RV Camping alone

[Woodworker]

Originally Posted by Bo Nesbit

I mostly camp alone. I built my checklists and had them laminated and I do not rush things. that way I don't get worn out and tired. It has become a relaxing part of my journey on each trip.

Big problem of mine. I get all fired up an start runnin around. By the time I or we get to were we're goin my back is botherin me an I'm tired. But then a few refreshments always seems to "perk" me up an I'm good to go

[Tony from NJ]

Originally Posted by Bigdomino

Just wondering how many of you ever go camping with your trailer alone? I may be faced with that prospect some day. Just wondering if you all hook up and pull alone and get along fine? Or, would you all prefer a motorhome or class B?

Steve

Steve,

I go all the time. I have a fifth wheel. I’m in my mid sixties. Just take your time and follow the usual steps. When you get flustered - take a break.

[Jon]

I have been camping with just my dog and I for about a decade, since my last wife and I split. Occasionally a friend comes along, which is nice, but I'm just as happy left to my own devices, in some respects more happy. I take a lot of 2 to 5 day trips in the summer, and snowbird in California for 3-5 months in winter. I've been doing this in my 2017 Jayco 321RSTS 5th wheel with no problems, and am now trading up to a Cedar Creek Hathaway 34IK that I hope will provide the means for me to continue my camping schedule for another 10 years. Over time, I've camped with family, kids, wives, girlfriends, buddies, and I now prefer to be solo plus the dog. I always make friends in the places I stay, and am perfectly able to handle a 37 foot 5th wheel by myself. It's great!

[SteveTekRV]

I would have posted the same question, as I'm contemplating living full time in my TT. I own a house now, so downsizing and living the digital nomad life feels right, and sounds like fun for adventures. I'm 57 now, and have pretty much handled the TT by myself, even though my girlfriend (who lives with me in our house) has been with me every time. When we land at a campsite she does the inside and I do the outside duties. Camping is my happy place, in fact I can't think of anything I love more. I can picture my dog and I exploring the world, even parking for a while at the beach in Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco, Mexico) which is so inexpensive. The GF wants her own space/place not to break up but to have her own place so we'll see how that goes.

I just wonder about things like income (which I'm exploring the digital nomad world, earning income with just a laptop and internet connection), as well as if the dog will be happy as right now with his doggy door he has full run of our large house and back yard. Things to ponder, but I'm also debating selling the 30' TT which I tow with my monster truck, and maybe a Class A towing a Jeep. The current situation (truck and camper) is paid for, and those Class A's are so expensive. But selling our house will give me the means to buy one, so I wonder what's best overall. Whatever I end up with, I can always change if it doesn't work out. My biggest issue with a Class A is no split bedroom plan like my TT has today. If my truck wasn't lifted so high I could do a Toy Hauler 5th wheel which would give me space in the back for an office, rear bedroom if needed, as well as those super cool options I've seen where the ramp turns into your own outside deck with railings and cover. I've even seen one that has the ramp on the side instead of out back and that looks very appealing.

[Mad5581]

I'm guessing your talking mechanics. If your like me you have some small things you have your significant other do to set up and brake down camp. I have made a habit of doing everything. And to make the wife feel like she is helping I give her a few tasks to do. But I end up "checking" her work. I have a process and I do it the same every time others with me or not. It kinda drives my wife crazy that I will go back and "check" her work. As far as what type of rv is best for a loane wolf. I would say probably a MH is likely the easiest setup and take down. Now the newer travel trailers and 5thwheels have gotten much easier over the years with auto leveling and what not. But still more to it then a MH. I personally prefer towables. They are cheaper and easier to work on. That and when you get where your going you have a truck to use to explore.

