RV requires certain driving experience and caution, especially in strong crosswinds – after all, it’s a house on wheels. While the RV doesn’t have 4×4 drive, it has a powerful engine and a high chassis, which means we were able to drive it practically everywhere, including unpaved roads.
Our RV’s fuel consumption was about 20 liters of Regular gasoline per 62 mi, including the generator.
Be cautious about the vehicle’s height, especially when parking under trees. While driving through a tunnel in Zion National Park, we were warned about its lower height and the need to drive through the center.
In the USA, people drive slower and more considerately than we are used to back home. The roads are generally wide, but in many places, we were unpleasantly surprised by their uneven surface. It’s definitely worth tidying up in the RV before each departure and not leaving items like dishes lying around. This is important not only for safety but also due to the rough roads.
We didn’t have any problems with parking anywhere; there were plenty of parking lots for RVs. However, the situation could be different during peak tourist season. Americans love RVs, traveling in campers as large as buses, towing cars or boats behind them. There was also no issue with roadside rest areas along highways; we even parked right in the center of Las Vegas near a casino. RVs are very common in America, and parking lots and campsites designated for them are everywhere. The advantage of a smaller RV, like the 19-footer, is that with a little skill, you can park it in a space designed for a regular car.
Parking fees can vary. While parking a regular car in downtown San Francisco cost $20.00, we had to pay $65 for half a day with the RV. Overnight parking (i.e., parking overnight) is often prohibited by signs, and believe me, someone will check.
-
RV Parks and Paid Campgrounds
I estimate that about 95% of RV drivers use campgrounds. Most of them are Americans.
Using paid campgrounds is not cheap. The assumption that traveling in an RV and staying in campgrounds guarantees lower accommodation costs is completely wrong.
Prices for RV campsites with Full Hookups (an RV site with water, sewage, and electricity connections) start at around $60 to $70 (low season 2025). The KOA campground network, which most RV rental companies recommend, has even higher prices.
An ordinary parking spot in an RV campground (i.e., overnight parking without water, etc.) costs about $35. Many RV campgrounds don’t even offer these basic spots. The advantage of campgrounds, besides hookups, is their infrastructure – showers, laundry facilities, and sometimes even a pool are available. However, some campgrounds offer none of these amenities.
A downside of campgrounds, at least for us, was the appearance. Typically, they are large areas, often asphalted, where dozens of RVs park side by side. The campground simply looks like a giant parking lot in front of a supermarket.
Of course, there are better options in the green spaces of national parks, but even there, you’ll be looking at your neighbor’s RV. Additionally, even these campgrounds were often full during the off-season.
-
Free RV Camping: How to Do It Without Spending a Dime
Looking at the price lists for RV campsites, I thought, why should I pay so much just to arrive in the evening, sleep, and leave again in the morning?
Some people solve this by overnighting in Walmart parking lots. However, these are not available everywhere, and at the ones we visited along the way, I saw the usual signs prohibiting overnight parking. Another option is to overnight at highway rest stops for trucks. None of these options are particularly romantic.
That’s why, before our trip, I searched for ways to fulfill our idea of camping in nature. I managed to do this thanks to the website FreeCampsites.net.
You need to connect to the internet (the easiest way is with a data eSIM). In addition to a variety of information, the FreeCampsites.net website includes maps that show free campsites and paid campgrounds in your desired location. These are typically places on public lands (forest, pasture, meadow, desert) designated for these purposes. You can legally camp, RV, sleep under the stars, or even sleep in your car here. There are no amenities, but based on the terrain and campfire spots, you can tell that people have camped there before.
Everything is completely free, and the best part is that you’ll be almost alone at the site. Occasionally, someone else might show up, but at a sufficient distance. When camping in an RV at these campsites, you’ll have to rely on your own water, food, and generator. If you’re tent camping, you shouldn’t mind going behind a bush. And you mustn’t be afraid. It’s up to each person whether they prefer a crowded campground or solitude in the woods. We felt completely safe in nature. Just pure romance, nature. I document what such camping looked like with my photos. The key is finding the right place, and it’s worth using navigation; sometimes we even searched after dark, but always successfully.
The FreeCampsites.net website proved very useful when we were deciding where to camp during our visit to San Francisco. It recommended a parking lot right by the viewpoint of the Golden Gate Bridge. I never would have dreamed we’d be sleeping under a bridge with such a name in the RV.
-
Some Tips for the End
We traveled according to the recommendations on this website for 24 days, covered 3,790 mi, visited a total of 12 national parks, and saw countless other interesting sights and beautiful landscapes.
We only stayed in paid campsites three times, because there were no other options at the time. We paid for accommodation in Monument Valley and near the airport in Los Angeles towards the end of our trip. We camped in the middle of pristine nature and breathtaking scenery. If I count correctly, we saved at least $1,250, which we would have spent on paid campsites. That’s already a decent saving that can be used for another vacation.
Traveling in an RV completely thrilled us. Don’t expect luxury, it’s a bit spartan, but it’s an amazing adventure. You don’t have to pack your luggage during transitions, set up tents, which saves time. Throughout the trip, you have your own toilet and bed available, and it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Las Vegas or near the Grand Canyon. You simply get into the car and can lie down in your bed. Your little home is always with you.
I sincerely hope that our experiences and insights will help you. Go for it, RV travel is definitely worth it.
🖊️ The author of the article is Renata Tunová. You can find her other (amazing!) travel photos, not just from the USA, on Instagram at RenyTunova.
-
Photos from the RV Road Trip Across the USA
Free camp in the desert near Lake Powell in Arizona
Route 163 – Monument Valley
RV dump station
Parking in downtown San Francisco
RV camp on the beach in Los Angeles
View from our campsite of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
Free camp in the forest near the Grand Canyon
Tunnel in Zion National Park
Sunrise at a free camp in Death Valley with a view of the Sierra Nevada mountains
In spring, the deserts of the Southwest are beautifully in bloom
Contribute with Your Question or Personal Experience