Sitting outside your RV on a balmy summer evening, watching the flickering campfire as the day loses it’s glow, and anticipating a quiet night’s sleep are among the joys of the RV lifestyle. But what do you do when something—like rowdy kids belonging to your campground neighbors—shatters this reverie?
The best solution is to pack up and move to a different campsite or campground. But that is not the easiest solution, and you might end up with rowdy neighbors at the new location also. So that may be the “last resort.”
Try these solutions first before resorting to the last resort.
- If the kids are running and playing through your campsite, corral them and explain how their play is affecting your camping enjoyment and ask them if they would please not play in your campsite, reduce their noise level or play elsewhere.
- Bribes sometimes work. Offer a buck or two to him/her/them to play elsewhere.
- Talk with the parents and explain (don’t complain or express anger—that doesn’t work, and usually backfires) that you camp for the peace and quiet and ask whether there was some way that they (the parents) could tamp down their children’s natural exuberance.
- You stand a chance of having a favoritable outcome to your discussion if you avoid words that connote negatively on the children’s behavior, the parents’ lack of control over their kids, or a lack of sensitivity to those affected by their children’s behavior.
This may be the hardest part: An introspective look at yourself and the reasons why you find the children’s play un-acceptable.
- Did you check out the campground’s rules before deciding to camp there? Does the campground define itself as child or family friendly. If so, you can expect that there will be playing—and noisy—kids during daylight hours and there is not much you can do about it other than becoming more tolerant and enjoy the kids for what they are – kids.
- Don’t expect to go to such an RV resort for peaceful tranquility.
- There is a difference, though, between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. First read the campground’s posted rules—and make sure you follow them, also. If there are none, you are likely out of luck in achieving any recourse.
- However, such rules as kids running through your campsite, excessive noise after quiet hours (usually after 10 PM), and radio playing that can be heard beyond your neighbor’s campsite, are usually among those posted. If so, talk nicely to the neighbors and point out the rules that apply and ask for their help in bringing the kids into compliance.
- If that fails, talk to the campground owners or managers and explain the situation in detail and ask if they can help resolve, or move you to a different campsite.
You can find Bob Difley’s RVing ebooks on Amazon Kindle.
