The RV lifestyle can sometimes be deceiving. RVs give us the freedom to go nearly anywhere, but that doesn’t always translate to the ability to do what we want, when we want to do it – if we care about camping and boondocking etiquette. If we don’t care, we are practically guaranteed to annoy campground and RV park neighbors by following these five simple behaviors:
The Five Best Ways to Annoy Campground and RV Park Neighbors
Keep your RV generator running at all hours.
Who needs to hear crickets chirping at dusk, or the silence of nature in the back country? If you keep your generator running all day and all night, you can enjoy life as usual. Watch TV at all hours, run that microwave and keep the A/C going without sacrificing one bit of your own comfort while you’re out in nature. It’s just like staying home.
Don’t turn off your outside lights.
Your RV’s manufacturer wouldn’t have included pretty LED patio lighting on the side of your rig if they didn’t want you to use it, right? But turning patio lights on and off when you need to go outside at night can be such a hassle. So as soon as the sun sets, just keep your patio lights blaring until morning. You never know when you’ll need to walk the dog at 3 am. Besides, your neighbors can use the light too. If it bothers them, they always get a sleep mask or install RV night shades.
Allow your dog or children to run around off-leash and unsupervised.
Kids and dogs can be wild by nature, so when you want your human or furry children to experience the real meaning of freedom, just turn them loose on the campground and see what happens. Don’t interrupt your important binge watching afternoon to go outside and keep an eye on their activities. The neighbor will probably let you know if something is wrong.
Feed local wildlife.
When you’re out in the woods, the last thing you want to spend time doing is tackling household chores like taking out the trash. Go have fun instead and keep your garbage piled up around your campsite until you leave for good. Better yet, just leave garbage for the animals. Ravens, mice and bears will have an easier time finding dinner, especially when they realize there’s more good eats inside your neighbor’s camper.
Smoke outside next to your neighbor’s RV.
In the land of the free, everyone has the right to decide if and what they want to smoke. Forget those studies showing the effects smoking within 30 feet of another person. All the chemicals you inhale with every puff haven’t killed you yet and who knows, they might even invigorate your neighbor’s immune system too! So light up in the campground and if it bothers your neighbor, let them know that respirator masks are cheap.
The tips in this tongue-in-cheek article are not the only behaviors that can annoy campground and RV park neighbors, but will certainly prevent you from making friends during your RV travels. Consideration for other campers is paramount for happier, memorable road trips.
You forgot about running your TV outside because “everybody loves TV and you have the best choice of programs” NOT! Most people go out in their RV to get away from TV. If you must have it on, do it inside with the door and windows closed.
I agree too Glen, especially when someone is watching “the big game” and everyone cheers at all of the “big plays “.
A couple years ago, the people next to us actually put up a huge big screen to watch the game on. I’m not talking a big screen tv, no, this thing was about 12′ wide x 8′ tall What really bugged me, it was right across the road from the “Camp Ground Host”.
Hardly anything activates me more than to have someone’s precious little darling child run through my campsite. I once had one run his electric bike into my rig and damage it. His grandmother told me he didn’t mean to do it and never offered to pay for the damage.
Well mannered kids are fine, but inconsiderate brats need to stay away.
Yes, I agree! They should deffinately be kept leashed. LOL
And the pets should be kept leashed, too!
So “intent” makes him imune to consequences?
?
We belong to Thousand Trails & all preserves have 5 mph signs like, everywhere, right?! Coupla mos ago, these kids are literally “flying” down a slight hill in the preserve, on bikes & those push-scooter thingies; coming around a corner, we were nearly hit! And….. the dad was right there at the bottom of the hill, rooting them on! Arghhhhh!!!!!!!!
All of the above and adding the infamous quote “I always pick up after my dog and they never bark”. Perfect place: no generators, no smokers, and no dogs. 🙂
I have THREE miniature schnauzers (by breed, they tend to be barkers). We have a huge pen that we put around our motor home, with us and dogs in the middle of it. The dogs bark once, they are warned; they bark again, they go inside! So, please don’t say, “No dogs” because I always want to say, “NO KIDS!”the
Another bunch of annoying things are Kids OR adults who cannot FIND or get TO these things without walking thru someone else’s campsite:
1. Bathouse
2. Beach
3. Pool
4. camp store
5. firewqood sales area.
