How long will you “camp” in a place where there is no Internet or cell phone access – no park WiFi, no cell phone service, no satellite or MiFi reception? In other words, it’s you and where you’re holed up, and no way to get a message to or from the outside world.
For example, there’s no place to post your pretty campsite photo on your Facebook page, or get the latest news from back home.
How likely are you to spend more than one night in such a place? Is it no big deal to go without phone or Internet service, or is it a really big deal if there’s no cyber umbilical cord to the outside world? The curious minds of RVtravel.com would like to know.
After you respond to the poll, please leave a comment.
My husband is still working and we mostly travel during the week. He needs phone and email service.
We live in SW Montana. Most of our camping is in the mountains around here. There is no cell or internet service. We Dry camp all the time and love it that way. By the way, we have solar.
We seldom park anywhere more than 4 days, but having internet is never a criteria. We can find that elsewhere if we need it. And let’s face it, “no internet” is usually part of the package which gives less of a crowd and more of peace and quiet.
With today’s technology and improving everyday if someone absolutely needed a phone and Internet they are both available using Satellites anytime anywhere.
No internet or cell service is not only very inconvenient but dangerous today, particularly for the elderly. It’s almost a requirement to have data to get any valuable info on anything today no mater where you are. 15 or 20 years ago it wasn’t particularly important but today if you want to find out anything about anything the internet is about the only way to do it.
In my opinion these fat-cat telecoms should be required to provide telephone & data service everywhere in the country no mater the cost but all they want to do is cover the metro areas because the cost is minimal and the profits huge.
Having said that, if I want to camp somewhere I will with or without cell or data.
We travel in a Class B sightseeing all over the USA /Canada. We don’t Camp basically and are usually on the move daily. I like having the Internet to research things to see and do that ahead or around us. Sometimes when we pick a spot /place to spend the night there is no internet. Naturally I can’t research and drive the next day and it gives my wife headaches to use a iPhone/iPad for any length of time. Naturally we like to keep up with our family/friends also. As we approach 100,000 miles traveled in 6+ years we have loved mile/minute of it ! But basically do what you like !
I am because of learning young from my Dad a “Jack of all trades and master of none” type of guy
I didn’t see the poll on the page, but when we traveled to Alaska a few times, we didn’t have phone or internet service. Having it or not was not always the primary consideration when deciding a place to stay.
I voted “as long as i want” but its rare I’m parked somewhere and don’t day-trip enough to ping towers at least every couple days. At some point I’ll get gas or whatever and my phone will grab and send any buffered emails of the past few days.
Life does not stop, enjoy the real world and not being connected. Listen to the wildlife, and the babbling brook. The morning quiet watching the sun raise, the fish leaping for that fly above the water. That fishing boat headed out to sea, on the still waters.
Having a cup of coffee over a camp fire, relaxing and enjoying peace and quite.
But if it is raining and I decide to stay inside, I have an air card that works, if the canopy is not the heavy.
If the world ends we will survive, we are campers; until those batteries run down.
We do require electric service to keep going.
Enjoy the Out Doors
We have stayed where the internet is spotty, and I do my email when we go to or through a town on our daily sightseeing excursion….it’s a pain, though, and I usually check for internet before I book a park….and don’t go back if service at a park was really bad. We don’t take a TV along on our trips, so the internet is our research tool for places to go, places to stay and our entertainment.
I also didn’t see the poll. I won’t stay more than a day if the wifi is unavailable. Many of us seniors have part-time jobs or other responsibilities that continue even while we travel (I help maintain an active website). Wifi availability is always one of the first things I look for when booking a campsite.
For several years we have used our Verizon iPhone “hot spot” when a campground/RV park wifi does not meet our needs, i.e. most of the time. We have had outstanding success with this method with rare exceptions. This year during our Jan-Apr trip we signed up for the “Beyond Unlimited” service so we had enough data to stream a few movies. It worked great but we still used up all our alloted hot spot data, 15GB.
We’ve got “beyond unlimited” here at home. We run out of our allotted Gigs every month. Then they decrease your download speed, and in our really crappy cell access area of town, that means it reminds us of the old dial-up speeds. But if we’re out in the boonies, the service works great. Grrrrrr.
I will be in a seasonal site this summer for three and a half months. No wifi and cell service is poor but we will be lakeside and the fishing is great. What more do i need.
I couldn’t find a connection to the Poll. However, we would probably stay 2-3 nights in such an area and catch up on our “electronics” afterward. It all depends on what the area had to offer and how much we felt we needed a few days “down time”.
No simple answer. We have always camped in places that had, at least, cell phone service. I like the prospect of a beautiful place far enough away where we did have cell phone service.
