Why did you start rving?

[Shirlv]

Went tent camping with my husband when we were first married. He hated it and I loved it. You know how women tuck our dreams away while we raise our children, help husbands attain their dreams. Move ahead 30 yrs still thinking about camping. I’m too old to sleep on the ground and besides a woman driving a Rv. Worked with a young woman who brought her laptop to work to show me a website. We snuck in the storage room and there it was “women rving”. I had many challenges, fought illness and children who never heard of such a thing. Almost gave up but did get that Rv.

[Bethers]

I had never liked tent camping. But I loved traveling and had enjoyed the few car road trips taken. I wanted a change and wanted to travel in a way I could afford. I had never taken a trip on an rv, but stayed studying. I decided to find a small, drivable rv and take a years leave of absence from my job and see what would happen. That year has turned into 15... Starting 16 in June! I'm very lucky.

[JudyJB]

I have always had the travel bug and John Steinbeck's last book written in 1960 made me want to travel across the U.S. but I did all the things we women did in those days that delayed our dreams: got married, and did what husband wanted to do, which was tent camping, which I hated. Did not like sleeping on the ground and all the work of cooking on a campfire and such. Nights were cold and ground was lumpy and I just wanted to travel in more my style. Even a popup would have made me happy, but husband liked tents.

Then had kids and did a lot of car traveling and more tent camping, both of which can be horrible with kids, but did the mommy thing for 13 years until I was divorced after 19 years of marriage. But at that point, I had to start my career all over again and was broke most of the time and struggling to raise two teenagers while working two jobs. Then of course, I had to take care of my mother and work at a job with little paid vacation for a lot of years. Only good thing with that job was that by then kids were out of the house and job enabled me to travel for business. Company was good about letting us take an extra day or two of personal time while traveling. Also was on board of directors of a training-related professional organization, so got to travel for that a few times a year and met a lot of interesting people. (Company paid my board expenses at first, and then organization also helped, so I could afford it that way.)

But all those decades, I still had the travel bug and wanted to buy a motorhome home and travel full-time. Had to quit my regular job at age 69 because I was getting so grumpy, but kept my online teaching job because I had no pensions. It took me a lot of years, but here I am---FINALLY!

Kids objected when I started out, and half of friends thought I was nuts and the other half were envious, which is what most of us experienced, I am sure.

[MandysMom]

I tent camped with my parents growing up. I still am in touch with the daughter of a family we camped with! Growing up I would doodle rv type vehicles before I knew there were RVs. I back packed with Girl Scouts through college years. Mel and I took the boys tent camping a few times. Mel always said, I'll go camping again when I can have a color tv and AC. Then one day, I saw a Sprinter by Mercedes and said, now that would make a great little RV. Two years later, in April 2005, we picked up Night Owl at the factory in Canada, having a TX dealer set it up for us. I learned beside Mel all the systems, so, after she mostly sat while he was sick, it was natural and desirable to me, to polish her up, set her up, amd began my solo journeys.
Velda

[Acadianmom]

When my younger son was a baby I bought a van that the back seats made a bed. My parents lived 3 hours away and went up there often. Kids got on my dad's nerves and he didn't put up with much. It was nice to have a place for them to hang out outside. I was also close to two aunts in Dallas so would pick up my mother and we would all go to Dallas for a visit. In about 1985 Winnebago came out with the LeSharo which was about the size of a van. I had been looking at small RV's. I bought the Le Shero and drove it all the time like a van. I loved the floor plan of the LeSharo but the motor was a lemon. When the warranty ran out I couldn't afford to keep it on the road and traded it for a year old 24' class C. I had been looking for something else and pulled into an RV dealer in Baton Rouge. Some one had just traded it in for something bigger. I called Harold and told him I traded the LeSharo. When the boys got older I traded the 24' for a 27' with twin beds. In 2006 I traded the 27' for a used 23' Coach House. Kept the 23' Coach House for 12 years and in 2018 I bought the 28' used Coach House.

After my boys no longer wanted to travel or camp with me I looked for a long time for women to camp with. I had joined RVing Women but most of the campouts were too far away. I went to the first campout in East Texas with RVW. I camped with the Texas chapter as much as I could. In 2011 I found out about a camping group called the Getawaygals and went to the first campout they had in Louisiana. I have camped with them a few times over the years. A few years ago a friend started a Facebook camping group called Louisiana Belles. I now mostly camp with them. They try to schedule a campout once a month, usually at a state park. I am also a member of Sister's on the Fly. I have only gone to a few of their things. Most of their stuff is too far away and too over the top. I'm not going to pay $400 for a campout and not interested in the activities.

