The nomadic life is a dream come true for many. But all that fun doesn’t come without hardships. One of the most difficult things for some full-time RVers? Maintaining relationships on the road. Fortunately, it is totally possible to do it, but with a bit of creativity. You need to be willing to think outside of the box and put forth some effort. Here’s how my family and I do it.
Making New Friends on the Road
Relationships on the road don’t have to be limited to the friends and family you had before hitting the road. In fact, you might even find you have more friends while traveling than you did while living in a sticks-and-bricks home! The thing is, you will have to work a bit harder to maintain those full-time RVIng relationships, as you won’t necessarily be with those road friends all the time.
Finding RV Friends
The first thing you have to do in order to have community on the road is, of course, find some traveling friends. There are many ways to go about this, and you might have to meet several people before you find the ones you really click with.
Head Outside
One of the best ways to create new relationships on the road is also the simplest: Go outside.
Go on walks around the campground. Say hello to fellow campers and invite them over for a campfire. Take your kids to the playground and chat with other parents. Taking pets for a walk in the campground is another great way to meet like-minded RVers. Attend parties and classes hosted by the campground, and talk with those around you while you’re there.
You will have to be willing to put yourself out there, but this is a very effective way to meet other full timers.
Join Online Groups
There are a huge number of online communities and Facebook groups for people who RV full-time and part-time. Join some of these and become active in the online community. Post when you arrive in a new area and ask if anyone is in the same area and willing to meet up.
Some of our favorite online RV communities to make full-time RVing relationships include:
- iRV2 — An awesome forum with tons of members and lots of great information.
- Wandering Individuals Network (WINs) — A great club for solo RVers.
- Loners on Wheels — RV Club of legally singles who enjoy traveling, camping, and the lifestyle of singles.
- Travelin’ Solo RV & Camping — A group for solo RVers.
- Girl Camper — A group specifically for female campers.
- RV Camping for Newbies — The place for newbies with lots of questions.
- RV Lifestyle Group — A great mix of all sorts of folks.
- RV Boondocking — A wonderful group for boondockers.
- Single Senior RV/Campers — The place for single seniors to make connections.
- Full-Time RV Living With Kids — A good spot to connect with fellow families on the road.
Also consider joining RV clubs that offer camping discounts, like Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome. What better place to meet new people and build friendships than at the thousands of breweries, wineries, and private properties that will welcome you and your rig to stay for a night, and sometimes longer!
Attend Events
Finally, we highly recommend attending an RV rally of some sort in order to get connected with a community of like-minded individuals. Generally it’s good to choose a rally geared toward people with similar interests or lifestyles. For example…
- A full-time RV family might choose a Republic of Nomads or Fulltime Families event.
- Digital nomads might choose an Xcapers event.
- The Escapees BOF (Birds-of-a-Feather) events cater to those with specific interests.
If you aren’t sure where to begin, consider attending one of the big Escapees events, which will have a little something for everyone.
A list of many upcoming rallies can be found here.
Keep Making Friends
Once you find a good core group of friends, it can be tempting to stop there. The sad reality is, you probably won’t be able to stay with that same group of friends all the time. On top of that, most people don’t live the full-time RV life forever.
Because of these factors, it is ideal to have a large number of friends on the road. This will help ensure you have friends around as often as possible and that you aren’t left all alone out on the road when your RV bestie decides to settle down.
Maintaining Full-time RVing Relationships on the Move
It won’t be long until you find new people to share travel days with, enjoy RV parks and campsites together, and make the most of the open road as a group. But you will need to find ways to maintain those friendships. Here are some of our top tips for doing this.
Plan Around One Another
The most important and effective thing you can do? Plan your travels in such a way that they mesh with your friends’ travels.
This might equal traveling together with some people for some time, or making campground reservations to meet up from time to time. It might also mean going out of your way to see each other when you’re in the same state but not the same city, and it might mean picking and choosing which events you attend based on what your friends plan to do.
Trust me, all of this extra work is worthwhile.
Make Use of Technology
Another obvious solution to maintain relationships on the road comes in the form of technology. Our phones and computers make it possible to see a friend’s face from thousands of miles away. Use this to your advantage.
Have a standing weekly Zoom date with your besties, chat throughout the day on Facebook messenger, and sign the kids up for Outschool classes with their friends. No, the dynamics of a video chat don’t re-create the feeling of hanging out in person, but it sure does make the time between visits feel less lonely.
Other ways to use the Internet to stay in touch include:
- Social Media — Post and comment on Facebook, Instagram, and your friends’ YouTube channel to stay up-to-date on what everyone is doing. Nomad Near Me is another good social media platform that was designed specifically for nomadic individuals.
- Blogging — Write blog posts as you travel and read the blogs of your traveling friends. You might even find some new cool ideas of places to visit!
- Online Forums — We mentioned these as a way to make friends, but they also work for keeping in touch. iRV2 is an especially great example!
Related: The New Starlink for RVers will Keep You Connected
Keeping Up with Family and Friends “Back Home”
You will of course want to keep up with the friends and family you leave behind when you hit the road as well. Unfortunately, traveling full time does make it impossible to keep up with these relationships in the same way that you might while living nearby. That doesn’t mean you have to give up on them entirely, though.
Schedule Phone Calls
Just as technology can help you stay in touch with your road friends, it can also help you keep up with friends and family back home. If you can, schedule phone calls for a certain day and time each week in order to ensure you don’t lose touch. If you have a group of people you want to hang out with, you can plan a Zoom call. We’ve even heard of people having huge Zoom call holiday celebrations!
Plan Frequent Visits “Back Home”
Speaking of visits, remember that you can visit your home state as much as you wish. (No, really. There are no rules against it.) Your home has wheels, and depending on your work situations, you might just have all the freedom in the world. In this case, if you start to miss someone you love, head their way! You can moochdock in their driveway, or break out of your small space and stay in their guest room if you have one!
If you can’t be that spontaneous and you think you’ll miss your friends or family, plan frequent visits back home in advance.
One thing we have found in our eight-plus years on the road is that as full-timers we actually spend more quality time with family in our twice-yearly visits to our home state than we ever did when we were living there. Because our time is limited, our loved ones are much more willing to take time out of their busy schedules to see us. We get as much visiting into each of our month-long stints as we can, and then move along with full hearts and plenty of happy memories.
Invite Loved Ones to Visit You
Don’t forget that your loved ones can visit you too! Many people that we leave back home (especially family members who have a hard time wrapping their heads around full-time travel) can get very stuck on asking when we will visit them. The thing is, the road works both ways, and we travelers often find ourselves in amazing places that we’d love to share with our family and friends.
It did take a few years for anyone to come visit us while we were traveling, but these days, my mom visits fairly frequently and my sister and grandma have both come to visit as well. We have a blast every time and get to share some super cool experiences that you just can’t find in our home state. Now to get my husband’s parents to come join in our fun on the road…
As you can see, it is possible to make and maintain relationships on the road. Yes, it does require a bit of extra time and energy, but it’s so, so worth it to have a supportive community no matter where you roam.
