Some Of The Most Frustrating Things About Full Time Or Extended Duration RVing?

[RV_]

I chose to write, for my now defunct website, one frustration with a bit of humor. As a fulltime RVrs who traveled with our furkid a big frustration were the other less considerate "special" people with pets that made it hard on the rest of us folks with furkids. And the ones obsessed with their own

 

                                              Poopie Perpetration

 

 

(Parental warning:  The following diatribe contains graphic language and specific organic scientific terms like "poopie," and "black water," which are not suggested for those that are faint of heart, have no "black water", and whose "black water" does not stink, due to chemical or ego intervention.  For the sake of the children and the faint hearted who have already fainted from the title, I will use the scientifically accepted term poopie, only three times, which makes it sound so much more friendly!  And the diminutive "it.")

RVrs are particularly "poopie" conscious.  In the normal world only old folks, parents of diapered children, and doctors are interested in the subject.  It is not talked about in polite company.  You sure don't keep it, scent it, control it, monitor how much of it is on hand, or pick it up with anything other than a shovel (ewww!  Accck!)  What's up with that?  Or want to gauge if it is truly there, or merely "Klingons on the starboard side, Jim!"  (The starboard side being where the probes are that tell you if your tank is full of it, or just half full.) We are being invaded by "it" and TP remnants that "must be controlled, must be controlled, as the Borg mind directs, if assimilated."  Oh sure, RVrs sometimes disguise the subject and call it "black water," "Solids," "Odor control," "Dumping," or "Flushing."  But they are still obsessed with, well, "it!" 

I think it might be because we have always been able to hide the fact that "it" happens!  And it flushes so we don't have to deal with "it," until we become RVrs, and we actually store it, and have to deal with it!  Acck!   Of course we all want to get rid of it, but when we sensibly (we think,) as newbies, leave the black tank valve open so we aren't storing it, it backs up and makes a permanent reminder that will someday be discovered by anthropologists trying to discern what those plastic square tank-like objects were, with obviously ceremonial "it" piled in a dried pyramid directly in the center, with clean probes on either side.  I can hear them now . . ."They were actually used as tribal leader election devices so that they could select the "big poop/or chief" for the tribe from organic evidence."  "Ya! das ist it!" 

Ever hear a non-RVr talk about some chemical treatment that makes "it" odorless and actually spends money to have clean septic probes???  Of course not, who cares where it goes, just flush.

"It" permeates every aspect of Rving.  Now that "it" as a subject has been breached, RVrs take it to the next level and start to obsess about pet poopie!  Now we all have had "it" enter our lives when we stepped in "it" at one time or another.  But since man's best friend is taken camping many times too, it becomes a problem of seemingly epic proportions.  So RVrs have decided that, like city areas, it should be scooped when pooped.  But since RVrs have no place to store a pooper scooper, they use old plastic baggies to scoop it up!  Oh Yuck!  I have seen the old newspaper routine even.  Ever try to follow a dog, leashed or not, and get paper down before he gets down?  America's funniest home videos???  (Nahhh, the closest we ever get to dealing with "it" on television are those preparation H commercials.  That was until Ol Bob Dole made his TV E.D. commercial debut.)

We do travel with Bogart, The Wonder Dog.  So I see a lot of "stealth" techniques used by the "poopie perpetrators" to avoid leaving an area as they found it. Trust me, if they don't have a flashlight, they aren't picking up, except during intense periods of solar radiation. I carry mine for two reasons, to avoid stepping in "it," and to see to pick "it" up. I also like to shine it on other owners as if I am just saying hi, and being friendly, just as their pet finishes up. Even when caught in the act, looking like a deer in the headlights, bending over to make it "look" like they are picking up, but with bare hands???  Some pretend they didn't see it. (This seems to be the preferred technique, just ahead of denying that the pile under their dog is "theirs," never seen one follow through with bare hands!) I have even heard one say that they pay enough for their space to justify the park cleaning up after them. Sheesh!  Hey folks, if you hate the furkids because you stepped in it once, just think of us picker uppers that have to negotiate the landmines!!!!  The perpetrators always go to the pet walk area for cover!

