Dear Luise: I love your Senior RV Camping Series and the whole idea of women traveling alone in RV motorhomes or pulling travel trailers excites me. Having the freedom to travel whenever I have the whim is a big factor. What kind of a unit did your choose? Being a single woman, did you find it difficult to travel around the country alone? How were you treated in the RV communities and various RV campgrounds where you visited? Did you ever venture off by yourself and if so did you feel safe? That’s a lot of questions, but I would appreciate any insight. Candy M.
Thanks for your interest, Candy! I think I’ll answer in several, separate articles.
RV camping around the country is very different for a woman alone, in some ways. Yet, in other ways, it’s exactly the same as traveling as a couple. I think I will explain my choice of a rig first since that seems like a good starting point. Having no co-pilot
left all of the driving to me, as well as all of the parking, leveling and hooking up. Finding the right RV wasn’t easy but it was a lot of fun to read about them and shop.
All women don’t pick the same kind of RV, of course. I have marveled at how some of them are able to back their 5th wheel travel trailers between two trees with barely inches of clearance on either side, while others can off-load slide in truck campers with the grace of ballet dancers. Neither task is simple and some of the ladies I have seen perform these feats were in their 70s and 80s! Alas, when I hit the road at age 60, I didn’t have such impressive skills…so my selection had to accommodate my limitations.
My choice was a used, “stubby”, Chevrolet motorhome with a good, strong engine. The word stubby denotes a unit that is short and has no living room area. There’s a kitchen, dinette, bath, and a Class C, cab-over bed. To that I added an E-Z Lift tow package, so I could pull my small pick-up behind me. My first considerations were safety and maneuverability. So obviously, the trade-off involved sacrificing the luxury that more length would have offered both in living area and storage.
Just for fun, I painted a bluebird on the back since there was no way I could afford a Bluebird motorhome! Still for me, RV motorhomes are what work best and both “small and used” work perfectly. I traveled many a happy and comfortable mile in my “bird”…but more about that later.
Hi, I am recently retired lady living in TX, and bored to death. My brother and his wife own and RV, and they said that they had met single retired women at some other camp grounds. How do you begin to look for the right RV? I have a standard poodle who will travel with me. I am brave, but also cautious. I would love to hear about clubs and where to begin. Lynda
Answer: Dear Lynda: I will respond to your comment by treating it like a new question. Blessings, Luise
I am very interested in more information on single women camping. I’ve tented alone for a couple of years and just bought myself a pop-up camper. So far I’ve been able to park and set up by myself. Please share some of your experiences.
Thanks,
Barbara
Answer: Dear Barbara: I think I will treat your comment as a new question. Will be responding soon.
Blesings, Luise
Hello Luise,
I couldnt find a “contact” or “email me” link so I decided to post a comment here. I am the ediot at Duffie Books and our newest book out is all about RV living and vacationing for the single woman. You can see an overview here at: http://solowomanrv.blogspot.com/
I was hoping that you might review the book since there are virtually no other books on RV’ing for a single woman. If you would like to review the book, please email me. Thanks
Thanks, Lyza. I just responded to you via email and look forward to reviewing your book and sharing it here. Blessings, Luise
Nice to see this site. I always said when I’m 70 I am hitting the road for a few years. (birthday was this week) I am buying a 16 ft.fiberglass trailer (scamp, burro, casita type) and will pull it behind my new RAV4. Once I took a 3 mos trip across the US with a VW Rabbit pulling a 13 ft. trailer. So I’m hoping I won’t freak out when I start to tow. The thing is ladies, if you can’t back it up; you can lift it up and roll it in! (at least you could the 1,000 lb. 13 foot one. We did that many times when I couldn’t back in; so we’ll see about the 16 ft. Anyone out there have one? When I hit the road (hopefully Spring ’10) I’d love to hear from any ladies that are RVing it and meet some friends along the way. E.
Well, I seriously doubt that you are going to hand-move a 16 ft. unit. I was always so jealous of the ladies that could back up really big units, even 5th wheels, perfectly; sometimes between two trees with only inches to spare! I never mastered that. Started out with a tent trailer that I could push around…unhook and move and then hook it back up. Then when I wanted more room, I bought a small motor home for obvious reasons. Towed my pick up behind it and that worked fine. Again, if I got in a tight spot, I just unhooked the pick up.
I’d join the Escapees club to meet like minded ladies: http://www.escapees.com Blessings, Luise