It’s been fun. Now I’m moving on.

How to put this most simply? The thrill is gone. It’s not you—it’s me.

I started this blog just a tad more than three years ago, with a post under the headline, “What’s camping without surround-sound?” That somewhat snarky question set the tone, I think, for much of what followed: 206,000 words across 253 posts, flaying and filleting the increasingly aloof, pompous business of commercial campgrounds, RV parks and the RV industry writ large.

Certainly, there’s been no lack of targets, from the clueless investors pouring into this hot new commercial real estate sector to the relentless Disney-fication of the “outdoor experience” to the heedless insistence on ignoring Mother Nature’s cries of “Enough!” I’ve written about it all: the empty promise of glamping, the shoddy construction of new RVs, the pretense that cabins on wheels are recreational “vehicles.” And yes, the rise of RVs as housing of last resort , the de-staffing of a business sector that nonetheless aspires to being part of the “hospitality industry,” the unremitting jacking-up of prices.

Camping and RVing, not so very long ago, were the equivalent of minor-league baseball, an opportunity for working class families to have a good time on a lazy summer weekend without breaking the bank. That’s still possible, of course, but the possibility is quickly slipping away. The new campgrounds that are being rolled out in communities across the country are the horizontal equivalent of multi-story cruise ships, a sprawling exurbia of hundreds of RV sites, cabins, glamping tents and a child’s fantasy of amusements and distractions all plunked down in the middle of an overwhelmed rural community.

I’ve had some fun poking and prodding at all this pretense, and in at least a couple of cases was rewarded by having my critiques wielded by others, typically in opposition to yet another over-the-top RV park proposal. But I can write solely for my own amusement for only so long, and to the extent that I want my writing to make a difference—well, it’s pretty clear that’s been a losing battle. The economic incentives are too big, and most people’s critical thinking skills too undeveloped, to check the overall momentum of this particular pendulum.

It’s now been several weeks since my last post, and indeed, I wrote only twice in August, and I can say I don’t miss it at all. In fact, it’s a relief; in recent months it felt too much like homework. I feel like I don’t have a lot to say that’s new, which means it’s probably a good time to stop saying it. At the same time, it’s equally clear that reader interest in what I write also has been diminishing, my view numbers soaring from 12,874 in 2022 to 26,458 in 2023, but declining to less than 9,000 thus far this year. Either I’ve grown stale—always possible!—or an already niche readership has grown even more so, perhaps because the bloom is off the RV rose more widely.

Whatever the case, I find myself spending more time and giving more attention to the lack of affordable housing and growing homelessness in my hometown of Staunton, VA. There’s a lot to write about there, and in many ways it seems more important than what I’ve been doing. And time, for all of us, is ever shorter.

—30—