RVingAndMore.com

Many people in the world of RVing use the same terms to describe a wide variety of places to stay while traveling the country. After spending some time at an RV park and listening to the management's problems with making people understand what they can and cannot accommodate, I am devoting this blog to my interpretation of the different types of places you will encounter while on the road. I realize everyone has a different opinion on what they like or don't like while traveling, but in my opinion some places seriously misrepresent their facilities when they describe it in their advertising.

The first term is a Trailer Park. To me, a trailer park is exactly what the name says. Most people who utilize a trailer park are people who live full-time in a mobile home that is in a semi-permanent condition and not designed to be moved with much frequency. A few trailer parks do allow overnight stays and have a few places reserved for such use, but these types of trailer parks are in the minority.

The second term is a Campground. In my opinion, a campground is a place that has limited amenities like water, sewer and electrical hookups, but is where you can stop temporarily and stay for a week or so, but not permanently. Some folks have allowed their campgrounds to be overrun with people staying for a month or several months and soon, the area is filled with semi-permanent campers and people who desire to stop by and stay for a short time are turned away due to space being unavailable.

The third term is RV Park. Again, to me the name says exactly what it is, a place to park your RV for a short period of time. Some RV Parks put a limit on the amount of time you can stay from a couple of weeks to several months, but in my point of view, a stay of 4 months is really pushing it. After all, isn't the RV lifestyle about seeing the country? Too many people confuse the terms Trailer Park and RV Park to mean the same thing. In our travels, we will bypass RV Parks that have units with hay bales packed around the bottom of the unit or who have decks permanently built on the side of their rigs. If we do have to stay at places that allow this, we move on the next day. We don't do this because we think we are better than anyone else, rather we are people oriented and in our experience we have found that parks who allow semi-permanent residents are not as friendly to travelers as parks that limit this. I don't know if it is a territorial type of mentality or just a situation of a few bad apples spoiling the bunch, but we have experienced it enough times that we avoid these types of parks.

The fourth term is RV Resort. Personally, I have never stayed in an RV resort and while I understand many of them have every type of amenity and comfort you could possibly want, the price and the rules have always scared me away from setting up at one. I have looked at many websites for these resorts and while many of them offer stays bordering on permanent stays, some of the regulations are not something I care much for. Some have limits on the age of the people staying at the resort, others have an age limit on the unit you are staying in. I can understand the need for some of the rules, but personally I don't care much for the information I have found about the resorts and prefer a bit more freedom than most resorts allow. In my mind, many of the RV resorts amount to a gated community with too many rules and regulations for my comfort level.

These are strictly my opinions and I'm sure many folks have a viewpoint different than mine, so share your experiences and let me know what works the best for you.