Being on the road again means that you’re much more likely to talk to a variety of people that you wouldn’t otherwise bump into in your own backyard.
When I was Satan’s minion in Fernley Nevada, we were camped across from Julia, a 77-year old fulltimer who roams the country with her cat and two dogs.
I admired her fiercely independent and self-reliant nature, and we had a lot to talk about during our downtime when we weren’t chained to Satan’s workshop. I knew I liked her when she said she preferred to boondock, even at Slab City.
Even in our modern world, many people are still shocked to find women traveling alone, and few women I know would consider it. In our two years on the road, I’ve only met one other solo woman traveler, Eva from Portland. I wish more women would find the courage to explore this lifestyle, because it doesn’t have to be a lonely or scary journey. As Julia says in my interview with her, there are numerous groups devoted to solo RVing, and you can always bring a dog along to keep you company.
Here are some valuable tips and insight that Julia has to offer to potential women RVers:
No Worries! You can do it! Click on my name to see a singles group with a lot of great peeps that can help. We live in Slab-City and pay no rent. You could live here throughout the winter for very little and there are lots of activities…music, art, cheap dinners, friendship, ideas for little businesses, etc. Come on down! We welcome you!
It’s great to hear from you Robi! I’ve been following your blog and SC adventures. Love it! See you later this winter.
Yipee! Can’t wait! We are starting a SLab-City Sisters women’s group! First meeting Nov 5th, 4pm my camp…potluck and !!?? Fun!
I there, I’m in the process of researching full-timing RVing and just came across this post. I can’t wait to read more. Thanks for the great info and inspiration! I’m just getting my feet into this…. 😉
Mon
Best wishes for planning your pending adventures Monica! Check out our remote home based business blog if you’re looking ways to hit the road debt free or support the start full-timing lifestyle. Consider also joining NüRVers to meet other fun full-timers.
Thanks so much Jim! I am just sucking up all of the information I can from you and Robi and the links you gave are perfect!
Have a great day!
Funny! I meant, you and Rene and Robi. I snuck over to Robi’s blog too and her adventures at Slab City! 🙂 Thanks again!!
Thanks for reading Monica. Keep in touch and let us know how things are going.
Thanks Rene! I appreciate you!
Hi Rene,
I am taking my first RV trip alone (with my dog) this Weds. just for a couple of nights at a State park. Do you know of any groups in Oregon? I am on the central Oregon coast. Thanks, Linda
Hi Linda, yay! We hope you have a great time. I don’t know of any specific groups in Oregon but if you go on NuRVers Facebook page you can put a call-out and I’m sure someone will know. Good luck! Hope to hear more about your adventures.
Just found this blog and feel so encouraged. I am in the process of selling all and plan on hitting tie road in September, full time. Is there anyone in the pheonix area I can contact to meet. I would like to be part of this community of women.
Thanks for the comment Terry, and Happy Travels! Consider joining us over at NüRVers to connect with others on the road.
Yay for you Terry! I’m not sure about women in the Phoenix area but I’ll bet if you join different communities like NüRVers and Escapees, you’ll find ’em. We know lots of female full-timers. Happy travels! Drop us a line with your blog info if you start one.
Ya, NuRvers is a great group too! I met one of my best friends on that sight. He helped me by phone many times when I first started by myself. Hello Steve!!!!
There is a bonding by most all RVers to help newbies on the road cuz we have all had to go through that transition process.
You can do it! You will laugh, cry, grow and make some great friends…Like all of us commenting here!
Send me a message anytime you find yourself near Slab-City!
And by the way, Rene and I met through NuRvers and ran in to each other at Slab City. Its a small RV world in big ol’ USA
I’m planning on travelling in an RV and it didn’t occur to me that it was a problem that I am a lone woman! Of course I take note of my instincts when around people so I’ll just do the same. I like dogs but wouldn’t like to live with one in such close quarters. I like cats, but wonder if they would mooch off somewhere when I wanted to get back on the road.
Hi Patricia! Funny you mention this topic today, because I’m about to interview my friend Donna from Tumbleweeds & Lemonade. Follow her blog, you’ll learn a lot.
I know plenty of folks who travel with cats, they all seem to do just fine on the road.
Good luck in your preparations for hitting the road. Feel free to ask any questions, and thank you so much for reading!
A great place for women RVers to meet others and share thoughts and experiences with others is womenrv.com Great bunch of women there.
Thank you for this post! Very inspiring.
Jennifer
Yay, Julia! She told me about this. I am glad you posted it. Too bad I can’t watch it right now…grumble sprint metered bandwidth grumble…
She really is an inspiration as well as a wealth of knowledge. A great spirit.
Have you guys talked to her since Fernley? I haven’t 🙁 We were both hoping that you guys would give each of us the others contact info.
Amazon treated her so crappy 🙁
Hey Jenn I did give her your URL. Yeah she’s seriously my role model! I haven’t talked to her since Fernley but I imagine I’ll hear back (I sent her the link to his post).
What happened with Amazon, did she try to publish a book? Does she have a website? I LOVE women like this! I want to connect. I’m in the “shedding phase” of my transition to FT
Robi, Julia doesn’t have a website. We worked at Amazon together. Be sure to check out womenrv.com to connect with others.
Thanks for the great video! I plan to follow in Julia’s footsteps soon. The idea of retirement as a solo woman RV’er offers far more social & “community” opportunities than living alone in a house in the suburbs. My friends are spread out across the country, and RV’ing is a great way to visit them all!
Hey Lynne, thanks for reading it and getting in touch with us. I can’t wait to follow your blog and your travels. And I do agree; you meet sooo many people when you’re a fulltimer, way more than when you’re stuck in a stick house. Good luck to you, keep in touch OK?
Lynne, your comment about more social opportunities as FT than living alone in the burbs IS EXACTLY how I feel. Thank you for putting that in words. I thought maybe I was just a loner with this thought. I am actually a very friendly person, but hard to meet people in my condition…I was previously a flight attendant, so out of town alot and hard to make friends (they always assumed I was gone, so would not call me, and when I got home I was too pooped and had limited time before I had to get ready for next trip)…crazy lifestyle, huh? I honestly think after being a flight attendant and getting stuck alone in strange cities dependant on company arranged transportation and hotels with short layovers (many were 10 hours block to block, a term meaning from the time you let people off the plane until the time you back up with new people and go somewhere else)
Whew, I can’t wait…now if only I could get someone to do the clearing and selling of junk for me, lol SIGH
Thanks. So interesting and encouraging. I’m 7 months away from retirement and planning to hit the road. Am I excited? Yes! Am I scared? Yes! Am I willing? Yes! I appreciate all the tips I can get.
Woo hooo! Donna, you are so brave! You will be a role model for so many wimmen. Please do start a blog so we can follow along. Congratulations!
Great interview, always helpful for women to be able to hear about others that are doing it. See you around… Alex
What a wonderful lady! I can tell I would really like her. Great advice, too.
You would totally like her Lilla, I know it!
Excellent Rene! I am going to pass this link on to single friends of mine who have thought about RVing alone.
Thanks Kim. Julia was really great, a true inspiration!