Do not think that you are not liked or welcome, think about this, I live in a 24 foot Class C, this is the home of my WIFE, CAT and mine, the "bedroom", "living room","dinning room" and "galley are all there.
At the house we had, all of the above, was SEPARATED by WALLS, so the guests where only in some areas of the house, in the RV the only PRIVATE space is the head, so it is natural to avoid giong to other persons private areas.
yes I have been in some RV's, by invitation from the owner. Some lady's prefer that you do not enter and judge theyre house, unless it is spotless, we men tend to not see this things, so be polite and friendlly and with some time you will have more visitors, let them know that you have invited them to come in.
I have a good friend that bought a jaw dropping fith wheel, I was invited to see it, I have not been inside since, do't sweat it, invite the neigbors.
Good luck from Navegator
Agree with other posters. We had a set of four of everything for eating and never used the other two, so I stored the extras away.
We were in a park campground (no hookups)on a very sweltering morning last summer and decided to turn on the generator for AC and cool down the van for a while. Curtains were closed against the hot sun. Then we decided we might as well recharge our electronics and watch the rest of a DVD movie we had started watching the night before.
All of a sudden there was a loud knock on the sliding door. The couple standing there asked if they could see the inside of our class B. We were happy to give them a tour (people are often curious about Bs and we frequently give quickie tours even in gas stations as we do love our little sprinter.)
But it was sort of an unusual experience. Most people won't approach another person's RV and pound on the door when the people are clearly at home with the doors & curtains closed.
I think I would feel a bit claustrophic visiting a fellow camper INSIDE their RV. In fact, in all the years I have camped, I have only been in one other person's camper and that was because I was in the market to buy one that was similar to a camper that was on the site next to us, and in our conversation of talking about my desire to get one like hers she asked if i wanted to look at hers inside.
The RV is just a place to sleep for us - we prefer to be outside and we prefer to visit with people outside. But when the weather is bad we get visits from our tent camping friends.
We have a toy hauler - it isn't huge and a lot of people seem to be interested in how we make it work for everything so we get quite a few people who want to check it out. But when they are done they go outside to talk about it.
Don't let it get you down. Invite people in - if they do they do if they don't. It's not a bad thing to have a space to yourself.
No Purpose wrote: I am new here so forgive me if I screw up a bit as I get acclimated. Thanks!
I've been living in my RV for almost 1-1/2 years now and in many ways I am doing fine. However. I have noticed that while OUTSIDE my RV I get along fine, find it easy to talk with people, and get very positive feedback from people, NO ONE wants to visit me IN the RV. I would bet that in that time the total time spent by someone else inside my home has been less than an hour.
I thought it may be unattractive in some way and so spent money upgrading and even spending time and money to get new comfortable seating installed. I invite people to spend time. I considered that there might be an odor (we all live with some of this) and spent the effort to eliminate any trace. Nothing. I have several times been parked among those who in all other places appear friendly and NO ONE will visit. I do admit that people will come to the door, and stand there to talk to me, while allowing all kinds of flying critters to invade, but will not step in.
I am not hideous, I don't smell bad, I dress well and neatly, I am educated, I am not broke, and I am told I speak well and have a nice voice. Outside the RV thing, people consider me interesting because of what I do and because I make an effort to be kind and helpful. The point is not to pat myself on the back, but to try to understand this by elimination.
So to the question: Am I the only one? Is this common? What reasons are there for people (admittedly mostly non RV-ers) to avoid entering my RV? I don't often spend time in RV parks, so that may be something, but I am just wondering if others have experienced this kind of thing between full-time RV-ers and non-RV-ers. Is there a stigma? Any thoughts would be welcomed and I am not thin-skinned so you need not worry about offending me.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts. This is just a phenomenon that perplexes me and I though perhaps among more experienced RV-ers I might find an explanation.
Out of curiosity, why are you averse to socializing with folks outside your RV? That is where the majority are going to feel the most comfortable, and isn't socializing still socializing in or out? I honestly don't think there is anything you can do to your RV to change this. It is just a mindset most have, the RV is small and intimate, like most said it feels like socializing in someone's bedroom, and most don't feel quite comfortable doing that.
