Editor's Note: The following story appeared in the February 21 issue of The Huff Post.

This May, Kampgrounds of America is giving away a free night of camping at all of its nearly 500 locations around the U.S. in an effort to convince families that enjoying the outdoors doesn't have to be a hassle.

The company, which has 484 campgrounds in North America, will give away the free night on May 12 to guests that pay for a night of camping on May 11.

"It's a perfect example of trying to get people out and get in the mindset of camping in the spring," KOA CEO Jim Rogers says. "It's a great opportunity to shake the cobwebs off the tent or off the rig."

It's part of a bigger Come Camp & Care weekend that the company organizes annually as a fundraiser for their Care Camps, a group of 44 specially-equipped campgrounds for children with cancer and their siblings. The weekend, says KOA CEO Jim Rogers, generates roughly $350,000 for the Care Camps.

"That is significant," Rogers says. "Fundraising's tough."

HuffPost Travel's Paul Brady talked camping with KOA's CEO.

Paul Brady: Tell us more about the rationale behind the free weekend.

Jim Rogers: We continue to believe that America needs to spend more time outdoors, and the strategy that we built into this was to make it easy and very reasonable for people to go out and try a campground.

It reinforces the idea of affordability because you're getting a free night, and it allows people to go explore the option of, Should we put up a tent? Should we try a cabin? Should we try a deluxe cabin? It's an opportunity to test the water.

I like to go out and do a test run before I hit the road to do something serious. It's fun to find out whether you've got a hole in your tent before it starts raining.

PB:How does KOA supporting the Care Camps with this weekend?

JR:We haven't done a good job of building awareness for it, and yet whenever we do, we find an outpouring of support. What happens here is that many of the campgrounds have activities during the weekend. So they'll have an auction of items donated by local businesses or they'll have a parade or they'll have a barbecue or pancake breakfast or ice cream social and all of them include some form of donation. It's our crescendo of fundraising we kick off the year with.

This has become one of the biggest weekends of the year. It's the eighth or ninth or 10th largest weekend that we have. We put it up against Fourth of July and Memorial Day.

PB:Do you get to travel much personally?

JR:Being based in Billings, Montana, and having 500 locations, you do spend a lot of time elsewhere.

PB:What drew you to your job as KOA CEO?

JR:My first job out of college was with KOA. I worked for KOA for about three or four years in the '70s.

PB:What's changed since you came on board?

JR:I think we've really worked hard on improving the quality of service in our system. We've built metrics in to evaluate overall quality from the guest perspective versus an inspector from KOA. We're now at a point - 10 or 11 years into it - that we know that if (you) check in at a pop-up with a dog and three kids that when (you) check in tomorrow night at another KOA, we already know that information. That recognition is important to everybody.

PB:Any other changes in the camping business?

JR:Our business has gone local. Over the last 10 years, we've gone from about 43 percent of our guests spending the night before (staying at a KOA campground) at home to nearly 57 percent of our customers.

We just finished a study with Coleman and the outdoor industry. We tend to typecast campers. But we learned there's tremendous cross-over. A camper may indeed drive a trailer to a location, take his bike and ride through Moab for two or three days. He may go backpacking for a week. He may hike or fish or paddle down a river and I think we have to appreciate that our audience isn't limited.

We have to get people unplugged. People are seeking peace and quiet. When you're camping, within five minutes, the guy that's got a site next to you is talking to you. The kids are playing and they could be a quarter of a mile away - and you're OK with it. Our society needs this sort of oasis of genuine interaction.

Kidd RV Resort Consulting, an integrated marketing firm specializing in the RV industry, has interpreted the results of its five-question survey to analyze the relationship between gas prices and RVers' travel behaviors from the summer of 2011 to the winter of 2012.

The results of Kidd RV's ongoing quarterly industry surveys are valuable for the consulting firm in order to understand RVers' lifestyles and to better serve their clients- specifically RV resorts, according to a news release.

The Tallahassee, Fla.-based consulting firm uncovered several insightful differences between fuel survey results from 2011 to 2012. Respondents of the 2011 survey indicated that if fuel prices continued to increase, more than 70 percent of RVers would change their travel plans or behaviors. The percentage of respondents who would change their travel behaviors dropped to 27 percent in 2012, an indication that more RVers are adhering to their travel plans despite fuel prices. This fluctuation is potentially due to the 16 percent fuel price decrease that occurred from the summer through December, combined with an improving economy.

Based on survey results, RVers are more committed to paying higher fuel prices and traveling in 2012 as compared to 2011. In 2012, the majority of RVers responded that they would travel until fuel prices reached $8/gallon, while only 7.4 percent of RVers would pay $8/gallon in 2011.

In addition, 55 percent of participants are planning on traveling more than they did in 2011, 36 percent planning to travel the same as in 2011 and only 9 percent traveling less than they did last year. These results are indicative of RVers' willingness to travel further and spend more money on fuel in 2012 as compared to in 2011.

