woman travelling alone

Male or female is irrelevant, dogs do have an Alpha streak in them. Sometimes the Alpha dog is a female. Your dog should naturally look to you as the Alpha of their pack/family.

I am a single woman, 66 and also have a class B (just over a year old). On the advice of a number of people, I joined RVW...RV for Women...I have gone on 6 events...lots of fun...nice, friendly women. This organization has chapters throughout the US and I believe in Canada. I belong to FreeWheelers (CA). Go on their website, RVW.com. Happy camping!

Canadian Rainbirds wrote:

wintersun wrote:
Get a medium sized male dog (gender is very important) that looks fierce but has a good disposition - herding dogs like the all black Belgian sheepdogs are a very good choice. This size dog will intimidate most folks and be able to leap into the motorhome and otherwise take care of itself. A male dog will consider himself to be the alpha dog and you his property which he will instinctively want to protect. The black fur really helps as well. People will be more fearful around a black Belgian or German shepherd than around a white Samoyed of the same size.

Think about all the places you have gone alone (bank, supermarket, work, hotels on business, airports, train stations, school) and realize that you were not attacked much less killed. Traveling around by RV is only different in terms of adding the possibility of breaking down on a remote little traveled section of highway. Avoid those routes or caravan those sections of road with others and you will be fine.

The male Alpha dog thing is a myth. If your dog thought that you were his property you would not be able to train or control him.

Female dogs can also be very protective of the FAMILY of which they are a part.

Size is a big deterrent. The Belgian or German Shepherd would be a good choice, as would something like a boxer, which tend to be very gentle and for the most part are happy to be couch potatoes (don't need a lot of exercise.) but would make the non dog owner quite nervous. They do drool a lot though!

Bullmastiff's are a great breed too! Very laid back and thier size intimidates w/o lifting a paw (which is great cause they are too busy sleeping). Our Magnum is the best dog I have ever had, hands down!

Rax

wintersun wrote:
Get a medium sized male dog (gender is very important) that looks fierce but has a good disposition - herding dogs like the all black Belgian sheepdogs are a very good choice. This size dog will intimidate most folks and be able to leap into the motorhome and otherwise take care of itself. A male dog will consider himself to be the alpha dog and you his property which he will instinctively want to protect. The black fur really helps as well. People will be more fearful around a black Belgian or German shepherd than around a white Samoyed of the same size.

Think about all the places you have gone alone (bank, supermarket, work, hotels on business, airports, train stations, school) and realize that you were not attacked much less killed. Traveling around by RV is only different in terms of adding the possibility of breaking down on a remote little traveled section of highway. Avoid those routes or caravan those sections of road with others and you will be fine.

The male Alpha dog thing is a myth. If your dog thought that you were his property you would not be able to train or control him.

Female dogs can also be very protective of the FAMILY of which they are a part.

Size is a big deterrent. The Belgian or German Shepherd would be a good choice, as would something like a boxer, which tend to be very gentle and for the most part are happy to be couch potatoes (don't need a lot of exercise.) but would make the non dog owner quite nervous. They do drool a lot though!

liquidspaceman wrote:
In my opinion, the only correct answer is to get a small handgun and keep it in a safe in your RV/trailer and keep it at your side when camping. Learn how to use it properly. Go to the range a lot and practice pulling it and shooting it.

I have gone out camping in the boonies for 25+ years. Sometimes alone and sometimes with family. There are lots of good people out there but there is only ONE TIME required for you to become a victim/statistic.

There was a time when I was with my family (wife, son and daughter) and we ran into some guys while camping in the woods. These guys came over and automatically my spidey sense started tingling. They told me they wanted to show me where some free firewood was. I said, "No thanks, we have some good firewood." They were insistant on taking me to show me where some firewood was. I kept saying no thank you but they would not take no for an answer. It got to the point where it was just plain weird.

I don't think they knew my son was with me because he showed himself in the door with a shotgun and said, "thank you for the offer gentlemen, we don't need any wood though, we're good." Then we packed up and left right after that and drove to another site.

I am quite positive that those two guys wanted to lure me away from my family to possibly cause me harm and rob, rape, steal or kill. I know that many of you have never been through anything like this so you will not feel a need to ever carry a weapon. That is fine as it is your right to do so, but I will say that I am happy my son was "packing" on that day and from now on I never leave home without carrying a sidearm.

Your campground is your home. If you would defend your home, there's no reason you shouldn't be defend your camp. All it takes is one foul encounter to end up in a bad situation. There are good people out there but there are also bad people. I'm never afraid of a bear or a coyote coming near my camp, but it's the two legged variety that I worry about the most.

Better to have a gun and not need it, than to need a gun and not have it. I recently read a story about a husband and wife and dog who were all shot and killed while camping in their RV. They weren't doing anything but just setting up. There are weirdos out there - just saying. You don't need to be Rambo, you just need to be realistic.

You obviously didn't read her first post. She is CANADIAN. We don't do the hand gun thing up here. And NOT just because it is illegal up here.

We have a good friend that travelled from BC and/or Alberta (depending where she had found summer locums) to Mexico (Mazatlan) every year, well into her 70' until failing eyesight forced her to stop driving. The worst thing that happened to her was that someone in the park stole her lap top from the dinette--she had left the window open.

You can link to our blog from our profile.

Good luck, Happy Travels. See you on the road somewhere.

Janss wrote:
Not a book, but here's a website that may help you with Canadian boondocking sites:
http://freecampsites.net/Canada

Thank you!

Just a tip for all if your RV has an alarm that can be triggered by a remote put a hook on the wall at the head of the bed then hang it up there when going to bed and hit the panic button if there are any problems at night.

You are not alone. There are thousands of women traveling solo in their RVs.
I am one of them and closing in on 70. There are several 'women only' groups you may want to join. Occasionally they meet up on the road or have planned gatherings.

My number one rule, and first line of defense is: Trust Your Instinct.
I trust my instinct no matter what. If the situation doesn't feel right, I'm outta there.

I sleep with my charged phone, eyeglasses, and ignition keys within easy reach.
This makes for an easy get-away, and beyond that, I'm not adverse to running down mutant freaks.

I don't carry a gun. If I did, I think there would be a trail of neanderthals left in my wake (no pun intended), so, I don't carry one.

See ya down the road.

A few weeks ago, I watched in awe as a guy drove into the site in front of us. He was a single father with two kids, 7 & 10 years old. Over the several days he was there, he set up and broke down the campsite himself, cooked and cleaned up, managed the campfire, etc., etc., etc.... All from the confines of a wheelchair, as he was paralyzed from the waste down.

After talking with him a bit and seeing the absolutely fantastic, do anything attitude he had, I will never moan and groan about camping tasks again.....

A healthy single woman with a good attitude should have no problems..... ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

critternut wrote:
Hello all, newbie Canuck just joined this weekend. After tons of research, test-drives and formal inspections, I've finally bought a wee Class B for myself. Any constructive advice for a woman travelling solo? I've heard everything from "you're brave/insane" to "stay in Canada only". I am pushing 50, have common sense and mechanical aptitude, so I don't see what the big deal is. I've chosen Good Sam over CAA(AAA), so that's a start. (A reminder that guns are out of the question here.) Thanks to all!