Newbie Paranoia? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Grant · RV-Dreams Family Member

Newbie Paranoia?

blijil · RV-Dreams Family Member

Not fulltiming yet but we have been Rving extensively in the last 4 years including, Mexico Sea of Cortez, Arizona, New Mexico Mountains and Lakes, Southern Colorado, and the Texas Hill Country. We like to dry camp so we are more often isolated than not. We keep our bicycles and a step stool in the pickup when we RV. We have yet to find anyone who has lost anything to thieves although we have read a few accounts on the forums. The only thing we lost was the stool out of the truck at the dealer when getting an oil change. Go figure. We would avoid a "dangerous looking" situation where suspicous characters were observed lurking but only a couple of those have surfaced at a rest stop and a very remote NM state park. It is nice to have another camper in the area just to have another set of eyes around but we haven't worried about it.

Good camping,
Larry and Jacki

Howard · Host

Grant,

We are still a little paranoid about leaving our vehicles when we are canoeing, hiking, etc. We haven't had any problems, but when we return to the vehicles, I'm always relieved to see that no windows have been broken and our truck cover is still in place. smile

You just never know when just the wrong person will come upon a lone parked vehicle at the wrong time. And I'm sure having a "foreign" state license place doesn't help. But a little paranoia is not the same as a lot of worry.

We know the risks and we know they are relatively small. Plus, if anything happens it wouldn't be devastating. Stuff can be replaced and most of it is insured. And what would have been a major inconvenience in our prior lives is a minor inconvenience now.

So the bottom line is we are less paranoid than when we started because we have had more experience with nothing happening. But something could happen at anytime. We prepare ourselves for the possibility, but we don't let it keep us from doing what we enjoy. biggrin

Jim01 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Great answer, Howard. I think we all feel a little like that when leaving our vehicles in a strange place.

Never stopped us from doing what we want though. biggrin

Judy the Other · RV-Dreams Family Member

Counterpoint:

I've had neighbors (stixnbrix) whose vehicles have been stolen from their driveways. And not in "those" neighborhoods.

Judy

-- Edited by Judy the Other at 19:06, 2007-12-12

RVDude · RV-Dreams Family Member

Certainly we all have had such "concerns." However, these same concerns are equally valid anywhere (and everywhere) we are - in the comfort of our "perceived safe" stick-n-bricks castles to the comfort of our "perceived safe" middle of nowhere RVs.

Bottom line is two-fold. 1) Once you start RVing, you change what comfort "tolerance" (a.k.a paradigm) you have acquired over the decades of another life and will need to develop a new "tolerance" and understanding. Hence, the initial "paranoia." 2) Wherever you are, simply be and always be smart about it. You wouldn't leave a $20 bill on the table in a police station anymore than you would on a picnic table in the boonies. (well come to think of it, I just might on the picnic table) So, protect yourself with sense and sensibility everywhere you are but don't cower because your venue has changed. Judy's counterpoint is spot on, in that it is our perception of "safe" in our long standing previous homes.

It's all good! As with any change, there are new things to learn and it takes time to build up a knowledge (and the resulting tolerance) of how to "deal" with that change.

Luvglass · RV-Dreams Family Member

Right on RVDude.

I think 99% of the time our fear and paranoia is in our head and not warranted by our situation. It's all in how YOU look at it.

I think my truck is safer in the middle of nowhere, -- because there's no one around to do any damage. smile

It's a great life if you let yourself go with it.

Fred

lwfox002 · RV-Dreams Family Member

We do not fulltime but stay weekends and vacations. We do think about problems but have found that other RV owners are trustworthy and also look out for others out there. A very good family to be part of.

Also, to worry about trouble with vandalism would ruin the trip so we tend to put that aside and enjoy the scenery and quiet.

ahoweth · RV-Dreams Family Member

First of all let me say that I feel a little paranoia in this matter is a good thing. Great concern and worry is not. Having been fulltiming just a little longer than Howard and Linda, but camping for more than 30 years, we have yet to have anything stolen or broken into when we were camping. We had a trailer broken into when it was sitting next to our house. The moral to this is that I feel safer when camping than when we had stix-n-brix. A little paranoia keeps you on your toes and thinking so that you don't put yourself into a bad situation and keeps you from making yourself an easy mark. Most bad things happen when you put yourself in a bad situation. A little paranoia can really help prevent that.

In short we just haven't found theft or vandalism to be a problem worth much worry.

-- Edited by ahoweth at 07:53, 2007-12-20