The RV Homelessness Crisis - Plus Tiffin turmoil, National Parks, & 2026 Travel

RV Podcast - Stories From The Road

Mike Wendland

Leisure, Personal Journals, Society & Culture, Automotive, Places & Travel

4.5 • 704 Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2026

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week's RV Podcast News Edition tackles five stories that cover a lot of ground, starting with a topic the rest of the RV media won't touch: the growing RV homelessness crisis.

From Michigan lawmakers debating whether campgrounds can serve as housing solutions, to San Francisco banning large vehicles from city streets, to the quiet erosion of overnight parking at places like Cracker Barrel, this issue is reshaping public policy in ways that affect every RVer on the road.

We also dig into a major CNBC investigation revealing how RVs have become a housing safety net in Silicon Valley, where even full-time workers are living in aging rigs on public streets because they have no other option.

On the good news front, the National Park Service has officially dropped timed-entry reservation requirements at Yosemite, Arches, and Glacier for 2026. If those parks have been on your list, the reservation window is gone. We break down what that means practically and what to expect when the summer crowds arrive.

We also have the full story on Leigh Tiffin's sudden resignation from Tiffin Motorhomes and his move to luxury dealer group NIRVC. He finally broke his silence this week, but the timeline tells a more complicated story: a 20-month negotiation happening behind the scenes, a plant closure affecting 140 workers, and Thor quietly consolidating control over what was once a true family brand.

And we close with a look at why 2026 is shaping up to be one of the biggest RV travel years on record - and why you need to make sure your rig is ready before the campgrounds fill up. Our free Spring Prep Workshop is March 12th at 7 PM Eastern. Details and your free Spring Maintenance Book are at RVLifestyle.com/workshop.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, RV Lifestyle Family. It is Monday, February 23rd, 2026, and this is your RV podcast news edition,
0:10.5	the show where we cut through the noise. We dig into what's actually happening in the RV industry,
0:15.6	and we bring you the stories that matter to the way you live and travel and plan your time on the road.
0:22.4	I'm Mike Wendland, and we have a packed show for you today, five stories that cover a lot of
0:27.8	ground. Now, before we jump in, a quick note on how we do things here, we're basically a
0:33.8	journalist. That's my background. And that means that every story that I bring you today is
0:38.4	sourced. I'm not just reading press releases. We're not just passing along campfire rumors. When we make a
0:44.3	claim, we have a source behind it, a news article, a government filing, a forum thread, an official
0:50.0	announcement. Yeah, we put our own little spin on it, but every single one of the stories that I'm
0:55.5	going to mention is source listed in the show notes for you to pursue in today's episode.
1:01.2	And you can find the show notes at RVpodcast.com. If something we say today sparks a question,
1:07.2	you want to dig deeper on any of the topics. That's where you go. We believe you deserve
1:12.0	to know where the information is coming from, and we make it easy to follow the trail yourself.
1:17.2	That's the journalism difference. And after 15 years of doing this, it's still the thing that we're
1:22.6	most proud of. All right, let's get into the news. There's a lot to cover. And we're going to start with the story that is going to surprise some people.
1:32.4	It's the growing crisis of RV homelessness, something that almost nobody in the professional
1:39.6	RV media will touch, not the manufacturers, not the big dealer groups, not the trade associations,
1:45.3	and you won't find a panel discussion about it. At RV industry conferences, you won't see it
1:51.3	mentioned in the go-R-Ving PR marketing campaigns. It won't appear in the cheerful show notes from
1:58.5	Tampa or Hershey. But it is reshaping public perception of
2:02.8	RVs in ways that could affect every single one of us. And it is the RV homelessness crisis.
2:10.4	It's real, it's large, it's getting worse. This is a story that has been building for years
	...

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