Glamping, an amalgamation of the words ‘glamour’ and ‘camping’ isn’t the least bit of an insult to those who practice it.
In fact, according to Nick Smith, sales manager at Good Life RV in Webster City, they embrace it.
“Most people seem to be proud of it,” he said.
Unlike camping, which usually means a tent, a campfire, bugs, rain, heat, humidity, rough ground, soggy hot dog buns and cranky kids, glamping brings all the comforts of home, to the campground.
“The stuff out there,” Smith said, pointing towards the large inventory outside, “That has everything under the sun.”
The current generation of fifth wheel campers and RVs are a collection of electronics, automation, and ingenious design elements that are mind boggling.
“You can control your camper with your phone,” he said. “We have one where you program the features you want, then one button does it all.”
That ‘all’ includes leveling the camper, activating the slide out compartments, turning on the lights, starting the climate control and rolling out the awning… it will even turn on the stereo.
About the only thing it won’t do is cook dinner; that’s still on the owner.
The latest trend is going green.
“The big trend in the last three to four years is solar,” he said. “Almost everything out here has solar to create sustainable power. You could essentially go anywhere.”
The camper business was one of the few that grew during the COVID pandemic. Smith said that people were distrustful of hotels. People wanted something that nobody else had slept in.
Selecting a fifth wheel camper or an RV can be a daunting process.
“You can order any brand we carry” Smith said. “There’s a plethora of options. There’s probably over a million combinations of floor plans, options, colors and other features.”
Unless his customer has a specific model in mind, he said the sales staff will do an inventory with the customer to find out what features they consider important.
“We talk about their needs and wants,” he said. “We do an interview, show them what’s applicable to what they want. We also talk about their budget.”
Glampers are pretty much everywhere.
“I’ve sold to Guam, Alaska, New York, California,” Smith said. “Lots of folks out West. You name it, they’re from all over the U.S. We’ve sold many to Canadians.”
They’re not just for retirement.
“The average is all over the map,” he said. “We’ve sold them to the young, middle aged, retired and past retirement. I would be hard to say the average is say 35 although it’s harder financially buying one when you’re younger.”
Another large group of buyers are individuals that use their camper as a residence.
“There’s a lot of folks that work on wind turbine projects, pipe lines and other projects,” he said. “They get a per diem, that will more than pay for a camper. Itás ideal for people that travel.”
So is there really any limit to what you can have in your camper?
“We sold one with a sauna,” Smith said. “We have a portable hot tub option. You can get marble and granite counter tops, real tile floors, heated floors.”
Safety is a priority.
“There’s a lot of safety regulations,” he said. “They all have fire, CO and propane leak detectors. The LP detector is hard wired to the battery. They’re all required. All of that is in every single camper. Some of these are safer than people’s homes.”
He said the trend is bigger.
“Campers have grown and grown,” he said. “Three slideouts used to be top end. Now there’s almost none that don’t have three. Now it’s up to six.”
Of course, if you really want a traditional camping experience, you can make sure your hot dog buns get soggy. Simply leave them outside.