Now some weekends someone will post that they are camping somewhere and a few friends will show up. I will be glad when all this mess is over.

Martha

[BirdbyBird]

I grew up doing off the grid camping with my family. We would haul everything into small aluminum boat and head down the lake. We camped out of the same dock long enough that the rangers knew my dad and we were allowed to camp pretty much where ever we wanted. We used a tent but my dad the engineer would go into to town and pick up lumber and build a frame to support a canvas or plastic tarp over wooden picnic table he would build. We would end up with our own explorer's base camp. He fished and relaxed and I fished, read books and swam in the lake. We also found many an arrow head and that is also where I learned to spot interesting driftwood. My dad and brother and I would go off driftwood hunting. The bottom of our boats always took on a bit of mud and debris. I would often live in my swim suit. I also remember skinny dipping in the lake at night, especially at bath time.

After I married and when the kids were very young we may have tent camped a couple of times but after my dad could no longer camp we stopped.

After graduating from college and before I started my graduate work in Cincinnati, I worked for the FMCA organization as an editor for their magazine. I spent a year there and learned a lot about these RV things. Back then many were school bus conversions all the way up to the "expensive" fancy ones that cost up to $100,000 dollars. That final summer before I headed back to school I attended their annual rally out in southern IL as one of their staff.

Then as Judy refers to there are all the years in between. Raising children, spending what money I had on them. My son got involved with showing his dog early on and then both got involved in 4-H and 4-H camps and then leadership stuff and, poof, the summers would be over. What traveling I did driving back and forth to my aunts in WI and the few times I drove somewhere were mostly on the interstates, along with the few times I flew anywhere or later when I would take one of the kids to meet a plane, I would study on all those destinations I had never been to. Between that and the places and settings that I had visited in books made my dream.....

I also picked up over the years that the man I was married to didn't seem to have the same wanderlust gene we have referred to on here (along with those recent studies!) Spending money was never his strength. I spent mine making sure that both kids understood that there was a whole world outside of Ohio and they had choices. (Notice that neither of them live here. They both left the state as soon as they graduated!) So when my retirement loomed I purchased my first RV, 2005. I made it clear that I wanted something that I could/would travel in comfortably solo. I never had much funds but I did want to travel and see at least some of those places that were whispered about on the interstate and airport signs. Both my children have always encouraged my traveling adventures. I never asked my husband 15 years ago. I just did it. If he had mentioned not approving, I think he realized that he would have been looking at me being totally gone and him losing half the house......

Now 15 years later I remind myself given some limitation of funds just how fortunate I have been to be able to have rambled around as much as I have. I am hoping that my rambling days are not over even if I am looking to downside the vehicle wanted to ramble in. Camping in a tent is a good way to frame just what is most important. Different people will have different needs they sort by. That dry bed I don't have to pitch a tent for and that potty in the middle of the night are close to the top. As Judy mentioned cleaning out her compartments, cleaning out rigs over the years has always been a learning lesson for me to realized just how much stuff I may have thought I needed, or was a good idea at the time, but not really necessary...... Then again, not full timing on my vehicle makes a big difference.

[BarbaraRose]

I camped some with family when I was young and liked being out in nature. My mom loved road trips so when I was older, I took her on several road trips around MN, WI and IL. I loved taking the back roads and seeing and visiting all the small towns and countryside along the way.

In my early 20's, I bought a tent and all the gear and went on a camping trip with a local singles group. That was a joke. Almost everyone was either married or had a significant other. The guys stayed away from me and their over-protective women glared at me like I was a threat. I made the most of that trip but it wasn't what I expected. Didn't go camping again for quite awhile. Did go once with my cousin and her friend to the North Shore on Lake Superior, but again that was a disaster. I ended up doing all the work, all the driving (sight-seeing) and paying for most everything including the camping site. The last tent camping trip was with another single campers group in MN and I ended up having a drunk man trying to break into my tent in the middle of the night. After that I decided I needed something more secure to keep me safe while camping.

