$6 Diesel, a Mining Bombshell, and a Two-Story RV That Transforms
RV Podcast - Stories From The Road
Mike Wendland
4.5 • 704 Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2026
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Travel season is here — and so is $6 diesel. This week's Monday News Edition covers five stories that every RV traveler needs to hear before they hitch up and head out.
What we cover this week:
Fuel Prices: The Surge That Could Change Your Summer Plans National diesel is at $5.62 and climbing. Regular gas jumped 34 cents in a single week — the biggest weekly run-up of the year. Real RVers are already shortening trips and canceling plans. Mike breaks down the numbers and gives practical advice for budgeting your 2026 travel season.
Boundary Waters: A Historic Public Lands Decision For the first time in American history, Congress used the Congressional Review Act to overturn a public land protection order — lifting a 20-year mining ban near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota. No mine is being built tomorrow, but the legal precedent is one every camper and public lands user should understand.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park Goes Cashless As of May 1, cash is no longer accepted at TRNP campgrounds. Reservations through Recreation.gov are now required. If you have a trip planned to North Dakota this season, here is what changed and what you need to do before you arrive.
A Chinese Company Just Reinvented the RV The Feixiang "Flying RV" looks like a normal compact motorhome on the road. Park it, hit a button, and the entire upper level rises on hydraulic legs — doubling the living space from 200 to nearly 400 square feet. Mike watched the video twice. Links are in the show notes.
Camping World Q1 Results: Two Trends Worth Watching Revenue hit $1.35 billion, but the real story is buried in the details. CEO Matt Wagner used the phrase "K-shaped economy" to describe what he is seeing at dealerships right now — and a new Costco partnership is about to open a customer pipeline no other RV dealer has.
All stories are sourced and linked below.
Links and Show Notes:
- RV Trip Planning Dashboard: https://rvlifestyle.com/tripdashboard
- Live Workshop - How to Handle RV Problems on the Road Fast (May 14, 7PM Eastern, $10): https://rvlifestyle.com/workshop
- AAA Gas Prices: https://gasprices.aaa.com
- Boundary Waters Mining Decision: https://www.eenews.net/articles/trump-signs-resolution-favoring-mining-near-boundary-waters/
- Theodore Roosevelt NP Cashless Notice: https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/news/theodore-roosevelt-national-park-to-move-to-cashless-fee-collection-starting-may-1.htm
- Feixiang Two-Story RV Video: https://rvbusiness.com/video-chinese-company-built-a-2-story-transforming-rv/
- Camping World Q1 Results: https://rvbusiness.com/camping-worlds-wagner-pleased-with-q1-performance/
Subscribe for new episodes every Monday and Wednesday. Monday: News Edition - the stories shaping RV travel right now. Wednesday: Stories from the Road - tips, destinations, and the RV lifestyle.
The RV Lifestyle Podcast is the longest-running RV lifestyle podcast in the United States. Hosted by Mike Wendland, an 18-time Emmy Award-winning journalist, every story is sourced, fact-checked, and told straight.
RVLifestyle.com | RVPodcast.com | RVCommunity.com
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, welcome in. This is the RV Lifestyle Monday podcast news edition, and I'm Mike Wendland. |
| 0:07.6 | We're here every Monday morning with the stories that matter most to RV travelers, campers, |
| 0:12.3 | and anybody who loves the freedom of the open road. It is Monday, May 4th, 2026, |
| 0:18.0 | and let me just say this right up front. It's officially travel season Memorial Day |
| 0:22.1 | three weeks away. Campgrounds filling up, people hitching up and heading out, and there's a lot of |
| 0:27.5 | talk about this week. Fuel prices hitting levels that should make every one of us sit up and pay |
| 0:32.5 | attention. And there's a major decision about public lands near the boundary waters that sets a precedent |
| 0:38.4 | that you need to know about. Theodore Roosevelt National Park just went fully cashless, |
| 0:43.6 | and a Chinese company just built something that'll make you jaw drum. Oh, yeah, |
| 0:48.1 | camping world posted its quarter one numbers, and there are two trends buried in those results |
| 0:53.3 | that tell us a lot about where the industry is |
| 0:55.9 | headed. Now, before we get into all of this in today's show, I have to tell you about something |
| 1:00.3 | that we just updated and released and I want to be direct. There's nothing else like this on the |
| 1:06.3 | market. It's the RV Lifestyle Trip Dashboard, one tool, every trip, everything you need to plan and organize all in one place, |
| 1:14.3 | synced automatically across all of your devices. |
| 1:17.6 | Routes, driving days, campgrounds, budget checklists, |
| 1:21.4 | packing lists, meal planner, weather forecast, |
| 1:24.9 | and a printable PDF for the glove box. |
| 1:27.4 | Everything in one place on travel days you hit |
| 1:30.0 | one button it reads you yes it reads you your full morning briefing out loud while you drink your |
| 1:35.8 | coffee where you're going what to expect what to watch out for if there's going be winds along the |
| 1:40.0 | route it finds campgrounds public and private plus rest plus rest stops, dump stations, propane, truck |
... |
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