6. Playground
There are few of these folks, but they ARE a real pain.
Also it is a shame how many DOG OWNERS let their “pets” shyte in public w/o picking up their poop.
You also forgot starting a campfire right next to your neighbor taking no regard for which way the wind blows the smoke. If the neighbor complains just tell them you have aright to use the fire ring because the campground put it there
Everybody has fires and can’t control the wind. That’s just something you put up with. Most people go to bed at reasonable time so it’s not an all night thing
Agreed, If you don’t like campfires, then what are you doing in a campground that allows them?
Okay. Except a lot of people don’t know how to build a virtually smoke-free fire and don’t put out the coals or don’t put them out fully when they go to bed. And I don’t understand why a fire makes sense if it’s 85F or warmer out … but that’s just me. Many times when it’s been warm we wanted windows open but couldn’t because of smoke from a nearby campfire wafting through our bedroom until 3 or 4 in the morning. A fellow next to us in Death Valley was building a fire not far from our bedroom window. I asked him politely to be sure it’s out later. He said he sure would (he did) and also said we would not smell a thing even when it was burning. He was right, he really knew how to build a smoke-free fire.
You have obviously never been to Talladega where everybody has a fire no matter what the temperate.
Exactly! That’s a bit RIDICULOUS getting angry because your neighbor’s smoke blows in your direction; good grief!!
Please set up camp next to me. I have a large, industrial-type fan that will force your beloved campfire smoke into your windows, and into your lungs.
I would say the bigger problem is people burning garbage that should be recycled.. Had one camper who decided that his plastic wrap would burn.. Chocked on probably toxic fumes for the entire day, as it didn’t burn, just melted and smoked all day!!!
You should have called the RV Park Office and reported it, almost every RV Park has rules AGAINST BURNING GARBAGE OR ANYTHING OTHER THAN WOOD. We were out west in Yellowstone and this jerk arrived and setup his ‘Trailer’ and began unloading bags of garbage and then he built a fire and began putting the bags of garbage on the fire which smelled really bad so I called the office and reported him and they pulled up to his site in their golf cart and told him to pack up an leave immediately or they would call the Sheriff’s Department. He cursed and threw things around and packed up and left soon afterwards. That is how you do the “RIGHT THING” and he got exactly what he deserved!
I wholeheartedly agree. There’s a lot of trash in this world (pun intended). these irresponsible trash need to have someone straighten them out. I’m with Tom on this. try that next to me and I’ll have a fan blowing it back at you.
Yeah, when I go camping, I’m going to have a fire in the fire ring. That’s part of camping for me. So if you prefer not to get neighbor’s smoke, better be careful of which site you pick.
I agree fully …… if you know how to build a virtually smoke-free fire ….. and you put it out fully when you go to bed. Both seem to be a lost art.
How do you build a fire virtually “smoke-free”?
.
That is a skill I would like to learn.
how about the neighbor that just likes to have a fire burning regardless if anyone is actually sitting by said fire and sometimes they light it and go inside, hey thanks for contributing to the smoke in the air
It’s called common since and most people don’t have enough to fill a thimble
My list has “Obey Campground Quiet Hours” at the top. So many inconsiderate campers at National Forest campgrounds raise hell around the campfire for HOURS after the curfew. The worst fire up the blender for frozen margueritas ever thirty minutes.
Let’s not forget the jackass who likes the entire camp to hear HIS music blaring! Hey, it’s the middle of the afternoon, so why should it bother anyone, right?! NOT!
I agree with most of the comments above; however, the campfire complaint is ridiculous. Having a campfire is part of the camping experience (IMHO). I do not intentional try to upset my neighbors, and I don’t have raging bonfires, but if the campground allows campfires and you have a problem with that… then find another campground!
Good luck with that. Unless there is a burning ban due to fire hazard, you’re hard pressed to find a campground that doesn’t allow them. I’m prejudice becuase of asthma and being chased away by smoke, having to keep windows closed, etc. I’d love to have more options for smoke free sites.
Of course I could add sites free of outdoor “entertainment ” centers too.
Try a portable propane fire pit – zero smoke, but still the ambiance of a fire. Plus, no hauling (think of the weight!) or purchasing fire wood! I just ordered one, about an hour ago.
