Don't quite fit in anywhere - RV-Dreams Community Forum

smsdavis · RV-Dreams Community Member

Don't quite fit in anywhere

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

The nice part of RVing is not having to fit in.........Im a solo, my son pops in and out here and there(He's 16)...never feel like your a third wheel , there are so many people to meet and things to see...it doesnt require 2 + 2 to = a good time and friendships.

Yes it does get lonely sometimes , but no more lonely than it does if there was 2.......I share the fun with total strangers and we each are individuals.....and that all by itself makes exploring the person just as exhilarating as exploring mother nature !!!!!

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

Greetings... there's a lot of us out here not fitting into boxes while traveling in our boxes :) We frequently don't fit in because of our age and childfree status, but we manage to find our peers anyway :)

There are tons of families on the road, google 'Families on the Road' and 'Full time Families'. There's also a group on Facebook for nomadic moms at - www.facebook.com/groups/nomadicmama/ . Have seen some posts from solo moms raising kids on the road from time to time, and have met a few in our travels too.

Best wishes, you're not alone :)

- Cherie

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

FLCoastalChick wrote:
You know you will always be welcome... There is no fitting in just a matter of joining in! Everyone on here is very nice!!

I would suggest to contact Howard or Terry to poss start a new thread (Parenting on the road)...There are so many people out there that are doing the same thing some may be by personal choice and others by financial choice. My daughter just went to college last year so now getting ready to move from the established house to the mobile house. I have been single since my daughter was 4. I home schooled her when I moved to FL for a positon. Had I had this site back then and knew now what I knew then I would have done this years ago.

What makes this site great is that a person gets great wisdom and insite on alot of things that a person doesnt think about along with a daily laugh.

There is a category in the forums entitled, "Full-Timin' with Young 'Uns" that may very well serve as a resource for finding some answers about RV'ing with kids.

Full Timin' with Young 'Uns

It won't necessarily answer questions about fitting in, but in one sense, we all are different from many of our peers. After all, how many folks to you know that would even consider living in an RV? My experiences with RV'ing and camping is that most everyone is usually helpful and friendly, so fitting in might not be so hard after all.

Terry

-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Friday 19th of July 2013 07:33:29 AM

PIEERE · RV-Dreams Family Member

Susan: I believe you will fit in with this group just fine!! We sometimes are serious; sometimes hilarious; sometimes off-key; sometimes need some understanding; sometimes broken; and most of the time care about each other more than our blood family!

Just read the thread "RVing with Physical challenges and disabilities about Me? Pieere

-- Edited by PIEERE on Friday 19th of July 2013 09:45:04 AM

scrappy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Lucky Mike wrote:
The nice part of RVing is not having to fit in.........Im a solo, my son pops in and out here and there(He's 16)...never feel like your a third wheel , there are so many people to meet and things to see...it doesnt require 2 + 2 to = a good time and friendships.

Yes it does get lonely sometimes , but no more lonely than it does if there was 2.......I share the fun with total strangers and we each are individuals.....and that all by itself makes exploring the person just as exhilarating as exploring mother nature !!!!!

We need a "LIKE" button. Good answer, Mike.

Cindy T · RV-Dreams Family Member

You might also Google "Road Schooling". There are blogs & websites for fulltime families who home school on the road. You might find some solo parents there.

FLCoastalChick · RV-Dreams Family Member

You know you will always be welcome... There is no fitting in just a matter of joining in! Everyone on here is very nice!!

I would suggest to contact Howard or Terry to poss start a new thread (Parenting on the road)...There are so many people out there that are doing the same thing some may be by personal choice and others by financial choice. My daughter just went to college last year so now getting ready to move from the established house to the mobile house. I have been single since my daughter was 4. I home schooled her when I moved to FL for a positon. Had I had this site back then and knew now what I knew then I would have done this years ago.

What makes this site great is that a person gets great wisdom and insite on alot of things that a person doesnt think about along with a daily laugh.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

OK........Who's laughing at me?

FLCoastalChick · RV-Dreams Family Member

I dont laugh at you Mike with you is more like it and shake my head that I CAN RELATE been there did that or thought it... I will say that I have moved to waterproof mascara and have waterproofed my laptop.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Lucky Mike wrote:
OK........Who's laughing at me?

