When you buy an RV, you are faced with a plethora of related decisions. You’re embarking not upon a journey but upon a lifestyle. You buy a lot of stuff. Some of it’s good. Some of it’s not so good…

In the early days, I bought a few dumb RV items. Like that huge plastic meat serving tray that seemed like such a good idea, but consumed massive amounts of storage space, was a bear to clean, and thus was used a grand total of ONE time. (Hmmmm, no wonder I found it on the “clearance” isle.)

Since RVing is a social activity, eventually you’ll want to join a club. Count on it! Every manufacturer has a club, and many regions have clubs. But if you only join one club, make it the Good Sam Club. It’s one of the “good” ways to invest your RV moula.

The Good Sam Club has been around since 1966, and over the years it has become the gold standard of the big RV clubs. And it is big — we’re talking about more than a MILLION members! So you get the benefits of scale: a low membership price buys you all sorts of materials and benefits.

When Kristy and I first departed on The Long Long Honeymoon, we weren’t members of ANY club. We chose campgrounds randomly, and our results were about as good as my luck at Vegas slots. (That’s not good, in case you were wondering.)

The Good Sam Club takes the guesswork out of choosing a private campground. When you see the Good Sam logo, you can rest assured that the campground meets a certain standard of quality.

Early in The Long Long Honeymoon we randomly happened to choose a couple of Good Sam campgrounds. I noticed they were pretty nice, and seemed to be managed by people in good moods. So we decided to give it a shot.

Membership costs a measly 19 bucks! And it pays for itself in short order.

In exchange, you flash your Good Sam membership card when checking in to Good Sam campgrounds. This generally saves you 10% off the cost per night. So if you camp at Good Sam Parks, membership pays for itself.

If you own an RV, you’ve got questions. The Good Sam Club’s got answers. In addition to the camping savings, you get access to a members only website, and tons of proprietary Good Sam information. You also get a subscription to Highways, the Club’s magazine.

There’s also a HUGE annual club gathering called “The Rally.” This year’s Rally will happen next month in Albuquerque. It’s a lot like Woodstock, without all the naked hippies.

Some of our favorite camping experiences have happened at Good Sam Parks. The Schlegels’ campground on Route 66 in Texas, for example, is a Good Sam Park.

If you want to join the Good Sam Club, just click one of the buttons on our site. In a couple of minutes, you too can be a member!

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