Thank goodness for my Bogie!  Bogie knows I can't smell em coming like he can, so he points to them on the way out, but expects me to remember their locations on the way back. That's where I will usually step in "it."  (I didn't think dogs could chuckle?)  What's up with that???  You'd almost think he enjoys watching me try to remember where all the landmines are, and missing!

"It" and RVing are a fact of life.  We deal with it.  And some wonder why folks with perfectly good bathrooms in their rigs use the campground "Facilities?"  They don't have to talk about "it," store, flush, gauge, rinse, worry about pyramids, or clean sewer hoses.  

But it is OK for the birds and the bears to do "it," and just leave it anywhere they feel like.  What's up with that?  Wait a minute!  I have never really seen any bear scat where I could step in it!  And birds only do windshields, freshly washed RVs, and cars, unless you really ticked off the spiritual side of life.   "It" just happens!  RVrs just have to deal with "it."

©Derek Gore/RV Roadie 1997-2004 All Rights Reserved.  Three rights is left.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2023 by RV_

[2gypsies]

Here's a good explanation of why we need to pick up dog poop and other animals' poop is OK to let lay:

https://www.reconnectwithnature.org/news-events/the-buzz/dog-poop-vs-wildlife-poop-not-all-animal-excreme/

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

4 hours ago, sandsys said:

Just east of OKC, right on I-40, is Grand Casino Shawnee with free RV parking with electric. Sites 1-10, if I remember correctly but there's also a site 0 and a 00. It's on pavement but backs up to a creek. Don't use their dump unless you have a macerator; it's uphill. Instead, continue east the to first rest area which has a decent dump.

This may be outdated info as the name of the casino has changed since we were there.

Linda

 

Thanks for that Linda, we love Casino Camping here and there especially if it feels comfortable for overnighting.    Of course things change over time but we'll check into it for sure.

[RV_]

3 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

Here's a good explanation of why we need to pick up dog poop and other animals' poop is OK to let lay:

https://www.reconnectwithnature.org/news-events/the-buzz/dog-poop-vs-wildlife-poop-not-all-animal-excreme/

2 gypsies,

That was all tongue in cheek. 😉

One guy pretending his dog did not, said that silly statement that we leave bear and deer scat why do we have to pick up . . . .

[GR "Scott" Cundiff]

On 9/16/2023 at 8:19 PM, Dutch_12078 said:

We sort of have the best of both worlds when it comes to severe weather. When a storm is approaching, we often switch from Dish to the DishAnywhere app on our Firestick that's streaming from the H2 at our Upstate NY cottage. The weather is usually sufficiently different between there and where we are that the service on that end is either not affected or at least the storm hits at a different time.

That's a nifty solution!  I know that cell data options have improved a lot over the past few years.  Although I think it can still be a challenge in some of the more "wide open spaces" parts of the country.  

Kind of funny for us now in stix and brix is that not only do we have an amazingly fast internet connect, but we also have full scale unlimited 5G.  I would have been thrilled with one or the other while we were on the road.  Now, I have more than I can use (and for less money than we were spending on unlimited data + satellite TV.

[2gypsies]

5 hours ago, RV_ said:

2 gypsies,

That was all tongue in cheek. 😉

One guy pretending his dog did not, said that silly statement that we leave bear and deer scat why do we have to pick up . . . .

Yes, I understand that for your post.  I've just heard it said so often so that's why I mentioned it.  Sorry for the confusion.

[Dutch_12078]

12 hours ago, GR "Scott" Cundiff said:

That's a nifty solution!  I know that cell data options have improved a lot over the past few years.  Although I think it can still be a challenge in some of the more "wide open spaces" parts of the country.  

Kind of funny for us now in stix and brix is that not only do we have an amazingly fast internet connect, but we also have full scale unlimited 5G.  I would have been thrilled with one or the other while we were on the road.  Now, I have more than I can use (and for less money than we were spending on unlimited data + satellite TV.

