Truthfully - is RV'ing becoming less enjoyable

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People who still work have limited times when they can go camping.  Retirees can work around that.  We've been RVing for about 40 years and still don't do much preplanning.  The exceptions are holiday weekends or places we need to stay for a specified time because they're near family or some event we're attending.  Other than that we've gotten to the exit of a campground and literally said "Right or left?"  We usually call a campground an hour or two in advance and seldom have had a problem.  We don't boondock in as many places as we used to because we don't feel they're as safe as earlier.  Our needs and wants have also changed through the years which determines where we stay to some extent, but we have our "house" with us and can be quite comfortable boondocking if that's all we can find.  It sounds like your friends who think it's less enjoyable are snowbirds and perhaps they want a certain type of place or want to stay with friends which can be more difficult in the season.  But for people such as ourselves who are travelers (as opposed to parkers) it isn't such a big deal.  We prefer the flexibility of changing direction or spending more/less time at a place of interest so we seldom make reservations.

ArdraF
 
We?ve really enjoyed being able to travel without a schedule since we retired, but our situation is a little different in that we live on 10 acres, surrounded by hundreds of acres. You can see one other dwelling from our place, and that?s if you?re on the east side of the property.  So yes, we can feel crowded, even in state parks where the sites are typically larger, and with somewhat more privacy than commercial parks. That being said, we consider our trailer our hotel room on wheels that we tow around with us. We?ll decide on a city, location, relative or other destination we want to visit, then look for a place to park our ?hotel? while we are there.  We pack once, eat our own food, sleep in our own bed and have our own bathroom.  Even a crowded campground beats a hotel downtown or out on an interstate. Of course, living in Florida means we already have a warm place to spend the winter.
 
Just "Wing It" ! Expect little, Demand even less. Home.. is where the Hook Ups are... Today. Say Hi.. to a stranger. Wave at your neighbor. Bad weather (?), find the Rec room. Ask a Local... what's to see & do....

Life Is Good.
 
Why would you slap my face before making a request??  If you approached me on the street for directions,,and prefaced the question with the admonishment to be "truthful", I would tell you to stick in your ear and walk away.....
 
Don't take the "truthfully" thing to heart. Around here, and I'm sure other places, it's just an expression.
 
Our trips are typically one week to one month in length. Our RV stays in storage during the Michigan winters and we avoid traveling in the summer when school is out.  We have about 30 years of trips under our belts and still love our fall and spring trips..  We in general pick an area or spot we went to explore and then just go.  Very little or no reservations to tie us down to schedules.  One of the things that help make our trips fun is keeping the schedules simple and flexible.
 
We bought our first travel trailer in 1967 while the kids were young. We have never been without an RV since except when the military sent  me overseas. Yes, sometimes it is a hassle getting a place to park but, we have always been able to find a place, maybe not in that big resort park, but we have found a place near where we wanted to be. We still find the RV the best way for us to travel. I don't like Motels and Hotels and I don't like wrestling with luggage. I have spent many a night in Motels when traveling for my military and school jobs and I really never enjoyed that. BTW, I have spent many nights in Church parking lots. I will RV as long as my health allows.
 
Utclmjmpr said:
My point is,,If you ask a question and don't expect a "truthful" answer,,,then whats the point??>>>Dan
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I'm a parent and grandparent so the concept of a less than truthful answer is not outside the realm of my universe.
 
I'm getting to the age that everything is less enjoyable.  But it beats the alternative of doing nothing!
 
Utclmjmpr said:
My point is,,If you ask a question and don't expect a "truthful" answer,,,then whats the point??>>>Dan
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It is not about expecting a truthful answer, obviously when a question is asked, the expectation and hope is a truthful answer will be given.  The point kdbgoat is making, and it is a valid one, "truthfully as was used earlier in this thread is just a common expression many people use, with no intention of disrespect or any other negative meaning attached and certainly not worth getting worked up about, life is too short to dwell on such mundane and trivial things.
 
Subjects need a "hook" to attract maximum response. I thought this was a good one.

We are enjoying our Class A so much more than the tiny Class C we had in the early '80's. I suppose a big part of that is not having to plan around working.

We first used our MH last April and have spent 42 nights in it. We used  privately owned campgrounds, State, City, and County parks, FS land, Harvest Host sites (aviation museum, winery, and goat farm), and of course Walmart and Cabela's. We have never had a problem with getting a campsite. That's not to say that we always got our first choice when trying to book the day before.

Tom
 
[quote author=kdbgoat]Don't take the "truthfully" thing to heart. Around here, ... it's just an expression.[/quote]

Same in our olde country. One time, when I was under oath in a court witness box and the prosecutor asked me a question, I replied "to be honest ...". The strange look from the prosecutor and the judge made me realize what I'd just said  :-[
 
I'll admit to being in a bit of a hurry and only skimming this thread, but I find it very interesting.  I have been thinking along similar lines lately myself
just similar.

My gut tells me that it has a lot to do with the area you frequent.  Around here, it does seem to be getting very hard to get into state parks last minute.... while I can remember just a handful of years ago when only the super high demand places on the beach were like that.  Also, looking on allstays just the other day for the area we were travelling, as well as a place we were talking about maybe going in a few weeks, I notice huge areas where all the walmarts were red, not a lot of options for free boondocking. 
I figure a lot of that has to do with more an more local ordinances creeping in.
and the other...well it just seems that more folks are RVing.

That said, we are still enjoying it.
 
The wilderness is still out there, just have to get off the interstate. The attached picture is from an RVer?s blog, the white dot is his rig. ?Course, there?s no wifi or cable
 

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spacenorman said:
Personally, I think it's all a matter of mindset.    If you can keep an open mind and remain willing to be flexible - RVing can still be a ball.  If you're one of those folks who is a "fault finder" (parks are too cramped, neighbors are too _____ (noisy, nosy, untidy, disrespectful of "our" site boundaries - pick your favorite or add your own "issue"), traffic is too heavy, drivers around us drive too fast, too slow, etc. - and then dwell on any / every little thing that annoys you - RVing will certainly become less enjoyable.  I'll venture to add that if you're one of those folks - your life is already and will remain miserable no matter how you choose to fill your days - but that would probably be off topic.
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What he said :))
 
Another situation to be considered is the RV rental/sales/tour companies and caravan companies are reserving whole blocks of time at various high-use venues. They do this well in advance of the seasons before they actually need them just to be covered (they can cancel last minute with no penalty),, but if you try to reserve during that time period you will find it booked up.>>>Dan
 
I've found that the more times I repeat something the less enjoyable I find it. That's why I travel. To see new places. Do new things. It seems that I don't notice the little annoying things about something until I have done them several times. The roads closest to home are always the longest.
 
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