Is it safe to sleep at shopping malls etc or should I always choose rv camp site

[Tom]

When I talked to the manager to get permission he indicated that he would alert their 24 hour security that we were there.

Probably so they wouldn't have the coach towed, rather than directing them to look out for your well being.

I just wouldn't want folks to get the impression that campgrounds are completely safe other than RVers tend to watch out for each other.

Understood Ron. The poster in this case is from another country and I think we would be doing them a disservice to let them think that WM or any other parking lot is a good place to stay overnight. A rented RV and folks with a "foreign accent" just might be an inviting target. Methinks a campground would be best.

 

[Tom]

BTW here's proof that we prefer to stay in a campground rather than a Wal*Mart parking lot. Don't fall off your chair when you look at the photo  ;D

 

[Ron]

Probably so they wouldn't have the coach towed, rather than directing them to look out for your well being.

Methinks a campground would be best.

Obviously we do too but not because we feel security is better.  IMHO security in most campgrounds is no better, and sometimes less, than in a Walmart parking lot where at least there is security present.   Our normall preference is a campground.  Except if we had to overnight in Billings, MT then we would most likely stay at the Walmart just on principle because of the fiasco the campground owners and GS created about a  year or so ago. ;D  The other choice would be to stay in Hardin if coming through that way.

 

[steve-hazel]

Thanks so much for all the input guys.  I cant tell you how much we appreciate all your advice.  We are only at the beginning of planning our 7 month trip - getting visas and planning a route etc.  The plan is to arrive in Florida in January.  All being well.  We will be travelling with 3 children.  If anyone has any other advice, on any issue at all, that they would like to offer, please feel free.  At the moment we are trying to decide whether it will be best to rent an RV for 7 months, or to buy one and try to sell it at the end.  Any thoughts?

Thanks
Steve & Hazel  (From Ireland)

 

[Ron]

  At the moment we are trying to decide whether it will be best to rent an RV for 7 months, or to buy one and try to sell it at the end.  Any thoughts?

Thanks
Steve & Hazel   (From Ireland)

The money you would spend on a rental would likely go a long ways toward a good used class A or class C.  Might be worth while to study those options. 

 

[Tom]

Steve,

As Ron said, it will cost you a lot of dough to rent for 7 months. OTOH it might take some time to sell one at the end of the trip.

If you haven't already done so, be sure to check out the numerous tips in our library - just click the Library button above and select one of the categories.

Feel free to ask any specific questions. As you've already seen, we have lots of opinions  ;D

BTW which part of Northern Ireland?

 

[ArdraF]

Steve,

If you're going to be traveling with children, they'll want to get out and play when you stop for the night.  In this case, I do not believe Wal Marts, truck stops, and especially rest areas (usually not allowed anyway) are your best option.  Most campgrounds have playgrounds so the kids can run around and release some pent-up energy.

You MUST have special Mexican insurance if you go there.  Mexico has Napoleanic law and if you are in an accident you are considered guilty (may go to jail) until proven innocent, unlike in the U.S. where we are presumed innocent until proven guilty (most of the time, anyway).  Sanborn's is a huge, well-established Mexican insurance firm that has offices near most border stations.

A number of Forumites from other countries have bought motorhomes here and sold them on returning to their home country.  There are threads elsewhere on the Forum about their experiences.

ArdraF

 

[Tom]

Since Steve is from Northern Ireland, he might get a kick out of this ....

A friend took his wife and kids on a 'caravan holiday' in Ireland, something like this one. They hitch up a horse to a covered wagon and off you go. The horses know the route well enough and will stop in an appropriate field for the night. Our friend was talking to another "camper" in the morning who was complaining that he didn't get any sleep because the horse kept moving around the field all night. He apparently didn't know he was supposed to unhitch the horse for the night  ;D

 

[Wendy]

If you're going to be traveling with children, they'll want to get out and play when you stop for the night.  In this case, I do not believe Wal Marts, truck stops, and especially rest areas (usually not allowed anyway) are your best option.  Most campgrounds have playgrounds so the kids can run around and release some pent-up energy.

Now that's the only reason I've ever seen for not staying at WalMart, FJ, etc. Ardra, you are absolutely right.

Wendy

 

[Tom]

Wendy,

Why is that not a reason to stay at Wal*Mart? They have a MacDonalds and rides for the kids. Heck, free camping, cheap food and cheap entertainment. If they wear out their clothes playing, then you have cheap clothes. I don't understand why you're anti-WM  ;D

 

[Ron]

I agree 100% with Ardra.  Kids and parking lots or where there is a lot of traffic driving and backing is no place for the young ones.

 

[Tom]

Kids .... where there is a lot of traffic driving and backing is no place for the young ones.

That sure rules out some of the KOA campgrounds I've stayed at, by far the worse being the West Yellowstone KOA. How kids didn't get hurt or killed when we were there is beyond my comprehension.

 

[Ron]

That sure rules out some of the KOA campgrounds I've stayed at, by far the worse being the West Yellowstone KOA. How kids didn't get hurt or killed when we were there is beyond my comprehension.

We have never been favorably impressed by most KOA campgrounds anyway.

 

[Wendy]

Wendy,

Why is that not a reason to stay at Wal*Mart? They have a MacDonalds and rides for the kids. Heck, free camping, cheap food and cheap entertainment. If they wear out their clothes playing, then you have cheap clothes. I don't understand why you're anti-WM  ;D

Dang, you must have better Wally Worlds than we have. Some of ours have crummy, little indoor McDs but no playgrounds. And CHEAP food?? Cheap??? Have you eaten at McDs lately??

Cheap clothes at WalMart? Have you been looking at my wardrobe??

As for me being "anti-WM", I'm crushed that my image has changed so much. In an effort to redeem myself, I'll have to stay strictly in WM parking lots on our trip to Nashville.

Wendy

 

[Tom]

That West Yellowstone KOA is a disaster waiting to happen. Lots of kids running around, which is fine, but the guys riding their motorcycles up and down the walkways between rows of campsites is nuts, as is the traffic going in and out of the park.

 

[Shayne]

shopping malls and WMs are an improvement over some of the older KOAs I've seen, Example the one in Brownsville IL or South of Springfield IL And not cheap either.

 

[Ron]

McDonalds is not a place that we want to eat at.  Just never appealed to us. So Macdonals is no attraction for us.

 

[Wendy]

McDonalds is not a place that we want to eat at.  Just never appealed to us. So Macdonals is no attraction for us.

I'm with you, Ron. Only time we eat at McDs is if we're working. Although they do have the best french fries of any fast food place.

 

[Ron]

Although they do have the best french fries of any fast food place.

I can't say but I wouldn't even want to try Macs phoney fries.  If we were to go to a similar fast food it would be BK or Wendy's and even some other place but never McDonalds. The only good french fries are the ones mad from fresh washed but unpeeled potatoes.

 

[Tom]

The only good french fries are the ones mad from fresh washed but unpeeled potatoes.

Agreed Ron, but don't agree that BK or Wendy's has any better food than McD. It's all JUNK food and very unhealthy.