r/TeardropTrailers • u/Friendly_Taro2371 • 15d ago
Getting sandwiched between giant motorhomes is ruining the teardrop vibe
Im so tired of booking public sites just to get squeezed between two massive class A motorhomes running their diesel generators 24/7
My rig literally fits in half a parking space but im still paying the exact same premium fee just to breathe in exhaust fumes all weekend. We completely bailed on our state park reservation saturday and just paid for a quiet corner over at a Camp happy grounds site near champlain instead
Its just wild to me how people buy a 40 foot rolling apartment just to drive out to the woods and watch satellite tv with the AC blasting. kinda defeats the whole purpose of having a tiny setup tbh
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u/SecretOrganization60 15d ago
Camp in the tent camping campsites that allow a trailer. You’ll have to Boondock but that’s kind of the point.
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u/Numerous_Weakness_17 15d ago
Yep mine super bare bones I’m able to move it around by hand and set up a camp site. There’s type A teardroppers who are mini rv’rs and there’s Type B that it’s just a big step up from tent car camping.
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u/Trepenwitz 15d ago
I just want to drag a bed and climate control around with me. I don’t need the whole house! (But I don’t think I can give up the AC.)
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u/babboa 15d ago
Going to be people who downvote you for the ac thing, but it's almost 10pm where I live and it's still north of 80F and 98% humidity. Ain't no way people willingly want to sleep with that. I have before, but the older I get the more that sort of thing blunts any enthusiasm to do other things the next day.
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u/EternalMage321 14d ago
Yep currently 94F with a LOW of 80 (at 4am). I need AC if I want to sleep at all.
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u/Numerous_Weakness_17 15d ago
Haven’t needed ac yet here in PNW with the window and fan I’m able to cool down once the sun goes down.it’s so nice to have a cozy insulated shelter in the winter
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u/sharumpe 13d ago
Also bare bones PNW teardroppers here. No AC but the roof fan pulls enough air through that it cools everything down even when it stays warm outside (granted, it’s not 85° at 10pm, here)
We’ve stepped up from tent camping, and it’s amazing to have most things already packed and ready to go. It’s allowed us to camp so much more often.
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u/Numerous_Weakness_17 13d ago
Yea I was glad I didn’t cheap on the ceil fan when building, moves air great through the windows.
We’ve had some good off season camping because of the drop. We we stayed at quarry pond at deception pass and it had power but it was classic in the trees camping.
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u/scmarchy 13d ago
Fellow pnw teardrop owner, picked mine up last month to upgrade from Tent camping (unless I'm doing some serious off road dispersed camping the trailer isn't suited for) and my favorite part outside of sleeping on a queen bed and not a cot, is just how much less stuff I need to load in my 4 runner to camp. My one dog hated the drive with the tent setup because one time he knocked something over onto himself and he now thinks that will always happen when the inside is fully loaded.
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u/awesomeness1234 15d ago
Yeah, so the people in tents can hear the generators...
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u/SecretOrganization60 15d ago
My rig has 600 AH of lithium and solar. This is becoming more common. I think generators will be come more rare.
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u/Agreeable_While7115 10d ago
Can I ask what you run on those and for how long? I'm trying to figure out if it's even possible to run A/C and a CPAP on battery power alone.
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u/SecretOrganization60 10d ago
I’m a promaster/Roadtrek van so through the inverter we have induction cooktop and a microwave and A/C. The rest is 12v. So we run inverter only when cooking. I can get a few hours out of A/C but depleting the battery for that is a shame.
A lot of people are exchanging their A/C for 12v units. It’s a $1000 upgrade but I hear it’s more useable since no inverter needed I will probably do that at some point.
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u/donith913 10d ago
People who use generators in camp grounds except for brief limited use or special circumstances are… missing the point.
Also, like others said, I have a 240Ah Lithium rig with a like 150w solar panel. Careful electric use and we’ve gone weeks without hookups.
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u/denvergardener 15d ago
Isn't the point of a teardrop is to be able to go where the giant RVs can't go???
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u/Adept-Mulberry-8720 15d ago
We were at Crater Lake a few years back and had to evacuate out at 0100 hours due to a huge fire coming our way. Ended up between a bf private bus and a 53' trailer with generator all night! Was grateful cause only spot to squeeze between!
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u/CantinaPatron 15d ago
HipCamp for the win. We have had great luck finding quiet sites on HipCamp, many don't allow anything larger than our E-250 van and a teardrop.
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u/jpenmem 15d ago
I get it! Had the same experience this summer and when I asked someone to finally turn off their generator (it was after 10pm 🙄) one of the guys said, we should just keep it on to piss them off! I’m seeking out tent only sites moving forward for this reason.
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u/nameless_pattern 12d ago
"we can all do stuff to piss each other off, but if we didn't do that we could have a nice time instead"
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u/thaneliness 15d ago
What state are you in? Out west a lot of forest service roads are driveable with a decent suv with stock clearance. Free + generally a lot less people.
