Unattended RV question

[CharlesandKate]

My husband and I are prepping to be full-timers. We are selling the house, have sold off our possessions and are planning to hit the road in the next couple months. I've come across an unexpected dilemma and am wondering how to best tackle it.

Both of our jobs, while very conducive to being full-timers, do require us to be away from our RV for days at a time. If we park somewhere for a month (or extended period of time), in your experiences, is this generally a problem? How do RV parks (private / public) handle this type of situation.

(We have no pets)

Thanks!

[CharlesandKate]

Allworth, thanks for the great advice! All good points!

[Allworth]

I would just add a little about actually leaving the rig. Turn the water off at the faucet and, if there is no freeze danger, turn the gas off at the tanks. There is no reason to risk a flood or a gas leak even though the chance is remote.

Close up the awning even if you are only going to be gone for the day. A sudden storm even with no wind will destroy an RV awning in minutes. (Don't ask).

[nomad297]

beemerphile1 wrote:
Most private campgrounds have a storage lot and you can leave the RV in storage for a monthly fee. The storage fee will be much less than renting a camp site.

This is always the cheapest solution if you don't mind packing up and setting up. Most campgrounds charge a very low rate for you to store your RV. I have also paid reduced rates because I wasn't going to be back for a week or two. For example, the last time I did this was a couple months ago. The campground let me leave my trailer on my site for two weeks for $100.00. If I wanted to put it in storage for those two weeks, it would have cost me $50.00.

Bruce

[CharlesandKate]

Tvov wrote:
I don't mean to sound odd, but have you camped before? The first thing I usually do after setting up is to introduce myself to the immediate neighbors.

You don't sound odd, it's a legitimate question. We have camped many times over the years, but never like this. For me, it was usually permit camping bought from the forestry office and then I backpacked all my stuff in; no neighbors. For DH he has done RVing, but with his parents when he was young, and obviously didn't handle any of the logistics. So while we have camped, we aren't familiar with campsite / RV etiquette.

Thanks to everyone for their input. The consensus seems to be that the more everyone knows the better, and honestly, I'm really glad to know that! I love the idea that we all watch out for each other, help each other, and have a sense of community, (that we really don't have now).

C-bears wrote:
always shut off the water supply

Good call, my friend! I have seen this mentioned in other places and read some horror stories. But having been the victim of flooding a few times, I know how devastating this can be!

valhalla360 wrote:
If you will be gone for more than a couple weeks, consider a storage yard as it's a good deal cheaper.

This is a great idea and we'll keep it in mind if we ever need to store the RV for ling periods of time, but the plan as of right now, is that we will never be gone for more than a few days at a time.

2 Retired wrote:
Our neighbors, who we hardly knew, stowed our outdoor furniture and even put up our awning while we were away! They saved us real money! Campers helping campers - almost always happens! We remember that and have paid it forward several times ourselves.

WOW! I'm loving this idea more and more. Our current neighbors would laugh from their windows as they watched our lawn furniture blow away. So glad we're making this change!!

It looks like we'll have to do some investigating on where the best parks are to leave for a few days and then plan on other parks when we're at home!

You all have really made me feel more comfortable about our particular situation, and I appreciate it very much! I'm looking forward to seeing you out there!

[2_Retired]

DH and I have been seasonal campers for a number of years in both Pa and NJ - always in privately owned CGs. As long as we were paid up there was no problem at all coming and going as we pleased. Generally we used the RV on weekends and holidays - leaving it to sit during the weeks. Only once did we ever have a problem with theft - we left a cooler outside (full of brews!) and when we returned the next weekend it was gone! Go figure!! LOL Agree with others who suggested both becoming friendly with neighbors - everyone looked after each other - and letting the office know if you would be gone for a period of time. Just smart practice. Remember once we told our neighbor we were going to be away overnight. An unexpected and unforcasted storm came up while we were away. Our neighbors, who we hardly knew, stowed our outdoor furniture and even put up our awning while we were away! They saved us real money! Campers helping campers - almost always happens! We remember that and have paid it forward several times ourselves.

[valhalla360]

Private parks: Generally no issue as long as you are paid and they are aware.

