What age do you quit camping?

[Jabber2Jake]

I'm 63 yrs old, still enjoy taking out our fifth wheel. Will probably keep going till my health runs out. What do others think about how long they will continue? Anyone in their 70's or 80's and still pulling a fifth wheel?

[bsmith0404]

My parents are in their 70s and still pull a 5er all around. They make multiple fishing trips to Canada every year. Last year drove down to Branson from northern WI. Two years ago they went to Mt Rushmore and then on to Yellowstone. As long as my dad is able to hook it up and drive, they'll be going out. In fact, they just bought their current camper 3 years ago. I think this is number 4 over the last 7 years. They insist that this is the last one they will own, but my mom sure likes our Alpine and comments on it every time she sees it, so time will tell.

[Javi]

My MIL and FIL just sold their trailer and are miserable, but both are in poor health and his macular degeneration, back and hips have finally made it necessary. They are 82 and 85 respectively.. If he could see to drive I'm sure they'd still be trying to go walkers and all...

[notanlines]

Jabber, your comment "I'm 63 yrs old, still enjoy taking out our fifth wheel" made Brenda and I laugh out loud. I'm 67, DW is 64 and we feel like we're just now getting up to speed. I'm not trying to be too harsh with you, honestly, but if at 63 you are contemplating the end, you need to think again. We go to Florida for four or five months to ride the Harley and go to the beach. If the kids want to see us then come on down....and they do. The RV parks are absolutely FULL of people is their late 70's and into their 80's.

[WaltBennett]

I'm 71 and we're going on a 6k mile + trip in two months. LOML is 61 with an artificial hip & knee, and isn't slowing down at all. Only thing I haven't done is sign up for any 'lifetime' memberships - just stick with 5 year ones.

[GaryWT]

If we get to a point where it is too difficult to hook up each week, we will go seasonal which will work as long as either of us can drive. We are hoping that is a good 20 or more years down the road but health is a funny thing.

[Dave W]

If someone enjoys hauling an RV of some sort around and their health is still good to physically and mentally do a regular set up and take down, there is no age limit. We see folks in their 80s in our regular CG every year with anything from a p'up to huge class A's.

[GmaPaTime]

I'm 71 and we're going on a 6k mile + trip in two months. LOML is 61 with an artificial hip & knee, and isn't slowing down at all. Only thing I haven't done is sign up for any 'lifetime' memberships - just stick with 5 year ones.

That's what I've been telling my DW recently :D

Everyone has different physical conditions and limitations so it all depends. My feeling is as long as the mind and ambition is there, you can work around some physical limitations but at some point we'll all need to step away.

Hopefully, family members have been brought up camping and enjoy it as we have and you get to visit them while continuing the tradition of making memories.

Steve

[JRTJH]

My son and daughter tease us with comments like, "when we put you in the nursing home....."

I've more or less decided that when we start looking for a "suitable" place to spend those last few years, one of the considerations is that they have a parking lot big enough for the Cougar (or whatever we have then). That way we can use our walkers, wheel chairs, canes or ??? and "mosey out to the parking lot" once in a while and just "get away from the stresses of everyday life"...

At that point, using a "wax log" under the awning which we extend with the remote may be the only part of the RV we can enjoy (steps can be hard to climb) but as long as we're physically able, even if we can't get in it and go, both of us plan to continue the "RV lifestyle" till we just "can't any longer"...http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/seniors/old-person-helped-to-walk-smiley-emoticon.gif (http://www.sherv.net/)

[GmaPaTime]

My son and daughter tease us with comments like, "when we put you in the nursing home....."

I've more or less decided that when we start looking for a "suitable" place to spend those last few years, one of the considerations is that they have a parking lot big enough for the Cougar (or whatever we have then). That way we can use our walkers, wheel chairs, canes or ??? and "mosey out to the parking lot" once in a while and just "get away from the stresses of everyday life"...

At that point, using a "wax log" under the awning which we extend with the remote may be the only part of the RV we can enjoy (steps can be hard to climb) but as long as we're physically able, even if we can't get in it and go, both of us plan to continue the "RV lifestyle" till we just "can't any longer"...http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/seniors/old-person-helped-to-walk-smiley-emoticon.gif (http://www.sherv.net/)

Amen to that John.... :)

[Barbell]

We are both in our 70s and have no plans to slow down any time soon. The hardest part for me about setting up and tearing down is lugging the power cable in and out of storage and loading/unloading the bicycles. Most everything else is pushing a button. I have a creeper to go under the rig to grease the wet bolts and whatever else needs doing under there. DW has a bad knee which prevents her from driving the standard trans truck so will have to look at an auto when we replace it. Otherwise, we are good for a while.

