Why I love RV’ers

To say things are weird and contentious right now in America would be an understatement.  I would say people are acting on their absolute worst behavior.  The news outlets are loving it because some are misbehaving so badly, they’re creating sensational news stories that the news outlets can further sensationalize and get more people glued to their TV’s.   Social media has people thinking they’re anonymous and acting without filters or any modicum of politeness or human decency.  It’s a train wreck!

With all that has been going on in the world and having a job where social media advertising is a part of it, I’ve been spending much more time than I’d like on platforms like Facebook.  It’s there where I had my little aha moment about RV’ers and why I like them so much.  Everything sort of clicked into focus one day.  

I am a member of probably seven or eight RV Facebook groups.  If you’re not already, I highly recommend joining one or two (maybe not eight).  A major portion of what pops up into my feed is about RV’s, National Parks, etc.  It balances out all of the crazy political posts and bad news posts.  It was around the time craziness in Washington DC – my friends on both sides of the isle posted articles, photos, memes and opinions about what was going on.  Many of the posts were a sad and disturbing commentary on the great divide that is happening in our great country right now.  That is, except for the RV’ers.

While Washington DC was falling apart, RV’ers are posting pictures, “Here we are all set up by the beach in Key West!”  “Lookie here!  I did a new modification.”  “I bought new throw pillows.  I love them!”   “There’s snow on the ground, but we’re camping in our driveway anyway!” There were also the help posts.  “Anyone know what this switch is for?”  “Anyone know a good RV park near _____?”   Other RV’ers comment with help, encouragement, and praise for great modifications and renovations.  It’s refreshing!  I would go so far as to say that RV’ers are example of what America should be like – helping each other out, encouraging one another, and building each other up. 

In our 17 years of RV’ing, I have found this to be true throughout our experience.  We have found fellow RV’ers to be incredibly friendly and helpful.   We have had fellow RV’ers help back us in.  We once knocked on the door of an RV park neighbor when we returned from the grocery store with a half-gallon of ice cream only to discover we had locked ourselves out.  She made room in her freezer to temporarily store our ice cream and sent her husband out to help us with our lock out situation.   Of course, if there are reversed situations where we can help a fellow RV’er, we do what we can.

In walking around RV parks, people are friendly.  They say hello, wave, talk to each other’s dogs.  They’re also chatty!  I can’t even count the number of times my husband has gone out to do something quick like check a hose and come back inside 30 minutes later because he got into a conversation with the neighbor.  I love chatting with other RV’ers as well.    We’ve had people outside of our trailer kind of staring at it.  Then, they ask, “How do you like your rig?”  My answer is generally, “We love it!  Want to see inside?”   

We’ve done hotel vacations.  People are nice at hotels too, but it’s different.  With RV’ers, there’s a bit more of a camaraderie.  Maybe it’s because people can see what’s going on in the RV park from their windows. Maybe it’s because people who own RV’s tend to be a little more easy-going (because they have to be – RV’ing can be a disaster for people who have trouble dealing with things going wrong on vacation!)…maybe it’s because they’re on vacation … I don’t know what it is for sure.  I just know I love it.  

Winter has taken hold in the Pacific Northwest and to top it off, we’re working on retiring and moving across the country.  All this to say that our trailer trips have been thwarted by our schedules, attic cleaning out, finishing up work, and crummy weather.  We are most definitely suffering from trailer trip withdrawals!   We can’t wait to hit the road!  We’ll be taking an epic road trip in our trailer for our move across the country.  I can’t wait!   It’s helping my attitude to have this to look forward to.  There’s a funny t-shirt that says something to the effect of “RV Parks – the only place where you can have a conversation with a stranger in your pajamas while holding a bag of dog poop.”  It’s funny because there is so much truth to it.  I can’t wait to be on the road again where I can see in-person some of the very best of America and its great people.  I need my RV people fix!

Next Trailer Girl Blog – A Glimpse from our Epic Road Trip