Privacy....please

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rightseat

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Hi, New to RVing. Just bought a 35 Winnebago.  Has all the creature comforts, too.  Have set out on a few 3 dayers and i feel I am missing something.

We wanted to find that perfect rv spot where you would hear birds chirping, as the son rises, while sipping your morning coffee and planning the day on the lake as your dogs lay at your feet chewing a bone.....

or crackin' a cold one and watching the football game on the outdoor tv...... 

Instead, we were crammed in to a marked spot with no privacy that was on top of our neighbor who had at least four screaming kids running through the space between us agitating our dogs and the sounds of golf carts going up and down the street started just before dawn.

The RV America destinations we are looking at all appear to be  sort of the same 'crammed in with your neighbor' type places.  Where else should I be looking?  It looked like so much fun in the brochure!!  Thanks for your input!  :)

I am interested to hear from others as to where I went wrong.  So far, the campgrounds we stayed in were more stressful than relaxing.  thank for your help!!  trish
 
This issue turned my wife and I off to the activity initially.  The challenge is finding those places that offer larger, more spaced out camp sites.  What I came to conclude is that if it is privately owned, it is very likely a glorified parking lot (not all, but most, IMO).  The best places tend to be state or county owned parks, at least in my geographic area. 

Many of those state parks do not have full hook ups, so expect to find a lot of electric only spots that will require that you conserve water usage or use the public bath houses.  We have found a few to our liking that allow us the serenity we seek, and is one reason we have downsized into a rig that can get into almost any camp site, power or otherwise.  We simply conserve water usage, and this has worked out for us...

If I were out west, I would likely boon dock most of the time.  So much public land and so few people.
 
...as your dogs lay at your feet chewing a bone.....

or crackin' a cold one and watching the football game on the outdoor tv...... 
Click to expand...

Dogs, booze and an outdoor TV. Sounds like you will bother your neighbors as much as they bother you.

Go to Malaquite Beach at Padre Island National Seashore where they allow you to camp for free on the beach. Just drive down the beach until you can't see or hear anyone. Of course you will have no shore power, no water, no showers, no convenience stores, no Internet and no TV reception. But that is a small price to pay for solitude.
 
It is hit and miss. At one of our stops this year it was beautiful, spacious, and with a view of the river right behind our space. We'll go back to that park in Winston, OR and skip our usual stop in Roseburg, OR, because the park in Roseburg is becoming like what you described. 

We stay at a lot of state and federal system parks where the roads are tight but the sites are more spacious.
 
This has always been a sore spot for me too....
although I want nothing to do with the outdoor tv.....

It was even more of a concern when we had the popup, so we have always leaned more to the state parks (and county/city ones)
although these are very hit and miss around here too (North Florida). Some spots are great, but two sites down might be horrible!

I just don't think of it as camping and I'm more ok with it.  I have to look at it as more like a cross between a hotel room at a destination, or maybe a cabin, and well... I'm not sure.... a very small vacation home.

We have some national forests that I have thought about exploring, but I'm not so sure about the safety.... I've heard that rowdy ne'er' do well homeless folks have taken over some areas.
 
Trish,

Welcome to the Forum and your complaint is not uncommon. Depending on how you want to experience the outdoors, there are many choices, which run the gamut from the state and national parks to snappy RV resorts.

All of us want peace and quiet, but the size of some parks and how they are plotted sometimes is in contradiction to that. As you travel more, you will learn to ask others about the kind of spots you want to be in and their experience, and use some of the many review sites, such as RV Park Reviews. Word of mouth is an excellent way to find your kind of place.

All parks are subject to boorish people, some more than others, but you will soon learn to be very discriminating and find the places you like.

We are in a corn field in Iowa this week that has everything you are looking for, but we had to search to find it. Try some of our Park Review message board entries, too.

And you can always pose the question "Where in wherever do folks stay if they want such and such?"

Don't let the bad experiences turn you off - your place is out there!

Kim
 
It seems most private campgrounds are a little more closely packed.  Makes "cents", the more they can cram in, the more money they can make.  This is one reason we gravitate to National and State parks.  I particularly like national forest campgrounds, but be aware, few have any more services other than pit toilets.  But, if you don't mind boondocking, these campgrounds are usually less crowded and have more "elbow room".  The one thing you might miss here, though, is TV.  These campgrounds are typically not in TV reception areas unless you have satellite TV (Dish or DirecTV).  COE (Corps of Engineers) parks usually have water and electricity, but seldom have sewer other than a dump station.  These, too, are typically not in good TV reception areas.
 
That is why I have solar panels, 4 batteries and satellite TV. We can set up in the middle of an open area in the national forest and have no one around and stay until we run out of water, which takes about ten days.
 