We switched to a propane fire pit also, mainly due to the cost of wood in campgrounds and in most places you can’t transport wood from another CG due to pest restrictions. Another issue was where to haul the wood, so now I have a 30lb propane tank with a 25′ gas line for our Outback fire pit. Really like it, instant fire and heat, nice ‘fake’ coals, and when I decide to go inside I just turn it off, no waiting for it to die down or flooding it with water. Can still do smoors and no ‘smoke’ dance if there is a breeze.
I fear for the human race. So many inconsiderate, oblivious a**holes!!!
Don’t forget the neighbor with his FU15000 Super-Doody Turbo-Diesel that has to go out at 0-dark-thirty to warm it up for 20+ minutes before roaring through the rest of the campground.
Why does there always seem to be an inverse proportion of the diameter of their exhaust tip, and the thickness of the owners skull.
Maybe their compensating for something?
Yes, I do own a large turbo-diesel for pulling our rig. I operate it as quietly as possible. I like my neighbors.
Agree and Bravo! Why diesel owners seem to think they have to run their pickups 24/7 and use Glasspacks for mufflers is beyond me. Had a diesel pickup for a few years in NEPA and drove it all over the North in the dead ofvwinter. Never saw the need.
For me it is the persons who start drinking and steadily get louder as the night wears on finally stopping around 2a.m. then around the next night just as your falling asleep they decide to pickup all the bottles they have been dropping all over the place yelling and making noise every time they find one. (at least they picked them up.)
What about parking a new very tall 40′ long 5th wheeler, next to my 24′ Airstream. It blocked the sun and when they opened its windows, it hit my rig. The owner only took 45 minutes to back his rig into the camping stall. Because of the rig size and stall configuration, it could only be parked so close to us. The manager wouldn’t require the driver to take another stall because ” he wanted to park by the lake”. . We left to go to another park 40 miles away. where everyone was friendly, considerate and weren’t snobs about how old your rig is.
I sorta feel your pain on this one. We have a 24 foot Airstream Argosy and have been squeezed a few times by class A slides. One of our favorite beach destinations is basically just a parking lot with hookups that is on the Gulf of Mexico in a low population area. There are several sites there that you can reserve and have no curbside (passenger) neighbors. If those sites aren’t available we’ve adopted the practice of setting up as far to the roadside (driver) of the site as possible, at this location the ground is level enough our roadside trailer wheels are just off the edge of the pad. I try not to go any farther than a normal slide would extend for a unit set up in center of the site. This allows us to open our awning and have a sitting area thats not just underneath our neighbors extended slide/windows. We generally prefer state parks or all out boondocking just to get that little extra bit of privacy but have plenty of pictures of campgrounds where our little beauty can’t even be seen because of our gargantuan neighbors.
You know, if you don’t like how close someone parks to you, you can always pay more money and stay at campgrounds that offer larger sites.
If I’m in a campground with no shore power and I need heat or A/C you can bet my genny will be running and I expect yours will be too. Deal with it. The rest I agree with.
Oh and I forgot to add that I have a Gen-Turi to keep the noise and exhaust up and away from the neighborhood. That much, I will concede, is necessary for everyone’s comfort.
When I go camping the last thing on mind is how to piss off my neighbors, I go to enjoy the life style, that includes watching my outside tv if I desire, making say small camp fire to share with with anyone that would like to sit around and talk. I can say I have rarely had any of the issues most here are bitching about. May I suggest the ones that obviously have these problems regularly camp somewhere by themselves. Before the comments start I always try to be mindful of what I do and don’t intrude on others space, but I do what I like if it’s ok with CG.
I love the neighbours who have their “cute” little puppies penned up next to their rig while they are inside. The dogs fight or get lonely and so they bark. The neighbour opens the door and talks baby talk to the doggies. When he/she goes inside again, the ruckus starts over again and the cycle repeats. This goes on all day.
Music. Gotta love some ones else music. Got back from beach to campsite and tenters moved in next door playing music I can hear inside once the AC cycles off. It went off while they went to eat and remained on until after quiet time when the Sheriff was called.
