You’re not alone on the road. How to find your community

Do you hesitate to embark on a grand life adventure because of a fear of being alone once you’ve hit the road? Don’t be afraid. While it’s entirely possible to be secluded as much as you’d like, it’s also quite possible to find your “tribe” out there on the highway. How? Let’s talk!

One of the things I’ve heard from people who are reticent to go full-time or even spend a great deal of time on the road is that they don’t want to be alone. But you absolutely don’t have to be lonely out here. Something that has really surprised me about traveling is how quickly you find a “tribe” of people who are aligned with your style and ideas—yes, even on the road. 

As I write this, I am quite literally out in the middle of the desert in Quartzsite, Arizona, following a week of volunteering to manage the seminar tent at the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show. It’s an oddly convoluted path as to how I became this volunteer, but here we are. And that’s the first thing. 

Volunteer

One of the easiest ways to find others aligned with your ideas is to volunteer within that realm. For example, I absolutely love trains. If I could, I’d spend all my summers volunteering at tourist trains doing the various things that tourist train railroads do. But I also know that I’m weird. 

But that doesn’t mean you’re not weird, too. 

Seriously, though, if you have a passion for something, perhaps find a way to volunteer in that area. I know of wineries that need volunteers. You can volunteer at charitable organizations—a friend of mine volunteers at Habitat for Humanity. And there are an endless number of organizations that could use your help. 

But while you’re doing that voodoo that you do so well, you’re also meeting others doing the same good things. A surprising number of volunteer organizations will have a way to do good while also having your RV nearby. 

We also had a guest on our podcast who spoke about volunteering at places he loves (Yosemite was his favorite). This helped him bypass all the crowds at the reservation desk and also allowed him to spend time with others who share his passion and camp in incredible places. We know of a number of people who volunteer seasonally or even for short stints at places they enjoy. 

It’s said that RVing is fixing the things that go wrong in beautiful places. But you can also volunteer—so now there are two reasons to go where you want to go. 

Social media isn’t all bad

Something I’ve found here in the desert is that people are camping with people like them. For example, adjacent to our camp is a big collection of older Foretravel motorhomes. There’s a big rally of Grand Design products. There is the Rainbow Group and a whole collection of people who choose to be au naturel. There are stargazers, as well as several groups of members of Escapees and FRVA clubs and chapters. 

In other words, there are groups of all sorts of travelers, and people seem to be able to find those groups through social media. 

We all could make the case that social media is more antisocial. But, truthfully, I use it a lot to find the people with whom I’m most closely aligned. I happen to have a Rockwood Mini Lite, and there are quite a few of us out here. We have members of the Mini Lite Group I started in 2017 from New York, Maine, Northern California, Arizona, Missouri, and other places. We all sit around the campfire and solve the world’s problems. 

Well, really, we sit around the campfire, talk about who’s cooking what, and help solve RV problems. We don’t talk about religion, and we don’t talk about politics. 

What about church?

One of the big reasons I’ve heard for people not wanting to leave their community is their church. A lot of people find comfort and fellowship in their local church, of course, and I can see why leaving town would be a bummer in this case. 

But we also found a mobile church and interviewed them on our weekly podcast. Our Jesus Journey is one of the organizations that provides religious fellowship on the road. In fact, at the most recent Quartzsite RV Show, they actually baptized someone right on the midway. That was not something I had seen before. (I had seen people get baptized, just not at an RV show.) 

Apparently, there are quite a few religious organizations that accommodate travelers and even have meetups, so this may be less of a barrier than you thought. 

What about the gym? 

We also recently interviewed a couple from Active RV Life who brought up the fact that many people enjoy going to the gym for the fellowship there. Honestly, I had never really thought about the gym as a place for fellowship, although, if you see me in person, you’ll realize the gym is about the furthest thing from my mind… or my waistline. 

But Sarah said that the fellowship of the gym was something she missed quite a bit. So that’s something the couple is offering in addition to helping people figure out how to stay healthy and active on the road.

Be all that you can be

I do know people who just want to be away from others and spend time with their own thoughts. But there are plenty of people who seek others and have found volunteering, social media, clubs, common interests, and any manner of other things bring them closer to the people who share their ideology. 

So, if you’re concerned that you will be alone out here on the road, don’t be. 

Here’s a funny story about that: We were in a campground in Indiana and were walking around looking at the campground. Someone messaged us on Facebook and asked if it was us in the campground. It was, and we had met the other campers through the FRVA (formerly FMCA) at breakfasts, where they often serve donuts. They were our donut buddies! 

You never know where you’re going to find like-minded friends, but you certainly will. Donut despair. 

MORE LIKE THIS:

• How to make lasting friendships with other RVers
• Solo RVing as a male vs. female. Do stereotypes dictate social interaction on the road?
• How to make friends while RVing, especially if you’re traveling solo
• A discussion about loneliness and the solo RVer

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