New Trend: From Campgrounds to RV Communities

There's a new trend that sees campgrounds becoming full-fledged RV communities with lots of amenities, activities, and year-long stays.

We're not talking trailer parks like past generations but real communities catering to the needs of today's RVers.

We dig into this in Episode 435 of the RV Podcast, interviewing the owner of just such a community in north central Florida, where this trend has particularly been building for several years now.

Also in this episode, RV News, Tips, and your questions about the RV Lifestyle.

To watch the video version of the podcast, click the player below:

You can catch an audio-only version on your favorite podcast app or by clicking the player below.

Interview: RV communities

Shawn Simms, owner of Ocala North RV Resort

Our guest this week is Shawn Simms, owner of Ocala North RV Resort, in the heart of Florida’s horse country between Ocala and Gainesville. We met him a couple of weeks ago as we overnighted there on a trip down to cover the Florida RV Supershow in Tampa.

We were so impressed that we booked a return stay after the show ended.

The sprawling Ocala North RV Resort has a couple of hundred sites, a half dozen dog parks, a 24-hour staff person on duty for those staying there, fiber optic cable Internet wi-fi, numerous paved pull-through spots, immaculate private restrooms, modern laundry facilities and a very busy activity program offering things to do each day of the week.

It was indeed an RV community, and that's what we talked to Shawn about.

Ocala North RV Resort

His interview is front and center in the podcast, and we urge you to watch or listen.

He is developing an even larger RV community on nearby Orange Lake which will be open next year.

Ocala North RV Resort is not alone. There are numerous other such developments across Florida, with many more under development. The same thing is happening in Arizona, Texas, Michigan, and many other states, all catering to full-time or seasonal RVers and short term overnight campers.

It's a real bright spot in the camping industry that is getting major traction as the post-COVID camping boom shows no signs of letting up, and camping spots have been hard to find for the past few years.

What are a few more RV Communities to check out?

Let us know in the comments!

New Travel Tech - Weatherbug

This week in the new Travel Tech segment of the RV Podcast, drawn from the pages of NewTravelTech.com, our sister blog celebrating the many ways technology enhances the travel experience, we talk about a great weather app for travelers.

Now we know, there are a gazillion of them out there. And, truth be told, we probably have half a dozen on our smartphones and tablets.

But If you want to know everything there is to know about the weather, WeatherBug is the one you want. We’ve used it for years. In fact, it’s our main go-to weather app.

When you launch the app, it immediately displays current local weather, including temperature, dew point, humidity,