On the road again: How to take a nearly free vacation

I love traveling for almost nothing.

There's something about knowing I'm getting 10 times the value it costs me. I truly love that feeling. It's like the first blindfolded wine tasting I conducted in 1978, when we all discovered a $15 wine can taste as good as the stuff French wine snobs were selling for $95. What a joy.

This past fall, I got that same feeling when I rented a luxury RV and drove the Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert of northern Arizona. I did it for almost nothing. It normally costs $200 a day to rent a high-quality RV. But I found a secret way to take an RV trip for just $22 a day.

How does it work?

Well, the company that rents these giant RVs constantly needs to move them around the country, from one rental location to another. Rather than hire expensive drivers or moving companies, it seeks out "volunteers" to make the trip for them. In my case, I got a 90 percent discount on what the company would normally charge. You can do the same thing.

It's not for everyone. But if you're intrigued, this is a great way try out the RV life without spending much. In some cases, you can travel across the country for weeks at a time. Here's how I did it:

I flew one-way on Southwest into Las Vegas ($89) and took a cab ride ($30) to a lot run by Cruise America. (Maybe you've seen Cruise America's RVs painted with outdoor murals. The company has 126 rental locations in 35 states and in Canada.)

From Vegas, I drove to the Grand Canyon; Sedona, Ariz.; and through to Phoenix, Nev. I had nearly unlimited miles (normally,

there is a mileage charge — which can add

up quickly) and up to six days to make the

..........

trek. The ease of driving an RV was surprising.

And best of all, I got to use a $95,000 RV

................

for just $22 a day. ......................

After my drive, I flew home from Phoenix (again $89 on Southwest). The only big charge was for gas. The RV got about 12 mpg, and it cost about $110 to fill up (that was when gas was going for about $3 a gallon).

Total cost — airfare, gas, RV, everything — for five nights and six days was $520.

To get started booking your RV trip, go to www.cruiseamerica.com and click on "Hot Deals." If you want to do a trip like mine, look under the heading "Rolling Into Arizona" or "Rolling Out of Arizona." Cruise America has deals ranging from five to nine nights.

Also, be sure to pick up a guidebook called Woodall's. It gives a listing of every campground in North America including amenities, costs and contact information.

Keep in mind, you don't need any special license; your regular driver's license works fine. Driving an RV is simple. And most campgrounds are designed to make things easy.

I plan to do another trip with a friend. We're going to do nine days across country and figure it will cost about $500 per person. I'm starting to like the RV life.

— David Eifrig is an analyst and editor for www.DailyWealth.com/Weekly, a daily investment newsletter focused on the market's best contrarian investment opportunities. Learn more by visiting www.Daily- Wealth.com/Weekly.