Hey Reader!

For the past number of days, we've been bumming around the San Francisco Bay area in our campervan visiting friends and family, mountain biking and sailing. This is a wonderful place to visit,.....but not when you're in a camper.

Every day, I relentlessly check the area's few campgrounds for cancellations. Full and booked. Every time.

The only available campsites are at privately owned RV parks that are basically a parking lot - no beauty, no views - and charging over $100 per night.

This is highway robbery. Why would I want to spend $100 to camp and THEN go spend money on restaurants, museums, breweries? Wouldn't that money be better spent supporting the local economy?

In a metro area of over 8 million people, there are only a handful of campgrounds for visiting RVers.

The solution to me is so clear.

U.S. major cities need to model what's been done in Europe for years.

Paid municipal parking area for campers.

It doesn't have to be fancy. Just a cheap place to park for the night, where visiting campers can leave their rig and go enjoy the spoils of the city. Parking areas within WALKING DISTANCE of the major sights.

This system could generate so much money. The United States has the space. More and more people are traveling via RV.

Imagine it here: underused lots, fairgrounds, park-and-rides at the edge of every tourist town — each one a paid overnight camper area with a fee machine, water fill and a porta-potty. Campers get a legal, cheap, safe night. Cities get revenue, plus visitors who buy breakfast downtown instead of getting rousted at 2 AM.

Neighborhoods get fewer campers circling residential streets, because there's finally somewhere legitimate to be. Everybody's problem gets smaller. Europe has run this experiment for decades; the results are in. It works.

That's my rant for today.

Do you think it could work here in the U.S.? Or are people too delinquent and rule-breaking?

New this week: my complete guide to renting a campervan in Europe

I've now rented campervans in Europe three times — the Alps, the French Riviera, Germany, the Dolomites — and I finally put everything in one guide: what it really costs night by night, how the brilliant 'rest stop' system works, where you can (and can't) camp free, and the mistakes I made so you don't have to. If a European camper trip is anywhere on your someday list, start here.

The guide: https://www.thewaywardhome.com/campervan-rental-europe/​

Cost tidbit: the $99-a-week campervan rental in Europe (yes, really)

Every fall, European rental companies need their vans driven back to home base — and they practically give them away to whoever does the driving: about $99 for a week, unlimited miles. I did it through Switzerland and it was one of the best travel weeks of my life. The fall deals drop soon; here's how it works so you're ready:

​https://www.thewaywardhome.com/campervan-rental-switzerland/​

What have you been up to this weekend?

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