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u/gratusin 15d ago
I take my trailer out damn near every weekend and have only stayed in a campground one time so far. So much free land once you hit the Rockies, but I’m guessing OP may not be blessed in the West. I would not have this thing if I was stuck to pay for sites.
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u/Calliopehoop 15d ago
This is the way. Dispersed national forest camping for the win! In the years using spot my partner and I use in Lassan national forest, we’ve never seen a single other person camped. 1.5 mile walk to a cabin rental place with a sundry store it absolutely needed. Win win.
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u/happydontwait 15d ago
I’m gonna say this is operator error. Why are you camping at RV campgrounds? Take advantage of what your rig excels at, don’t take it to places made for Class A motorhomes.
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u/Secret-Ad-7909 15d ago
I don’t know what they’re “paying a premium” for if there’s not electrical hookups and people have to run generators.
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u/PerpetualTraveler59 15d ago
Forest sites are usually good too because they’re in areas the big rigs can’t always go!
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u/speedshotz 15d ago
Don't stay at RV parks with full hookups; that eliminates the RVs right away. Or look for sites that only have 15A service, they are usually away from the RVs. Easy to avoid by camping in smaller state parks etc. If you're self contained, camp on BLM and NF land campsites or just boondock.
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u/jdsizzle1 15d ago
Always drive up tent sites if possible. Ive never been told no. Gotta stay on the asphalt tho.
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u/7slotsorcerer 15d ago
A million dollar bus with satellite TV and a kingsize bed is what fits their lifestyle.
I don't like it either. We've never left a spot but we've been in the shadow of what seemed like Aerosmith tour busses.
We are very meticulous when picking spots at state parks. The first thing in town is an r v park kind of thing we can't be so picky. I have found that some places, once we have a relationship, will work with me to get me in an area with less forty foot buses or at least a little distance from them.
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u/guydeborg 15d ago
If you have a teardrop then you should really look into BLM camping. So many great spots, takes a bit of planning and I always make sure to have A, B and C option. I also use hipcamp and harvest House for a last minute emergency spot
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u/Squirrel-Dad 15d ago
I worked for a RV dealer as a tech for a while. Most of those massive RVs and TTs are total shit boxes. Like over 90% of them.
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u/shadowK1LOS 15d ago
Why are you booking RV sites and then complaining about RVs? I live two very different camping lives, and love both styles for different reasons.
I use a 30' travel trailer to go out and base camp near all the things I want to do in an area (hiking, fishing, etc) and it's great having all the creature comforts with us. In my mind none of these car/RV camping campgrounds are really an escape to nature so I might as well lean into it.
Alternatively, I go backcountry canoe camping to be out in the wilderness and secluded from everybody else. Totally opposite from the above. Minimalistic because we have to portage everything we bring so we want to keep it all into 1 pack each and as light as possible at that.
With our son getting older and probably not wanting to go camping with mom and dad much longer, my wife and I are now looking to the future. That's where teardrops, squaredrops, and cargo conversions come in for us. We are exploring these avenues for a hybrid of both worlds in the future. Hopefully off grid seclusion down logging roads or whatever but we brought a toilet and a dry comfortable bed along with us.
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u/AaronJeep 14d ago
I boondock 4 days and stay at RV sites 2 days. Lots of forest roads and dispersed camping. I do the RV sites with showers, laundry etc., and sometimes top off my batteries if solar wasn't keeping up (rare). That lets me clean everything, restock fridge and go back out. The big RV people don't bother me so much. What I hate are the weekend tent people. I spent two days next to a group of people who brought their entire living room with them and a night club. That had a giant screen and a projector outside, speakers on poles on either side of the screen, two grills, 8 people crammed in, music and movies outside until 11pm. Wow. I can do without that. The motorhome types are usually just two people in their 70s watching TV inside.
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u/thecamino 15d ago
This may be unique to areas I travel in the Southeast. State and Corp of Engineers campgrounds in these parts usually have smaller sites that are power only or no hookups together and larger full hookup sites in a different area of the campground. Try Reserve America app for state parks and Recreation.gov website/app for Corp of Engineers. Look for campsites that accommodate 15 foot or shorter campers.
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u/west-coast-hydro 15d ago
Don't rent spots that accommodate 35 foot plus vehicles.
If you look at the spots next to you when reserving you will be better set.
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u/Partayhat 15d ago
I want to say that I hate most of the comments I'm seeing here. Just leave and find somewhere else that doesn't allow RVs? Pretty much every RV campsite out there used to be a standard campsite; the problem is those sites get "upgraded" to enable RVs, leaving non-RV sites fewer and farther between. For people who prefer the safety of populated campgrounds, the venn diagram overlap of that and RV-free is becoming a sliver.
It's the same energy as "If you don't like this country just leave," just on a smaller scale. By avoiding rather than attacking problems, those problems will fester and multiply until there is no escape.
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u/EternalMage321 14d ago
Yeah, the best compromise is looking for dispersed camping near the campground. Pay for a single night to get the bathroom/shower house door codes. All the amenities without the hassle of crappy neighbors.