Not "at", Mike. It's "with." At least with most folks.

Then again, there are some of us old fogeys that have no problem with laughing "at" folks, just before we help them.

Terry

Kenpogirl32 · RV-Dreams Community Member

I am a single mom and I am looking at joining the full time rv scene!

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome aboard.............Anyone can play.

PIEERE · RV-Dreams Family Member

This is about the only place i have ever fit in! It's difficult to put a square peg (Me) into a triangular opening though! LOL!

smsdavis · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks everyone for the great posts! LOVED all the answers. I noticed while in Colorado this last week that there are a lot of single men traveling with large dogs. Just saw them driving by. Still haven't found single parents out here but I am not giving up hope of finding them somewhere.

Aurora Borealis · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi there! You don't have to be exactly like others to fit in. I am a solo Grandma, but in my head I am very much a mother, having spent 32 years with minors at home. So, I would see us as very similar.

dssamp · RV-Dreams Community Member

Aurora Borealis wrote:
Hi there! You don't have to be exactly like others to fit in. I am a solo Grandma, but in my head I am very much a mother, having spent 32 years with minors at home. So, I would see us as very similar.

Maybe we could update our info as to "what/who" you are as far as m/f, married, single, single parent etc. Just a thought. I am a widowed guy, kids are grown but have one son in my area. AND an awesome grandson. Sometimes I feel left out...being widowed. But have had some awesome visits with all matter of folks while camping or traveling. Have 2 Skiperkeies (sp?) that start a conversations. A lot depends on where you are, as in public campgrounds, boony camping or whatever.

My 2 cents ain't worth much...

Second Chance · RV-Dreams Family Member

Lucky Mike wrote:
OK........Who's laughing at me?

Certainly not laughing at you, Mike. A bit envious, if anything... with a 16 y.o. son, you just might be younger than I thought you were! We've got grandkids older than that!

Rob

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

He's 19 now....and still stopping by!!!..........(hey Dad!!.....$$$$$)

lutheria · RV-Dreams Community Member

I am a widowed wannabe. I never really did fit in much of anyplace, but I just got home from the Spring RV Rally and I have to tell you that Rv'rs are the friendliest people, bar none. I have an older Class A and am very shy, but found many friends there. If you let yourself be open to them, these folks don't care if you are rich or poor, fat or thin, black, white or purple. They only care about helping you enjoy their way of life, because they sincerely enjoy it themselves. Don't hesitate to interact with Rv'rs even if you only ask "where are you from" you will find people who are ready and willing to interact with you.
I will get off my soapbox now, but just because someone isn't exactly like you, doesn't mean they won't like you and make your life fuller

rodeojoe · RV-Dreams Family Member

I think it is wonderful you are ready for such an adventure for you and your kids! It is time to make memories you will all cherish!

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

smsdavis wrote:
My oldest is 19 but he will be leaving me soon as I won't have an extra driver for my towed vehicle and I'll be stuck doing all the connections myself. I've found traveling around there are families and there are older couples but I've not found anyone yet in my situation. Wondering if there are any other single traveling parents out there.

You didn't say how old the other kids are, but I bet that there are things they can do to help you and as they grow older, they will be able to do more things. I was afraid when hubby's back went out and we had to move. But I was able to get it done on my own. Yes, it took longer, especially backing in at the new site because I got out and checked myself several times to make sure I went where I wanted to be. But that's ok. You'll do fine and think of how much your children will gain helping you adjust when your oldest leaves.

smsdavis · RV-Dreams Community Member

Well my oldest is now 22 and he moved out. The other kids are now 17, 16, 13, 11 and 9. So the 17 year old graduated to all hookups. The 16 and 17 both have driver's licenses now...Thank GOD! It was an ordeal getting the 16 year old to pass. So I have 2 drivers for my toad now if I need it. I've done all the driving since last November and doing ok at backing in. My 17 year old learned how to guide me. It took some work on our communications but we got it working now. So we're doing ok.

I have met a few other single mom's out there full timing it. Looking forward to meeting more. Found a great group FullTime Families on Facebook and they had a sub group for single full timer parents. Hoping to meet more of them as we go.