"Understanding how RVers are affected by industry trends, obstacles and new technologies aids Kidd RV for the purpose of creating more focused marketing objectives and maximizing positive results for our clients," says Jerry Kidd, president of Kidd RV Resort Consulting. "It is crucial for us to be in tune with RVers' lifestyles in order to better understand the market and ways to make traveling more convenient for our target audience. Through our research on fuel costs and travel behaviors, we have gained insight about how far RVers are willing to travel to their destinations this year, and how much they are willing to pay along the way."

They looked a bit out of place, surrounded by all the gray hair, the hawkers of hearing aids, a booth promoting cremation services and assorted vendors of electric scooters and customized golf carts.

But the Korczynski family felt right at home Saturday (Feb. 18) while looking for a new home on wheels at The RV Spectacular sponsored by the London and St. Thomas RV Dealers Association In Ontario, Canada.

The London News Press reported that Paul and Jenna Korczynski, with 9-year-old twins Brooke and Tyson in tow, came from Kitchener for the recreational vehicles show at Western Fair District in London.

The event draws about 8,000 visitors and is squarely targeted at an older, rather affluent crowd that can plunk down $100,000 or more for a motorhome, trailer or "park model" trailer.

Proud owners of a 26-foot fifth-wheel trailer, the young Korczynski family was looking at some 30-foot trailers, retailing for about $40,000 and dreaming of the possibilities.

"It's a lot of money," Paul conceded, "but we're looking for a trailer with bunks for the kids so they can bring friends along."

The construction worker said traveling across Canada and in the U.S. is a wonderful way to vacation as a family. They've been to Prince Edward Island, around Lake Michigan and they've stayed at Cedar Point in Ohio.

With high gas and grocery prices, the family likes travel in the U.S. to keep costs down, he and Jenna agreed.

So they were kicking the tires of a few units and dreaming of future trips that could be so much nicer with just a few more feet of living room.

Eight major retailers of trailers and motorhomes were on display.

At Forest City Motorhomes, co-owner Rick Goertz said his company has just come off its best two years. It sells 80 to 100 new and used motorhomes each year. New units range from $70,000 to more than $300,000.

"Seventy-five to 80% of our customers just come in and write a check," he said. There is no need for financing. Most are retired businessmen and farmers who have been careful with their money for decades and decide it is time to splurge.

Goertz has no explanation for such strong sales when other parts of the RV business have been "pretty flat."

A few feet from him was a 42-foot Itasca Meridian motorhome resembling a highway coach that usually retails for nearly $322,000 but was being offered at a "show price" of $257,700. The gleaming monster delivers about eight miles to the gallon, he said, but includes everything from a washer and dryer to home theater, fireplace and bedroom ceiling fan.

Forest City Motorhomes sells one or two of those units a year and buyers able to spend that kind of money aren't fazed by the gas consumption, he said.

Goertz said crowds appear up from previous years and he expects to engage in serious conversations with about 200 potential customers before the event ends.

With gas prices once again on the rise, the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) has collected positive data and RV travel savings information to use in responding to media questions that may be asked of industry spokespeople in the coming months.

With the approach of the spring and summer travel seasons, these facts are also suitable for use in consumer marketing communications.

RVIA updates this information on a regular basis. Please visit www.rvia.org ^[1] for the latest version.

Among the points:

• RV travel is a great value. The PKF Vacation Cost comparison study shows that a family of four can save 23 percent to 59 percent on vacation costs depending on the type of trip and type of RV used. A two-person travel party (the typical empty-nest couple) would save 11 percent to 46 percent.
• More than 80 percent of RVers say their RV vacations cost less than other forms of vacation, even when fuel prices rise.
• Many RV owning families take frequent mini-vacations in their RVs. Sixty-three percent spent five or more weekends in their RVs last spring/summer.
• When fuel prices rise, RVers adjust by traveling to destinations closer to home, driving fewer miles, and staying longer in one place, according to surveys of RV owners conducted by RVIA and CVENT, a leading provider of online surveys and research technology.
• To save on fuel, RVers typically spend more time enjoying the campground experience and less time on the road. More than 16,000 campgrounds nationwide give RVers the flexibility to save fuel and cut costs by staying closer to home. Whether they travel five miles or 500, they can still enjoy a great outdoor experience.
• Fuel prices would need to more than double from their current level to make RVing more expensive for a family of four than other forms of travel, according to PKF Consulting. PKF's spring 2011 vacation cost comparison study shows that RV trips remain the most affordable way for a family to travel because of the significant savings on air, hotel and restaurant costs, which continue to rise.
• Fluctuating fuel prices affect the cost of all modes of travel and transportation. Airfares and hotel rates rise rapidly when fuel costs increase.
• Many RV owners surveyed take additional measures to reduce fuel consumption through simple steps like driving 55 mph instead of 65 mph, packing lighter to reduce weight in the RV, and turning off home utilities to save energy when traveling. RVers travel at a leisurely pace with no tight schedules for flights, hotels or restaurants.