'Anyone can do it': More women are buying RVs. Here's why.
Bailey Schulz, USA TODAY
Updated 6 min read
After about four years of living in her recreational vehicle full time, Lindsey Kszos was thinking of calling it quits.
Life on the road had given her the freedom to live wherever she wanted and immerse herself in nature, but it lacked a sense of community.
That has all changed in recent years: Kszos has noticed an increase in fellow female RVers.
“It kind of rejuvenated my passion for living on the road,” she said. “Some of my closest girlfriends now I've only known for maybe a year or two, but the bond is so strong because of the camaraderie, because there's such a mutual shared interest and lifestyle. We understand and relate to each other's day-to-day struggles.”
Research hints at a rise in female RV buyers in recent years, though specific numbers are scarce. A report from online marketplace RV Trader found the number of female RV buyers grew 10.6% from 2021 to 2023, based on surveys of more than 1,000 customers.
According to a separate survey of 800 leisure travelers from the RV Industry Association, which represents nearly 500 RV manufacturers and suppliers, women who said they own an RV jumped from 11% in 2021 to 17% in 2022 and 24% in 2023.
The research indicates a significant shift in a community that has historically been dominated by older, white men.
“The entire RV lifestyle is getting younger and more diverse,” RVIA spokesperson Monika Geraci said. “New buyers that are coming in are representing what America looks like, more so than what historically RV owner demographics have looked like.”
Lindsey Kszos, who documents her life as a full-time solo RVer under the name "GirlGoneGlamping," poses by her RV.
'We just started seeing more and more women'
The RV industry is welcoming a greater mix of women and nonwhite ethnicities, according to RVIA data.
Research from the trade group shows the median age of the 11.2 million RV owners in 2021 was 53, but the median age for first-time buyers the following year was 32.
Its research also found more women are traveling in RVs, from 13% in 2021 to 29% in 2023.
Paige Bouma, chief sales officer at RV Trader’s parent company Trader Interactive, said the pandemic introduced more diverse customers to the RV industry as people looked for ways to travel while social distancing.
“We just started seeing more and more women," she said.
Geraci said trends in education and workplace culture have also affected the RV industry.
RVIA data shows that more women are using their RVs to work remotely, from 20% in 2021 to 31% in 2023. And more women are using RVs to home-school, from 15% in 2021 to 23% in 2023. (Home-school enrollment increased 30% in the U.S. between the 2019-20 and 2021-22 school years, according to research from Stanford and the Associated Press.)
Also driving the change, according to Geraci, is the industry's concerted effort to be more inclusive in its advertising campaigns.
“Women can drive RVs too, and tow them and park them and go out and RV on their own,” she said. “(We’re) making sure that our advertising reflects that, that everyone sees themselves in our ads.”
RVIA data shows that full-time RVers remain the minority, making up just 1.5% of the 11.2 million RV-owning households in 2021.
But Bouma said women who travel solo in RVs full time – especially those who are active on social media or running blogs – may be encouraging more women to own RVs.
“Social media also plays a big role in just bringing more women into the RV lifestyle. It's becoming more mainstream,” she said. “If you're seeing it all around you, it's like, 'This looks awesome, and this looks fun. I can do this as well.'”
Kszos has roughly 27,900 followers on Instagram and more than 5,000 subscribers on YouTube, highlighting that there is plenty of interest in the full-time RV lifestyle.
“I’d love to see more women out there doing it,” she said.
What’s the RVing experience like for women?
Larissa Parker, 32, became a full-time RVer in June 2021 after she got burnt out from teaching during the pandemic. She now lives in a 23-foot travel trailer with her two dogs and works remotely.
“There was always this stigma toward (traveling alone as a woman). But I just got to the mindset of, well, these are things that I want to do. These are places that I want to see. And as a single woman, if I don't necessarily have someone to go with me, I'm not going to prevent myself from experiencing these things.
“Now that I've had a taste of it, I don't think it's something that I could ever give up.”
Full-time RVer Larissa Parker poses with her two dogs.
Parker said she has hit every state in the West and has visited more than two dozen national parks since going full time. She recognizes that the lifestyle is not for everyone, but she has been surprised by the lack of women she has met on the road.
“Really, anyone can do it,” she said. “It doesn't need to be predominantly men. And so I think it's really great that things are changing and more women are finding it.”
Living in an RV as a woman doesn't come without challenges. Kszos said she has to prove herself as an RV owner more so than male drivers, like when she took her rig to a maintenance shop last summer and had a hard time persuading the employees to take her seriously.
"They don't think that I know how to drive it or how to maintain it or do work on it," she said. "I have gotten a lot of, 'Sure, darling.' Like just kind of condescending (comments), and I try to not take it personally."
Lorna May, 58, sold her home and transitioned to life as a full-time RVer last year after a divorce and the death of her dog.
“I realized that the only person I was responsible for was myself,” she said. So “I set out across the country.”
Lorna May in the mountains near Cripple Creek, CO, on May 11, 2023
May has multiple sclerosis, a disease in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system. She said the disease can make it difficult for her to be around loud noises, so she enjoys parking her RV in secluded areas surrounded by nature.
When asked what she thought about data indicating more women were becoming RVers, May said it's about time.
“It pains me when I see women who feel stuck or can't do what they want to do for life. So when I hear that women are increasing as a demographic in the RV community, it’s like a thumbs up, and I pump my fist in the air.”
