We became Escapees RV Club members in Feb 2020, three days after purchasing our RV- a used 2018 Tiffin Allegro Red 33AA. We feel that this was one of the best and most important memberships we could have joined.
Escapees has been providing educational resources on the RVing lifestyle since 1978. Escapees RV Club was formed by RVer for RVers. It is an organization that educates its members on the latest and greatest of RVing safety and technology. We personally are glad to be members for the 42nd year of the organization.
We had numerous reasons to join and here is Chasing RV Sunshine’s opinion on the top five reasons why you should join Escapees RV Club. Chasing RV Sunshine-Joel, Deb and Maya (our dog)-would never recommend anything that we don’t use ourselves, belong to, and find legitimate and/or utilize.
1. Help with Domicile & Mail Forwarding
When looking at this membership one of our major concerns was how we were going to select our domicile and get our mail when we went to Full-Time RVing. Full time RVers get their mail by an RV mail forwarding service. Escapees RV Club has unique mailing addresses in Texas, South Dakota and Florida to use as a legal domicile also. Domicile is considered the state you would consider your residence in.
Escapees will forward your mail to you or you can schedule it as needed. Escapees will also do mail scanning and special sorting to receive First Class envelopes and mail online. The Mail forwarding Service has rates from $95 to $135 per year.
We are planning on going full-time in the next year or two and have narrowed down our domicile state to Texas or Florida. The fact that Escapees RV Club offers this service gives us peace of mind and guidance to choose what works best for us. The experience that comes behind the club speaks volumes to us and should also help you on choosing what works best for you for mail forwarding and domicile.
2. Discounts
As an Escapees RV Club member you get discounts on Campgrounds, RV insurance, RVer Insurance Exchange-health insurance, and Roadside Assistance. There are several RV industry leaders the Club partners with that offer members ways to save money on products and services. To name a few, ASPCA Pet Insurance, Battle Born Batteries, Costco, Dish, Goodyear, Harvest Hosts, Passport America, and WiFi Ranger.
Within a day of joining we saved the cost of the membership fees when we purchased RV insurance through one of their partnerships. We also have already utilized the emergency roadside assistance that is offered through the club. We found the emergency roadside assistance is a must have for any RV. The cost for the emergency roadside assistance is $109 a year.
We ended up with a flat tire on our first trip out with our RV. This could’ve been an extremely costly matter, however, we had roadside assistance through the club and utilized it. As brand new RV owners, AKA RV Newbies, we can’t say enough good about having the roadside assistance.
Education
Escapees offers educational classes both in person and online to help you operate your RV and be confident and safe on the roadway. In RVers Boot Camp or RVers Online University they teach you what you need to know to safely operate and maintain your RV. The group classes are currently not available due to Covid-19. We are planning on taking the Boot Camp as you can have additional discounts on RV insurance once passing the course- especially when related to the driving of an RV.
Escapees also have available to their members webinars and blog posts. We have watched the webinars and read the blog posts. We have found them relevant and useful. The webinars and blog posts range from Technical RV issues to life style and travel.
Escapees has a bimonthly magazine that has useful information on RV entertainment, advice from other RVers, safety education, and product reviews. The magazine can be mailed or you can received it online in PDF. Deb likes the online issue in PDF form, and (old school) Joel likes the paper in hand magazine. Both work for us now- as we still have a “sticks & bricks”. However, to save on space and mailing once full time PDF will be best. We have found it enjoyable and educational reading for all RVers.
4. RVer Job Exchange
As an Escapees member you can research job opportunities and get connected with employers who want full or part-time workers. The RVers Job Exchange matches your skills and specialties with remote work opportunities. We have not utilized this program yet as we still employed full-time; however, think that this is a benefit for anyone moving into the nomadic lifestyle. Our jobs are not ones that can be utilized while traveling, but we will be able to utilize our skills, knowledge and training if needed in this platform to find work if needed.
5. Community
As apart of the Escapees community you will make connections with like-minded people and experience new adventures on the road. The club offers Hangouts & Rallies & Head-Out Programs (HOPs). The HOP focuses on groups of Escapees members meeting up at events like the Albuquerque Ballon Fiesta, or going ATVing or white-water rafting and/or exploring Alaska or Mexico.
Escapees also has a subgroup called Xscapers for working-aged RVers. Xscapers group supports working members that are working on the road or raising a family while RVing full-time.
There are many Social Channels you can also join as an Escapees member- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest & YouTube. You can pick what social channels you want to follow and be apart of or not. There are virtual campfires offered with guest that share information on how to start the lifestyle and technical tips and tricks.
We have found the social media channels wonderful, friendly and useful. We have personally posted questions and had responses from members with in minutes. We have personally found this community to be encouraging, friendly and educational. Each and every member wants the others to reach their dream of RV freedom.
Membership is $39.95 a year and we have felt it is well worth the value to join. We recommend everyone that owns an RV to join Escapees to enjoy all the benefits. Here is a link to our affiliate link to join Escapees and be apart of the amazing community: https://www.escapees.com/refer/Chasing+RV+Sunshine
We have listed our top five reasons above and hope you can join the community so that you can further your freedom, adventure and education.
Chasing RV Sunshine is willing to admit we currently are RV Newbies and have a short time knowledge base in RVing. However, we are smart enough to join groups to educate ourselves like Escapees RV Club to make us better RVers and be apart of an amazing RV community.