Even worse, for me, are those who have installed music systems that can produce a thumping bass that you not only hear, but you also feel! Bass lines are monotonously repetitive, and if you can’t hear the song it’s associated with all you get is the thump, thump, thump of the monotonous bass runs reverberating in your sternum. The upside is that these thoughtless people don’t yet realize the profound harm they’re doing to their hearing as they sit right next to their speakers with the volume at eleven. 🙂
Another unfortunate trend we’re seeing way too much, is a total disregard of maximum allowable vehicles rules.
We were at a Fed campground, and a group of families pulled into one site with 5 cars/SUVs, where the “additional” limit was 1.
They parked in the grass, on the roadway, etc… The host asked them to obey the rules – they told him they would, and then just ignored him (and a Ranger) the rest of the holiday weekend.
[Of course, an “added benefit” was the fact they brought along 9 bikes for the kids to ride through everyones’ campsite but their own, and, we saw one of the teenagers head to the woods with a .22 caliber rifle…].
How about just following (and enforcing) the campground rules folks. Most campgrounds limit generator hours and have defined quiet times. Unfortunately, my experience is that some folks see the rules as optional and/or don’t understand that what quiet “means”. IMO only reason for a generator is to run an AC. Believe it or not there are ways to cook food, brew coffee, toast bread without electricity.
It’s bad enough that we have to put up with inconsiderate people already and now you post an article encouraging them to be obnoxious and make people mad. Your article is uncalled for and very much offensive in nature and content. You should have thrown this article in the trash and never posted it!!!
N.GA.RVer . . . I think you’ve completely missed the author’s intent in your reading of the article. She doesn’t really want RVers to do any of the five things she listed – rather, she’s saying that if you do any of those things, you’ll be unwelcome in most RV parks.
And she’s right! We’ve all encountered one or more (maybe even all) of them at one time or another. Clearly, from the many comments posted, many RVers have additional complaints generated by the actions of their fellow RVers as well.
The approach the author took to pointing out these annoyances was, I think, a light-hearted way of saying “Please don’t be obnoxious and inflict your thoughtlessness on those parked near you.” At least, that’s how I took the article.
TaoJones
I hope you are right but I read it differently than you and if I did, don’t you think that there are many more that read it just as I did? I have be RV’ing for a long time and I have seen it get worse with every passing year. I have seen so really great parks turn into a “Trailer Park” and decency decayed as the numbers of trailers increased. I have never seen the obnoxious things go on in a respectable Class A only RV Park and that speaks volumes of where the real problem lays. Rest assured there are Trailer Campers that read that post and saw it as encouraging them to do all the things that are obnoxious and they surely read it as justification for them doing it already.
Seems like someone didn’t there civics class or were asleep during class……..oh well that why there is always someone at the bottom of the class.
Tgc – You’re actually right, you have Class A at the top followed by Class C and then at the BOTTOM you have TRAILERS! And at every RV Park you will see them self-identify themselves with their offensive actions! But in a Class A Only RV Park the top of the list does not have to put up with Trailers or all that goes with them!!!!!
You are dreaming if you think a Civics Class will instill decent values in people. HELLO! Those values should be taught at home, by the parents, starting at age, oh, let’s say…one!
I have a trailer ! Can’t wait to camp by you…..
North-Georgia-RVers: You may have missed reading the introductory paragraph to the article (the “small print”). I thought it was pretty clear that this was a tongue-in-cheek article.
Certainly RVLife would not last long as a credible on-line source if they were advocating for these obnoxious behaviors.
It was sarcasm!
I find it very funny that you think all the problems lie with the trailer owners. Do you think that because you spent $250,000+ on a class A that it makes you more considerate or better than someone that camps in a trailer? That comment just shows your ignorance. I have seen plenty of Class A owners that were just as rude and as inconsiderate at these “horrible trailer owners” that you reference in your comment. The type of RV that you camp in or the the amount of money that you spend on an RV doesn’t define the type of person you are.
To Mike,
How funny, you actually proved that you are the totally ignorant one because YES! the type of RV that you own does reflect on the type person you are and YES the amount of money does define the class of person that you are! Well educated and financially successful people do not own “Trailers”. And YES, people in Class A people are far more considerate than “Trailer Dwellers”, you don’t see Red-Necks in Class A Coaches, you don’t see drunks outside cursing, playing loud music to try to get attention and to purposely intrude on others privacy in a Class A, but you DO in the “Trailer Population”. If you ever be near a Class A that cost $475,000.00 to upward $650,000.00 you will understand, no lets correct that, you probably have a “Trailer” and thus you will never understand!! Facts are FACTS and your ignorance does not make you anything other than that!
