Where are the Gen X & Y ers?

[Hogfan]

Hey guys!

My husband and I are mid-late 30's, no kiddos, 2 dogs and still quite new to RVing. Unfortunately our work schedules only really permit long weekends for us (maybe a bit more), but no multi week cross county tours for us just yet.

We'd love to find an RV club (Airstream specific or not) in Texas where we may find other Gen X/Y ers to travel with for weekend trips and such throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc (Also open to clubs in AR or OK, regional or national).

Our Dallas friends are not super interested in RVing, camping, or even cabining it really and since we can't fit the two of us + our dogs + friends + their 2-3 kiddos + their 1-2 dogs all in our Airstream for the weekend comfortably, we'd love to find some fun folks who have their very own RV's

Would love your ideas!!
Thanks

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Hogfan

My husband and I are mid-late 30's, no kiddos, 2 dogs and still quite new to RVing. Unfortunately our work schedules only really permit long weekends for us (maybe a bit more), but no multi week cross county tours for us just yet.

From December 23rd, 2011 when I bought my first-and-only Airstream to January 2nd, 2015 when I retired, I was in much the same situation, though of course I was already in my 50s. By carefully choosing my vacation times to coincide with Federal holidays, I was able to get nine-day vacations by taking four days of vacation time, that allowed me to go on a few longer trips. If you're not averse to winter travel, Christmas and New Year's Day are always exactly a week apart, and by taking off those two weeks, eight days off gave me a sixteen-day vacation. My trips in that time frame tended to be south of Interstate 20, where the campgrounds are open year-round, and to CoE parks and State Parks that have time limits so that they're not clogged with snowbirds.

We'd love to find an RV club (Airstream specific or not) in Texas where we may find other Gen X/Y ers to travel with for weekend trips and such throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc (Also open to clubs in AR or OK, regional or national).

Fortunately, you're already in an RV club that will serve your needs, called AirForums. If you want to travel somewhere, just start a new thread and invite folks to come along with you on a make-your-own-reservations and pay-your-own-way basis. Some of the first rallies I ever attended were started just that way, the Texas Piney Woods rally at a CoE campground on Sam Rayburn Lake and the "Two Weeks From Everywhere" rally that I attended first at Lincoln Parish Park in Ruston, LA and then the next year at Chicot State Park near Ville Platte, LA. Sadly both of those rallies are defunct because the organizers seem to have dropped off the map, but that doesn't negate my point.

And if you don't get any takers when you invite someone to come along with you, make the trip on your own anyway. You don't need a rally to have fun, and you'd have to be a hermit to go to a campground and not meet anybody new!

Our Dallas friends are not super interested in RVing, camping, or even cabining it really and since we can't fit the two of us + our dogs + friends + their 2-3 kiddos + their 1-2 dogs all in our Airstream for the weekend comfortably, we'd love to find some fun folks who have their very own RV's

None of my pre-Airstream friends or coworkers were RVers, except for one group that would rent an RV once a year to go to Talledega but had zero interest in RVing the other 51 weeks of the year. So I had to resign myself to the fact that if I wanted RVing friends, I'd have to make friends on the road. That has not been a hardship for me. Between the folks I've met through AirForums, and the folks I've met through WBCCI (some of whom are in both groups), I have no shortage of RVing friends today. Oh, and the fellow customers I've met at my local Airstream dealer, too, some of whom I've encountered again on the road.

[GettinAway]

Of all our friends and associates here in Missouri, we know of only one other family that likes to camp. Others like to see our pictures, but have no interest in "roughing it" in an AS. Common comment is, "our idea of roughing it is a Holiday Inn."
My 30s daughter would love to camp with us, and bring the twins, but her husband always says we will fly out and meet you, is there a lodge near by..
The local campgrounds always have a lot of campers, but we find too many that have loud music, big campfires, and lots of kiddos running around.
Wow, this response turned into a rant. I sound like a crabby old man.. Dang whipper snappers.

