Rolling Solo: 25 tips for traveling alone
Getting started
- Travel with a group for the first few times.
- Attend educational rallies to learn more about RVing. RVing Women, for example, have classes to teach women more about their RVs.
- Join forums and ask questions. Workamper.com, Escapees, RVNet and RVTravel have forums.
- Look at lots of RVs before choosing one.
- Join the RV Consumer Group to check the ratings on RVs you are considering.
Meeting people - Join a club for solos.
- Traveling with pets can provide companionship and are a great tool for meeting people. Walk your dog or sit outside with your cat on a leash and many will stop to comment.
- Join forums. You’ll get online friends and may be able to meet up at some point.
- RV clubs often have subgroups with similar interests. Joining one—such as birding, hiking, quilting, beading, making music—provides new friends. Look for these activities when you visit a town by looking in the local newspaper or a bulletin board at the public library.
- A comment or question about a license plate can start a conversation.
For guys: open the hood on your RV or tow vehicle and a crowd will usually gather!
Budget - You have flexibility in your budget when traveling.
- Stay a while in one area, get a weekly or monthly rate, work a while, cook instead of eat out will all help your budget catch up.
Safety - Maintain your RV regularly and according to recommended maintenance schedules.
- Fill your tank when it drops to one-half.
- Keep your doors locked at all times and close sliding glass windows at night. Choose an RV with some jalousie so you can keep some windows open at night.
- Park so you can drive right out.
- If a place looks suspicious or feels uncomfortable, don’t stop there or spend the night.
- When you leave your RV carry a card in your pocket or in your purse that tells where you are parked and an emergency contact number. Also note if you have pets in your RV.
- If you boondock park near enough to others so they could hear you if you yelled. If you park at a Wal-Mart or other parking lot, choose one with a few other RVs there to.
- Know where your fire extinguishers are and how to use them.
Driving - If you are not confident about driving your RV, take a driving class. They are often offered at RV shows.
- To make sure you don’t miss turns, get a GPS or write out your turns in big print on a sheet of paper so you can see them at a glance.
Living the lifestyle - Get off the road by 2 or 3 so you have no trouble finding and getting to your site.
- Use a checklist for setting up your rig and for preparing for travel. (See Frugal RVing or Pinching Pennies without Getting Bruised - and - Other Advice from the Road by Adrienne Kristine, solo RVer.)
- Carry copies of your medical records with you in case you need to go to a new physician or have emergency care.
For 122 pages packed with information and advice for success as a solo traveler, order The Woman's Guide to Solo RVing.