I would almost continually stay with out an internet connection, as well as without cell service while out camping for several days or a couple of weeks.
I have 2 types of travel. Remote camping with no electronics and longer trips, up to 3-4 months. Remote requires no internet but the longer trips require good comm. My biggest problem is that i always book into parks that advertise wifi connect. When i make reservation i always ask to verify service. I find that better than half the time i arrive to find no working service or service that is so slow or cant connect to be useable. I dont ask for much just be able to get emails to run my business
We have stayed several places without wifi while boondocking (up to 6 months). However, we would only stay overnight without cell service but only if we had to. Cell service is a necessity for health and safety reasons these days.
I can manage one night without cell phone service after I let family and employees know how to contact me via another means. I cannot run out on family or employees. I will pay dearly with my time in dealing with the piled up email and phone calls when reconnected. If I know in advance there is no cell service I will seek to avoid over nighting in such a place.
With zero cell phone signals for calls and zero internet – 1-3 days stay only. Minimal internet a bit longer.
to make my own decision about whether or not I want to disconnect, where to do it and for how long. But I want it available.
Since AT&T, who owns Direct TV is (apparently) doing away with satellite service and going to streaming the internet will (should) cover everywhere you would want to go (In AT&T’s opinion) This might be a moot point in the near future,
I am comfortable not having cell and Internet service, maybe because I am old and have camped most of my life when we had no internet or cell phone and we did fine. I don’t need a tie to the whole world. I realize it is convenient to have but they do not rule my life!
We’ve had some type of internet service while on the road as fulltimers for 13 years. We’ve tried them all, from satellite to hotspots. We know some people who do not use any internet to plan their trips, to buy the best priced fuel, make reservations or use maps etc. Anyone remember the phone books campground directories we used to have to carry around?….and they each had their own legends that were almost impossible to use. We depend on our internet connection on a daily basis.
I would stay with no internet or cell service. I would let the family know I was going to be out of contact for the number of days I planned to be out of contact and exactly where that was.
It would be hard to stay for more than a couple of days. Any stay over 2 or 3 days would drive my wife “batty” and that would affect me 🙁 We really have to hear from the great grandchildren often.
My desire for dark, remote locations often means no connection with the outside world. I have considered a sat phone, mostly for safety, but also to allow our kids to contact us. So far, I have not felt the need was high enough to justify the costs. In reality, when staying in remote locations, we often are out driving and pass though areas with at least usable cell phone service. Of course remote locations usually means no sewer and no water connections. That limits our time off the grid more than the lack of internet or cell phone.
Sometimes it’s good to be “out there” with no service. We just like to make sure it’s not when I have to pay a bill electronically.
We camped in a remote NFS campground in off season (only ones there) while volunteering at a visitor center 20 miles away. No wifi/cell…but we were able to get satellite TV! lol When asked, we did get access to a landline hookup that was already installed for the camp host. Our work site was also remote — no wifi or cell service — but there was a somewhat dependable landline and a neighbor within walking distance. We did not miss the wifi/cell but we did feel much better knowing that we had some type of emergency contact.
As 10 year fulltimers who are always looking for new sights & experiences, we end up in a spot without any type of communication or tv about 2-3 times per year. We usually don’t spend more than 1-3 days in such a spot, but those spots usually give us long lasting memories. We’ve been to places like the top of Beartooth mountains north of Yellowstone, remote areas of the Southwest deserts, the southern tip of Everglades National Park & many spots in our 2 extended trips to Alaska. Stepping away from civilization for a few days can be an exhilarating & yet calming experience.
Yes we would stay someplace without wifi. We don’t use it while camping, and on occasion will go to the library and use theirs. We love to be without all these electronic things, and even no cell phone service. We camp to get away from it all. Only go for three months at a time so not full time.
Yes I would and for as long as I can.
It would not bother ME to not have any phone, internet, or TV for a few days. However, the Spousal Unit would find it difficult to survive without his DISH TV. :>) Much longer than a few days, I would like to have cell service, at least, to find out what the family and grandkids are up to. I don’t mind being AWAY from family, but don’t want to be totally disconnected.
Locations without internet don’t bother me in the least. I’m okay with no satellite TV as well. I prefer a place with cell service in case of an emergency but family and friends know to call the local sheriff or police department so I’m good without that too.
All our lives we have taken 3 week vacations and no one knew where we were, AND we had no idea where we were going – we travel to see the real America. When did we become so crazy about emergencies? Are they EMERGINCIES or are they “emergencies”?
We each have a Tracfone Flip Phone – for emergency use only. We generally stay in state/Ntn’l parks with security. Nice break to get away from the CPU and the robo calls!!!! (A vacation in itself!). We are retired and hopefully have no urgent need to use an $1,100. phone, or any phone for that matter.
