DEAR ALUMINARIUM: My wife and I appreciate your advice. We are, at this point, about 2 years away from the “great adventure”.
I assume you travel with other people for company and security. I think I can imagine how this works. But do you find yourselves “isolated” often? Does this concern you? We once left our car in what I thought was a secure enough state park area for a couple of days while we hiked and overnighted in the outback. Not much car left when we returned. We had rather not repeat that, so other than staying out of Wisconsin, what do you do? – MY REGRETS TO WISCONSIN
DEAR WISCONSIN: We actually don’t travel with anyone. We just have been on the road so long now, that we seem to see people we know pretty regularly.
You can lock your hitch and your front door. If you want to go really crazy, there are ways to lock the tires, but we don’t do that.
Use your best judgement on whether or not a place feels safe. Campground reviews will give you a good idea if people have had trouble in the past, but generally we’ve found the more urban a campground, the more potential for sketchy characters. The more remote the campground, the less chance of trouble.
For peace of mind, I recommend getting good insurance. If you’ll be in the trailer full-time you should get full-time RV insurance. It’s similar to homeowners, where it covers the items in your rig as well as the rig itself.
I’m so excited for you and remember what it was like planning for our first trailer. I really didn’t think we could just leave it and expect it to be there when we returned, but we can.
Pictured above is our 1st Airstream, a 1963 Flying Cloud boondocking in the Mojave Desert, safe and secure.
2014 Cost of Camping:
167 night paid camping
183 nights free camping
350 days this year
Total spent on camping this year: $4276.79
Daily average cost of camping: $12.22
4 Comments
I totally agree with your advice, especially on the insurance. If someone really wants to break in they’re going to do it, no matter where you are or what kind of security you have, so you might as well be prepared. That said, we’ve have rarely felt unsafe, or unwilling to leave the Airstream. And like you, we always feel safer in more remote areas over an urban environment.
My husband and I are also 2 years away from our great adventure. We have done a couple of trips with our Argosy into Colorado and Utah and can’t wait to camp through more of your beautiful country! We are from a small town outside Toronto, Canada and I must admit, I was a bit worried about safety and exposure on the road (newbie that I am) We have had nothing but great experiences with many friendly and helpful fellow travellers. I can’t wait to get back out there and use your website to see even more!
Hi Shawnaj! I’m glad you’ve had great experiences, and I’m sure there will be more to come. Thanks for signing up for Campendium!
Shawnaj:
We too are from the Toronto area and have been on the road full timing for the past year and a half. No regrets and no bad experiences regarding safety. Use common sense – campers are usually quite helpful to each other.