Happy Holidays Everyone!

Lexicon7 wrote:
Thanks to Coolmom & Tonymull for great responses. One of my largest quandaries these days is too much time on my hands. I think this leads me to linger way too long on news sites so couldn't agree more about the predictable effect of that!
Very glad to hear that our "lifestyle" is still intact and available to those of us with a hearty heart and a lust to find out what's just around the next bend in the road.

For me, the distinction between my full timing experience last year and my current plan is a really good one. I lost my health and then my 40 year family home to Chase Bank and set off in my Lance realizing I would not have chosen that lifestyle had my life not fallen apart as it did. Now, I can "choose" to go RVing which I think should make a huge difference in most every way!

You will be better off playing tiddly-winks than watching news. I seldom watch TV news except for local things, because all the network news is SO sensationalized and superficial. And whatever you do.... do NOT watch FAUX (FOX) News. It will make you crazy.

I get most of my news from local sources, PBS, and BBC America. Almost all news outlets have online sites with video clips & written stories as well.

The long distance bicycle tourers that often camp every night while traveling have a saying "if you want to hate America, watch the news; if you want to love America, ride your bike across it". Virtually everybody you will meet out there RVing will be nice, interested in your travels, or simply leave you alone. Real problems (besides junk tires) while RVing are very rare and often isolated.

I'm a BLM campground host part of the year in SE Utah. I can say most of the BLM workers I know, mostly rangers, are really good people. They go out of their way to accommodate campers and put up with stuff most people would never tolerate as part of their job.

It seems there are people who live to create drama and the news seems to thrive on that. But the reality is that you won't have any trouble unless you help create it or are just plain foolish. And the guvvie employees are folks just like us and will typically go out of their way to help and inform you. So camp w/o fear. If you look at the percentage who have real problems, it's probably less than if you live in a sticks and bricks.

I remember a media study from years back which found that the more TV a person watched, the more likely that person would believe that there's violence all around him.

I think this still holds true.

Thanks to Coolmom & Tonymull for great responses. One of my largest quandaries these days is too much time on my hands. I think this leads me to linger way too long on news sites so couldn't agree more about the predictable effect of that!
Very glad to hear that our "lifestyle" is still intact and available to those of us with a hearty heart and a lust to find out what's just around the next bend in the road.

For me, the distinction between my full timing experience last year and my current plan is a really good one. I lost my health and then my 40 year family home to Chase Bank and set off in my Lance realizing I would not have chosen that lifestyle had my life not fallen apart as it did. Now, I can "choose" to go RVing which I think should make a huge difference in most every way!

Funny how the very people pushing the fear are the same ones cutting budgets. Complaining about the problems they create themselves.

I can say for sure that privatizing management of public campgrounds leads to reduced quality of service, but I don't think it's any less safe. I camp a lot and just haven't seen that. Some news networks are more like a reality TV show (which are anything but reality)than they are news. There's a half hour of news happening every day and 23 1/2 hrs of filler.

I expect the main changes you will see in any public lands are lower staffing and less maintenance due to budget cuts.

It's always a good idea to check in with the closest NFS district office if you are on NFS land. They can give you a good idea if there are any specific problems to be wary of.

And you are better off not watching the news so much. Your day will be much more pleasant!

Hey thanks for the great response Bear. Actually while "general" threats of theft and the like will always be a concern in all walks of life, what I am more interested in are the changing powers of government & current political turmoil as regards to say the BLM, the EPA and the like?

This may help to explain the posting title ie: "Watching too much news!" As a Doberman owner I'm confident in my general security.

In my opinion security issues are about the same as they have been in the past 20 years. You need to put valuables away at night or when you leave the RV. Chains and Cables are little deterrent to most thieves. Places like Quartzsite and events like fairs, swap meets, flea markets, or others where there are large groups of people do draw individual as well as gangs of thieves. So you need to be extra careful.

That being said we have never had a problem when boondocking or in a RV Park, You do see posts where folks have had problems once in a while mostly stolen items, I can only remember a couple of post indicating the RV'ers were robbed at gun point. A few years ago the Gypsy Journal website owner faced a robber at gun point. You should be able to find the post he wrote about it on his website.