HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — More than 1,500 RV owners are camped out at the Florida State Fairgrounds this week for the annual Florida RV Super Show.

The show is the official start of the RV season for the U.S. 

“We are probably known as weekend warriors,” said Darryl Hayner, who is camping at the fairgrounds this week with his wife and three kids.

From road trips and camping, to trips to state parks with their mountain bikes, Hayner says his family hits the road at least once a month to explore somewhere new.

It has been a life-changing experience since they became RV owners in 2019.

“We had a 19 foot, half the size of this, tip out bed, hybrid RV first in about 2019,” Hayner said. “Then upgraded massively to a 38-foot travel trailer. Hurricane Ian took care of that, it had just enough damage it was totaled. And we went shopping and found this and jumped on it.”

The RV world has changed since the pandemic.

Prices for new RVs hit record highs last year, but they are still cheaper than buying a home. And with an RV, the Hayner family says it can play the long game.

In the future, it plans to live full-time in the RV and keep their home in Sarasota to rent out.

“I think for us, our plan is going to be to rent the house seasonally, Airbnb maybe, some form of hanging onto the house so we have a home base we can go back to. Many people talk about how they can get into the full-time lifestyle and regret selling their home because they can’t take a break and have something to go back to.”

The RV Super Show at the Florida State Fairgrounds opened Thursday and runs through Sunday.