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How to Start a BOF Group for Younger, Working RVers?


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This isn't an event, per se, but I wasn't sure where else to put this topic.

 

I have seen talk on this forum about the desire for a BOF group for younger RVers, particularly those who are not yet retirement age and are still working full-time. I suspect our RVing experience is very different from that of our older friends, so I'm interested in finding a way for us to get together under the Escapees umbrella to talk about our particular challenges and share our unique interests.

 

As a member of this demographic myself (I'm 29, my husband is 30, and we both run our own businesses full-time from the road), I'd be willing to organize this BOF group if there were enough interest. Two questions:

  1. What is expected of a BOF group by its members?
  2. How does one actually establish a BOF group?

There is one caveat: my husband and I are pretty introverted and so are probably unlikely to attend many events. If this proposed BOF group wanted to have some hiking/exploring activities at Escapades/rallies, I'd be happy to organize them but might not be there to actually oversee them, so I'd need some support there.

Full-time RVing before retirement: Ardent Camper blog

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First of all, welcome to the Escapee forums!

 

............... Two questions:

  1. What is expected of a BOF group by its members?
  2. How does one actually establish a BOF group?

If you contact the office they will be happy to advise you about starting a new Birds of a Feather Group. It isn't that difficult to get started and they will put a listing for you into the Escapee's Magazine to promote it and solicit members. Since only a small share of the total membership participates in these forums, it is usually the main source of new members. I am the coordinator for the Workers BoF and while we do have more than 100 members, it is not a vary active group as our only communication is via a members only, Yahoo group.

 

The more active groups usually have a newsletter and many also have events where they gather and get to know each other. Some also meet at some point during the annual Escapades. The biggest problem for most groups is finding someone who is willing to do the needed work to keep it active. Our group once was quite large and active and much of that was based upon a newsletter but the problem is that nobody was willing to step in and keep that newsletter going once the editor stepped down. Later the president also left and I was asked to keep it going. Some groups seem to go on for years while others struggle as we have.

 

One thing that you do need to do is to develop just who you are attempting to attract. Reading your post, it sounds like you want it to be younger people. There are quite a few members who do make their living on the road but of those that I know, I am sure that the average age is well above 50. We do have a few members with families on the road and there is currently an effort to make a forum for them, but unfortunately, so far only a few of them have participated. If you are only thinking of people who work, the Workers are mostly part of that group although many of us work as volunteers and perhaps as many as 40% work to supplement retirement income and probably about 10% or less earn their entire income on the road.

 

If you do take on this effort, I'll be happy to do anything that I can to encourage younger workers to join your new group.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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This isn't an event, per se, but I wasn't sure where else to put this topic.

 

I have seen talk on this forum about the desire for a BOF group for younger RVers, particularly those who are not yet retirement age and are still working full-time. I suspect our RVing experience is very different from that of our older friends, so I'm interested in finding a way for us to get together under the Escapees umbrella to talk about our particular challenges and share our unique interests.

 

As a member of this demographic myself (I'm 29, my husband is 30, and we both run our own businesses full-time from the road), I'd be willing to organize this BOF group if there were enough interest. Two questions:

  1. What is expected of a BOF group by its members?
  2. How does one actually establish a BOF group?

There is one caveat: my husband and I are pretty introverted and so are probably unlikely to attend many events. If this proposed BOF group wanted to have some hiking/exploring activities at Escapades/rallies, I'd be happy to organize them but might not be there to actually oversee them, so I'd need some support there.

 

Hi Marie,

 

This is an interesting topic and Escapees is completely onboard with creating a support network for working RVers. In fact, we have a big announcement we will be unveiling at the 2015 Escapade in Tucson that is directly aligned with this. We hope everyone will stay tuned, we can't wait to share the details soon!

 

Happy Travels,

Travis & Melanie

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Thanks for your responses, Kirk, Travis and Stanley!

 

All thanks to today's technology, it's amazing how fast-growing this movement is of younger folks who are able to build serious careers all the while traveling the country. How fortunate we are--but we still need community!

 

I'm excited to hear what this big announcement is, Travis. It sounds great, and I can't wait to learn more. Will there be an announcement outside the Escapade for those of us who can't make it?

Full-time RVing before retirement: Ardent Camper blog

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There are many "younger" fulltimers on the road, and the demographic is growing every day; good for them!