[Dgibbster]

I’m rolling alone in the motorhome, class c, tonight for 6 days into Inyo nat. forest for some social distancing and off-road exploring. Maybe be seeing one other friend who is out there alone in his 40’ fifth wheel alone too. The motorhime makes it real quick for me set up and roll up and the use of my enclosed trailer adds to the ease while off-roading

[thenne1713]

I can only recommend you walk around 2-3x before driving off, and at EVERY stop, checking things offin your head, or w/ paper CHECKLIST IF YOU NEED IT; pilots require paper and verbal; you are the now pilot.

[Dgibbster]

OCD works good for me there

[Moparmisty]

senior female with 4 German Shepherds. Often travel alone to tracking tests, obedience/agility trials, shows. We love it! Oh, perhaps I should add Northpoint 387 Fifth Wheel (43' nose to tail) with a Dodge Cummins diesel

[SteveTekRV]

I think I could live in one of these...

2016 Keystone Fuzion Chrome 420 Toy Hauler Fifth Wheel

2 decks. Wow!

[sragan]

I am a retired history teacher and love to park in a campground and explore an area for a few days at a time, so am often gone for weeks at a time. I have a 19rd and an old F350,7.3. I loosely plan my trip and leave an itinerary with my grown kids.

For my ocd worry wart one, I set up camp, take a picture of my 'home' for the next few days and send it to him.

I take my time, stop when I see something interesting or need to stretch. Have a routine for set up and take down and take my time. When I arrive at dark, have some cheap triangle flashlights that I stand up and aim down either side of the site I am backing into, this helps me get parked and set up. When people realize I am alone, whether in camp or site seeing they often talk with me, I have learned so much and heard so many cool stories.

A heads up, if traveling alone, especially as we get older, I keep posted my set up and take down process, in case of emergency names and numbers and my medication list. It is on a board as you enter the camper.

Enjoy your travels, see new things, places and meet new people. It's a wonderful world out there.

[jimmoore13]

A double-sided question.
a) towable or self-contained like a motorhome?
b) safety, security, crisis management?

Question a)
It doesn't take much practice to enable you to hookup and setup on your own. Targeting the coupler from various angles is easy. All you need to do is position your TV to backup to the coupler. Whatever angle you approach from, stand just behind the hitch ball and view the sight-line from the ball, over the coupler, and to a target point on the front of the trailer. If you don't have a convenient center point on your tailgate or at the hatch on your SUV, add a piece of tape on a convenient point dead center of the vehicle where you can see it in the mirror. Line up your "sights" via the rear-view mirror, your center mark, and your target on the front of the camper.

I ALWAYS hookup alone. Using this technique and another, I typically mate the ball and coupler with just three times getting out of the TV to size up the situation.

The other technique: Open the driver's door and use convenient markings on the door sill or step on the truck for measuring. Pick a spot on the ground and watch it move past the vehicle until you've covered the estimated distance. This is particularly good for that last 12 to 15 inches or so.

Also note that you can fine-tune left and right movements with sharp steering movements. Over the course of 12" going backwards, you can move the ball left or right several inches.

After that, it's all gravy. Leveling wedges and so on each take only a tiny amount of practice to enable solo use. Again, use the open door method on the driver's door to enable you to measure forward and backward distances. A few attempts, and you'll have it down pat.

Question b)
That's another matter. If you are the kind of person who can go solo for extended periods, solo camping will be no big deal. If you need companionship to be happy...especially a special companion like a wife...I suspect it won't be much fun. And, if I read between the lines correctly, going soon after losing such a companion is not likely to be much fun at all.

If you have health risks that might disable you while alone, you must be prepared to cash in your chips if something like a heart attack happens. Again, that really depends on you.

One thing that leans in favor of a trailer in these circumstances is that your tow vehicle may be free to enable you to drive for help (or groceries) ...or a cell signal to call for help. If you're setup with a motorhome, the time it takes to retract the landing gear, tuck in all the bits, and so on so you can roll may be the difference between life and death. Hurtling down a narrow dirt road with your awning hanging out, dragging the cord to the genny, might be stressful enough to GIVE you a heart attack.

