I’m surprised it ran an unsupported NT that late.

I think there are a lot of factors at play, including an older population looking to rough it less. Time. We’re busier than ever and have less free time. Availability of leaders who can make themselves available for 3 straight months to lead a cross country trip. Expense for reasons you might not consider. On that front…1/3 of our 1999 NT group had either just finished school or were going to. (One was about to start her final year of college.) With the current expense of a higher education and the pressure to get a good job right out of school, how many young folks are willing to and able to make the financial commitment required for a long trip and then have to start a job search? Camping costs have also increased, even pre-pandemic. I just looked at a federal place in MT that I last stayed at in 2019. It’s $32/night now. Don’t remember what it was in 2019, but it wasn’t nearly that high. I remember seeing a notice about proposed fee increases at recreation area posted on a board. Some of the proposed new fees were double the existing fees. A lot a private places are also now very expensive, which I do attribute to the pandemic. I looked at a KOA in NY for a 2021 tour that I had used in 2018. The price had nearly tripled to over $100 for a night on a weekday. Hard pass. Went off route a few miles that included a big hill and still paid $45 with a cash discount. I was maybe one of 3 occupied sites. Nice site, though. Keep in mind that ACA needs to turn a “profit.”

I would also bet that the availability of on-line route planning tools has an effect. In 1998-99, I was one of a relative few at a large company that had Internet access. I had no home computer. And things like RWGP didn’t exist, as far as I know anyway. Did Google Maps even exist?