New to the forum

[Itzatrip]

Hello I am new to the forum, still finding my way around so please excuse any fo pas in advance. We have always been campers, and now want to try rving full time beginning next fall but not sure where to start. We are in our mid sixties and will be travelling with our two dogs, and wondering if most parks accept pets. We have so many questions, and hopefully over the next few months we will benefit from the experienced people on this forum. It's both exciting and scary to be planning the next part of our lives.

[jjwicklund]

Welcome, I won't say all but maybe half of all fulltimers we have met in the 6+ years we've been on the road have dogs. Many with cats and a few with birds. We have never been at a park that didn't allow dogs though there may be some that don't. Some may have restrictions on certain breeds and some have weight restrictions. The two big requirements are keeping your dogs under control with a leash and picking up there droppings. Many RV parks have dog parks where you pups can run leash free.

[wildmandmc]

Welcome to the site. This is a great site to learn. share experiences, Lots of talent here. I'm not a FT yet but RV parks i have been to allow dogs. Keep them quiet an controlled an should have no problems.

[HamRad]

Itzatrip,

Welcome! Rest easy with the dogs. Almost all parks accept pets with dogs being the number one pet. Some parks will have number limits.... 2 is often set as a limit. Some will have Breed limitations.... No Pit Bulls or Rottweilers.... You just need to check the parks website or call and talk with them to find out if there are Breed limits. And sometimes parks have Weight limits..... Good thing they don't have such limits on some of us Humans...... <G> But in general you will have no problems traveling with your dogs. We've been on the road for about 12 years and have never had a problem with our two dogs. We've never traveled without at least one dog.

 

As for any other questions you've come to the right place. There are more knowledgeable people here than just about anywhere. Just ask your questions and stand by for great input from the members here. Happy Travels, HamRad

[Kirk W]

I'll add yet another welcome to the Escapee forusm! Helping new folks is a big part of what we are about here so we will be happy to do our best for you.

 

As others have said, a major share of us do travel with a dog or a cat and more than a few have 2 pets. There are RV parks that limit the number but that is typically 3 in most cases. There are also some that limit size and others breeds but those are not common and usually the size is 80# or more and breeds are those known more for aggressiveness and aren't that common in the RV community. Most breed restrictions are also loosely enforced, barring any complaints.

 

 

We have always been campers, and now want to try rving full time beginning next fall but not sure where to start.

Any sort of camping experience will prove to be helpful, especially if at least some of that had been in an RV. The selection and buying of an RV can be an intimidating task but there are many years of experience on these forums so feel free to ask for help in any area and as often as you wish.

 

 

We have so many questions, and hopefully over the next few months we will benefit from the experienced people on this forum.

I suggest that the best way to start preparing is for you to do some reading on the subject and there are numerous good books on the subject of living in an RV full-time. You could stop by your local library and ask them about books on RV living or if you wish you can buy them from a place like Amazon, who has a wide variety of choices. If you wish suggestions, I'd suspect that some of our contributors to these forums have favorite RV books to suggest. it has been so long since we were first starting that the book which I used is no longer in recent print so I'll refrain from suggesting a title. Just about any of the books should go into the kind of things that you need to consider as you prepare to move into the RV, such as how to keep an address, health care, banking, insurance, and a very long list of other things which will be at least somewhat different living on the road and offer some ideas about how others have managed such issues. Since you are Canadian, we do have several members of these forums who are also Canadian and so they should be readily available to advise about issues that might be somewhat unique to your situation.

 

I would also suggest that you notice as you browse these forums, that many of us have a link in our signature line that leads to either a website of to a blog that the person posting keeps about his travels. I do believe that you would be well served to spend some time visiting the sites of these contributors and reading what they have posted there. There is really no single way to live in your RV but each one of us have at least some things which we do that are unique to us and each of us find our own best choices.

[Itzatrip]

Thank you all for your welcome, information and suggestions. Reading blogs would certainly be helpful, I'll be checking signatures for links. If anyone has a book recommendation that would be great! I'm very glad to hear our dogs won't be a problem, as that would be a deal breaker for us. We have two well behaved standard poodles, one 40lbs and the other 50lbs, so we should be ok on the weight restrictions, lol yes lucky no restrictions on human weight. Do most of you belong to groups or clubs such as good Sam or others?

Now I see that (escapees) is a club, sorry, thought it was just the forum name.

[Kirk W]

Do most of you belong to groups or clubs such as good Sam or others?..Now I see that (escapees) is a club, sorry, thought it was just the forum name.

There are many here who are members of the Escapees RV Club, but clearly not everyone. Probably it would be the most common one on these forums but were you to visit the Good Sam forums I'm sure that would be most popular. We did at one time belong to Good Sam but left quite a few years ago. Anther good RV group would be the Family Motor Coach Assoc. but we found that it was not a good fit for use, even when we did own a motorhome, which is required to belong. There are a number of discount campground groups which are easy to save more than the cost and most popular would be Passport America and Happy Campers groups. We do maintain a membership in Passport America. These are not really clubs but just a discount marketing organization. Yet another group that many full-time RV folks enjoy is Harvest Hosts, a group of wineries and farms that host RVers.

 

If you spend some time on the Escapee website, you will find that it is more than just a club but really is a support system for those who travel in RVs. They own 8 RV parks and have an association with another 11 co-op parks that were founded by them and both host club members at a very low cost. In addition, they have their own discount parks guide where members receive a discount ranging from 15% to as much as 50%. They also have what they call "stoppin spots" which is a lisiting of club members who have property where they allow fellow club members to spend nights. And they provide mail service with a fully legal address for many of their members, hold an annual rally called Escapade, and many other services.

[LindaH]

We have two well behaved standard poodles, one 40lbs and the other 50lbs,

 

You won't have problems in most RV parks. However, we have come across a few that have a weight limit for dogs that is typically 25 pounds. Best to call the park ahead of time if there's any question.

 

Of course, you won't have problems in places like National Park campgrounds, Forest Service campgrounds, state parks, BLM land/campgrounds, and the like (although in many places, dogs aren't allowed on trails).

[sandsys]

One blog that gives you lots of information abut traveling with pets is http://wheelingit.us. They rate parks they visit and pet friendliness is one of their categories.

 

Linda Sand