All of the above is just a bunch of opinions. Perhaps something will resonate...or not. Either way, if you're physically up to the "rigors" of RV camping...especially boondocking...then I don't think there's a right answer. Just your preferences and what makes you comfortable. Certainly, there's nothing about a towable alone that is a real barrier. Hell, most of the time one person does most of the technical setup alone, and others in the group handle deploying the lawn chairs and Tiki torches.

[IrishSettler]

My wife doesn’t like camping so I go it alone. I’m 72 and I usually go out west from PA. Last year I went to the Artic Circle. For the last three years I have gone for the entire month of February and the middle of August to mid September. It seems like there is always other campers who enjoy swapping stories about their adventures at a campfire. I had backup issues like Brownie so I had a camera installed. Problem solved.

[GrayHawk]

I camp with a club Alone since the Wife Passed away 2.5 years ago..... not the same without her though, but it is my get away at least. Mu Aussie of 14.5 years and I am 74....... still got my mind at least and still in good shape.

[Dave A]

Originally Posted by Brownie

I not only camp alone, I've been doing it FULL-TIME for going on 7 years, now. Backing into a spot in the dark is sometimes a challenge, but I get it done - also with the help of a lantern on the electric pedestal. I, also travel with a "fur person", but he doesn't try to tell me a better travel route, how to back into my campsite, where we should have stayed . . .

How do you know what to do??

[Jeb-TN]

I have done some event camping by myself because my wife has her limits when it comes to some of my hobbies, so she usually limits those events to two a year and I usually want to do mote. So I have social interaction during the day but enjoy the solitude at night.

Our camping style is we do more traveling and destination events and almost no camping just to camp so we have chosen first, short slide in campers and now a B because we can go and park pretty much anywhere we want to stop. Minimum setup and tear down time. Both the slide in and B lets us camp in tent spots at times without any problems giving us some nicer spots. Since we don't spend much time in the camper unless we are going down the road or sleeping, small is not a problem.

[PEEWEEH]

Originally Posted by Bigdomino

Just wondering how many of you ever go camping with your trailer alone? I may be faced with that prospect some day. Just wondering if you all hook up and pull alone and get along fine? Or, would you all prefer a motorhome or class B?

Steve

it's about the most peaceful time a person can have. Turn off all the distractions; tv radio social media other people, and you be surprised how less complicated life is. And beer sure the beer is cold

[PEEWEEH]

Originally Posted by Bigdomino

Just wondering how many of you ever go camping with your trailer alone? I may be faced with that prospect some day. Just wondering if you all hook up and pull alone and get along fine? Or, would you all prefer a motorhome or class B?

Steve

it's about the most peaceful time a person can have. Turn off all the distractions; tv radio social media other people, and you be surprised how less complicated life is. And beer sure the beer is cold!!!!!!!!!!

[Lorraine]

I've camped alone for the last 2 years and have met many other solo travelers while crisscrossing the country. I visited friends & family, camped with Sisters on the Fly, and had the best adventure ever. No Walmart parking lots for me. It's always a campground or a secure spot with friends or relatives. A mechanical challenge that cropped up was finding pinholes in the water intake lines caused by staples during manufacture. A mobile RV guy quickly replaced the lines and Jayco covered the cost.

[Mad5581]

I love the older generation. You guys have no fear. I have a few older family members that are plenty capable well into their 70's. Some use 5thwheels some motor homes. But all of them are solid on their own. It's all about your process and not changing it no matter who is with you. I know in my 30's the first time I did it all on my own I must have walked around the 5thwheel 50 times before I left. And the sad part is I am a truck driver by trade.. it's just a completley different beast with an rv. So much to do and make sure is closed and locked and tight. That said for me half the fun of rving is the trip.. so my point is slow down take it easy remember your supposed to be having fun. Where your going is still gonna be there even if your 15 mins later then you wanted to be. Do that extra walk around it will make your trip far more enjoyable.