Any non-retired people in Highways Mag??

ChooChooMan74 wrote:
I am not anti old people, I just look at these Rallies and see pictures of older folks and think, is this where I really want to go camping?

Well ... the DW is 67 and I'm 70. Here's us on the way to a couple of the typical spots where we like to camp - neither of us have grey hair (yet), we don't wear polyester clothes, we don't particularly care for pot-luck dinners, and we could care less about having full or partial hookups:

Thanks for the recommendation. I bookmarked the site.

We're retirees but don't do rallies because of the parking lot atmosphere but that's just us, many love them. In reading these comments I'd like to make some observations:

- Check out this Family Camping Magazine geared just for you.

http://www.campinglife.com/

- Rallies and Good Sam Chapters don't just happen. They are run by volunteers and the volunteers put in a lot of time. Those still working typically don't have this time committment. The Chapters are created by folks just like you. Good Sam doesn't create them.

- Magazine articles - if more young families would submit them, there would probably be more articles printed.

- If you want to meet new camping friends, create a group for your area and plan to meet up at a particular park on Fri-Sun. Again, this entails lots of planning and reservations. I doubt families would set aside 4-5 days of their vacation time to go to the big rallies.

When our kids went camping with us we would never think of spending our precious time at a rally. We always sought out nature experiences and visiting different areas of our beautiful country.

...just some thoughts....

livelylittlecampers wrote:
Whether younger RV'ing families like my own attend rallies or not is one issue. The other issue that the OP brought up is that the trade magazines (RV, Trailer Life, Motorhome etc...) don't seem to feature any articles or photos of younger families camping. I would really like to pick up these magazines and read a couple of stories that focus on families camping...
Not being anti-retired RVer at all here. As I mentioned earlier--when I camp I see families and retirees and couples and friends of all ages. The RV magazines do not reflect the diversity of the RVing population at all. A good way to make yourself irrelevant if you ask me.

As a matter of fact, there's a nice article in the current or very recent MotorHome about a family visiting the Little House on the Prairie Laura Ingles Wilder place. Very well written, cute kids pictured.

But here's the way it works. It's not that the editors are tossing the family articles in the trash. They probably would love to have more...the editor works with freelancers who submit suggested articles for consideration, and if editor likes the text and photos, they pay the person who sent it in. Some of us take long trips, write a batch of articles, repeat. Usually not folks limited to two week vacation per year and by school schedules.

So how about writing about your family trips, all you folks who RV with kids???

We too have talked about going to a rally to meet other RVers and find out about new products, etc. However, we are still traveling with our teenagers. The rallies don't really look like they will entertain our kids. We prefer to spend our longer vacation times exploring national parks and cities. I would love to find a family camping group locally for weekend trips. All the ones I found so far are for the older couples.

ChooChooMan74 wrote:

Dog Folks wrote:
We old folks are part of the largest generation--The baby boomers. You will cater to us and our money. You young whiper snappers will have to wait your turn. LOL

I am not anti old people, I just look at these Rallies and see pictures of older folks and think, is this where I really want to go camping?

My DW and I are 52 and have attended 2 Samboree's in the past couple years that we have enjoyed. However we were by far the youngest couple there and did still find a noticeable age gap that many of the other people noticed and commented on as well.
We were repeatedly told how young we seemed and it was difficult to relate some individuals who made those comments.
It almost seemed that since we were the age of their own adult children that they treated us like young'in kids.
We have decided not to attend another rally or Jamboree for a number of years until we can fit in better.
WE are very unusual in that we have been empty nesters for several years with both our children on their own and are able to travel quite extensively compared to the vast majority of friends and co-workers our age.
We don't mind this age difference when our regular camping and quite enjoy meeting anybody of any age and but at the Jamboree' or Rally's our age difference unfortunately becomes quite noticeable.

I live about 5 miles from FMCA headquarters and drive by it regularly since its on the way to my favorite golf course. They have hookups for members in their parking lot. I've never seen anything parked there except large Class As and 5ers. I joined for a year when I first bought my 'C' in my mid 50s, and received their magazine. All their articles, chapters and ads were for big rigs being driven by geezers. An occasional grandchild would sneak into a picture and a few of the recipes required teeth.
But you have to admire their choice of target audience. They're after people that are no longer working and have the bucks to use their rigs more than 2 weeks for vacation. I'm at least pre-geezer and an early retiree, but I don't yet require soft food or a rousing game of full contact croquet. But I do enjoy an afternoon nap. Matter of fact, its a little after 1PM....

Advertising targets the people who are most likely to buy their product. Retired people have the time and money to enjoy RVing, so are the target audience in this instance. Targeting geezers in the RV ads won't keep young families from buying RVs, any more than MINI targeting young men kept me from buying one when I wanted it. ;)

After reading through 3 pages,it looks like no one has seen the T shirts that say
"OLD GUYS RULE"
Using the lingo of the day,"guys" would include male and female.
So,there you have it.
I'm going to hide out now to avoid the backlash/flame.
I'm kidding folks,I'm kidding !!

Whether younger RV'ing families like my own attend rallies or not is one issue. The other issue that the OP brought up is that the trade magazines (RV, Trailer Life, Motorhome etc...) don't seem to feature any articles or photos of younger families camping. I would really like to pick up these magazines and read a couple of stories that focus on families camping. This point was driven home to me a year or two back when Trailer Life reviewed a Jayco Hybrid camper that I was interested in purchasing. This hybrid is clearly designed for a family with a couple of kids.

The camper had bunk beds in the back and I really wanted to know if they were comfortable/practical for two kids. The reviewer of the camper (who I think travelled solo) only mentioned that he used the bunks to store his camera equipment! No kids involved in the testing at all. At that point I felt like something was wrong. Have a family test out a family camper--not a single man traveling with his cameras.

Not being anti-retired RVer at all here. As I mentioned earlier--when I camp I see families and retirees and couples and friends of all ages. The RV magazines do not reflect the diversity of the RVing population at all. A good way to make yourself irrelevant if you ask me.