Is Socializing a Dying Thing in the RV Community?

[Powertour]

Was excited to get back into RVing in the last year as both the wife & I had done a lot of RVing in past lives going back a # of yrs. One of the things we were looking forward to was getting to meet new people along the way. So far in a 1/2 dozen trips or so back into it, with the exception of 1 trip we've only seen what I would call 'shut-ins'.

Understand not everyone wants to chit-chat with strangers / some might prefer peace & quiet, but it's really been kind of a drag not running into neat / interesting people while camping.

Never thought one would have to join a club in order to have some social interaction out on the road but I'm beginning to wonder if that's just the way it is nowadays....

[fullmoonoversal]

We are using our Class B as another room in our small apartment during the time of social distancing/quarantine. We have campgrounds, back roads, pull off areas along the highway. We find that at the campgrounds people are sticking to their own groups with the social "wave" as they walk past our van. It has been pleasant. I now wish I had held out for a 4-season, 4wd Class B so we could do the same in the winter.

[azdryheat]

We spent the last week camping in an RV park in Williams AZ. Met several of our neighbors and spent some quality time getting to know each other. I think it depends on the camper as to whether they want to meet others or stay shut in the camper.

[fj12ryder]

Planning wrote:
We use our RV as our hotel while traveling. We do not boondock or "camp". We have lived decades in extremely rural environments and have zero desire to replicate austere rusticity. We prefer as many residential comforts as possible; no "cook-outs", no campfires, no pets, and clean, climate controlled comfort.

We enjoy our privacy and in kind do not intrude upon others. We did not enter into RVing as a social encounter; we use it as a comfortable and private mode of travel.

Wow! Right on. My kind of traveler.

[bigred1cav]

me too, I don't like smoke from fires. I do like mygrill and grilled meats. I also smoke some meats. Our MH is are hotel room for our travel and tourism we do not camp out. I did enough of tat while in the Army.

Planning wrote:
We use our RV as our hotel while traveling. We do not boondock or "camp". We have lived decades in extremely rural environments and have zero desire to replicate austere rusticity. We prefer as many residential comforts as possible; no "cook-outs", no campfires, no pets, and clean, climate controlled comfort.

We enjoy our privacy and in kind do not intrude upon others. We did not enter into RVing as a social encounter; we use it as a comfortable and private mode of travel.

[CFerguson]

I'm sure born victims wont get what I was saying. Can I be your friend?

[pasusan]

lakeside013104 wrote:

CFerguson wrote:

lakeside013104 wrote:
...I try to give back 'twice' what I get. Show kindness toward me you get double the kindness back. Being ignorant to me, well you get the idea.........

Lakeside

You and I think alike. I like to say that I'll be your best friend or your worst enemy and I'll let you decide which way it will be.

Works for me Mr Ferguson

Lakeside

lakeside013104 wrote:

TechWriter wrote:

lakeside013104 wrote:

A long time ago my parents told me, "If you don't have something 'good' to say about someone, keep your mouth shut".

I think that's what Thumper said to Bambi. It works in a children's movie.

Your insinuating only children do the 'right' thing. Too bad 'intelligent' adults can not follow suit......there in lays the problem!

Lakeside

Lakeside & CFerguson... I'm pretty sure the "right" thing to do is to follow the Golden Rule. Thumper had it right - nothing about payback.

[Planning]

We use our RV as our hotel while traveling. We do not boondock or "camp". We have lived decades in extremely rural environments and have zero desire to replicate austere rusticity. We prefer as many residential comforts as possible; no "cook-outs", no campfires, no pets, and clean, climate controlled comfort.

We enjoy our privacy and in kind do not intrude upon others. We did not enter into RVing as a social encounter; we use it as a comfortable and private mode of travel.

[lakeside013104]

TechWriter wrote:

lakeside013104 wrote:

A long time ago my parents told me, "If you don't have something 'good' to say about someone, keep your mouth shut".

I think that's what Thumper said to Bambi. It works in a children's movie.

Your insinuating only children do the 'right' thing. Too bad 'intelligent' adults can not follow suit......there in lays the problem!

Lakeside

[lakeside013104]

CFerguson wrote:

lakeside013104 wrote:
...I try to give back 'twice' what I get. Show kindness toward me you get double the kindness back. Being ignorant to me, well you get the idea.........

Lakeside

You and I think alike. I like to say that I'll be your best friend or your worst enemy and I'll let you decide which way it will be.

Works for me Mr Ferguson

Lakeside

[memtb]

I don’t think that it’s dying! I distinctly remember talking to someone a few years back! 😉 memtb

[fullmoonoversal]

Walaby wrote:
I think rally's appeal to different types of people. Im not anti-social, but I don't necessarily enjoy the mass gatherings of people in an RV rally atmosphere.

I can sorta understand the new towable folks being a tad clannish. Remember, the "perception" likely was/is, "the coach folks opened up FMCA to towables because they needed new members in order to quit losing money". That may or may not be true, but I suspect when they arrived, and saw all the coach guys, they probably did just migrate to other towable folks. Honestly, I might have done the same, who knows.

I was at one campround a couple years ago, where there was a FMCA rally going on. Two folks left me with a bad impression for all. Doubt their behavior was indicative of the group at large, but it just seemed like "arrogance". One, an older lady, would take her dog out to do it's doo, and she let it do it's doo right in front of our friends 5th wheel... and of course never bothered to pick it up. I didn't find out about that until the last day, because I surely would have called her out.

Anyways, it's not surprising that like personnel are a tad clannish.

Mike

I think in the case of towables and others, people tend to gravitate towards people who have equipment like their own. We find that now that we have a B other B people come to meet us. I, personally, like to see what is out there, but unless I am going to a rally, etc., we kind of stick to ourselves. Mostly because we RV to "get away" from people. After we retired we did a lot of volunteering in situations where we had to deal with people, and enjoy being on our own after all that.

[Pangaea_Ron]

Parts of that movie frightened me.

[ppine]

No. Now it is rapidly increasing in popularity.

[TechWriter]

lakeside013104 wrote:

A long time ago my parents told me, "If you don't have something 'good' to say about someone, keep your mouth shut".

I think that's what Thumper said to Bambi. It works in a children's movie.