Need a getaway to nature but not totally away?

You can camp and still have that connection to the internet.

Do you go camping to get away from it all and to get back in touch with nature? Or do you have the clicking finger itch to get back online around the campfire. Check your auctions and email under the stars. For better or worse, you can do both these days.

Campgrounds, and later RV Parks, have swept the country as a way to get out on and off the road. From solo trips to family outings to snow birds, people are getting out there and away from every day life between walls. Cell phone service at the campsite has steadily improved and you may register a few bars at the fire pit. But can you register a new domain name and get the important email you missed before wheeling down the old highway?

A new amenity is rapidly being added to campground and RV Park listings these days. Internet access. It may be high-speed wifi, crawling dial-up or a single computer in the corner of the park manager's office but it's there for you. "It's a fast growing service that is requested in RV parks these days," says Adam Longfellow of AllStays.com. "We responded to our customers by adding a directory of campgrounds and RV Parks that offer this service. ( /Campgrounds/Internet-campgrounds.htm ) The number of listings has tripled in just the last few months. I think more and more people want to stay connected while traveling."

Guests of these new service oriented parks and campgrounds want to be able to check information, stay in touch by email or do a little work while away from home. "They may be living in a rv park for weeks or months out of the year and don't want to have to run out to a library or coffee shop. With more and more parks offering Internet service, one could run an online business or auction shop from almost anywhere."

Wireless or "wifi" service seems to be the fastest growing for Internet campgrounds. A RV park can share a hi-speed internet connection with a router for whoever logs on. There are some that use a dial-up service but that is a bit more complicated. Any park office can add a computer or two in the corner for guests to use but limited access, privacy issues, and scheduling can be more difficult and a hassle at times.

Costs vary from campground to campground but many are free. Some owners choose to offer this as a free perk to lure more guests away from other parks. Or they may charge for the access time. Still others are part of a network of parks using a particular service. A guest can pay a monthly fee and then connect at any park in the country that is on that network. “You could travel the country and have Internet access at your campsite most of the time if you plan it out,” says AllStays.com.

"We're staying on top of it and adding more places all the time. ( /Campgrounds/Internet-campgrounds.htm ) Most of the U.S. states have places in our directory right now and we would expect every state to have Internet campgrounds by the end of the year. Even a number of state and national parks are getting into this service. We are currently working on listings for Canada and around the world as well," adds Adam Longfellow at AllStays.com

So throw the wi-fi enabled laptop in the car or RV and hit the back roads. You never know when your fingers will itch for the keyboard. Just make sure your fingers are clean after those roasted marshmallows.

AllStays.com, online since 2000 and based in Arizona (US), lists all kinds of lodging, from primitive campgrounds and RV Parks to luxury and haunted hotels and spa resorts. AllStays also links directly to official websites to make sure you have the real scoop on the latest and most accurate information.

We have been wanting LED Lights for every purpose for a while now. We have them in reading lamps, desk lamps, motion detector lights, flashlights.... but they haven't been quite ready for regular lights in our RV until now. Most are a bit dim or not bright enough to let you read small print from a distance or at floor level.

We have been testing LED lights from all over the world, various configurations, shapes and sizes. From cheap ones that burn out within a few months to expensive ones made for yachts.

Now, there is one we can finally recommend and endorse because we love it.
A new one called the Sensibulb from Sailor Solutions. Although pricier than most out there at $39.95 a bulb, it is amazing. This is version two of the light and it is great. The light it gives off is warm and easily replaces both incandescent and halogen light bulbs. There are various adapters available that allow it to fit different lights and a dimmer switch is also available. It runs on less than 1 watt so we recommend replacing your most commonly used light(s) at a minimum to notice the difference. That will save you a ton of power. They were designed with the boating market in mind and unveiled at the 2007 Miami Boat Show. Let's show them that the RV market wants innovation as well.

Why are hotels still charging for wi-fi access? In this day and age of internet becoming a tv alternative, access should just be just as available as color television in your room.

Reception is poor in most hotel buildings and some even run jamming equipment on cell phones and electronic equipment. So even if you have cell data service, you may not be able to use it in your hotel room. And you won't know if it works until you've checked in.

The other gripe is that many hotels will advertise internet access but not say if it's for a fee or how much that fee may cost. You see internet access as an amenity, listed the same as pool, cofee, etc. So you book it, check in and then find a fee card in the room.

We recently had a case where a chain advertises free high-speed internet access with their brand name in magazine, tv and web ads. So we made this change on the site accordingly. Then we are contacted by an individual location saying that they charge $10 per 24 hour period. What is a customer to do when the chains can't be straight with themselves?

I would like to say that you should boycott these hotels but it is difficult if you are already there or have a meeting at that hotel. Hotels around conventions are often the worst offenders. They have business travelers where they want them and charge accordingly. What choice do you have at that point?

Complain and complain loudly. Let them know on comment cards and at the front desk that you won't be back. That no one in your business will be back. That you will mention this on the convention survey so the whole event could possibly relocate to another hotel. Hotels are lowering rates to be competitive on internet websites like ours and then charging little fees for everything else, including things that used to be free.

Another aspect is that even if you know the cost of internet access, is it working when you are there? We hear many stories of the internet network being down or being upgraded in a hotel. You are out of luck without apologies. They may not accept the complaint as if you were saying there is no electricity. It may be critical for your visit but it's not an important utility to the hotels.

What do you think?

This is a follow-up to a previous post on the best RV LED lights that we have found so far. We went through a half dozen different companies and LED lights in our testing before finding and trying the Sensibulb from Sailor Solutions. We are not affiliated with this company in any way and we paid full price for all of our lights.

It is now coming up on nearly two years of use. We replaced every light we could with the Sensibulb and they continue to perform in an outstanding manner. Using LED lights like these save you power and money. If you use hookups most of the time, it may not matter to you in your travels. But if you ever do any boondocking or camping without hookups, these will make a difference in the quality of your lifestyle. And that makes it worth it to us. Do you pay for campgrounds based on your power issues? Not worrying about lights may allow you more freedom in camping and parking in other places. In our usage, we no longer worry about leaving lights on for a few extra minutes. In warm camping, you are no longer generating additional heat that your AC then has to work against. You can also buy a dimmer switch for these lights. This is unique in that most LED lights can't be dimmed.