Ask RVers what they like most about the RV lifestyle and one thing always comes up: the interesting people they meet while on the road, at campsites, and at RV rallies & events. Over the course of your RVing lifetime, you will meet every kind of person and encounter every lifestyle imaginable.
You may meet minimalist RVers, whose small rigs, simple lifestyle, and few possessions enable them to enjoy the freedom of the open road with a Spartan budget and minimal expenses. Seasonal jobs or special skills enable them to produce enough income to continue their nomadic lives.
Conversely, it is also possible that you might camp in a national park next to a million-dollar-plus motorhome whose owners appear to live a most luxurious lifestyle while “camping” or “touring.”
All it takes to meet these interesting people of the road is to spread a smile across your face and start a conversation. Everyone has a story to tell.
Tex and Annabelle
The first things I noticed about Tex was his massive size, booming voice, and hearty laugh. And with Annabelle, her girlish giggle. They seemed to be the happiest people I had ever encountered in my travels. Red-faced Tex was a natural born salesman. His 45-foot Prevost Marathon motorhome was tricked out as a mobile showroom for his hat and cowboy boot clothing lines that he peddled to stores across the states.
“It’s easier to keep a buyer’s interest when I corral him in my showroom,” explained Tex. “I seldom miss making the sale.” That was followed by a huge belly laugh and a giggle from Annabelle, whose twin pony tails bounced when she laughed. She not only served as Tex’s assistant, but also was adept at buttering up buyers.
When Tex and Annabelle weren’t working, they were making new friends with their campground neighbors that crowded around to hear Tex’s stories. It didn’t take long for him to have everybody roaring with laughter. If Tex ever gave up selling, he would be a natural as a stand-up comic.
Jenny and Boo
Then there was Jenny, who Lynn and I met while boondocking way back in the Ponderosa pine forests of Northern Arizona. Jenny, a survivor woman who could take care of herself in any situation, camped solo with Boo, her faithful 65-pound Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog.
She worked all winter in desert snowbird encampments selling fruit and veggies from a stand that she set up behind her van. She saved up so that she could spend the whole summer up in the mountains. She bought dented canned goods and dehydrated fruit from the stand. She used solar power and a kerosene lantern, gathered feathers and sticks to make beautiful walking sticks, and even ground her own flour and baked biscuits over a wood fire.
Yes, you meet some of the funniest – and most interesting — people on the road, if you slow down long enough to listen to their stories.