Invite some folks over to grill out some grub, and if you are a beer drinker, a full cooler of beer will encourage folks to come hang out. And if you are a sports fan, put the TV outside and have lots of chairs for all. But you have to invite them as most do not go anywhere univited, and you also need to be comfortable outside. RV's are way too cramped for comfortable entertaining unless yours is HUGE.
In agreement with most, I think it's American's (North American's?) sense of personal space that largely prevents visiting in the small space of most RVs. It's just too small for casual visits for any other than really good friends.
It could be worse. Last year we decided that we didn't want to go to the Saturday night dance that weekend and turned in early. About an hour later the door opened and two friends marched in demanding that we come to the dance. In a few minutes we had _12_ people crowding in our little RV demanding that we come to the dance with them.
It is also a reflection of our society's tendency to cocoon. When I was growing up there were constantly people inside our home, insurance salesman, the Fuller brush man, etc. Today it seems that the only folks who go door to door are those promoting their religion, and those that exploit young people to sell over-priced and useless items.
The bottom line is that people don't feel comfortable inside another persons home, just as they are uncomfortable having other people inside theirs.
We, like couple of other posters, strongly feel our 5er isn't our home-away-from-home-on-wheels, it's our traveling bedroom. Except for the occasional visitor who wants to take a quick look at the inside (thankfully rarely interested in anything other than the garage), just like in the house, we don't appreciate people in our bedroom. And we don't have any real interest in seeing anybody else's bedroom. Outside we'll visit and gab all day long.
I've learned a lot here on this subject. I guess some of it I should have known, but I've been a full-timer for a short enough time where I didn't. I can see now where there is a culture that I need to learn about and conventions I need to understand. Time will fix that.
I can see how the small and intimate space would create a problem. I hadn't realized this so much because for most all of the time I have been full-time I've either been dealing with medical issues, recovering, or dealing with disability that meant I did not get outside of the RV very often and certainly not in a manner that required lifting, setting up equipment, etc. So my looking for social contact in the place I could manage at the time wasn't fitting with the larger group's interests. My problem, not theirs.
Your advice has offered a number of remedies for me and I like some of them. I realize I am a somewhat quiet and private person at home so it's up to me to get out there if I expect to enjoy being around others. I see too that I wasted time and money on guest accommodation inside and can tear that stuff out and get some more space.
Another thing I've done is to stay on private property where I was the only RV-er, surrounded by people with sticks and bricks. I am seen as a gypsy or drifter, someone who is poor and unfortunate, someone who people want to avoid - even though this is hardly true. If I have learned nothing in my years it is that people fear what they do not understand, fear what is different, and tend to avoid being afraid.
Anyway, I wanted to take a moment to thank those who offered their wisdom here. I like that this is a community where being new doesn't get you trashed, where asking questions doesn't make you stupid, and the tone is one of real people offering well-meant advice and experience. You should be proud of this. I hope I can be of help and return your kindness over time.
Interesting thread. Must be something to with our boating background & the habits of boaters here in Bermuda, but we seem to be quick to invite people we have only just met for a look inside.
The boating difference is that we were actually rafted up, tied to our neighbours. Often these were people we already knew so we were familiar with each others boats but sometimes you get a situation where you join the raftup & don't know the people on the outside boat. That demands imediate introductions & most likely a reciprocal boat tour especially if one has an unusual boat.
Same with the 5er. We don't keep our trailer cabin RV show ready. We are living in it so it, well, looks, lived in. Stuff is around especially if we have been stationary for a few days. The biggest oooh, aaaaah in our 5er is the galley with the 4 door fridge, the washer/dryer cupboard turned huge pantry & the L shaped counter.
We don't treat the trailer as personal as we do our house so we don't mind showing to anyone interested at all.
Boat: 32' 1996 Albin 32+2, single Cummins 315hp
40+ night per year overnighter
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