Public parks: Many have demand well over capacity and in the past, people would pay for the relatively inexpensive overnight fee to bring the unit in a few days early to guarantee a weekend/holiday site. They solved this by requiring you to stay they night.

If you will be gone for more than a couple weeks, consider a storage yard as it's a good deal cheaper.

[beemerphile1]

Most private campgrounds have a storage lot and you can leave the RV in storage for a monthly fee. The storage fee will be much less than renting a camp site.

[C-Bears]

One other thing you have probably already thought about, if we are going to be gone overnight we always shut off the water supply. Have heard too many stories about pipes or fittings failing and RV's flooding while unattended.

[Tvov]

CharlesandKate wrote:
Oh that's such a good point. It does seem strange, but we've been afraid to get to know "neighbors" just in case they would know when we would be gone and put our rig at risk. After your comment, though, maybe we're looking at this all wrong? Perhaps we need an attitude shift! Perhaps we'll enjoy the experience much better if we knew there were people helping look out for our site while we were gone. Great perspective!

I don't mean to sound odd, but have you camped before? The first thing I usually do after setting up is to introduce myself to the immediate neighbors. Considering we are usually all of maybe 20 feet away from each other anyways, may as well get to know them at least on a polite basis. Also helps on figuring out hookups if the power and water posts are shared.

If you end up at a campground where you feel uncomfortable, you can always go on down the road!

I would definitely make sure the campground office has a cell phone number they can call if something happens to your camper while you are away.

[RoyB]

X2 on length of stays at most public sites.. Its usually 14 days... We run into this sometimes but since we usually stay at the same locations alot this can be stretched out abit. We always keep management in the loop...

It is definitely a two way street hehe..

Private campgrounds have different rules. We looked into getting a permanent site in the Gatlinburg TN area one time and after you sit down and figure up the things you have to sign up for it was not a good deal for us. There was a bunch of upfront money involved... almost akin to buying a house sitting on a lot haha...

Roy Ken

[wa8yxm]

I belong to membership parks, they have rules You must occupy your RV (Baring medical issues preventing.. But that is another story (When I checked into Hospital for a week I notified the park manager).

Likewise Government (Public) parks may have rules, including "you can only stay so long" I might add.

Private parks (Which is what you want for long-long term parking) generally are only concerned with your being there one day a month... (The day the rent is due).

[LarryJM]

Old-Biscuit wrote:

CharlesandKate wrote:
Oh that's good to know. If you tell the office that you are leaving, is this usually a benefit rather than a hindrance? Meaning that if someone knows you're gone, you're more likely to have break in? I know this sounds callous, and "big-city" mentality, I guess I'm just trying to calm some nerves.

I would rather inform the office staff upfront.

Then they know that at times your rv will not be occupied and then if some emergency should arise they have a better clue as to who is/isn't on site.

I would also leave office staff with a good 24 hr. contact number in case something should happen and they need to contact you.

We FT'd for 7 yrs. and the first thing I always did after setting up was to go and introduce ourselves to neighbors.

'Neighbors' feel invested and will look out for each other better than strangers next door.

IMO this is all EXCELLENT ADVICE and any CG that has a problem with that is one that I would definitely PASS ON and find one more to my liking. We used to stay at a KOA about 60 miles outside of Chicago when visiting DW's MOM and were normally gone ALL DAY and we always let the management know this and left a good number to contact us is the need every arose. Some days we left before the office opened and got back after they closed.

Larry

[Jim_Shoe]

Owners of private campgrounds have a vested interest in knowing what's going on. Imagine that you park the RV and take off in the toad for several days. Is this an "RV Dump", meaning that they don't plan on returning? An RV that you can't sell is really hard to throw away.
OR, are the people in the RV ill from a gas leak or some other reason for being unconscious?
OR, are they parked there but visiting relatives for several days?
The simple solution is to tell the folks in the office if you intend to be gone more than one day and give them your cell phone number.
The CG owners may not notice or care, or you could be pulled over by the state police.

[CharlesandKate]

Oh that's such a good point. It does seem strange, but we've been afraid to get to know "neighbors" just in case they would know when we would be gone and put our rig at risk. After your comment, though, maybe we're looking at this all wrong? Perhaps we need an attitude shift! Perhaps we'll enjoy the experience much better if we knew there were people helping look out for our site while we were gone. Great perspective!