About 10 years ago, I was doing a haircut on a woman who said she and her husband were visiting their daughter with their RV. I asked where she lived and she just said in their RV. I had never heard of anyone doing that and started asking lots of questions. I was fascinated by that lifestyle and wanted to know more. When I got home I started googling everything I could find on it. That is when I found this group. It has been a real learning experience and a lot of fun along the way, making new friends on here and changing my life in many ways. I am now camperless but plan to eventually get a small Class C or B to travel around in. I am done with towing and want something I can just jump into and go, but is small enough that I can drive and park easily. For now tho, I am living vicariously thru the rest of you who are living the life.

[Irmi]

Steve & I started camping very early after we got married. Steve had a GMC van that had 3 rows of seats. He took the back 2 rows out and with sleeping bags, a folding table, outside folding chairs, igloo cooler and radio, we decided to go to western MD. But not until I installed curtain rods over all the windows and made curtains. We had the time of our lives and haven't stopped. Our van now is much larger and has a king size bed, but it's still the same principal. Like Judy, Tina & others, we both have wanderlust and hope to continue this lifestyle for many more years.

[cnq50b]

Wanderlust runs in our family. My aunt lived in an RV most of her adult life. She's in the documentary 'Roam sweet home'. I always admired her spirit & loved when she'd come into town & park in our driveway.
I still remember the first roadtrip my ex & I took as a family - from Kansas City to St Louis. We both loved it. When we lived in Houston, we'd drive 60 miles to Galveston, get a camping spot & then sleep in the back of our station wagon. Life at its best.
Like the rest of you, kids & work & family responsibilities came next...
But...
I always dreamt of getting a small RV - I HATE trying to figure out where to stay using hotels/motels on trips. Having my bed with me gave me such freedom. I love driving! (except for mountain roads) & enjoy seeing the changing scenery, wonder what life is like as I drive thru smaller towns or different states. No responsibilites or time constraints - stop when I want to stop, continue on when I'm ready. The travelin' van was so perfect for that.

I still hope to get another vehicle that I can pull over & camp/sleep in once I'm free to travel more. I told my kids they get 2 years of grandma daycare for the baby & then I'm 'on the road again'. I'm confident that God will provide what I need when I'm free to use it more.

One thing I wasn't aware of was the friendships that would come from this lifestyle. Such intelligent, adventurous women! Wow! Looking forward to more meet-ups down the road.

[SoCalGalcas]

What interesting stories. My parents were tent campers from the beginning. Mostly on the beach, but once and awhile at Yosemite. I have many pictures and pleasant memories of those days. When I married I drug, latterly dragged my husband camping in a tent with the four kids. I loved it, he tolerated it. Those days ended when football began on TV every weekend.
As the years dragged on I was active in the kids school activities. Then, I discovered a walking group here in town and started walking frequently with them. Several were world travelers and I began my overseas traveling with them. My husband would not even get a passport! Somehow I discovered RVW. (No internet yet). Then I bought a van, ice chest, porta potty, and I was off!!!
Marriage deteriorated, I got a good job as an RN with decent pay, and Beni fits, and the rest is history.
I’Ve had a great life. I’ve slowed down a lot with the asthma and COPD. However, I’m still enjoying myself even in isolation!!!
Lyn

[snowball]

My dad was a rancher and had dairy cows as well as cattle (only for us but twice a day they needed to be milked) which meant our away trips were not often... I vaguely remember going camping as it was hunting season but not even sure if that is a true memory or not... when we got married my husband liked camping that was what he liked to do New Years Eve I don't think I ever went with him and think it was only once after we got married that he went... we did camp tent camping took our 2 week old first born camping... not sure of the wisdom of that... we graduated to a pop up the guys he worked with always said that they knew that when we went camping it was going to rain and a lot of the time it did... he got tired up packing up in the rain even in the pop up so we got a 24 ft travel trailer had it a few years and then he approached retirement years and came to me with the idea of selling the house and full timing he wanted a larger tt the more we looked and I tried to think of where to put stuff the more I tried to convince him it won't work... I had all sorts of excuses why it wouldn't he finally said I can retire and we can keep the house with less money and all the bills or I can retire and full time with less bills. He finally got his way.... but I won on the 5th wheel with him saying it was the best although I don't think he ever enjoyed towing it. somehow I found this group on the old site so glad I did... because I quit putting up excuses and fighting him tooth and toenail... Am I glad ? yes 99.5 % of the time... other times I wish that I still had my house... but then I would think of what we wouldn't have done and more importantly who we've met over the years.. I am so glad to have all of them you all and others as part of my life... even though when he died he left me with all the bills and less money
sheila

[WickedLady]

I was priced out of my mobile home park.