I completely disagree with your comment about Class A campers being more considerate and a better class of people. I am quite capable of buying a class A but I heartily dislike the monstrous size of them. I am well educated and considerate of others and clearly I learned not to be a bigot. Money does not equal manners or consideration of others. I have seen numerous Class A coaches in the state parks in Texas who put their dogs out for the day in pens and ignore their barking and disturbing others. To judge other solely on the basis of their rig is completely ignorant and prejudiced. Rude, inconsiderate people as well as polite, considerate people are everywhere regardless of the rig they camp in or the size of their bank account.
Seriously!?! Have you never in your life learned the meaning of irony or sarcasm??? Let me give you an example: ” You must be a pure genius if you take everything literally”. See how that works?
Hi, We’re full timers from UKhave have been travelling throughout Europe since we retired 3 years ago. We have half a mind to spend a year in the US for a new experience. I have to say that there is lots of pettiness in this article and the comments which we don’t really experience in Europe, the only common theme is dogs. Just be nice to each other and try not to do things that detract from other people’s experiences. If you’re on the other side of the argument then try not to get stressed if someone does something that you personally wouldn’t do. Just relax and if you don’t like your neighbours then move somewhere else the next day, that’s a real benefit of a home on wheels.
Mark,
Don’t pay too much attention to the negative comments. People that have minor or major issues with fellow campers will always find something to complain about. 99.9% of people we meet are welcoming, kind and generous. I always enjoy meeting new friends from places all over the world. If the people you meet in the UK are nice, the people you meet in the US will be nice as well. Funny how that works! We have a large Class A (38 foot diesel pusher) and enjoy being next to tent campers as well as RV’s of any size. Safe travels. Roger and Marie.
I use a generator all night, to power my C-Pap. Bought the quietest one I could, and have tried battery, and every other option I had suggested.. nothing powered it for an entire night… Believe me, if I could avoid this, I would!!😕
If you are in an RV Park DUHHHhhhhhhh, there is power on your site so WHY would you have to use a generator? That makes absolutely NO SENSE at all!
Not ALL Rv parks or camp sites have power, or power to all sites DUHHHhhhhh!
I assume you are dry camping, because if in a RV park your C-Pap would run just fine off of the park power and no need for a genny, in fact, most parks with all full hook up sites forbid generator use.
My biggest complaints would be people/children cutting through camp sites and all of the auxiliary lights people feel the need to set up. At one location a class a group all had disco balls and led ropes galore. I’m all about everyone having a good time but auxiliary lights should be included in the quiet hours rule. Sucks when you can’t see the night sky because of light pollution in a nature type enviroment.
I have to say, some of these complaints are downright comical. Lets summarize, you hate kids unless they are inside, big rigs, tents that have music playing, campfires, people talking loud, generators, diesel trucks that sound like diesel trucks, smoke, big screen tv’s, dogs, disco balls, rich people, poor people, the author because he wrote a tongue-in-cheek article, bicycles, scooter things, and pretty much anything that offends or disrupts your life. I would suggest you sell your unit and move into a deed restricted neighborhood, build a nice fence, join the Homeowners Association and patrol the neighborhood for any infractions that you have deemed unacceptable. We are talking camping, which is communal living, there is nothing more satisfying to me than to see my granddaughter playing, and yes she may run through your campsite once. I may even watch a “big game” outside. yes there are quiet times and common courtesy, but I will do, or have done, most of those things (except the disco ball) during the daylight hours prior to “quiet time” (that’s kinda the point of having a quiet time isn’t it). Oh, I drive a diesel pulling a 36′ fiver, or sometimes my 13′ 1961 canned ham, please don’t be offended.
Using split, dried logs will get you a virtually a smoke-free fire. using logs will result in smoke.
NG RVer: This is stated after the article:
The tips in this tongue-in-cheek article are not the only behaviors that can annoy campground and RV park neighbors, but will certainly prevent you from making friends during your RV travels. Consideration for other campers is paramount for happier,memorable road trips.
The author has made it clear the article is a light-hearted look at what NOT to do at a campsite. As others have pointed out, its irony/sarcasm meant to make us laugh and hopefully educate less considerate campers.