Travel on the open road in an RV or motorhome can be very inexpensive to be sure, but there are some costs associated with it though. For those that travel on a budget, the challenge is to minimize those costs as much as possible. One way to really keep costs down is to carefully select the places that you choose to stay overnight.

There are several ways to find low-cost and even no cost places to stay in your RV travels, and here are some tips that you can use to help lower your overall camping expenses.

If you stay in a full-service RV park or campground you can expect to pay top dollar for everything that they offer, especially if it is conveniently located to a large city and a major highway. You can realize real savings though if you choose to stay instead at parks that have less hookups and facilities, or are located farther out in the country, off the beaten path. Sometimes the daily rates can be considerably lower at these types of campgrounds, so before you come into an area, use a campground directory like Trailer Life or Woodall's to help you find those RV park sites that have lowered rates, instead of the most popular campgrounds that have easy access.

For even lower nightly rates, consider staying in a state park or recreation area. Quite often you can get a spot here that will be very inexpensive although you probably won't find much in the way of hookups beyond just the basics, and that's OK if your primary goal is just to save money at this point.

If you really want to save the most money though, consider staying for free on federal BLM(Bureau of Land Management) land, or in a national park. If there is no charge at all, you can expect no hookups and amenities at all, but if your RV or motorhome is equipped with solar panels and has an efficient power system you may be able to stay for several days here at minimal cost to you.

Two things to keep in mind about staying in free federal campgrounds though is that the roads that you must travel to access them can be difficult for some RVs, so you will need to check beforehand to make sure that your motorhome can safely negotiate the trip, and also that national parks can often be very crowded, especially if it's a top rated park in the height of vacation season.

For low-cost and no-cost overnight stays you will need to spend more time and research as such accommodations are not easily and readily available. But if you plan your travels carefully and well in advance you can lower your RVing costs considerably.

Jim Johnson writes on consumer related matters. Find out more about hdtv tuners and hdtv reviews at our HDTV website.