When we decided to live full time in an RV and travel the southern United States, we knew that we would have a challenge finding new friends. Being digital nomads meant that we would be away from our friends for months, and the thought of only talking to each other for that amount of time was frightening. We knew we’d have to be proactive in finding others to talk with, but we weren’t sure where to start until we got on the road. When we started, we had two questions: How would we get fulfilling social interactions? And how would we meet people when we weren’t going to be in locations for very long?
What we found is, by using a few simple strategies, we were often able to meet way more people than we ever expected. While we were on the road and since returning back to Arizona, we’ve even been able to keep in contact with a number of the new friends we had made. If you’re lonely living on the road right now, or are holding yourself back from a nomadic lifestyle because you think it will be too isolating, today’s tips are meant to help you put yourself in the right position to meet new people while living a roaming lifestyle.
Stay in the Right Spots
Something we discovered in our travels is how being in the right spot can help you meet new people more quickly. When living on the road in an RV, RV parks and campgrounds are a great bet because they are usually set up to help facilitate people meeting. There are often tables and fire rings at each spot, which means that people are going to be hanging outside their units. There are also common facilities, like playgrounds, pools, trails, and laundry rooms where you are more likely to cross paths with others. If you’re feeling isolated by living in an RV, staying at a park with more common facilities will help you start to connect with others living on the road. Smile, say hi, or ask a stranger a question, and you’ll be amazed at how often you’ll end up in a great conversation.
If you are a digital nomad who isn’t living in an RV, it’s still important to find the right places to stay to meet people. Hostels can be a great way to meet others who are young and traveling, but they can also be distracting party scenes if you need to work during the day. A better option could be Airbnb, specifically hosts that offer multiple rooms in the same house. By finding homes that have multiple rooms listed, you have an opportunity to not only meet your host (who are hopefully great), but also their other guests. The key is to look at the host’s profile and see if they seem like someone your personality could click with. It’s not a certainty that you’ll make new friends, but hopefully you’ll at least find someone with whom you can have good conversation over a cup of coffee or before settling in for the night.
Offer or Ask for Help
When you’ve lived in an RV for a while, you know that things almost constantly need to be fixed. Moving from location to location is essentially taking your home through an earthquake, so it makes sense that things shift and break. It’s not uncommon for an RV-er to pull in to their space and do a quick check of the exterior and appliances, and possibly make a couple small fixes. While everyone hopes that the fixes are small, on occasion there are some larger fixes that need to happen. These are an ideal time to meet people.
On one of our stops, we had some trouble with our refrigerator. The fix was an easy one, just a leveling issue, but we weren’t experienced enough to know how to get the fridge running. We started asking people who were staying around us and quickly met a few other couples. We all were staying in this location for about a week, so we found ourselves having dinner together, going on sight-seeing trips together, and even meeting up with some of them later in our journey. And it all started by asking them for help. Whether you are the one needing help, or the one who can offer an extra hand, working together with your RV neighbors will help you make new connections and hopefully a couple new friends.
If you’re staying at a hostel or Airbnb, look for ways you can ask for help or help others. Examples could be asking for recommendations for places to visit in the area, asking where you should go next, or offering to help with a chore you see being done (like doing the dishes). In general, people like to help and be helped, so look for opportunities to start a conversation by asking or offering to help around your accommodations.
Look for Activity Calendars
During our time on the road, we stayed at a lot of RV parks and campgrounds in state or national parks. In previous travels, I have stayed at a number of hostels. One thing all these locations have in common was that they all have activity calendars. These activities are a great way to meet others who are traveling for a few days, a few weeks, or on the road full time.
From card games and book clubs to nature hikes, happy hours, and pot lucks, organized activities are a great for connecting with others. It might feel intimidating to go join a group of people who look like they’ve known each other for years, but chances are they just recently met. Even if they have known each other for years, never once did I meet a group of people who weren’t open to having me join their activity. And remember, age is just a number. Even if you’re 20 years older than the college students at the hostel or 30 years younger than the retirees at the RV park, dive in to an activity and you are bound to make some new friends.
Watch Social Media Tags
The final tip on this list is aimed at the more social media savvy. We were able to make some great new friends on our trip by watching hashtags and location tags on social media platforms, specifically Instagram. Before we started our RV adventure, I had started following the hashtags #RVLiving, #RVLife, and #FullTimers on Instagram to learn about other young couples and families who were already living the lifestyle. These tags not only helped us get tips for living on the road, but they also helped us find new places to go and people to meet.
One time this worked really well was when we were in Florida. To be social media safe, I had been posting our location a day after we left a location. When I started tagging Everglades National Park, I noticed that another couple I followed on Instagram was also tagging the park. I sent them a private message and found out that they were also tagging after they left, but were headed in the same direction we were. We kept in touch and about a week later we found out that not only were we at the same Florida State Park, but we were parked right next to each other. We spent an awesome night getting to know them and hearing how another couple in their 30s ended up living on the road. It was one of the best nights we had on the road, and we still keep in contact with these new friends.
If you are living on the road, make sure to use technology to see who else is in your area. While it won’t always work out logistically to meet up with others (the nomadic lifestyle does tend to indicate that people move frequently), the times that it does work to meet up can pull you through until the next time you make a new friend.
Living on the road can be isolating and lonely, but with a few proactive steps, you can make it social and fun. There were many times that I compared the friendships we made to my summer camp friends from childhood. Through social media, texts, and emails, you can maintain and strengthen the friendships you create while living on the road.
Until next time, I’m the Domestic CEO, helping you love your home.
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