Things I'm starting to notice / hate about camping In a TT

I'm relatively new to camping In a travel trailer , we go about twice a month, and I'm starting to notice things that just drive me insane, and why the companies keep doing it because idiots keeping buying / accepting it.

Travel trailers are made poorly, when you go to service them , dealers are idiots, and just break more than they fix?!?

Extended warranties / service plans don't exist , one exists from multiple companies , but they are the exact same things , all of them. They all exclude the same things., and all include the same things, like literally identical. They wouldn't be this way if so many people purchased them, they don't cover anything really, other than **** that's sub 1k, what's the point ?

Rv campgrounds are almost ALWAYS , geared towards perminat living. Their are some exceptions, but its hit or miss. We've booked 6 stats at various non state ran parks , and each of them were flooded with 10 year old campers that have decks perminately attached, its tacky, they are basically just trailer parks, any way to weed these out ? We found one that had a pool, fishing, beautiful location, we arrived and it is 90% full of year rounders. People had stuff like basketball goals in the street , cars parked on the side of the road, getting into our spot was **** near impossible. Once you get in they have rules like no camp fires , no swimming on mondays and wed and thurs , etc. every one and their mom just drives around on a golf cart , they really don't go anywhere , they just drive around aimlessly, is this where the old go to die ?

I've also noticed parks don't really give much attention to three or four night stayers , they are all too worried about the full timers. We were told to stop cooking diner after dark if we're going to grill because it made to much noise for the neighbor, one of which that had a perminately attached building , multiple golf carts and likely lived here, we were cooking at 8 :/

I'm just getting unlucky right ? The camping world isn't filled with people that just park an ugly trailer at a trailer park and live to die? Right ?

NYCgrrl
Explorer
Apr 18, 2017
yillb wrote:
I'm relatively new to camping In a travel trailer , we go about twice a month, and I'm starting to notice things that just drive me insane, and why the companies keep doing it because idiots keeping buying / accepting it.

Travel trailers are made poorly, when you go to service them , dealers are idiots, and just break more than they fix?!?

Extended warranties / service plans don't exist , one exists from multiple companies , but they are the exact same things , all of them. They all exclude the same things., and all include the same things, like literally identical. They wouldn't be this way if so many people purchased them, they don't cover anything really, other than **** that's sub 1k, what's the point ?

Rv campgrounds are almost ALWAYS , geared towards perminat living. Their are some exceptions, but its hit or miss. We've booked 6 stats at various non state ran parks , and each of them were flooded with 10 year old campers that have decks perminately attached, its tacky, they are basically just trailer parks, any way to weed these out ? We found one that had a pool, fishing, beautiful location, we arrived and it is 90% full of year rounders. People had stuff like basketball goals in the street , cars parked on the side of the road, getting into our spot was **** near impossible. Once you get in they have rules like no camp fires , no swimming on mondays and wed and thurs , etc. every one and their mom just drives around on a golf cart , they really don't go anywhere , they just drive around aimlessly, is this where the old go to die ?

I've also noticed parks don't really give much attention to three or four night stayers , they are all too worried about the full timers. We were told to stop cooking diner after dark if we're going to grill because it made to much noise for the neighbor, one of which that had a perminately attached building , multiple golf carts and likely lived here, we were cooking at 8 :/

I'm just getting unlucky right ? The camping world isn't filled with people that just park an ugly trailer at a trailer park and live to die? Right ?

Sounds like your biggest problem isn't camping/RVing in a TT but the locales you are choosing to stay.

Guessing that more time spent researching your prospective spots would make you happier and I don't think luck has anything to do with that. .
spoon059
Explorer II
Apr 18, 2017
Yup, pretty much all campers are junk. Be gentle with them, maintain them and they last a decent amount of time and afford you great vacations if you so desire.

Very few campgrounds that I frequent are geared towards permanent living. Their are some that do, and I try to avoid those. Find better parks, or parks geared towards YOUR wants.

I'll be honest, if you were doing something at 8 that was loud enough to attract the attention of management, perhaps you shouldn't be doing that. I have toddlers that are in bed by 8pm. I certainly would appreciate neighbors who aren't making so much noise that mgmt needs to be involved.

Good luck with your camper. Kinda sounds like camping might not be your thing.
Lwiddis
Explorer II
Apr 18, 2017
I've never encountered the issues you have. Possibly you should retire from RVing?
GordonThree
Explorer
Apr 18, 2017
I'm sure there are a few good private parks out there, but there's far more that cater to seasonal and permanent residents, trailer parks, not campground IMHO.

Why are you avoiding state and federal parks, is having hookups that important to you? RV are designed to be somewhat self sufficient, even without modification.

To me, a private park is the same as staying at a motel (they cost almost as much). They don't have any nature, and they're full of rude people. You must accept their noise but can't make much of your own. Usually the list of rules is multiple pages long.

Texas is a big state, get out there and spend some time at a state park or on the beach at that beautiful federal park on the gulf, forget the name. If electricity is super important, buy or rent a small generator.
ricks99
Explorer
Apr 18, 2017
Try State/national parks. We're weekenders and stay pretty much at state /national parks, national forests, and municipal parks and have never had a bad experience: no full-timers, limited restrictions, and large spaces.
RinconVTR
Explorer
Apr 18, 2017
Low/Mid even nearing higher end TT's are not built well and use cheap components everywhere, from the frame to the roof.

Campgrounds ABSOLUTELY cater to full time and seasonal sites. That's really where the consistent money is.

But honestly, I've dealt with the quality issues thru multiple campers and have yet to encounter a campground I would tell anyone not to visit.

So yeah...you might simply have had a little streak of bad luck.
BizmarksMom
Explorer
Apr 18, 2017
You have hit on some of the reasons I gravitate toward forest service campgrounds and boondocking. I can be right on a river, across the street from the lake. No close neighbors. The only permanent structures are vault toilets. It's a peaceful world if you're willing to go without hookups.
wing_zealot
Explorer
Apr 18, 2017
Why do you stay at private parks then complain about permanent campers? They go hand in hand. If you don't like permanents stay in state parks where there aren't any.
2DHoop
Explorer II
Apr 18, 2017
Camping, campers and/or campgrounds are inherently flawed...because people are involved.

You must find ways to mitigate the inconveniences or life will pass you by without using your options to enjoy the stuff you want to do. You might find better results by traveling a bit farther out of the reach of locals.

Camping and/or campgrounds are also great opportunities to meet cool people, but you have to find the places cool people hang out...the places that aren't so flawed.
STBRetired
Explorer
Apr 18, 2017
Try RVParkReviews for help in picking places to camp. We stay in mostly commercial parks (DW wants full hookups) and have only ended up in one that has large numbers of "permanent" residents like you described. Won't be going back there. But have found some very nice commercial parks. State and National parks sometimes have electric or electric/water hookups and are way more like what I consider camping than commercial parks.

As for build quality, that's the regrettable state of things at the present. Just try to keep up with the maintenance and fix issues while they are small before they get bigger. Helps to be handy and able to take care of things yourself. Lots of great information on this forum and lots of helpful people.