I must have access at least a few days a week in summer as I write for a catch-record-release walleye tournament series in WI, MN and ND from March-August. i can live without for a few days, however.
I took a campsite near the Grand Teton Natl Park for almost a week waiting for a site to open up in West Yellowstone. We had no cable, no Wi-Fi, no signal. The wife caught up on some her books and I edited many of the photo’s I had stored to my hard drive. We also took rides around the area before it got dark looking for wildlife. We survived.
We travelled and camped for three weeks and didn’t have cell service or internet……oh wait, that was 1966
😀 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
No internet or phone service? GREAT! The “outside world” can do without my input for a few days. Plus, it would be lovely to have several nights of peace and quiet. If I feel extremely deprived, I can play solitaire on my Kindle, or read a good book.
We (my sisters and I) use Life 360 so they can track me. If I find myself in a no service location I find a place with service and let them know that the place I am staying has no service and I’ll call them every other or every three days…if I don’t call they can have someone check on me since they know my last known location.
I wouldn’t stay because of medical conditions. I need to reach emergency services if necessary.
It doesn’t matter if the campground has wifi service or not. We go to visit and enjoy the outdoors, not to be on the computer. The only thing I would miss, is getting my RV Newsletter and that would be waiting for me when I get home.
I can and have stayed lengths of time without internet. Access to a phone, be it cell or a landline was more of a requirement. Traveling alone means I relied on cell service for an emergency. However I recently purchased an ‘In Reach’. This has helped me immensely as I no longer need the cell service! I can send a quick message and location to my family and they can still reach me in an emergency. It uses satellites and I am happy to no longer concern myself about hiking and traveling alone. 🙂
What a great tool! I didn’t even know these existed – and I’m a tech nerd!
Very handy for when you’re off grid.
I pay almost all of my bills on line now so that I can travel.
Having access to WiFi and cell comms is important to us at this point of our lives. We love to stay in contact with family and friends and being able to access Internet to do research for the railroad restoration we both love is part of what we do for relaxation. So, at the site where we spend 6 to 7 months each year, yeah, we want access…but it doesn’t mean it breaks our hearts to spend a few days on a lovely little lake or in the mountains with no access.
We stream TV on our cell phone hot spot and bank on line. Not to mention, almost all of our other life’s business is conducted on line.
We don’t have good cell service at our S&B, so camping without is not a problem. Just need to let the kids know where we’re going ahead of time.
Let’s face it: I’m totally addicted to the internet. Totally addicted. However, if I’ve found a beautiful location that has great opportunities for photography nearby, I will plan ahead to be without it. I’ll admit that the first day I have withdrawal, but after that, I’m fine. However, I can’t imagine being without it for more than three days–four tops but I’ve not “had that opportunity” yet!
I don’t stay at a particular campground based solely on their internet capabilities, there are more important reasons. Other factors such as location, overall cleanliness, and other amenities such as a pool, shuttle service to nearby attractions are much more of a deal breaker than internet service.
We purchased a motor home so my disabled husband could travel and see the beauty in nature. His disability also necessitates connections with the closest hospital. So we do need at least cell availability. Happily we are getting out more and love traveling.
I can survive a few days without internet or phone service. We usually go to places that have interesting sites, things to do, etc. I do have a business, so eventually I need to be available. We’ve been to many places that had poor access to the internet. You can always go into town, find a Starbucks (they’re everywhere) and get your messages or find more friends on Facebook.
Stayed a week at Crater Lake National Park. Loved the peace and quiet. (Some cell phone reception up on the Crater rim road.)
We are ‘camping’ in our fifth wheel 12 miles from internet and cell service. Go into town every few days to check email and make ph calls. A bit inconvenient but we love our RV camp. It’s in the anza borrego desert, called Leaping Lizards RV Ranch.
We are staying for 4 and a half months. It’s nice being a bit removed from cyber-space.
Usually, I take my ham radio gear with me and I seldom use or rely on any sort of TV and internet connection. I do carry a cell phone, however.
I’ve lived most of my life without Internet and cell phones. I think both can be useful and a pain in the keister. So, if a place has nice amenities and things to do then I will stay for as long as I want.
I did just that 2weeks ago. Surprisingly, i survived. Man,where there the e mail’s piled up. Not one important.
I would love being off the grid for a week at a time! I don’t post to FB. Facebook is a pock on the face of our country, am not on Facebook except to see pix of relatives.
In Canada we have lots of provincial Parks,and all of them have no internet.What about the States Parks.? Most private campsites have internet!
Not a consideration. Electric service more important than internet or cell.