We travel south in the winter Do not feel we are true Snowbirds as we do not stay at one campground for very longHave noticed that some campground/resorts we go to are very friendly and ask us to join their activities, others are very welcoming until they realize you are only there for a short period and then ignore you and then there are the resorts that ignore you altogether and do not even wave.Human nature at its finest

You do not say where you snowbird. We have spent many winters in Texas and several in Florida. Texas is way more friendly than Florida. We always get the impression Florida just welcomes your money whereas Texas welcomes you.In Texas RGV you are welcome to join activities at any of the RV parks .Don't try that in Florida - you are apt to be charged with trespassing.

We did 6 months in the southeast over a winter moving from place to place. Most places with a seasonal population had activities and we were informed about them at checkin. I never felt like it was a closed club, especially when you're talking poker and you bring your change jar :)The only observation about seasonals I have is they seem to own the laundry facilities. You'd better be there when the washer or dryer stops. Glad we have a Splendide on the bus. We only needed CG laundry for the quilt and couch cover.I'm not sure what the draw is to spending an entire winter in a mobile home that doesn't go mobile.

The real cliques are the parks where the residents own their own lots and the rest of us are JAR's (Just A Renter).

TomG2 wrote:The real cliques are the parks where the residents own their own lots and the rest of us are JAR's (Just A Renter).I completely disagree and wish you could visit our park (Key Largo Kampground) which is a condo park. It has privately owned lots, some of which are rented out, privately owned lots with permanent trailers on them, and rented out tent sites.We rented a site here for a week many years ago, and liked it so much that four years ago bought a site and now snow bird here each winter Everyone is welcomed to join in all of the activities, and from what I can see no one is ignored and new friends are constantly being made. Several times a season, I have been asked by people who have never been here before if I know of any sites for sale. Not only that, but new renters seem to come back year after year. Last week we had kayak, canoe and paddleboard races, and there were just as many non owners who took ribbons as there were owners, and everyone hob nobbed with each other on the beach afterwards. You can join shuffle board, bocci ball, bingo, ladies lunchens, crafts, pot luck meals or make friends at the pool. You can stay by yourself if you want to, but I'll never forget how the time we rented at least seven or eight different times my wife was asked by different women to join in some of the activities. Down the road from us there is a "Luxury Motor Home" resort and you can go there or come to our park and park beside some of the many Luxury Motor homes, fifth wheelers, travel trailers or tents.The big problem here is we are just about booked solid all winter longJack L

TomG2 wrote:The real cliques are the parks where the residents own their own lots and the rest of us are JAR's (Just A Renter).SO true....We FTd for 7 yrs traveling weekly/bi-monthly never staying in one place TOO long. We hit the road to travel.We had a 'membership' that allowed us to stay up to 14 days in various 'PRIVATE---Members Only' CGs for $10/15 night.Many of these resorts we would get the cold shoulder from the 'elite' and we would just wave/laugh cause we didn't really care. We stayed there cause it was CHEAP and was a place to park rig while we explored the local area.For $10/15 night we had FULL use of everything the 'elites' did......at a much lower cost Hahahaha

Interesting observation | Good Sam Community

westernrvparkow
Explorer
Mar 12, 2018
Different communities taking on different personalities is as old as history itself. No reason it shouldn't apply to RV communities as well.
Dennis12
Explorer
Mar 12, 2018
You need to stop worrying about other people. The hell with them, do your thing, have a good time. They probably don't know how to have a good time. They just want to show their stuff off. Moon them the next time
TomG2
Explorer
Mar 12, 2018
The OP made an observation. Others have offered their "observations". What is wrong with that? I thought that was what the forums were about. If you think that I am "worrying" about such things, you are worrying about the wrong person. I started visiting parks where I am welcome a long time ago.
Almot
Explorer III
Mar 12, 2018
Dennis12 wrote:
You need to stop worrying about other people. The hell with them,

Ironically, this is also the point of view of (some) RV communities - ignore those transients, the hell with them. Not very accommodating, but there isn't much to do about it.
Dutch_12078
Explorer II
Mar 13, 2018
We mostly favor state and national parks in Florida, so our stays are necessarily limited to 10-14 days at each park. At those parks that do have activities while we're there, we've never felt left out and have always found friendly folks to talk with. The fact that we're all on limited stays likely has a lot to do with it. The one private park where we do an extended month long stay is owned by the Escapees RV Club, and nearly everyone has always been quite welcoming there. Over the years, we have gotten to know some of the long termers there, as well as some of the others like us that return around the same time period each winter. It is nice to have a sort of a "coming home" feeling when we pull in each year...
valhalla360
Navigator
Mar 13, 2018
Almot wrote:
trtog7 wrote:

others are very welcoming until they realize you are only there for a short period

This is normal.
Try and imagine yourself in their position - when you are "living" there, you are a "resident", possibly with annual lease, while the rest are "tourists", they come and go.

Exactly, do you really want to try and develop a deep personal connection only to have them leave in 2 days never to return?

Nothing new here. It goes all the way back to the stone age. When small bands were traveling the Savannah, if you saw a stranger, you treated them with suspicion until they made the effort to become part of the community.

If they are being rude, that's one thing but to not fall all over themselves to invite you into their group is normal and reasonable. You are the one choosing not to join their group.
Chuck_thehammer
Explorer
Mar 13, 2018
RGV...ok ... one park...

been here now 2 winters ( 5 months each )... same site with travel trailer.... and met most park model owners..

3 days ago I purchased a used park model.. I have been flooded with new visitors.. aka same park model owners...
so much so, I am having problems getting things done...

way different behavior... nice before.. just not friendly..
BarbaraOK
Explorer
Mar 13, 2018
Chuck_thehammer wrote:
RGV...ok ... one park...

been here now 2 winters ( 5 months each )... same site with travel trailer.... and met most park model owners..

3 days ago I purchased a used park model.. I have been flooded with new visitors.. aka same park model owners...
so much so, I am having problems getting things done...

way different behavior... nice before.. just not friendly..

And on the reverse, the minute we moved into our park model we found a chill I. The air from RVers parked around us. Pleasant, but really at arms length. When we arrive in the fall we usually have the MH on a site for 2-5 days while we unload and people coming in in the RVs are friendly. But within a week the chill settles over. Really strange.
mgirardo
Explorer
Mar 13, 2018
We live in the south and spend our summers in the north. Until last year, we had a Class C Motorhome that we'd spend all summer at the same campground which has probably about 75% seasonal. We have been in the same site for the last 3 years. Most of the campers are very friendly and our neighbors are great. We've become good friends with several of them even if they are old enough to be our parents. Some have grand kids the same age as our kids.

Last year we traded the Motorhome in for a Destination Trailer. It is amazing how many more people we met as a result. People that never more than waved to us as they passed, would actually stop and chat with us. Even away from our site, they'd see us and talk, at first about the new TT and then just about whatever.

-Michael
John_Joey
Explorer
Mar 14, 2018
I think what we're reading and what I've seen is parks come in all flavors. Some parks are full of one time mobile RV FT'ers that just had to call it quits. Other parks are full of retiree's that came to visit a friend, and then bought a park model because they had such a good time.

The two extremes don't always act or behave the same way toward transients. For me, I'll take the one time mobile RV'ers any day of the week. Makes for way more interesting pot lucks. :B