With gasoline prices hitting all-time highs, Jeff Redmond says he91裸聊视频檚 planning to stay closer to home when RV camping this summer.

The owner and general manager of Bucars RV Centre in Balzac, Alta., says recreational vehicles are still one of the most affordable ways to travel as a couple or with a family once hotels, gasoline prices or airline costs are factored in.

91裸聊视频淲e laugh that RVers are the ones that are winning,91裸聊视频� Redmond said in an interview this week.

The cost of gasoline declined slightly before this May long weekend, the unofficial kickoff to summer camping season, but analysts say summer demand in coming weeks has the potential to send prices even higher.

Redmond said that could influence where he travels this year.

91裸聊视频淭he Okanagan Valley is a place I like to go 91裸聊视频� and that91裸聊视频檚 a seven-hour drive, so maybe I am going to go to Pigeon Lake or Gull Lake (Alberta), which is an hour-and-a-half drive,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淭he good news is that I am still going.

91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e able to alter our plans and to work within our budget.91裸聊视频�

Redmond said he has heard a similar sentiment from customers. Some are staying closer to home. Others are planning to stay longer at one campsite.

91裸聊视频淵ou park the larger trailer at a permanent campsite, or at your friend91裸聊视频檚 cottage, or at the old family farm, or at a winery in the Okanagan 91裸聊视频� and you don91裸聊视频檛 tow it,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淵ou hop in your family car and you go back and forth. You have a built-in, very affordable 91裸聊视频� off-the-grid cabin that is extremely efficient once you get there.

91裸聊视频淟ots of people are no longer towing.91裸聊视频�

Rob Minarchi is vice-president of sales at ArrKann Trailer & R.V. Centre with outlets across Alberta. He said there91裸聊视频檚 been a lot of demand for RVs since the start of the pandemic and it hasn91裸聊视频檛 slowed down this year.

91裸聊视频淢ost (people) are upgrading, as crazy as that sounds,91裸聊视频� he said from Edmonton. 91裸聊视频淪ome people are selling 91裸聊视频� because circumstances have changed but, for the most part, they are just trading in for different units.

91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 a lot of new RVers who came to the market when COVID first hit 91裸聊视频� but they didn91裸聊视频檛 know exactly what they wanted.91裸聊视频�

Those customers, he said, are trading in for units that better suit their needs.

Minarchi said he hasn91裸聊视频檛 heard about anyone getting rid of an RV due to high gas prices.

91裸聊视频淲hat we91裸聊视频檙e seeing is a lot of people are just camping a little closer,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淚f they were going to do a five-hour trip, now they are going to do a one-hour trip 91裸聊视频� I think it actually ties in a little bit with COVID and staying close to home.

91裸聊视频淭hey found so many hidden gems locally 91裸聊视频� in the last couple of years that they are OK to do that.91裸聊视频�

Some campgrounds are starting to notice some changes.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檝e had a few people cancel,91裸聊视频� said Scott Kast, owner of Tomahawk R.V. at Lake of the Woods in Ontario.

But, he said, gas prices are a minor factor in those cancellations.

91裸聊视频淲e do get a lot of Americans here. One thing holding people back is vaccine mandates,91裸聊视频� said Kast.

Another campground manager told CKPG radio station in Prince George, B.C., that some people travelling from farther away have cancelled.

91裸聊视频淎 lot of people are wanting to stay local,91裸聊视频� said Bobbie Carpino, who runs the Salmon Valley campground.

91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檝e seen cancellations from folks coming in from the States heading up to Alaska, as well as folks coming in from the Lower Mainland.91裸聊视频�

The price of fuel could add $100 or $200 to the cost of an average camping trip, Minarchi said.

91裸聊视频淚t feels like a lot when you are at the pump but 91裸聊视频� it91裸聊视频檚 still affordable to do it,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淥ne less restaurant that you eat out at pays for the difference in your fuel for the whole camping trip.91裸聊视频�

Some RVers, he said, are adding solar panels and buying generators to make it easier to camp off the grid 91裸聊视频� including on Crown land. Others are parking their RVs at permanent sites for the entire summer.

91裸聊视频淭hey are still camping, so that91裸聊视频檚 good.91裸聊视频�

Redmond said the pandemic encouraged many people to get outdoors in their RVs, on a mountain bike or with a set of golf clubs.

91裸聊视频淚 am a guy that went and bought a new bicycle and there91裸聊视频檚 no way I91裸聊视频檓 selling my bike. It91裸聊视频檚 been awesome to get on the trails and get reintroduced to that,91裸聊视频� he said.

91裸聊视频淭here (are) lots of people, their lives got in the way of our great outdoors. They are stepping back now and saying, 91裸聊视频榃ow, that was great91裸聊视频� and they are going to keep doing it.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频� Colette Derworiz, The Canadian Press