Working from home is retaining its popularity even as health concerns recede. Hitting the road in recreational vehicles also surged during the last couple of years, and it continues to trend. Combining these two lifestyles is now more possible than ever, with fast internet connectivity available across the country. Arizona is well equipped to provide for this new generation of digital RV nomads in motorhomes.
Health concerns are minimized on vacations spent only with close friends or family, which triggered a rise in the sales of motorhomes, campers and caravans. And more campgrounds are being built — over 15,000 new RV sites were added this winter nationwide, and existing ones are being expanded. For anyone who earns money working online, they frequently offer WiFi and a range of features to make the lifestyle comfortable.
READ ALSO: 15 must-see places for an Arizona road trip
Arizona’s long-standing reputation as a snowbird destination means it is already well set up for anyone who works online from their RV. They can do this at one of the many campsites that offer WiFi or using mobile hotspots on a cellular network. In addition, there is now satellite internet — for a few hundred dollars spent on hardware and a subscription, this can give you access even in remote Arizonan locations.
Urban Arizona Gives Online RVers Great Internet
Metro Phoenix campgrounds offer RVers reasonable costs and a wide range of features, a recent study of the best U.S. destinations for RVing shows. The great majority provide hook ups for electric, water and sewerage and also allow pets. In addition, swimming pools are a common feature — and you might get a game of shuffleboard! The top-ranked Valley of the Sun destinations in the study are Mesa (29th) — where the average internet speed is 480 Kbps — and Apache Junction (39th), with several dozen campgrounds each.
However, Tucson beats them for all-round RVing friendliness, scoring 11th place in the analysis. The internet is super-fast at 482 Kbps — almost nowhere else was found to have a higher average speed — and WiFi is available in around three quarters of the campsites. Again, there are usually hook ups for all the necessary utilities and pets are allowed, plus around two thirds of the campgrounds have pull-thru parking for the convenience of customers.
Smaller Arizona Hot Spots Welcome Digital Nomads
RVing digital workers should also check out Yuma, which scored 12th position in the study. It has dozens of campsites, so they can easily find the features they need. Any clients needing to work online can take advantage of the WiFi that around half the campgrounds provide and an above-average local internet speed of 298 Kbps.
Smaller Arizonan cities punch above their weight at attracting the RV community. Lake Havasu City has very high air quality along with an average internet speed of 316 Kbps, earning it a 25th place in the study. Quartzsite has a huge number of campgrounds for RVs while nearby Salome’s campsites offer comforts such as swimming pools and cable TV — both places scored top-50 positions.
Casa Grande gets a ranking of 22, winning out with a dozen or so campgrounds that all provide hookups for water, electric and sewerage, plus they allow pets, and a high proportion of them offer swimming pools. Locals know it is more than a dormitory town, and visiting RVers would enjoy the golf courses, family activities, museums and the Picacho Peak State Park.
What Arizona-Bound RVers Need to Know
To be efficient, mobile online workers are advised not to move too often. Any digital nomad RVer who wishes to stay in Arizona longer than a few weeks in winter can make life more comfortable by renting a storage unit. For instance, there are more than a dozen Casa Grande self storage facilities, where RVers can put extra stuff like golf clubs, bikes and hiking gear so their motorhomes don’t get cluttered and they can enjoy their downtime.
Newcomers to Arizona should prepare themselves for a range of weather. While the winters are hardly the USA’s coldest, there can be snow and temperatures that require putting a coat on. Any RVers staying more than a season will need clothing of several types, and the mountains and deserts require different gear. This is another case where renting a nearby storage unit can free up precious living space in the RV.
Arizona offers a great deal for digital nomad RVers, giving them what they need to work and play. Smaller cities often come up with the goods, giving access to both nature and city life plus a range of RV camping options, making them also suitable for longer stays. And Arizonans could get to know their home state better by hopping into an RV rather than paying rent, carrying out their online work there and never straying too far from their physical offices and friends.