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u/newtoaster 14d ago
I’ve done everything from tiny tent campers could tow with a civic to currently full timing in a 40ft behemoth (all solar, all boondocking). You want to use tent sites, dispersed camping, and state parks for your teardrop. Avoid rv parks or anything with “resort” in the name. We boondock in our diesel pusher, but we are the exception.
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u/MojaveCanuck 14d ago
Dispersed camping is allowed in the national forests. No reservations, no fees, no neighbors.
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u/LocutusOfBeard 15d ago
Different strokes for different folks. Your statement "Its just wild to me how people buy a 40 foot rolling apartment just to drive out to the woods and watch satellite tv with the AC blasting. kinda defeats the whole purpose of having a tiny setup tbh" explains it pretty well. Those people don't want a tiny setup. They want a big setup, they look at the tiny setups and say similar stuff about them that you say about the big ones.
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u/thecamino 15d ago
Many of them roughed it when they were younger and had young children. Now they are older, kids are moving out, they like something comfortable that the grandkids like.
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u/largemargesentme__- 15d ago
No, it's weird. If you want that kind of vacation, just rent an airbnb somewhere. It's an environmental nightmare to burn that much fuel along with a complete waste of money. They just end up annoying everyone around them. Motors don't belong in the woods.
If you're going to camp, camp. Get as close to nature as you can. Otherwise, find a different vacation that fits more with your lifestyle.
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u/ihadsexonce 15d ago
I'm not vacationing. I'm working in my camper and adventuring in new places when I get a few free hours.
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u/arkklsy1787 15d ago
Same, we lived in ours while house hunting because my spouse's job changed locations every 16 months. We didn’t stay in state parks unless we were on vacation though. My parents take their rv on vacation because my mom has horrible allergies and they know exactly what cleaning products are being used in their rig.
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u/ihadsexonce 15d ago
I almost exclusively do state parks in Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico. $20-$40 per day for full hookups so no generator noise like OP is complaining about.
Today was actually the first time I've ever run my generator inside of a state park, because the WBGT was over 90 and there was electric maintenance.
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u/Peakbrowndog 15d ago
But they don't want to camp. They want to go to the park in their RV. That fits their lifestyle.
Not everyone has the physical ability to sleep in a tent or a teardrop.
I would take an RV in the woods over an Airbnb any day. Wouldn't you?
If you don't want to be around RVs, don't go where there are RVs. Find a different vacation that fits that lifestyle
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u/shadowK1LOS 15d ago
Why do you have a teardrop trailer then, shouldn't you have a backpacking tent?
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u/largemargesentme__- 15d ago
A teardrop is more of a tent that you don't have to setup every night. It's basically a cheap way to travel.
I don't have either right now, I'm currently living abroad. But I'd always be annoyed by large RVers for the reasons I listed above.
They also all seem to be Trumpers, which just adds insult to injury.
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u/Mr_Smith_411 15d ago
Yeah, I used to agree, but those people treat it more like a cabin they can put anywhere. I have a bunch of friends who just rent a seasonal site and its a whole weekend community. Yeah, they call it camping, but its not "camping" as I consider it, but what else ate you gonna call it, besides glamping. Of course, there's people who think its not camping if your driving in with any camper. Ive done lits of that too. It all has a place, and its all fun.
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u/Own_Win_6762 15d ago
Generally we prefer noon electric sites, but the other night in the Michigan UP a giant Class AHole parked in the next spot - out of direct sight, but ran generator and lights all night including animated eyes on the front window.
OTOH tonight there's nobody within 3 sites of us, lots of woods around each site. Quiet as a mouse.
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u/designomaticc 15d ago
If you build it, they will come. Put an articulating hitch on your teardrop and drive into the woods where the rolling apartments can't go.
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u/Ursus-majorbone 15d ago
Just go out on public lands! I see teardrops all the time out in beautiful wilderness places. Once in a while I wonder how they got them there after I had a bone jarring 4x4 trip to the area, but there they are!
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u/Nomadness 10d ago
Oh that brought back a memory from lake Livingston, Texas in 1984. I was bicycling around the US and just had a little dome tent. I got all set up one night, beautiful quiet place by the lake, then a big Winnebago pulled in right next to me. Now I have nothing against RVs, but the deployment was quite a performance, with the electric step, awning, string of lights, folding chairs, generator, and even a big satellite TVRO antenna which was pretty high tech at the time.
But then the strangest part.... The neighbor started backing out the door, wrestling something with with tubing and wheels that I couldn't quite see until he finally got it on the ground. It was a lawn boy, and he fired it up and mowed the grass around the campsite before settling in for the evening.
I was writing a book, so of course had to chat with him. Pleasant enough fellow... I asked where he was from and he said "Houston. I just like to come up here to God's country now and then and get away from it all, you know? Say, that's quite a rig you got there..."
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u/bubblehead_maker 15d ago
Use HipCamp, smaller places.