[hankpage]

I'm 63 yrs old, still enjoy taking out our fifth wheel. Will probably keep going till my health runs out. What do others think about how long they will continue? Anyone in their 70's or 80's and still pulling a fifth wheel?

:D Thanks for chuckle this morning. I would be willing to bet that a large percentage of RVers don't start camping until they are at least your age. Even if you can't drive it any more .... park it in a seasonal site, replace the steps with a ramp and deck and enjoy getting away for as long as you can. I have met many youngsters in their eighties that are still safely enjoying camping. As long as I don't need as many replacement parts as the truck and trailer we will continue enjoying the lifestyle. http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=251&pictureid=1587 Hank

[jsmith948]

Last year, we spent some time at the Quartzsite, AZ gem and RV show. We were the youngest folks in our campground! (We are 68 & 67 yrs YOUNG!!)
Age is a state of mind - we will enjoy our RV as long as our health allows.
In 2012, we traveled to WA to visit with our DS, DIL and grandsons. I was on crutches, waiting for a scheduled hip replacement - went anyway - had a great time!

[Desert185]

71 and 66, here, with a two year old. Yesterday's short quad ride for the active little kid. :)

[flybouy]

I'm 63 yrs old, still enjoy taking out our fifth wheel. Will probably keep going till my health runs out. What do others think about how long they will continue? Anyone in their 70's or 80's and still pulling a fifth wheel?
Whatever age I am when I die ..... the day after that.

[jrp]

You're too young to be thinking about such things. I'm 67 and still RV all over the country year round, ATV up and down the Colorado mountains, and ride my Harley all summer. I've got several friends in their 80's still travel fulltime in their RV's. The age to quit all that is the day before I pass on.


I'm 63 yrs old, still enjoy taking out our fifth wheel. Will probably keep going till my health runs out. What do others think about how long they will continue? Anyone in their 70's or 80's and still pulling a fifth wheel?

[gearhead]

I'm 64. When hooking up and towing a 5th gets to be a major PITA we will likely go to a gas Class A.
Like an Allegro 32CA. With the optional 7k Onan, and...

[Bill & Deb]

I'm 63 yrs old, still enjoy taking out our fifth wheel. Will probably keep going till my health runs out. What do others think about how long they will continue? Anyone in their 70's or 80's and still pulling a fifth wheel?

Feeling kind of young here at 60 and DW 57. Been retired since Jan. 2011.

We go to Florida for 3-4 months and every park we go to the people ask us who we are visiting, our parents ! LOL.
There are a couple of people in our park that are over 100 and many in their 90's. You quit RVing when you park the truck and can't remember where you parked it ! Oh wait.... I do that with the car all the time. :-)

Bill

[Whitewolf]

My answer is simple. We will camp 'til we can't. :)

[SkiSmuggs]

I'm 63 yrs old, still enjoy taking out our fifth wheel. Will probably keep going till my health runs out. What do others think about how long they will continue? Anyone in their 70's or 80's and still pulling a fifth wheel?
I'll be 70 this summer and ski with guys in their 80s who love to ski in the woods rather than on the trails. When do I quit camping in the fifth wheel?
I'll let you know. I just replaced my F150 with an F350 Powerstroke and just installed solar on the roof of my fiver last weekend.

[theeyres]

We did sell our fiver as it was just getting too big to handle, but at 76 I'm not even close to slowing down. We're no longer full-timers but still leave for a couple months in the summer and belong to a RV club that takes trips every month through the winter. No plans to quit this life style.

[TomHaycraft]

I'm 71 and we're going on a 6k mile + trip in two months. LOML is 61 with an artificial hip & knee, and isn't slowing down at all. Only thing I haven't done is sign up for any 'lifetime' memberships - just stick with 5 year ones.

Just catching up on this thread, really liked your description. Took me a moment to decode LOML. I found I've got one of those too! We are "only" in our early 50s, she's putting off knee replacements as long as she can (high school and college basketball was tough on them). Many good miles and places to visit ahead of us.