[TheGreatleys]

I'm getting a kick out of the idea of "roughing it" in an Airstream. When my wife and I were first dating, she planned a tent camping trip for us. Packed the car full of stuff. I was pretty shocked because I thought we were *camping,* not moving in. It was a nice weekend, but way more comforts than I was accustomed to. And now we've got an Airstream with air conditioning and suis vide scallops for dinner.

[m.hony]

Another opportunity:
Make friends with the people you meet at campgrounds.
You will find yourself looking forward to seeing your friends you met at the campground.
Come join us for the Louisiana-Texas RV rally at Salmon Lake Park in Grapeland, TX October 12-15, 2016.
No reservations required-
Just show up and pay for your spot when you get there-
They have about 500 trailer sites.
This rally is held at about the same time each year.
"Backing in for a good time"
Good christian fellowship, good food, cards, dominoes, and entertainment with a patriotic program Friday night-

[mrsretail6]

Hi Hogfan,
I've really made some great friends by just starting conversations with other Airstreamers that I see camping. We're always willing to talk about our Airstreams when asked. Then next thing you know we're opening a bottle of wine to share or planning a dinner. Don't be shy to say hello to a fellow Airstreamer. By the way. We are heading to Daisy State Park , AR this week-end. Grab & bottle of wine, hook up & come say hello!

[m.hony]

Please don't limit socializing to only Airstreamers.
There are great people in all brands.
Before you know it, you will be eating breakfast and going shopping with your new friends who happen to enjoy some of the same hobbies/lifestyle.
People in the campground want a tour of your trailer? Let them in!

[mrsretail6]

True!


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[dames7]

Give these people a shout, Jim Browing.

jimbo@qcoranch.com

We first meet him and his wife in Durango last summer, They own a Ranch outside of Quanah, TX and his wife works in Dallas. Last year the North Texas AS group has a yearly deal in Quanah around the court house were you park your AS. 3 nights and 4 days the town turns out with a lots fun and food, last year there were around 100 AS trailers there.

Tell Jim that David Ames in AZ gave you his info, they are a lot of fun and love getting out with their AS, loves Wine, Scotch and good food.

[eggman]

back in our college days we spent many weekends with large groups of friends camping...us mostly in a 2man 3 pound tent( dh used for bicycle touring). as weddings and kids came in our thirties, our camping parties slacked off, and we found ourselves in rvs with older folks. we still enjoyed our trips, even though the vibe changed. there's still some of us old farts out there (we're in our 50's) who know how to enjoy the experience. you may have to just embrace our type til you convince your city friends and fams to get a tent and come with!
p.s . we have a 28 year old daughter in Dallas who would take our airstream in a heartbeat if she could work out the storage/ tv details. her 30 something friends camp frequently . no official groups, but there are a few campers out there. keep going and looking!

[NY24]

Protagonist hits the nail on the head. Pick locations and activities that appeal to you. Along the way, you will meet like-minded folks (many will be older that your demographic but eventually, you'll find other Gen X & Y-ers. Have you seen Jason and Nikki Wynn's "Gone With The Wynns" YouTube Channel? Jason & Nikki are from Dallas, TX. They went Full Time rving in their late 20's. After years on the road, they're now taking it on the water in a catamaran! The point is, you two will be out learning; about yourselves, about RVs, and what you do and don't want. In addition to this forum, peruse others as well. The Escapees RV Club has a lot to offer and I expect other RV clubs do as well.

As newbies, I would STRONGLY advise that, early on, you find and attend an RV Boot Camp. Mistakes with RVs are often expensive and sometimes dangerous. At Boot Camp, in 2 ~ 7 days, experts will explain and demystify the systems found on modern RVs greatly lessening your learning curve. The Escapees are based in Livingston, TX and they run an excellent RV Boot Camp, usually over a weekend, in a variety of location across the country. Other groups offer Boot Camps too. Mark Polk's www.RVEducation101.com has many topics available on DVD. I was able to get some titles at my local library. I purchased others I wanted ($10 ~ $25 / topic). With a DVD, you can view, pause and rewind as many times as you's like. They time and money spend on RV Boot Camp will be VERY well spent.