We're fortunate in having both Verizon (Visible) and AT&T unlimited data plans that only cost a total of $50/month. Everywhere we've been over the past several years, we've had good service with one or the other, and often both. 

[RV_]

👍 It's all good bud. Bogart the wonder dog was real and had to be put to sleep at 14 which is amazing for a Shar-Pei. That was around 2005. We adopted Bogart as a pup from an American who bred full blooded Shar-Peis there while stationed in Germany. He traveled in Germany with us and was welcomed in all hotels and and restaurants in Europe. He then was with us for our seven years of full time RVing, and several years after. We then rescued 1 y/o Skylar, who had thyroid failure and lived seven years, and then in 2008 for his companion Maggie May who was thrown away in a ditch at ~5 weeks old. We just had to put her to sleep at 15 y/o last week. So puppers were on my mind. We've had fur kids for the entire 51 years we have been married, from Great Danes to Miniature Dachshunds.

[Lou Schneider]

On 9/11/2023 at 12:57 PM, FULLTIMEWANABE said:

Over the years we've read, watched, heard, seen many many accolades of the joys of Full Time RVing.    Of course most of these write ups are either by you tubers, blog promoters or otherwise and make it sound mainly Rainbows and Unicorns.   For sure for the majority it absolutely is a wonderful lifestyle for the most part ......    Personality traits of course come into play on what is a mountain to one person is a mole hill or blip issue to another.

To that end for those of you that "used to" or still do "full time" RV or even snowbird six months of the year most years in your RV but go back to a sticks n bricks or do a lot of long extended trips, care to share what maybe the top 3 or so most frustrating things you found whilst Full Time RVing.

Looking forward to the responses related to the Title.

Happy Travels.  FTW.

If I may add a different perspective from what has been discussed so far.

I retired 6 years ago with the intention of going fulltime.  About 6 months before I retired I got on the waiting list for one of the Escapees co-op parks.  These give you a fixed address and an economical lifetime lease on a space in a community of like minded people that you can use as much or as little as you want.

These waiting lists are usually several years long and I planned to use South Dakota and one of their mail forwarding companies as my home base while I waited for a space to open up in the co-op.  But due to a couple of factors including a real estate slump that forced others to delay their plans my name came to the top of the list before I retired.  I jumped on the opportunity and signed up so when I retired I was able make the park my domicile for vehicle registrations, voting, health care, etc.

My plan was (and still is) to use the park as a home base, returning for short visits a couple of times a year to take care of (so far routine) medical appointments, renewing vehicle registrations, etc. 

But when the "two weeks to limit the surge" Covid lockdown shut everything down for several months including tourist related places like public and private campgrounds many fulltimers found themselves with literally nowhere to go.  Hopefully this never happens again, but it was a godsend to have a place where I could return and ride out the lockdown.  As well as a place where I can stay if/when medical needs force me off the road.

https://escapees.com/benefits/rv-parking/skp-co-op-parks/

Edited September 18, 2023 by Lou Schneider

[Solo18]

I missed this posting earlier, but I have been full-timing for almost 12 years by myself.  One thing i really dislike is having to go to laundromats--am happier in places that provide washers and dryers onsite, as do Florida and Ohio state parks.   (I almost always stay in federal, state, or county campgrounds, as I am not into pools, potlucks, or other such activities.  Prefer scenery and animals and plants to watch.) 

I have never had serious problems with getting good medical care, even though I have had a couple of major medical issues.  I carry a one-page summary of my medical history and prescription drugs, along with info on insurance. I also keep copies of my most recent blood tests, cat scans, and such with me.  This prevents having to get tests repeated more than necessary, and it helps doctors in emergency rooms treat me more easily.  And since I have traditional Medicare with an F supplement, I can drop in almost anywhere and get covered. 

One advantage of being on the road was when I needed treatment for Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia.  It is not a common condition, so I was able to search the entire country and find a specialist who focused on that specific disease.  I spent four months in Eugene, OR, to participate in a research study, and then was on pills for a year.  Had to stop by cancer center once a month to get blood work and pick up a new bottle of pills, but there were lots of places I could camp at in Washington and Oregon for that year--even took side trips to Nevada and northern California.  Taking your home with you to get medical treatment can be a real plus sometimes!! 

