Campervan vs. Hybrid Car

When Mike and I started planning for our road trip, we decided right away that we wanted to see the west coast in a camper van. We were so excited that we didn’t bother to compute for the costs. So when I started talking to my brothers about our trip, they brought me back to reality and reminded me of how much gas costs here in the US and, more importantly, how much gas a camper van guzzles. I became very nervous.

In my nervousness, I did what we should have done before booking anything. I researched and compared costs between a camper van and, what would be a better option, a hybrid car ( Toyota Prius).  Here are the computations based on our predicted mileage from LA to Vancouver of about 3500 miles.

	CAMPERVAN	PRIUS
Rent	$2000	$960
Approx. mileage	18 mpg	40 mpg
Full Tank @ $4.23 per gallon	$80	$50
Cost of 7 full tanks	$560	$250
Total Cost	$2560	$1210

There are also some pros and cons that we would have to consider, such as the convenience of being able to stop almost anywhere with a camper van. Rest stops and camp sites are everywhere in the US and this would reduce the cost for lodging. Whereas, if we took a car, we would have to spend about $30 a night to stay at a motel. But even then, we predict that taking a camper van would still cost more.

After showing this to Mike, I was pretty sure that he would be convinced to switch to a Prius, but he wasn’t.  According to him, it’s going to be more fun driving around in a camper van and, that is the main priority. So that’s that.

The fun V it is! :)