Keep a log / journal. Writing things down will help both of you; in planning, in remembering details, of what things cost etc. Read all the forums you can and, keep posting here. WELCOME to RVing!

[dmusca]

My husband and I are your age. We have two little girls and we ended up joining the airstream club on accident. We went camping close to home at a regional park in Arizona and ran into them at their ralley. We got to talking and although we were the youngest by far and the only ones with little kids we really liked everyone. We joined almost two years ago and we really enjoy going to the ralleys. We also camp with my older cousins and some of their friends. Have you looked on Meet Up to see if there are any RV groups?

[GenXair]

Gen X'er from New Jersey.
Sup!

[FCStreamer]

Well, I am on the tail end of Generation X. I guess. Do I win something?

[GenXair]

You win a lifetime supply of vitameatavegamin.

[Hogfan]

Ha ha ha!!! We're more than happy to hang out, drink wine, grill, boat, hike, or whatever with 50 somethings!!! Since we don't have kiddos, many of our local friends are 35-55ish because many friends our exact age are very busy with very young kiddos. The only challenge we've found is so many folks go full timing or on much longer adventures once retired (we can dream.....) but we can't join just yet! So, we need to find those who are semi still weekending it~

Our very first outing ever last summer we went out to Lake Tawakoni east of Dallas and met a super fun couple in their 50's - had a wonderful time, met up for a football game tailgate in the fall, etc.. but they have moved a few states away and for whatever reason we just haven't found many new folks since then. Everyone we've seen is already with a very defined group, a little closed off actually. But, we do need to get out there more & just meet some more folks!

I just wondered if there were any particular groups or clubs, etc. we should look for to help us get more integrated into the RV world!

[AirLindsey]

Hey Hogfan! My husband and I are also mid-late 30's, no kids, two dogs, and brand new to RV'ing. We're looking to purchase our first Avion to take on weekend trips and eventually cross-country. Just stopping by to say you're not alone. We're out there! Only one couple in our group of friends has an RV, and they are in their 40s with the same challenges in carving out time for longer trips. I'm going with the attitude that if we can just get out on the road and find some fun places to "camp," (we're not really roughing it like one member said) the right, like-minded people of all generations will find you! And they'll probably have some pretty good stories to share Wishing you many adventures!

[TheGreatleys]

Xscapers is geared toward our age group, but more for full-timers and workcampers than weekenders, I think.

[SuzyHomemakr]

You don't have to limit your encounters even to RVers. Most of my trips revolve around going paddling in the fine state of Florida. I'm an organizer for the Florida Paddler and Trekkers Meetup group. So our Airstream becomes Party Central, and we have member tenters and car-campers in the sites around us.

So maybe leverage your other outdoor interests to make for fun group camps? What about a music festival? Or an anything-festival? Or join us on the Suwanee River in N. Florida in September! Did the trip last year, some fantastic paddling and camping at the Spirit of the Suwanee Campground.

[runnersg]

Originally Posted by Hogfan

Hey guys!

My husband and I are mid-late 30's, no kiddos, 2 dogs and still quite new to RVing. Unfortunately our work schedules only really permit long weekends for us (maybe a bit more), but no multi week cross county tours for us just yet.

We'd love to find an RV club (Airstream specific or not) in Texas where we may find other Gen X/Y ers to travel with for weekend trips and such throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc (Also open to clubs in AR or OK, regional or national).

Our Dallas friends are not super interested in RVing, camping, or even cabining it really and since we can't fit the two of us + our dogs + friends + their 2-3 kiddos + their 1-2 dogs all in our Airstream for the weekend comfortably, we'd love to find some fun folks who have their very own RV's

Would love your ideas!!
Thanks

Hogfan, we should definitely meet up. We are Gen X'ers from Kingwood (Houston, TX). A few years older but not much. Mid 40's. 2 older kids in college, one at home in middle school.