A Beginner’s Guide to Camping & Living the RV Life
When you decide to live full-time in a recreational vehicle or enjoy regular RV travel, you should understand what to expect from RV resorts and various types of available accommodations along your travels. There are different levels of RV resorts, RV parks and basic camping to consider. Let’s look at each type of place to stay in your RV, and how to keep your expectations in check — from glamping to roughing it to something in between.
Types of RV Resorts, RV Parks & Campgrounds
There are varying tiers of places you can stay during your RV journey. Some RV sites will offer lots of amenities and require less roughing it, such as at our Island Oaks RV Resort in Glen St. Mary near Jacksonville in northeast Florida.
RV Resorts
The most luxurious of the stops in your traveling home is an RV resort, AKA glamping, where you usually get plenty of amenities, including a swimming pool, free Wi-Fi, free trash pick-up, recreational options, and much more. It’s also common to find larger RV sites, parking spaces and room to roam at RV resorts like Island Oaks.
RV Parks
Found in the middle range of the RV site options, an RV park will likely offer some amenities, but not to the extent available at an RV resort. Often, you might have a swimming pool, but it’s more basic, and it doesn’t have the luxury resort feel. It’s more common at an RV park to have the basics, such as laundry services and bathroom/shower facilities.
Campgrounds
The most basic of options and the closest site experience to roughing it is a campground. While not all campgrounds are as primitive as others, this is the type of RV living that is closer to actual camping and natural settings. You might stay at a campground to gain access to a specific state park or national park.
Common Types of RV Spots or Campsites
There are three main types of spots you might come across at an RV resort, RV park, or campground:
- Full Hookup Site – This is the most common type of RV site at an RV resort. With a full hookup site, you will have complete electric, water, and sewer connections to enjoy. Many of these sites will even offer cable TV, telephone line hookups, and free Wi-Fi.
- Partial Hookup Sites – More commonly found at RV parks and campgrounds, partial hookup sites offer water and electricity, but they won’t offer any sewer connection. This is common at beachfront RV parks, state parks, county parks, and campgrounds. You will need to use a dump station (usually provided at the campground or park) when your tanks are full.
- Primitive Campsites – A primitive campsite will not offer any type of hookups. Occasionally, you might get water, but often, you get nothing, and the campground won’t have flushing toilets or showers, either. This is the truest form of roughing it along your RV journeys.
As you start traveling in your RV, keep these three types of sites in mind. You might not have the ability to use a primitive campsite due to your setup. It’s also important to know how long you can handle staying at RV sites that are not full hookup sites. Whichever option you choose, enjoy the experience and savor the memories made!
