Meeting Other RVers: This is Awesome!

Full disclosure: My only fear about this whole RV thing is community. I am a social creature and our current society has most people firmly and forever planted to the ground. How am I supposed to have friends when everyone is at home and I am on the road? And what about my kid? With me as her mother, I know she has no chance to be normal, but I don’t want her to be super weird! A kid has to have friends! What is an against-the-grain mother like me to do? Meet other RVers! Yes, that’s it.

Let us all give thanks to the internet. The internet has given me incredible hope in finding a community to help and support my family. A quick Google search will show you just how many full-time RVers there are, and I’m open to meeting them all!

When I launched my blog last week, I was completely unaware that anyone else was looking for me too! In a week’s time, I’ve started to meet other RVers through this platform, and I could not be more excited about life. Seriously, look at me!

Anyway, I launched the blog and started to meet people, but there was one guy that stuck out to me and seemed just as excited and motivated to get the message out to others about the RV life. His name is Derek Cobia, and by fate, chance, or just plain dumb luck, (you pick which belief system to go with) he was looking to meet up with other RV bloggers in the Atlanta area the same day as I was driving through Atlanta. I jumped at the chance.

Derek is the campground host at Stone Mountain Park, a little outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Ed, Chelsea, and I met him there on the second day of our road trip. The park was so nice and I wanted to check out everything they had to offer, but the clock was ticking and I had to meet my new friend!

What I loved about meeting Derek is that his family and mine seem to have a lot in common. His wife Amy and he have a daughter only about 4 months younger than Chelsea. His wife is a teacher and while I currently don’t teach, I am certified and have a master’s degree in Educational Leadership. They are about the same age as Ed and myself and they even have a dog similar to ours! The Cobias are also stationary (not yet traveling), but have a date to get on the road. Meeting people so “like me” really solidified my belief that I am doing the right thing for my family and eased my fear about community.

We talked about so much. He gave us the story on how they came to RV and (like us!) have found that it is really more than they need. He told us about his family’s future plans to go the “schoolie” route and convert an old school bus into an RV. Ed was stoked to hear this, as he has been interested in this idea as well. He opened up about his success and failures in business. We both agreed that being 100% honest and willing to put yourself out there on your blog is crucial to success.

I told him about my fear of Chelsea becoming “too weird” and he laughed in agreement, saying that his wife and he have the same fears when it comes to Payson. He noted that there are so many young people and families out there that want the same community we do. Together, I think we came up with some great ideas and plans on how to stay connected and build up that “young RV” community, and as we develop them I hope you join us!

It was a great time watchinsg our girls play together (as much as not-yet-two years old will do) and actually meeting other RVers in real life. We are very excited to get to know Derek and his family more, and hope to have a hand in helping with their bus conversion! Seriously, how cool is that?

If you want to know more about his family and their RV story check out this video.

https://www.facebook.com/TheFrugalRVer/videos/1776919012570667/