Matt and Mary FaJohn planned to take their two young boys to Iceland in March.
“And that got canceled,” Matt FaJohn said as he packed up a new, two-bed camper trailer he bought last week with their refunded vacation money. “So, we decided we would do more camping around Colorado this summer.”
North Denver’s FaJohns are among thousands of travelers turning to RVs and campers as the tourism industry tentatively steps into a new way to holiday. RV makers, suppliers and campground hosts are reporting a wave of first timers who changed gears because they’re reluctant to get on planes or visit resorts and hotels.
“This is our way of social distancing. I’m sure I’m not the only one with this idea,” said FaJohn, whose new camper is built for off-road adventures beyond established campgrounds. “The guy at the dealer on Federal, he was like ‘Honestly, there’s zero haggling to do on these things right now. People are coming out of the woodwork.’”
This story by Jason Blevins was originally published in The Colorado Sun.
A survey of 4,000 U.S. and Canadian residents released last week by the world’s largest network of private campgrounds, Kampgrounds of America, Inc., showed the pandemic sparking interest in camping, especially among first timers and younger generations.
