Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray N
Hosting strangers for overnighting is a little too daring for me, but I think the idea of being willing to give advice and opinions to visitors is a wonderful idea. I know if anyone is passing through Northwest Florida I can give all sorts of advice on nice campgrounds, things to see and do, restaurants, etc. Maybe there would be enough interest for another string just dealing with people willing to give guidance to visitors?
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I have to agree with Ray on questioning/qualifying the idea.
First I am not a Grinch, and I have hosted visits by RV travelers from around the world at my home.
And, in the past several years I have invited 4-5 FGRV group members here to take advantage of my ample parking spaces, both to overnight as well as stay a few days while visiting SoCal, and that has always worked out fine.
However, about 5-7 years back, when my RV fleet was primarily Toyota mini-motorhomes, I listed myself on such a list, and found it lot more trouble and grief than we wanted to deal with.
Admittedly, being in SoCal makes free parking a big attraction as there is no WalMart parking, state parks and beaches are often full, and always expensive, and private RV parks can be out of site for fees and the local gendarmes will roust on-street parkers out in a NY minute.
And Yes, many did contact me weeks in advance and arranged for convenient arrival and departure times and were excellent and enjoyable guests but, seemingly more than not, I experienced the following:
1. No-shows; we would arrange our schedule and no one showed up or even bothered to call and cancel.
2. Off hour arrivals. I actually had someone knock at my door at 3am because they got "stuck in traffic" No calls, no nothing
3. Unwanted presents, meaning left behind trash.
4. Uninvited/unknown guests. As soon as the word was out, i.e., "Free Parking in SoCal", my address and phone number got copied to a number of what I would call "Freeloader" sites and all kinds of non-related Van and motorhome owners would call, or just show up, asking for a space for however long I could/would provide. At least twice I woke up in the morning and found unknown RVer's in my driveway, spending the night.
While I took my name off of about 5 lists (4 of which I didn't list on in the first place) at least 4 years ago, I was still getting occasional overnight parking requests until I just happened to disconnect my home phone about 6 months ago.
Soooo, if nothing else, never post your exact address or phone number, and insist that "Reservations" be made well in advance.