What we learned about you last week (August 4-10)

By Emily Woodbury

Well, 10,154 poll votes and another week down! Thank you for voting!

We know our surveys don’t always relate to RVing, but we want to know a little more about you, our community and our friends. If we talked about RVs any more than we already do, we might turn into one! (I think Chuck is starting to grow headlights on top of his head! We took this photo of him, and we’re worried about what we see!) Now, more than ever, we’re relying on each other to help RVers stay safe, buy sturdy rigs, and enjoy RVing like we used to “in the old days.” If any of our surveys have offended you, we’re sorry. Please let us know in the comments below if you would like to see more RV-related polls. We will, of course, take these comments to heart.

Now, back to business! Last week’s Saturday newsletter asked how long you can go without an electric hookup and we’re pretty impressed with the answers! A whole 20 percent of you answered that you never need a hookup (and we’re judging by the comments that it’s because you have solar panels) and 37 percent of you can make it a week or two. That’s fantastic! A quarter of you can make it one or two days, and 16 percent of you can only go a few hours. However, as pointed out in the comments, we do understand that this answer varies from season to season. We liked Tony K’s comment that said, “We know how to conserve. Probably the best way to conserve is to get out of the RV and go do something!” Agreed, Tony. 

Thinking ahead to the future, on Monday we wondered if you think children born today will have better or worse lives than their parents. Most of you, that’s 34 percent, believe their lives will be a little bit worse, and 18 percent voted it will be much worse. The 230 optimists (11 percent) think children’s lives will be much better than their parents, and 16 percent think they will be a little bit better. And then, right in the middle, 21 percent of you think their lives will probably be just about the same. Do you wish you were a kid in 2018? Tell us in the comments below. 

On Tuesday we hit a nerve with the controversial question, do you have a tattoo? Y’all had a few things to say about that one, huh? A whopping 85 percent of you say, nope, you don’t have one, and you’ll never get one. However, 4 percent answered you don’t have one yet, but you want one someday. There are 11 percent of you who have tattoos, but some of you don’t want any more. Despite this being a pretty unpopular topic, it got the most votes of any of our surveys this week. 

Wednesday we asked how comfortable you are speaking in front of large crowds, and nearly half, 44 percent, of you say you’ll do it, but you’re not comfortable. Twenty-nine percent of our extroverted readers reported they’re very comfortable, while 20 percent answered they’re very uncomfortable. We’ve got our introverts, seven7 percent of voters, hiding in the corner saying I can’t do it, nope, way too scary. Me? Oh, I can do it, I’ll just throw up five times at the beginning (don’t worry about me!). 

Last but not least, our Thursday newsletter asked if you ever volunteer. Wow! Almost an equal quarter split here. Most of you, 28 percent, say no, you do not volunteer, but 26 percent of you say you do, and often! The third quarter, 24 percent of votes, answered you used to, but haven’t in a while, and 22 percent say you still do, though rarely. If you read Tony’s advice a few paragraphs up and feel like getting out of the RV, go volunteer! Not only are you doing something great, but you’re also probably learning about something new and making new friends while doing so! If anything, you might get a free T-shirt and cookie, and who can say no to that? 

Well, that’s enough numbers for my brain today. (Ask our managing editor, Diane, how well I do with numbers…she’ll tell you not well. At all. [Not true. —Diane]). If you have a question you’d like asked in a survey, please email it to emily (at) rvtravel.com and we may use it.

Toodles!