You know that feeling when you’re rolling into a Love’s or Pilot at 9 PM, desperately needing to dump tanks and grab a shower, only to find the place packed tighter than a Seattle coffee shop on a Monday morning? Yeah, I’ve been there. More times than I care to admit.
I was cruising through some RV news this week when I stumbled across something that made me actually sit up and pay attention. A guy named Adam Corlin—who’s been living the full-time RV life since 2021 like a bunch of us—has apparently gotten so fed up with the truck stop shuffle that he’s starting his own company to fix it.
What’s This Overland Oasis Thing About?
Corlin’s venture is called Overland Oasis, and honestly, the concept makes so much sense I’m wondering why nobody thought of it sooner. Instead of squeezing your rig between semis and hoping the dump station isn’t backed up for an hour, these folks want to build RV-only service centers designed specifically for people like us.
Picture this: You roll up to a place that actually wants your business. No dirty looks from truckers who need their mandatory rest (and honestly, they deserve those spots). No wondering if your 30-footer is going to fit between the diesel pumps. Just a facility built from the ground up for RVs, travel trailers, and adventure rigs.
The guy behind this isn’t some suit in an office either. Corlin’s been living on the road in his motorhome, dealing with all the same crap we deal with. After three years of navigating crowded truck stops and facilities that clearly weren’t designed for recreational vehicles, he decided to do something about it.
What You’d Actually Get
Here’s what Overland Oasis is promising at each location:
- Potable water fills and proper dump stations (thank god)
- RV-sized vehicle washes that can handle rigs up to 100 feet
- Clean showers and laundry facilities
- EV charging for those electric adventure rigs
- High-speed WiFi through Starlink (crucial for digital nomads)
- Secure overnight parking
- Propane exchanges
- Package pickup lockers (this one’s actually brilliant)
Everything’s supposed to be bookable through their app so you can pay for just what you need. No more buying a $4 coffee just to use the bathroom.
The Reality Check
Now, before we get too excited, let’s talk reality. This is still in the investment-seeking phase, which in startup world means “we have a great idea and some pretty renderings.” Corlin’s targeting 15 locations across the western U.S. for phase one, but he needs investors to make it happen.
I’ve been around long enough to see plenty of “revolutionary” RV concepts that never made it past the PowerPoint presentation. The difference here is that Corlin has actual real estate development experience and has been living this lifestyle, not just theorizing about it from a boardroom.
The fact that he’s been attending Overland Expos and RV events, talking to actual travelers instead of just crunching numbers, gives me a bit more confidence this isn’t just vaporware.
Why This Actually Matters
Look, I love hitting the road as much as anyone, but let’s be honest about the infrastructure situation. It sucks. We’re trying to squeeze millions of RVs into a system designed for commercial trucking, and it shows.
The numbers are pretty staggering: 11.2 million RV households in the U.S., about 40 million people RVing each year, plus 81 million campers and adventure motorcyclists. Meanwhile, the average age of RVers has dropped from 65 to 48 in recent years. That’s a lot of people needing services that frankly don’t exist in most places.
I was actually talking to some fellow RVers at a campground near Mount Rainier last month, and everyone had horror stories about trying to find basic services on the road. One couple had driven three hours out of their way just to find a dump station that wasn’t broken or backed up.
The Broader Picture for PNW Travelers
For those of us based in the Pacific Northwest, this could be particularly interesting. The western focus means we might actually see some of these facilities within reasonable distance of our favorite haunts. Imagine having a proper resupply station somewhere between Seattle and Glacier National Park, or along the route to Utah’s national parks.
Right now, if you’re heading from North Idaho down to Moab or up to the Canadian Rockies, you’re at the mercy of whatever truck stops happen to be along the route. Most aren’t terrible, but they’re not exactly designed with our needs in mind either.
My Take
I’m cautiously optimistic about this one. Corlin seems to understand the actual problems we face because he’s living them. The services they’re planning address real pain points, not imaginary ones. And the fact that they’re starting in the west means we might actually benefit from it.
That said, I’ll believe it when I see the first location break ground. The RV industry is littered with great concepts that never materialized. But if this guy can pull it off, it could genuinely change how we think about long-distance travel.
The infrastructure gap is real, and it’s only getting worse as more people hit the road. Whether Overland Oasis is the solution or just points the way toward one, something needs to change.
What’s Next
If you’re curious about following their progress, you can check out their website at overlandoasis.com. They’re apparently looking for investors, so if you’ve got deep pockets and believe in the concept, there’s that option too.
For the rest of us, it’s a waiting game. But at least someone’s finally acknowledging that the current system isn’t working and trying to do something about it.
What do you think? Have you had enough terrible truck stop experiences to get excited about RV-specific facilities? Or do you think this is solving a problem that doesn’t really exist? Drop a comment or shoot me an email at cliff@10toestravel.com—I’d love to hear your war stories from the road.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go practice my truck stop parking skills. Because until Overland Oasis becomes reality, we’re still stuck with what we’ve got.
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