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Most of us are used to the comments we get from people, mostly older women, who are amazed that we are driving trailers or motorhomes by ourselves. They say, "All by YOURSELF??"

I was in a commercial campground laundromat in Montana and had gone through the "All by yourself" comments, when one woman said, "You are SO lucky!" Meaning I was lucky to be doing this alone. She said her husband had bought a 5th wheel a few months ago and two months ago they had set off for their long trip. She said it was the worst two months in 38 years of marriage! Did not get details, but it was funny.

One of my favorites was at a dump station in Alaska with the camper and the guy asking how I got stuck with that chore! I should have asked if he'd like to do it for me! Add owning a Slingshot to that and you get even more comments! Do you drive that? Must be your turn today. Couldn't believe it when they told me that belonged to a woman! You aren't what I expected. I think we could all write a book, but I'm not as nice as Judy and would title it Dumb Things People Have Said.

I can SO relate and I am not even on the road yet! When I tell people what I am planning to do, I get that "All by yourself??" comment, or "isn't that dangerous". Just last night I was talking to a neighbor (male) about my plans and he was shocked! He told me that was really daring of me! Some women say "good for you!". Last week I had, "you are gonna drive an RV by yourself?" I told them the cats aren't allowed to drive.

I got the same thing when I bought my boat years ago too. No one could believe that a young, single female could buy, let alone drive, her own boat! I bought it because when I asked my dad's friend if I could use his 16 ft boat, he told me it was too big for me to handle and I should have my dad with me (I was 25 years old), so I went out and bought a brand new 20 ft boat and parked it at the dock next to his little beat up runabout! Ha! You should have seen the look on his face when he found out it was mine! I loved it!

Great responses, Barbie, especially the one about the cats!!! I hope you literally drove circles around your neighbor and his boat on the lake!

I have no idea where people come up with the idea that driving a big vehicle or a boat is somehow related to gender. Duh! I tell people my biggest handicap is really my height because I cannot easily reach some things.

I did once get an apology from a man for offering to help me set up my rig. As I pulled in, got out, and headed to the utility cabinet, the guy next to me jumped up and asked if I needed help hooking up to utilities. I said thanks but I can handle it.

A couple of days later, when he found out I had been RVing, oh maybe a couple of thousand days longer than he had, he apologized and said he had offered to help because I was an older woman and figured I must need help.

While you are at it, check out this description of Bertha Benz and how she borrowed her husband's experimental car and took it for a 66 mile drive to her mother's house to advertise the horseless carriage. https://strongwomeninhistory.com/2021/04/01/bertha-benz-the-woman-who-taught-us-how-to-drive/

My funniest encounter, after the fact, was having a woman approach me at a park and tell me I wasn't allowed near her husband. Only a hussy would be on my own, obviously looking for a man. My mouth dropped open. I admit I told the office, but the best part was when I was at the whirlpool and talking to people there, I told a few and discovered I had just talked to her husband lolol. I made sure my doors were locked that night. But all of them were amazed I was traveling alone..

In Florida around Daytona bike week, I had all bikers camping near me. When I was hooking up my toad, I got a huge audience. All the bikers, not the women. After they kept talking I asked them the shush and they could watch. Turns out their wives were watching from a distance because they were sure this would be too hard for them to do. Well, 5 minutes later, from start to finish, they ask came over in amazement. But most of the women said, well, ok, but you won't get me touching the dump.

Women are not alone getting strange comments/accusations! My Mel was brought in and questioned, as a young sailor, because he saved his $ and bought a brand new Jaguar XKE. After all, any young sailor who had a new Jag, must either have stolen it, or be into illegal activities. right? He had to prove it was HIS $$ that paid gor his beautiful car!
Velda

I had a lovely site on the water at Inks Lake in Texas. No neighbors, many open sites. A family with 8 (!) kids parked next to me. The next day the Mom asked, wasn’t I lonely? LOL, nope! Guess they thot they were doing me a favor.

Went to an Escapade with the Skp. I was the chairman of the Solo chapter at the time, so had a table near the registration desk. A woman was talking to me about our chapter. A man came up wondering what were talking about. The woman grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him away saying “yo don’t want to know”.
Another time on a commercial caravan, several of us went the laundromat while stopped. As women do we began talking to others there. They were fascinated with our stories. Then one woman piped up and said “but who drives your rigs?”
Lyn

Lyn, that's truly funny (who drives the rig)! I would love to know your comeback!
Velda

MandysMom wrote:Lyn, that's truly funny (who drives the rig)! I would love to know your comeback!
Velda

I've been asked that, too. One of my dogs was sitting in the driver's seat one time I was asked and I simply pointed to him. Lol

I drove a large class A motorhome and towed my SUV. I got asked countless times if I was alone. Then came the statement "You are so Brave". Yes, yes I am. After multiple times of that being said I was definitely irritated. My new answer was "what makes me brave but not your husband?" Because I am a woman, dont need a penis to drive an RV last I heard. It is all a learning curve. None of us were born knowing how to drive or haul a trailer, boat etc. I had rv's my entire adult life. Had a pickup and camper, towed my boat, had a Class C towed a small car, Class B, worked my way up to a small Class A, then finally when I was living in mine while on assignment bought a large Class A and towed my SUV. My personal thinking is everyone who rv's, man or woman, should be able to drive the rig in an emergency. Hook everything up including the car so they can get home or somewhere safe. When Laura flew down to drive back with me from Nevada she learned quickly how to hook up the car, she already knew the other systems just not the toad. She would do one side and I would do the other. Then I would double check everything ha ha as I should even when I hooked it up alone.

Like it would be easy to hire someone to drive our rigs from place to place and then disappear while we camped alone???? Where do you think we would find such a person, even if we wanted to?? And by the way, just this June, I was headed to my son's house, and he was on his way home from work, so he ended up following me for a couple of miles on a two-lane road. He said he was surprised I drove as fast as normal traffic because he had figured I drove really slowly, like maybe 35 MPH.

Also, one of my good friends, who while well educated, could not bear to be alone after she got divorced and found a new husband within a year, asked me how long it took me to do "all the hookups." Like a lot of women, i think she thought this was a really difficult and time-consuming task, so I did two short videos for her. One was of me pulling the electric cord out of my motorhome and plugging it into the electrical box--Maybe 20 seconds?? The second was of me getting my water hose out of the storage bay, hooking one end up to the motorhome and the other end up to the campsite faucet--maybe a whole minute?

When she got them, her response was "Oh."

You know, at least we are beyond the stage when we were advised to put a pair of men's shoes outside our RV so people will think we are not alone. Anyone who has stayed in a campground or RV park knows in 30 seconds that if a woman gets out of the drivers seat and does the hookups, that she alone!!

Based on just my observations, I think the ratio of older women traveling in RVs alone to older men doing that is about 3 to 1. Maybe even 4 to 1.