We've been on the road full time now for over a year and I can report that it doesn't matter where we go (so far haven't made it to the NE states yet) but we always find friendly helpful people. Many men seeing me drive into the RV park volunteer to help us get parked. I'm thinking they see a woman driver and think...Lordy Lordy someone better help her out.

I appreciate all the great and encouraging comments. Thank you all!

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

I hope you are using some of the everyday things you do as lessons for your kids. Like have them learn about electricity by learning about how both the 12V DC and 120V AC systems work. And having them figuring out trips using GPS and maybe learning some simple vectoring. Lots of chemistry with how batteries work and are made, lots of physics in how you climb and descend a pass. Obviously I was a science teacher in my other life.

Barb

lonelyroad · RV-Dreams Family Member

smsdavis wrote:
I was looking at RV groups today and noticing that the signatures on most of them were husband and wife so that made me wonder if there are ANY single people out there RVing. I was excited when I found this site but wanted to know if there are any single PARENTS out there Rving?
I've found in life I rarely fit in. When my husband was alive he traveled a lot so he was never around to do things with other families or other couples and yet I wasn't "single" so I couldn't fit in with that crowd either. Since he passed away 5 years ago I've found things haven't changed all that much. Being a widow with six children at my age is quite uncommon as well.
I wanted to see if the SOLO RVers include solo parents.
I face many of the same issues the rest of you do being the only ADULT traveling. My oldest is 19 but he will be leaving me soon as I won't have an extra driver for my towed vehicle and I'll be stuck doing all the connections myself. I've found traveling around there are families and there are older couples but I've not found anyone yet in my situation. Wondering if there are any other single traveling parents out th

I know what you mean, smsdavis. I'm not a single parent, I'm just a single person with two dogs. Since I'm 55 years old, it's hard to find people who aren't already partnered up or married. I don't feel that I quite fit in either!

Margaret

smsdavis · RV-Dreams Community Member

Barb,

Can you come live with us?

My ultimate desire would be for them to learn from everything but the reality of life is...we miss so many learning opportunities. I do, give them maps, bought a handheld gps for hiking with topography maps so they can learn about topography and orienteering, the older ones learn a lot when something breaks down. I assign repair tasks to the oldest boys and when they say "I don't know how" I instruct them to use Google to find the answers.

We do always participate in junior ranger programs, stop at all the historical sites we can fit in and learn about the world by various means. The kids learned all about glaciers by kayaking in the ocean in Alaska by the glaciers, got up close and personal with some sea life, and they kayaked in a glacier lake on top of a glacier in and out of ice caves and even had a picnic on top of one of the glaciers. So they got to learn a lot about them not just by hearing from the experts, reading all the info at various places but by actually walking on them and seeing first hand the cracks and crevices.

I wish we could do more science like you discussed. That would be amazing but I don't have the patience nor the expertise to teach all that.

smsdavis · RV-Dreams Community Member

We've seen a lot of single people traveling with pets..usually dogs. And as we've found so far, people don't seem to care what their marital status is. We seem to meet all kinds of people. I'm sure there are some grumpy older people who avoid us like the plague but if they are, we don't know it. We've had plenty of married men come over and offer to help us back in. We've had married couples curious seeing me and the kids who strike up a conversation, we've had single mom's we've met and single women walking their dogs. My kids love animals so if they see anyone walking a dog they are likely to make contact with the owner.

A couple years ago we were at our favorite park for our vacation and my youngest son (5th child) came home and said we were invited to a campfire that evening. It seems there was an older lady and her grown son that were camping. They had a dog and my son kept going over to see their dog. They didn't seem to mind and by talking to him somehow they wound up inviting our entire family over for a campfire. We had a very nice evening.

We also had the place we were camping 3 years ago before school was out so we were one of only a few people staying in a state park. My son had bicycle problems and a nice older man told him to bring his bike over and he would fix it.

So, you just never know. So far in the last year we've found everywhere we go people are friendly and helpful. One campground we were one of only 2 people staying there. (pre season) and we hadn't been outside at all one day. The only other camper in the park came over and knocked on our door just to make sure everyone was ok since they hadn't seen any movement all day.

I'd say...get out there, smile and wave. That's all we do and so far....we've met some very interesting people. Sometimes they are more interesting than others like the lady I met the other day. I'm still scratching my head on this one.

