Thor Forums

[Mike in AZ]

Originally Posted by Joe-FL

I only use RA during the day for breaks. I have slept in rest areas but not in an RV. The few times we have decided to use a Walmart for an overnight stop I check it out in advance. I use google earth to check the surrounding area along with crimereport.com. The Walmart has to be close to the interstate and of course allow RV overnight parking.

Here are some things to think about when deciding to spend the night in your RV. What if when you got ready to go in the morning there was an issue, like you had a flat, your RV would not start. Could a service truck get to you in a busy rest area? If you were broke down for the day, would you want to be stuck in a rural interstate rest area, or in a city Walmart? During the night what if you needed police or other emergency services? I would venture to guess their response would be 20 to 30 minutes at a rural rest area, whereas probably under 10 minutes at a city Walmart.

Even when we were full timing we stayed in CG's most of the time. For us, after a long day on the road it was always nice to have everything set up for the night and be able to relax and get a perfect nights sleep. However, there are a lot of folks that enjoy longer days on the road and get a kick out of dry camping in many different places, including rest areas. I guess you just have to try different ways and see what works best for you.

Thanks, those really are things to think about.