With travel restrictions looming again, here's our best take on what RV travel looks like for the rest of the year.

As COVID-19 raises its ugly head again with more infections and hospitalizations, things that once were opening are closing again. This week on the RV Podcast Episode 303, we offer straight talk about what the rest of the year may look like for RVers.

Plus we have an interview about an interesting place where RVers can go to get their RVs renovated called RV Renovation Camp. We also have lots of RV News, tips, an off the beaten path report from the Burketts, and much more all coming up in Episode 303 of the RV Podcast.

Show Notes for Episode #303 July 15, 2020 of The RV Podcast:

WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK

We’re still in Michigan and will likely stay here through fall.

And while we think there will be lots of opportunities for short trips in and around the Great Lakes Region, long-distance, cross-country travel for us has been put on hold as the nation tries to figure out what to do as COVID-19 infection rates have shot upwards again.  What had been an encouraging downwards trend in early summer, has now been reversed to where we are now seeing record infection rates in many places, more hospitalizations, and rising deaths.

In other words, just when you thought it was okay to start traveling again, we’re seeing the virus rapidly spreading and many states contemplating shutdowns again.

So let's talk about what RV travel looks like for the rest of the year:

In our opinion, it’s not good. Just today, Elkhart Open House, the mega event put on every fall by the RV manufacturers to jumpstart business for dealers and suppliers, was canceled for this year. That event has probably become the most important venue for the RV industry and canceling it shows just how serious the industry sees the new spike in invections.

We don’t have a crystal ball. We’re not privy to any inside information. But since the end of February, the newsman in me has kept careful track of what is happening with this horrible illness and I think there are several things happening that will adversely affect the RV Lifestyle.

Hopefully, what’s unfolding and developing now will not result in total nationwide shutdowns like most of us experienced in March and April. But I don’t think there is any doubt that it's getting worse rather than better.

Will you still be able to travel in your RV? Yes, I think so, certainly more than you were able to this past spring but, sadly, I fear, not as much as you perhaps would like to.

Here are seven things that I think will  shape what RV travel looks like for the rest of the year

* There will be more campgrounds, state parks, and national parks either closing to out of state campers, shutting down entirely, or limiting the number of visitors. We have some examples of that happening even now coming up in the News of the week segment but expect more quarantines and in some places, like California, parts of Texas and other states, to be more severely impacted by COVID and actively tell visitors that they are not welcome the rest of the summer and ell into the fall.

* What campgrounds that remain open will be more crowded. That’s a given. With all the new RVers out there, camping space is already at a premium in many places. If campgrounds now open start closing again, those that are still open will be putting out the “no vacancy” signs a lot sooner than normal.

* RV manufacturers will once again have to wrestle with the decision to shut down their assembly lines to stop the spread of the virus. Same with RV parts manufacturers. If shutdowns happen the ripple effect will immediately be felt through all segments of the industry. It may be booming now because so many people bought new RVs for much-needed vacations once the economy st...