She claims to be a conservative, Christian homeschooler, she helped Obama get elected and she still thinks he's a good president yet she thinks the world government is all controlled by one group of people and that they are determined to reduce the population of the planet by various means all of which are controlled through government and that Obama is a republican but ran under the democratic ticket and that we are all on a FEMA blue/red list and we will be killed because we homeschool and Obamacare is one step at killing off the population but Obama isn't evil.

I must say it was very interesting listening to her. But I think she is extremely confused. Obamacare is evil but the person who created it and pushed it through is a great president? I was baffled. I just smiled and nodded...

I don't want to start a political debate here. Just wanted to point out the interesting contrast between what she was saying. I have never met conservative, Christian homeschooling Obama supporter is an oxymoron. Maybe they exist but I suspect they are more like Big Foot. She was the first and only one I've ever met.

Pom and me · RV-Dreams Community Member

"Don't quite fit in anywhere"...caught my eye right away. I'm camped with my little Pom in an rv resort in Az., surrounded by many people that are super nice but still feel very alone. It's nice to read about other's that are solo camping and doing great. Gives me hope. Thanks everyone.

solo boondocker · RV-Dreams Family Member

Pom and me wrote:
"Don't quite fit in anywhere"...caught my eye right away. I'm camped with my little P. I'm in an rv resort in Az., surrounded by many people that are super nice but still feel very alone. It's nice to read about other's that are solo camping and doing great. Gives me hope. Thanks everyone.

Welcome Pom and me!

There are quite a few solos around both with and without pets. I'm assuming that "pom" is a pomeranian. Since I spend little time with hookups, I don't keep a pet. Summer heat in a motorhome can be brutal.

If you get east of the Mississippi, look me up. I had some things to take care of so I'm late heading south- in frozen KY right now!

solo boondocker

Pom and me · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thankyou solo boondocker. I don't have much experience boondocking and nervous to try, especially by myself. It's hard to imagine camping without 50 amp but I know many people are doing well without it. Yes, pom means my little male pomeranian. He gives me a reason to get outside everyday. :)

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

Pom and me wrote:
"Don't quite fit in anywhere"...caught my eye right away. I'm camped with my little Pom in an rv resort in Az., surrounded by many people that are super nice but still feel very alone. It's nice to read about other's that are solo camping and doing great. Gives me hope. Thanks everyone.

which resort? Lots of us in AZ for the winter. Also are you on RV Village?

Pom and me · RV-Dreams Community Member

Hi Barbaraok,
Well it's not really a resort, more like a campground. I'm in Lake Havasu at CrazyHorse Campground. I've never heard of RV Village. I have much to learn!

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

www.rvillage.com is where you want to go. Looks like there are at least 4 RV Village members at Crazy Horse right now.

soos · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hey there, we are also in Lake Havasu. Hubby and I built a house here last year. We have 3 FHU spots in our yard that will be full of our RV friends for the holiday. If you are on your own for the holiday and want to hang out with us, send me a note- we all enjoy meeting new people.

Sue

Pom and me · RV-Dreams Community Member

Hi Sue,
Thankyou for the invitation. That so kind of you! Sometimes I wish I wasn't so shy because I miss out on allot of fun. I'd like to visit you sometime but I'll wait until after the holidays. I sure like this site for rv people. It's getting me out of my comfort zone and I'm looking forward to meeting people and making new friends.
Rhonda

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2014 Heartland Gateway 38'

2008 Dodge dually

soos · RV-Dreams Family Member

Pom and me wrote:
Hi Sue,
Thankyou for the invitation. That so kind of you! Sometimes I wish I wasn't so shy because I miss out on allot of fun. I'd like to visit you sometime but I'll wait until after the holidays. I sure like this site for rv people. It's getting me out of my comfort zone and I'm looking forward to meeting people and making new friends.
Rhonda

__________________________________________________

2014 Heartland Gateway 38'

2008 Dodge dually

well, we sure do like to have fun! I sent you a private message with my information. There is a group of us who will be here until after New Years. If a large group setting is too much for you, we can meet up, just 'we women' and go for a walk on the island, or something. Just let us know what you are comfortable with...