Yep...welcome to "camping."

I don't blame the campground owners for trying to maximize their profits...after all, a huge part of the year, they're usually nearly empty. (in many places, they completely close for the season)
HOWEVER, as a "camper," I understand your complaint...and have also experienced it. That's one reason I avoid the KOA places whenever possible. They're usually crowded...and too many people let their "special little snowflakes" run wild.
 
I sympathize with you.  If an RV park is your final destination I wish you luck.  We have stayed in many parks and have had both crowded and noisy, and quiet and spacious.  As for us, we use RV parks as a place to overnight or a place to crash after a day of touring.  We have never thought of a park as a final destination.
 
Most RV parks I fear are a tad... Crowded, Some so much so you can not even put out an awning without hitting your neighbor's RV..  Sorry, it's all about $$$$$$$$$$ and there's not much we can do but shop around.
 
I look at RVing more for the camping aspect. As such, glorified parking lots have little attraction. But that said I do use if I am going someplace that is driving distance so I have my "home away from home" with me. For example Vegas is not very far from us so we will occasionally go there for the weekend. Staying there on Friday and Saturday night is under $100 for both nights in the RV (compared to $500 or so for a hotel), and we get to sleep in our own bed, even cook if we want to (well breakfast). So we put up with the lack of privacy. Still I see people there out in lawn chairs and whatnot just hanging out directly facing their neighbor 5' away, whereas for us we don't even put out our chairs when at such a place. Maybe in time we will get used to that but not now: we look at it like a hotel.

But once you start looking around you will find places that do feel like you are away from it all. Attached is a pic of our campsite this past weekend. It was wonderful.




Mike
 

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We generally like a little more elbow room too.  But sometimes it's not so bad.  We were in a spot so tight I could hear my neighbor snore.  We got to joking about it and became fast friends.

What's the old saying about lemonade?
 
As you gain experience as an RV'er, you'll find that parks and campsites that offer a reasonable degree of privacy do exist in most locations. Google maps satellite view can be a good source for scoping out the actual layout of many parks to help in selecting a desirable site. Below are photos of some of the sites we've had so far this year:

 

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Oh yea, lots of trees and foliage between sites, even in an otherwise cramped campsite, make it seem better, at least for me. It's that wide open parking lot thing that I--or should I say the DW--hates.



Mike
 
We came onto this RVing life with a totally different perspective.  I'll state at the outset that whatever campground we stayed at for the night was incidental to our purpose.  After all, when you close the curtains at night in your own RV, you're in the privacy of your own home.

Both of us camped with our families growing up.  I mean *camped*, in a tent, outhouses, etc.  We took family vacations in a pull trailer boondocking in state or federal campgrounds.  We lived on rural acreage for about half our married life once Tom's career provided that choice.  When we set out in an RV, we wanted to see *everything* this country had to offer which we had not had time to experience while working, taking care of kids, elderly parents, etc.  We had experienced privacy, loved it, but were willing to sacrifice the privacy for the exploration.  I don't mind telling you that we enjoyed full hook-ups at that point in our lives!

We loved driving through this wonderful country, seeing the sights, enjoying the diversity of the scenery, and blasting away our preconceived notions of what we *thought* different areas looked like.  When we reached the end of the day, we pulled the curtains, turned on the TV or picked up a good book.  We were glad for the familiar respite and looked forward to whatever adventure the next day would bring us.

Everyone RVs with their own goals in mind.  What's good for one is not necessarily what another is seeking.
 
There actually are state parks where you can get full hookups, if that is what you require.  Just do a search on ReserveAmerica selecting that option or on the state park's website for that state selecting full hookups.

I don't know what part of the country you are looking for camping spots, but Cheyenne Mountain State Park near Colorado Springs has very nicely spread out full hookups.  There are also several state parks in Florida I have stayed at that have that also. 

Personally, I manage very well with just water and electric and conserving water, although being a solo traveler does help.  It is worth moving my vehicle and taking a short trip to a dump station every few days to get in a scenic and private campground.  You could also buy one of those blue totes and use it to dump your tanks. 

But please don't play that outside television very loudly if you are in one of those nice, quiet, private spots in a state or national park!
 
That was one of the best responses I've ever read, ...thank you Tom & Margie.
 
I agree.

There's backpack camping
and there's plop camping
and tailgate camping
and then there's RVing
.... and even different shades within each category.....

I think it helps to keep that perspective.  At least it helped me when I started thinking that way.  There's a time for camping, and theres a time for RVing....

Sometimes the RV park is just a place to stop and park.  It's not the destination.
 
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