 

Wheeling It and Technomadia are two excellent examples of blogs by young RVers working and traveling. The focus of each is different, but both blogs offer a tremendous amount of content, including links to other "young" working fulltimers' websites. Although most of the information is applicable to RVers of any age, the slant is definitely a "youthful" one.

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I'm excited to hear what this big announcement is, Travis. It sounds great, and I can't wait to learn more. Will there be an announcement outside the Escapade for those of us who can't make it?

 

Absolutely! The Escapade is just going to be the hosting ground for the announcement. We will be spreading the word throughout the entire RV Community in March!

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I am interested in a group like this. I am not quite that young (59) but still working at least part time via computer and traveling part time and find my interests a bit different than some of the others.

 

There is a boomer group but I think their focus is a little different and changed maybe after the group was named.

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  • 4 weeks later...

It's still in the beta test stage (i.e. parts are still under construction), but take a peek at http://www.xscapers.com

 

Be careful with the spelling of Xscapers. There are several other websites with very similar names.

 

It's a new entry path to Escapees designed to appeal to younger, working RVers. During the Escapade opening ceremonies Kay Peterson gave it her wholehearted endorsement saying it returns Escapees to it's roots - she and Joe were in their early 40s when they started fulltiming.

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Ok, Travis now that Escapade is over what was the anouncement which was to be made there? Not all of us were able to attend to find out.

 

Escapees announced a brand new RV lifestyle group of Escapees RV Club called Xscapers that is geared toward a new generation of RVers who have not yet retired and who have already, or are aspiring to, hit the road pursuing a full-time or part-time nomadic lifestyle.

 

When Joe and Kay were in the their forties, they were working on the road and traveling with a family when they started fulltime RVing. Also, nine of the first 100 Escapees members were traveling with their families. Currently, 85% of Escapees members are over the age of 65 and retired. Xscapers is inspired by the original roots of the club and brings focus back to the working aged RVer. We felt if was important to live up to the Escapees motto " A total support network for ALL RVers" and this new RV lifestyle group within Escapees RV Club helps us do so.

 

The great thing about Xscapers is that it is a part of the Escapees membership, there is no division or extra cost to be an Xscaper. If your interests include items such as working on the road or traveling with a family Xscapers was founded to meet your needs. We created www.Xscapers.com in order to provide specific content for this RV lifestyle group without effecting the 85% of members that are over the age of 65 and retired. The Escapees membership gives you the flexibility to participate as much or as little in either group.

 

We were truly overwhelmed from all the support we received at Escapade. We know this will be a great addition to the Escapees membership and look forward to sharing it with you all.

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I tried to sync my escapee account and got an error message. If you are an Escapee member do you need to pay the $10 or another $29 fee?

What did the error say?

 

No there is no extra charge to be and Xscaper. If you are already an Escapees member then you are already an Xscaper! In the near future we will be providing instructions on how to tag your account. You can however call into HQ now and let them know you consider yourself as an Xscaper and they will flag your account :).

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I, too, am having trouble signing up for the Xscaper site. It asked for my SKP number, which I typed in and then got the message that my SKP number and my email address didn't match. So I went to my account on the main Escapees website to see what they were showing for my email address and it's the one that I use, so I don't know what the problem is.

 

Of course, I also don't know how the Xscaper site knows what my email address is, anyway, since I never entered that information anywhere.

 

So what now?

LindaH
2014 Winnebago Aspect 27K
2011 Kia Soul

 

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Call the club office and get bounced to the computer room, aside from getting you going it will help them find and fix the glitch.

First rule of computer consulting:

Sell a customer a Linux computer and you'll eat for a day.

Sell a customer a Windows computer and you'll eat for a lifetime.

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I solved the problem of getting signed up for the Xscapers website.

 

I was using the "Join" button which asked for my SKP number...that's when I got the message that my SKP number didn't match my email address (still trying to figure that one out since, at that point, the Xscapers website didn't have my email address).

 

At any rate, I finally saw the "Register" button at the top right-hand side of the main page and clicked on that. Once the registration process was completed, I had access to the member sites! (During the registration process, you are asked whether or not you are a member of the Escapees and, if so, you enter your SKP number.)

LindaH
2014 Winnebago Aspect 27K
2011 Kia Soul

 

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