In this blog, I’ll go over five things I still dislike about RVing after six years. I continue to deal with each of these dislikes, and you won’t see any of these five things in a TV commercial touting the serenity of RVing.
We’ll cover these in rank from least to most problematic. Each of these five issues are somewhat common among RVers. So here we go.
Number 5 in our Countdown – The Stress Around Packing and Getting Out of Town
To be completely honest, I am bad at setting unrealistic time expectations when trying to pack my trailer and get out of town. I almost always think it should take less time than it does. I can’t think of one time in six years, and dozens of trips, when I left the house before I thought I would. This usually means I start my RV trips frustrated.
Some of this is likely the way I am wired, and if you are similarly wired, here is a tip that might help: if you are traveling with someone, communicate your departure expectations a day or two before you leave. You may be surprised to learn that the other person thinks you are crazy. Agree to a target time to leave. Better to stress early and discuss your unrealistic time expectation versus ruining the start of the trip.
Number 4 in our Countdown – Poor Campground Infrastructure
While you can do significant research about where to camp, invariably, there will be something about the campground that doesn’t meet expectations. Here are a few things I’ve experienced that likely would have dissuaded me from RVing if I were just getting started.
Have you ever had a vaulted toilet next to or near your campsite? If you don’t know what a vaulted toilet is, it is basically a permanently fixed Port-o-John with all the associated aromas. If your campground has put one of these right next to your site, you may want to think about moving! Unfortunately, these vaulted toilets can be conveniently missing from online booking reservation maps. It’s an unwelcomed surprise awaiting you!
Many campgrounds can’t handle heavy electrical use on their outdated systems. Having traveled by RV a long distance to an epic spot, it can be frustrating to find that the campground can’t handle people using their air conditioners on a hot day. I had this happen at a state park in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The park ranger had to go around and ask campers to turn off their A/C units on a very hot 90+ degree day so the power would stay on.
Poorly maintained bathhouses and bad roads are two other areas that can be bad at campgrounds, especially older ones. Yet, the worst campground road I have ever seen was at a Florida State Park in the Panhandle. At another state park in central Florida, I actually broke a support on my trailer because of the washboard entrance road.
Number 3 in our Countdown – Rude Camping Neighbors
Okay, not to unload too harshly, but camping can be a bad experience. You can do everything right and still end up in a good campground and great site only to have it ruined by rude camping neighbors. Here are the behaviors that make my list:
First, badly lit fires. I’ll never forget a weekend at a Michigan State Rec area. We had an infield site, which means there were people on either side and behind the site. For hours, the soot from the smokey fire directly behind us heavily covered our screen room, outside furniture, truck, and RV and forced us to keep all windows closed. They just didn’t know how to light a fire. Basically, you have to ride this one out, leave for a while, or offer to give campfire lessons.
Next, site encroachment. You arrive at your campground only to find your neighbor’s toys or cars on your site. This happened to me not too long ago, and before I could back into my site, I had to get out and move a bunch of someone else’s stuff back to their site. They were gone at the time. Not the best way to get started.
Next, loud music. I pretty much camp to get away from noise and generally don’t like someone else’s loud music at the campground. Some people camp to party, and I get it. Just try to be considerate of others. Also, what you consider your favorite music is likely not some else’s, and while it may remind you of a great experience or wonderful time of your life, it may remind someone else of a bad experience.
Next up, people cutting through your campsite. I have a video about choosing the right campsite on the channel to help with this, but picking the wrong campsite can be frustrating with people constantly cutting through. For some reason, people will cut through vs. walking an extra 20 or 30 feet to the official path.
Next, pet droppings. A vast majority of campers with pets do a great job cleaning up when their pets leave a package around the campsite. However, not every owner is equally outstanding at this, and sometimes you may miss it when your pet does its business at the campsite. This can be especially troubling with fall camping when there are lots of leaves on the campsite ground. It’s a great idea when you are fall camping to recheck the campsite for little presents before you depart, or someone like me may take a deep step into something that results in a long shoe cleaning!
Number 2 in our Countdown – Dumping Waste Tanks at a Public Dump Station
Even after many years, I still intensely dislike dumping my wastewater tanks at a public dump station. It is even more stressful with people watching and waiting in line on a busy weekend. It is easy to get stressed out at this still. If I could remove one aspect of camping, this would be it. Yet, we all have to do it, and it just isn’t fun and never will be. One solution is to have a process down that can be tweaked if people are behind you. For example, I’ll flush my black tank much longer if no one is waiting. Besides streamlining the process, leaving during a non-busy time is a great idea if possible.
And finally, Number 1 in our Countdown – Bad RV Quality and Never-Ending Maintenance
I think I have had it worse than average over the past six years in terms of RV quality and maintenance issues. I haven’t had a catastrophic quality problem that some out there have had, where their RV is totaled, or a manufacturer won’t respond to a quality problem that keeps the owner from using their RV. Yet I have had my share of problems along the way. Up to now, I haven’t owned a trailer that hasn’t had some warranty work performed early in the trailer’s life.
I’ve had times of significant loss of use during camping season due to the RV being sidelined for weeks waiting for parts. I’ve had severe leak issues, near-catastrophic floor issues, wall sagging issues, electrical issues, and sewer issues – all in trailers less than five years old and many times less than two years old. I’ve had any number of components fail, like converters, refrigerator control boards, air conditioners, thermostats, toilets, and ovens. I think I’ve restrung a half dozen compression shades and done my share of minor fixes, re-gluing things, re-caulking areas, inserting new vinyl trim, replacing decals, etc.
More than these, my dealings with warranty work and interacting with the manufacturer’s warranty departments have easily been the most frustrating aspect of RVing. I have spent serious money, time, frustration, and loss of using my RVs while being at the mercy of warranty departments. I am sure some manufacturers have no idea how easily they can ruin a customer’s experience or impression of their company, just to save a few dollars by not authorizing a valid warranty claim. This has by far been the worst aspect of RVing, and unfortunately, it is here to stay when you purchase a new RV.
One solution is to work with a dealer who will go to bat for you when necessary. I now believe that it is more important to find a good dealer than a good RV. I have had both good and bad dealers in this regard. A good dealer will help lessen the stress dealing with warranty issues.
Given these frustrations and dislikes, would I do it all again? Yes. There are two main reasons for this: first, I had no idea what doors would open for me to explore and enhance my lifestyle by owning an RV and being free to travel to new places; second, I had no idea how many people I would be able to help by sharing my problems and solutions along the way.
Okay, that should do it. There is much more to learn, and we have great resources to continue your journey on johnmarucci.com, including our New to RVing video list for those just getting started. Click here for more.
All the best in your camping endeavors!
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