As a family, we are pretty keen campers, and regularly, explore Cornwall and Devon in our van. Whilst the kid's are still small I am interested in taking a fly drive holiday to the States, hiring a larger camper at the other end. I was hoping someone may have some information, as costs seem to vary tremendously, with clauses about miileage etc. Has anyone tried anything similar? I would be interested in problems or triumphs along the way too.

Hi. We took an extended 15 week holiday and drove across the States from New York to LA back in 2002. At that time, Road Bear RV, gave us a good deal and transported us to and from airports (roadbearrv.com),(just a small 19ft camper, our daughter was approaching 2 and shared our bed). Although the van was a little on the small side, we had the advantage that we could use it as a car and take it into nearby towns/cities, unlike one of the bigger RV's, where if you couldn't get public transport you'd have to hire a car too! The KOA Kampgrounds are good, a lot have pools and playgrounds, and if you're going off-season as we did (high season over there is May - end September) there is no need to book your site. A lot of these Kampgrounds on the outskirts of big cities offer day trips downtown eg Boston, New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans etc. And apparently, if you're stuck for a site, you're allowed to camp overnight in any Walmart car park! Good luck with it, it's well worth the trip!