I also have two mobile hotspots from when I was teaching online, and probably pay a bit more per month for internet, but I nearly always have good coverage, which is important for me.  Ditto for satellite TV. 

Edited April 3 by Solo18

[kb0zke]

I retired in 2013 and we hit the road in 2014. I got "roped" into a job in Wyoming for two years, but other than that we've been full-timing since 2014. We started out in a 40' MH, and loved it except for the maintenance costs. In January 2023 we switched to a travel trailer of similar overall size. During that time I've had cataract surgery on both eyes and a detached retina on one eye. We've had a few deaths of family members and the births of four of our five grandchildren. Five years ago we got our lot here at The Ranch, so we have a home base for stuff we don't need to carry with us all the time. Of course, sometimes what we want is back here and we're there, so off to the store we go...

Our original idea was to give full-timing a try for five years. Ten years later we're starting to talk about what exit plans might look like. In the meantime we're planning our travels.

"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape." "When we start planning God starts laughing."

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Nice to see this revised.   We officially start FT on 1st May, initially with a 2 or 3 year plan, snowbirding south USA in the winter months and summer months back in this area or some travels around Canada.   So good to read others thoughts and experiences from doing it.

Now back to more packing, cleaning and prepping donation boxes.  LOL

[Kirk W]

10 hours ago, FULLTIMEWANABE said:

initially with a 2 or 3 year plan,

That's not much time to see the country. For our first five years or so, our list of places that we wanted to see grew faster than the list of places we had been. Even when we left the fulltime life after 12 years, that list was still very long and over the years since we have been a lot of new places but the list is so long that we realize that we will never run out of things & places in the world that we haven't been to yet. There are 63 national parks, 133 national monuments, and 76 national historic sites.  The NPS manages a total of 429 properties. And that doesn't address the many state parks and historic sites, some of which are just as extraordinary as the best of the National Parks. We hardly scratched the surface of the free factory tours and some of the best museums in the country are private ones. Places like the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in WY, Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Detroit, the Pioneer Village in NE, the National Museum of the Pacific War in TX, are just a few of the many such places that are privately operated sites that should be visited. 

[sandsys]

7 hours ago, Kirk W said:

That's not much time to see the country.

It depends on your focus. I enjoy living history museums so we saw a lot of those but only did one factory tour and that was when our Winnebago was in for service so we had to be there anyway. We did, at least, drive through part of each of the 48 contiguous states in our first three years although we didn't see much of some of them. We drove all of Historic Route 66, Highway 2 across the northern US, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Natchez Trace, most of the Great River Road, Hwy 101 along the west coast, etc., stopping at places of interest along the way. While it is true that you cannot see it all, you can see what most interests you.

Linda Sand

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Hi Kirk, well we've been totally blessed to have been RVers since the late 90's and explored a lot (I say at haste in our road warrior years!), staying in at least 48 of the USA states including Hawaii (by plane!) and Alaska = only 2 we haven't touched are Oklahoma and Arkansas and we intend to put that right this upcoming winter heading down and back north on the shoulder times.  We also finally completed the last of the Canadian Territories and Provinces with Newfoundland and Labrador in 2019 on a 4 month cross Canada trip and the southern side of the Great Lakes.   Like I say we really do feel totally blessed the experiences we've had in our lives and now look forward to more.

Being Canadian we are limited in our number of days in the USA so our priority will be winters down there for the most part opposed to the Arctic North weather up here and in the Northern parts of the USA.

For sure we now want to do things at a lot lot lot slower pace and smell the roses moreso on our travels and check out more of the small town Americana in our travels = people watch, nice bakeries and a latte sit down and of course our passion always and still is anything water based like fishing, kayaking.   For example we did the Rodeo and Cowboy Dinner night and explored Cody Wy for a couple of days in the past but we would like to go back there for sure and do the museums for a couple of days and maybe repeat the other two things we enjoyed!  