[Toxed2loss]

I never intended to go RVing. If you'd have asked me, I'd have said "Never in a million years!" I actually did in my 20s. My father was an Eagle Scout Master. I, my 5 siblings and our mother started camping with the troop when I was 3. My father proclaimed, "Tents are for sissies!" We slept on the ground, under the stars, even in the pouring rain. When I was 9 we went with some neighbors, in June, in Oregon. When it was pouring rain. He actually bought a tent so the neighbor wouldn't think he was a monster. We were packed in like sardines... in water. The tent floor had 2" of water. The whole campground was a giant puddle. My father claimed adversity builds character. I have lots. I learned about "Blue Tarp Camping" from that neighbor. I asked my father, "How come we don't have any tarps?" His answer, "Tarps are for sissies." Those tarps looked pretty darn smart to me! My Barbie had an RV. She loved it. My father mocked Barbie and her RV. My husband's family introduced me to camping with a camp trailer. Cramped, but much nicer than the ground. Dryer too. My husband planned on getting an RV when he retired and going camping and fishing in Alaska. I'd had enough of roughing it in the woods. I'd spent considerable time sailing. I didn't want to repeat living in a small space. That was when I said, "You go. I'll stay home."

I've been living in my RV since 2011. So how'd I come to a 180° turn? I got pesticide poisoned, then sent home to die. I was told to avoid all toxic substances. I tried, I couldn't. People next to us used all kinds of toxic pesticides and chemicals. They drift, for miles, and their Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) can permeate even sealed homes. Some of my neighbors used pesticides deliberately to retaliate against me for asking them to notify me when they were going to apply. I needed to know so I could manage my condition better and protect myself. I was researching and found out that a large percentage of people with my condition have lived in trailers, campers or RVs. Some even lived out in the woods wrapped in tarps (shudder). Everything else was too toxic for them. If I stayed when my neighbors sprayed, it was life threatening. I began researching and planning. I bought my 30 ft, 1998 Georgie Boy Maverick, in 2010. I didn't go high end for several reasons: new is toxic, I was dying and this was a hugely expensive gamble, I needed to make a lot of modifications for my illness. It took me a year to remodel it to non toxic and functional for me. My husband and kids thought I was nuts to go off on my own, as sick as I was, driving a 30ft RV. I told the jerks that were spraying next to me that I did it so I could accommodate 'them' and they finally started letting me know before most of their applications. I started leaving when they were going to spray, getting further and further away from toxic environments for longer and longer periods of time. I started recovering. I now leave sometime in February or March, when spray season begins. I live in my RV in a closed mountain camp ground, in the snow, until the roads to a remote wilderness property I bought open up in May. Then I live there, off grid, until November, after pesticide season ends. I leave when its too cold, or before there would be too much snow to get out. I'm slowly making improvements to my property. Our plan is to build a house up here. In the mean time I live here with my 2 dogs. Rosie, a 9 1/2 yr old Standard Poodle, who is my service dog (SD). This year we added Kato' an Armenian Gampr, my SD in training. Gamprs are Livestock Guardian Dogs. We have bears, wolves, mountain lions and coyotes here. I have a stalker, and we caught armed poachers here last year. I decided my next SD needed to be more of a predator deterrent. Kato weighs about 120 lbs.. He's not yet a year old. He's already run off the stalker and a wolf. Living with 2 dogs, one very large, in this small space does have some challenges. But, living in an RV, and being able to drive away from toxic situations has saved my life.

[Shirlv]

Toxed, so glad your Dad didn’t raise a sissy. Your life has been quite a challenge but you were able to handled it. Continued good health and safe travels.

[Toxed2loss]

@Shilv, thank you! one day soon I'm going to post my Carpenter Ant Invasion story. Picture Indiana Jones, Crystal Skull, Ant Scene crossed with Return of the King, the Last Battle. You'd have the gist. Shudder!! Most important, "How I got rid of them!"