My family thinks we've lost our minds

99% of our friends and family think it is great. My sister got into it first, then we all chipped in for a pop-up for the whole clan to share (other siblings, nephews / nieces etc - light enough anyone can take it out), now my wife and I have stepped up to a new TV nice new TT. Unfortunately, through all of it, the only negative vibes in our family have been from my mother. She has the "You're wasting too much money playing!" attitude....maybe she will relax if she comes along on the big family camping trip and sees all the grand kids having a blast....

No better place to lose your mind

We have an extra challenge explaining because where we live, Bermuda, there are NO RVs. An RV in the minds of most here is a luxury class A as seen on the Travel Channel worth $500k plus.

Uh, that is NOT the real RV world for most of us.

It takes some doing explaining that it is more of a change in lifestyle than the mad dash of the annual vacation. It takes some doing to get them to understand that life on the road on a daily basis costs less than staying at home in Bermuda.

Over the years most of our close friends have actually seen our home on wheels. All were amazed at how roomy & comphy it really is. We are all cruising boaters & during our years DC (thats during children), we hung out together, rafted up every weekend during the summer overnighting.

A few of them now have boats which they keep in the US & cruise to the Bahamas or the Intra Coastal. Not for us. Sure the Bahama Islands away from where the cruise ships & hotels are beautiful but how many times can you see what looks all the same? It is seabourne boondocking often miles from anyone else, often anchored with hundreds of others worrying if somebody is going to drag their anchor. We did a month in the Bahamas this year. Nice, but no desire to do it again anytime soon. Our cruising hosts saw our 5er a few weeks ago. The RVing seed has been planted.

Land cruising has so much more to offer at a fraction of the cost of a boat. We thought we would get the RVing out of our systems in a few years of travel & come back to our boat.

Well, after 7 seasons, over 1000 nights onboard, over 120,000 miles, a blowover, 2 trips to Alaska, every state at least once, we are still going strong with no desire to stop anytime soon.

We didn't ask them and we didn't really care, we bought our first tt for us to enjoy. We bought out 5er with more room and most all of our immediate family has spent time with us overnight and enjoyed themselves. One friend that tent camped along side us for a couple years now has a nice DP and my brother just got his first tt. Most get out there for the first time and have a blast, some it's just not for them and that's ok too.

Did not bother to ask my sisters before buying a RV, but the three still living want to go traveling or camping with me.

But not everybody has the same interests. I travel outside the country often, Europe mostly, but also Africa, Asia and. a few times to Australia. Business before doing iit for pleasure. Eldest of my younger brothers has never even had a passport, he just travels between golf courses in the eastern U.S. He doesn't think I'm crazy for traveling, I don't think he is crazy for wanting to stay here and golf. We each have our own needs and preferences. No need to judge each other.

Don't worry that other people have different preferences, and don't take the differences as criticism of you. It is also not your job to convert the to your preferences. Different strokes for different folks.

Thinking more on this, you are somewhat fortunate in your family disinterest, else you might have to take them along. My kids want to road trip with me, cruise with me. My sisters want me to take them overseas with me, bring the RV to the so we "camp" together. All with their young kids. A bit lucky to live too far away.

Were the first to RV in our family...last summer we had a huge family get together at our campsite...some of my family had never been to a campground and were shocked to see me cook over a campfire. also they were surprised on how much Hotel style comforts an RV could have while being out in nature.

That said I didn't convince anyone away from their ocean cruises, hotel & air travel trips...oh well...

Mike

my son in law say haveing an rv is like being homeless thats ok my granddaughter loves it

I was raised on tent camping. Two weeks of primitive camping was typical for my parents. DH came from family that does not take vacations--ever. What he didn't know about camping could have made a book! It was a learning curve for him, but eventually he came to love tent camping, too.

His folks thought we had truly lost our minds when we bought our first TT. They simply have not been able to wrap their minds around it. When we go to visit(with our TT) his sister feels badly that we have to stay in a camper. She cooks mounds of food and brings it to us so we won't "go hungry." In her opinion, staying in a camper is right up there with living under a bridge.

My family, however, thinks having a camper is the best thing since baked beans! I have 4 siblings, 2 of which also have campers, as does my 79yo mother. When we get together we gather the wagons at a park which has cabins, for the ones who don't camp (they like being in a campground. They just don't have any interest in owning a camper.)

My kids are still young, in their 20s. They haven't come over to the dark-side yet. DD20 won't even think of sleeping in our camper--she brings her own tent and supplies. But, then, it took us until the age of 47 to make the leap so they still have time....

charming wrote:

MotorPro wrote:
You have lost your mind........and isn't it great!!!

It is great. I love that we can plan trips without having to coordinate hotels, airlines and rental cars. I don't have to worry about scheduling a dog sitter and we can do as little or as much as we want when we leave home.

So, we have no problems with losing our minds. :B

This!

My family is the hotel-all-the-way kind of gang. They couldn't fathom my love of RVing, until I explained to them that I always knew who had slept in the bed I was sleeping in, and I knew who'd used the towels, etc. Now they're starting to understand.

MotorPro wrote:
You have lost your mind........and isn't it great!!!

It is great. I love that we can plan trips without having to coordinate hotels, airlines and rental cars. I don't have to worry about scheduling a dog sitter and we can do as little or as much as we want when we leave home.

So, we have no problems with losing our minds. :B