Loneliness is an issue for many people, especially the elderly. RVing can help, but it can also contribute to emotional pain.
When we’re out on the road, we’re typically away from close friends and family. Most often, we are either alone or with our spouse or partner. A partner can go a long way to keeping the “blues” away, but not always. And what happens when we lose that partner, through death or parting ways? For older people, finding another close companion is typically more difficult than when they were young.
Some RVers say loneliness fades when they pull into a campground and start chatting with neighbors, while others find that such conversations are superficial and not ultimately fulfilling.
For some, it helps to join clubs, attend rallies, or travel in a loose caravan with others, who may grow closer over time.
Of course, some RVers tell us they actually enjoy being alone. They like the quiet evenings, the slower pace, and the chance to step away from the busyness of everyday life. For those RVers, it’s a welcome peace.
How often do you feel lonely? Do you feel lonelier when you’re RVing or when you’re at “home” in your familiar space? Or do you feel lonely no matter where you are? Or do you never feel lonely?
Please feel free to leave a comment after you respond. We’re eager to hear what you have to say.
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- Is RVing more about ‘getting there’ or ‘being there’?
RVDT2727
Lonely? Between kids, grand kids, dogs, cat the visit to the local convenience store for the local town gossip or watching hummingbirds feed at the feeder. Oh the deer that just ran through the yard I don’t find loneliness. I find it harder just to find “me” time.
Hi Skip: I do the things you mentioned about birds and deer from my deck – no town gossip however. The 11th marks one year since my wife of 58 yrs passed away. What still makes me lonely is not being able to share these things as well as a multitude of other things with her. The “me” time for me is seeing those things and as well as other changes – which makes me lonely because I am alone with no one to share with.
I am an “only child” of older parents and lived jn a geriatric neighborhood. My mother passed away when I was 11 and my dad seemed never to be home, working 12 hour days for years paying off the medical bills. All these events forced me to become independent and on my own. I attended university and so earned a BS in electrical engineering. I finally found someone to begin a life with and married. Our first born was a 2-1/2 month early surprise born with severe annoxia and resulting mental retardation from the brain damage. Soon, my wife developed a rare kidney disorder and we dealt with it until she passed in 2009 from a hemmoragic stroke. Once again Lonely! So, YES, I am lonely!
The legacy of your life’s trials are true tribulations Jim! They appear to have prepared you to endure whatever life can throw your way – as if anymore could be thrown! We lost our two kids – boy & girl, and I now my wife. I wish you well and trust you may find happiness yet as you go forward. God Bless Jim!
I am least lonely at our winter residence RV park. 55+ long-stay so you have time to make friends and join activities. We have owned our house in a small rural town for 35 years. All my local friends have died or moved out of the area. Our kids & grandkids are on the other side of the country where they found their careers. Half-year residency and political divisiveness makes it difficult for an older introvert in a younger area to join a group I actually enjoy and make new friends.
I suspect your home issues are fairly common. As a youngster, we were taught to respect and look out for elders. Now that we are the elders, that no longer seems to be the case.
Folks tend to conflate being alone with being lonely. Being alone is physical and being lonely is mental. In so much as one can be lonely in a room full of people, being alone is not requisite to loneliness.
Loneliness is dwelling on something not there over something that is there. A choice nobody else can make but you. Choose what’s there, loneliness kills.
👍👍
I have my Wife and two cats and the rest of my family is only a phone call away.
Lonely. No, I have things to keep me busy and a wife that provides plenty of interaction to keep me engaged and happy.
Readers are never lonely. Actually I was more lonely when married than I am now. which is never lonely!
My spouse is a tax accountant; so, it can get lonely during both tax and tax extension seasons.
Thank you for the question, RV Travel. I said “seldom.” One way for me to get there is to reflect on all the friends and family who have died over the past 50 years. But usually that just leads to me remembering interactions, significant events, and fun times that I shared with each. Have a great day and safe travels!
Except for loved ones that have passed, just never have. That I can remember anyway.
I go camping to get AWAY from people. And to enjoy my solitary hobbies— fishing, reading, ham radio. One of those personality profiles I took in my work days told me, “You are your own best friend.” Not lonely. My wife of 52 years is usually along. She’s happy to chat with the neighbors.