Safe travels.

[glenalt]

64 and the DW is 68. We've owned a Holiday Rambler TT, 30' MH and now our 5ver. Heck, we are just getting started.

[Jim & DJ]

83 + and still loving the RV life. Take away our RV would be like taking away the gun......:)

PS; 5 1/2 months snowbird trip to Arizona last November and plan to do it again this year.

[lifecamper]

I have no home but my 5th wheel. My dog and I will continue to the end living the life. I go North in the summer and South in the winter. I have made a lot of friends along the way. I suppose some day I will find an RV park to just stay till the end. Probably some place close to one of my kids so I can bug the heck out of them.

[rhagfo]

I'm 63 yrs old, still enjoy taking out our fifth wheel. Will probably keep going till my health runs out. What do others think about how long they will continue? Anyone in their 70's or 80's and still pulling a fifth wheel?
Age is as much mental as physical, I am currently 64, and plan on keeping fit and if we can keep a rig camping into out 80's.

[RedRover]

We will stop when we change our status from old to elderly.
Aged 71 and 76 and making memories every trip. Nearly 10,000 miles in the past 8 months.

[1jeep]

When im wearing a diaper it might be time to sell the Rv and motorcycles....im only 47 so I hope I have a few more years left.

My parents are 68/70 and still ride/camp.

[sourdough]

I'm 63 yrs old, still enjoy taking out our fifth wheel. Will probably keep going till my health runs out. What do others think about how long they will continue? Anyone in their 70's or 80's and still pulling a fifth wheel?

You know, I think you're where I've been since I was about 45. My knee was in terrible shape and I just had to drag the leg around because I was so young they wouldn't replace it. At that time I began thinking about when I would have to quit going and doing. Fast forward to 65 with both knees replaced and feeling better than I did at 45. I still wonder when that day may come but I figure I'll just keep going and doing until one day I hit the ground.....still wondering when that day may come - could be 65; could be 95. Make plans for any contingency then go like there's no tomorrow.

[mikereidjr]

All I can say is thanks for the confidence! You guys are inspiring!

I am 28 and my wife is 36, we had a pop up and now we have a bumper pull, we don't have kids yet, but figured we should get started early.

My wife and I both grew up camping, My folks are still going strong at 60 & 61 we hope to keep this tradition going for the next generation(s)

[tgpilot]

I know this thread is a bit old, but just had to post. I will be 69 this year and my wife is 25, YES twenty-five. She is just getting into RVing as we leave this Saturday on a nine state four thousand mile vacation with our four year old daughter. I've been RVing since I was twenty-two and except for taking off for awhile after I had sold my last RV, I've bought another and still going. Over the years I have had about twenty five RV's.

I figure I have maybe five more good years due to my health. My neighbor who just lost his wife this Spring is still RVing and just bought a big boat to run the coast for salmon, and he is 83.

So, life is just a number, like my wife being 44 years younger than me, or the fact that your as young as you feel to RV as others have said, that, or health get you as it has me. :D

[PARAPTOR]

Congratulations in many ways :D. I had asked the same question to a neighbor, he being in the late seventies, His response " When I can not lift that 30 gallon propane tank I will consider quitting"

ENJOY "bouncey:

[byrdr1]

Reading this I feel like a spring chicken.
I am 58 and the wife is 55. So we have a few more good years in us. I am about to make a major lifestyle change to help me live a longer and healthier life. So I am looking forward to the time of my clock not my employer's clock. And a newer tow truck with maybe a newer camper too. We'll see on that one.
:)
Randy

[Seabee]

I just hit the 40 this past Sunday and I don't plan on quitting anytime soon. :D

[PARAPTOR]

Interesting thought majority of us were in the 70's :cool: based on military, RV experiences, etc.

[Yosemitebob]

I figure when they take my truck away :) It really doesn't matter if I can't find my way back from somewhere.

[JRTJH]

I figure when they take my truck away :) It really doesn't matter if I can't find my way back from somewhere.

Great perspective. We just bought a new truck, so with any luck we "won't find our way back" a number of times before they take ours away LOL

At 67, I'm expecting at least 8 or 10 more years of "doing our own thing" before we have to find a "travelling nurse" to accompany us.

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/seniors/troubled-old-man-smiley-emoticon.gif (http://www.sherv.net/)