I agree with Linda you absolutely can't see or do it all in a lifetime really, but we truly wondered after on again, off again in our thoughts to go Full Time, if it would ever come to fruition with consideration to other family members.   Alas we now have struck hopefully the best of all worlds for everyone's benefits.   If health spares us for sure we will continue to RV after we get our smaller home base built circa 2027/28 and probably winter south still so .........    It's just we decided we are doing nothing more for the first 2 or 3 years other than travel and Full Time RV, and we still have an RV base here to come home to as a back up which feels awesome to know.

Anyways nice to see this thread revised again but gone a little off topic from the original question.

Thanks as always to you all that so kindly share your experiences from bygone years and current ones!    Alas more cupboards and drawers to empty out, wipe out and reline - I sure will not miss this big a home to maintain that's for sure.

[Kirk W]

35 minutes ago, FULLTIMEWANABE said:

Being Canadian we are limited in our number of days

I must say that I forgot about your being Canadian, so I imagine that you have no choice but to return home or at least to Canada for part of the year. In some ways I suppose we US full-timers are a little bit spoiled? My point is that while we do have some who convince themselves that they have seen everything, one would need to be pretty narrow in view to do that. I too agree with the quote that you list, but I don't buy the statement that one can see everything that interests them in 2 years, unless they have very narrow interests. You have seen far more of Canada than we did and that's one of the reasons that I consider our list to remain pretty long. Don't let anyone convince you that the factory tours are a waste of your time. Most of them don't take a lot of time and there are hundreds of very different products to see made. We saw things as varied as store brand cookies to wooden baskets being made, as well as a lot of other things. Since you are in Canada, check out the Chocolate Museum in St. Stephens, NB.

To get back to the frustrating part of full-time for us, it was that it had to end after only 12 years.

Edited April 6 by Kirk W

[Steven@146]

Hello everyone. The wife and I will be celebrating our 5th year full timing this July and we haven't considered stopping our adventures. Any frustrations we encounter while traveling the country are minor compared to the beautiful and interesting places we have or will see. 

 Having lived near Austin when we had our home, we visited the Museum of the Pacific War in Fredricksburg Tx many times and attended the volunteer re-enactments of the Marines landing on the Pacific Islands. So many places we have visited so far, like the Little Big Horn Battle Field, Devils Tower, Gettysburg, Tombstone, Deadwood, Big Ben Tx, the big 5 NP in Utah, Tucson, Pima Air & Space Museum, National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. Small private museums like the Bryan Museum in Galveston, Monument Hill Texas Historical Site in LaGrange TX or the Wayne County Historical Museum in Richmond Indiana where some of the first electric cars and steam engine / trashing machines were manufactured in the 1900's. The Packard museum in Auburn Indiana.

I could go on and we have barely scratched the surface of the wonderful places left to see. Like I said, for us any frustration we may encounter is insignificant compared to what other people have gone through like the great US migration west of the Mississippi across the prairies. We also hope to visit Canada soon as we have updated our passports, are currently planning to cross over at Sault Ste Marie and follow the coastline of Lake Superior.  

Friends of ours, also full timers, their favorite saying is experience life, don't just live it.

 

Edited April 7 by Steven@146

[sandsys]

20 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Don't let anyone convince you that the factory tours are a waste of your time.

It's not. I simply interpreted your comment as being RV factories. We've seen a lot of tiny factories, building such things as dory boats, and enjoyed them.

Plus, I never said you could see everything that interests you, just that you could see more of those if you skipped the ones that didn't hold as much interest. Sometimes, though, you don't know what will turn out to be interesting--like the Hobo Museum in Britt, Iowa, where I learned the difference in terms like hobo, tramp, bum, etc.

Linda

[darladee5353]

We have been full time for 8 years. #1 is good communication with each other daily. Arguments and disagreements will happen,but communication solves everything. Things will happen just like in a sticks and bricks so be prepared both with a plan A,B,and C and a good financial cushion. Have an exit plan for leaving the life.  Where will you live when you hang up keys? Health emergencies plan. With a plan A problem isn't a problem. There's always a solution. Best life in the world,but it's also life. . Things will happen!!