Wow, this has been incredibly helpful, thanks for everyone that responded with advice. I have been given some great ideas/options that I am going to follow up on. The general consensus from senior members is that my original post is a REALLY BAD IDEA so I’m unlikely to go that route, short of being contacted by the ideal person in an ideal situation. When I posted this I knew it was unlikely that would happen, but I have sometimes been pleasantly surprised by the Internet….I might be contacted by someone and find out we share an alma mater, or they went to high school with my cousin, that sort of thing. I especially appreciate the people who were concerned about my welfare….none of us wants to seem some naïve or idealistic person get hurt. I promise I never intended to jump in some guys van with a salvage title! ;)_
That being said, I have been really fascinated by some of the responses. For those who share my interest in armchair psychology and sociology, you may be interested in my thoughts and questions…for those who find it boring, you probably can stop reading now.
A little about my history/experience RVing: Most of my RV experience comes from long family vacations at campgrounds and RV parks along the West Coast in the 1980’s. We all idealize “the good old days” but I have very fond memories of those times and feeling like I really fit in with the RV crowd in general. Again, a total generalization, but basically people were friendly and easy-going, it was safe for us kids to roam around on our bikes, neighbors watched each other’s back, that type of thing. I mean, nobody was so stupid as to leave something of high value sitting on their picnic table for long, but you could run to the bathroom for a few and expect things to be where they were when you left. Walking to the bathrooms after dark didn’t mean packing a weapon or covering yourself in layers of bubble wrap and Kevlar! LOL
As someone potentially looking to go full-time for a couple years, I’m curious to hear from the long-timers how much things have changed in the general community. Now, I’m of the opinion that we as a culture have changed significantly in our level of risk-tolerance and trust of people we don’t know well. As an earlier poster noted, parents keep their kids inside or within eyesight much more, etc. I’ve read a bit on this subject and it’s sometimes claimed that American society have been overcome with a “culture of fear”….despite the statistics indicating that we are safer from crime, especially violent crime, than we have been in many decades.
Here’s an anecdote: Years ago I started having periods of high anxiety and panic attacks. Now, I was a born worrier…as a kid I was afraid of my own shadow! Anyway, an acquaintance who was a counselor suggested I quit watching the evening news every night for 2 weeks and see what happens. I was very surprised, but sure enough, within a month the anxiety and panic attacks had almost completely stopped.
I’m now of the opinion that, for at least a subset of the population, watching televised news, especially right before bed, can cause us to become overcautious, even to the point of paranoia. I have also watched, first my grandparents, and now my parents, become avid TV news watchers (often the entire day) and gradually becoming more afraid of people and society. It has been sad to watch to watch formerly active, out-going people become afraid to leave the house because they are convinced there are a thousand boogey-men waiting for them outside!
So, to reiterate, what has your experience/observations been? I see a few possibilities:
1. RV parks/campgrounds/rallies etc are genuinely less safe and friendly. This is certainly possible…sometimes the bad guys find a trusting community and spread the word about the “suckers” and before you know it one bad apple has turned into lots of bad apples. This is what happened to couchsurfing.com in the last 2 years.
2. The people in this particular Internet forum, or at least the ones most likely to pipe up, or overly cautious.
3. Things haven’t changed completely, RVing is still a cool lifestyle for friendly and adventurous people to meet others and have a good time.
Do people still hang out on their sites and smile/strike up conversations with passersby? Or do most just keep to themselves or hole up in their RV? As a parent who might be bringing my son on occasion, how safe are the kiddos? Again, I know I’m speaking in generalities and there are always exceptions, but I’m genuinely interested what the culture is like now.
Sorry for the long post, I’ll be shocked if anybody read this far!
