New Forum. European Community RVers

[Camlee]

Is there any chance that a new forum be created
(say, under "IRV2 Community")where we "Jonhny Foreigners" might post questions which are specific to the troubles we might come up against having decided we want to do a bit of this RVing lark.

Could name it something (boring) like...
RVing for EC Members.

[Camlee]

Is there any chance that a new forum be created
(say, under "IRV2 Community")where we "Jonhny Foreigners" might post questions which are specific to the troubles we might come up against having decided we want to do a bit of this RVing lark.

Could name it something (boring) like...
RVing for EC Members.

[FatDog]

Cam
I'll pass this on to BigGuy,..
..but I'll tell you, I myself would certainly like to hear some of what you guys have to go thru. So like I said, this request has now been passed on... but let us flatlanders in on some of your fun too

( And one other thing, i actually thought about you the other day as i paused for a second considering whether or not to post something in the General Section here ... Good Job on the effort shown in the Russian Sub rescue!. The logistics and effort shown in that successful endeavor was impressive world wide. )

now,... back to the Euro-RV question. Do you think there could be a lot of interest amongst you fellers over there?? Are there a lot of RV'rs on that side of the drink?

Mike

[Doris]

I'd be very interested in your views on camping. My son lives in Ireland, and his in-laws were aghast at the thought that we were "gypsies". Talking with several Irishmen while over there visiting, no one can believe we'd "want" to go camping (as opposed to having to, because we were homeless). I don't think they can quite figure us out.

[Camlee]

Doris



After answering this question I think I'm going to have to apply for Political Asylum.

First impressions might make you translate into USA speak as follows


Gypsy - Fulltimer.
New Age Traveller - Workamper.
Camper - RVer

but you might get into a bit of trouble.


Let talk stereotypically here...

On this side of the pond...

The word Gypsy now seems to be used as a derogatory term. It implies anti-social behaviour, thievery etc. In Ireland, the stereotypical Gypsy is a horse trader ( oh, and enjoys bare knuckle fighting).

New Age Travellers.

Perceived as Drop-Outs, Tree-Hugging, Flower-Powered extreme environmentalists etc.


It is no wonder then that the in-laws were upset when they found out what sort of family their beloved child had married into.


Should I join witness protection or should I just find somewhere in Montana to hide out?????


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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> no one can believe we'd "want" to go camping </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Ah..Brits and their holidays. I thought everyone knew that the ideal holiday for a Brit was to go to the sea-side, place a knotted handkerchief on his head and walk along the beach eating soggy fish and chips. Oh, and for excercise, visit the amusement arcades.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/ilove/year...holiday100.jpg

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The last time I did any RVing (per-se) was about 27 years ago when I lived in my camper-van (a converted Bedfor Pickup) for 8 months whilst living in Antibes, Cote D'Azur, France. Since then, I've only ever camped on holiday.

[Doris]

Oh, you are too funny! Yes, gypsy was the word they used, when our son told them we had an RV. When we were over there, several "gypsies" were pointed out to us. we aren't gypsies, but we tried to get her dad to come this summer and go camping with Gil, to several historical places (he and Gil both love history), he, un, was too busy.<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ukrver:

The word Gypsy now seems to be used as a derogatory term. It implies anti-social behaviour, thievery etc. In Ireland, the stereotypical Gypsy is a horse trader ( oh, and enjoys bare knuckle fighting). </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[George Miklas]

Cam,

Do you have RVers in the UK who sleep overnight in parking lots?

If so, do the local law enforcement kick them out? or are they allowed to remain if not a nuisance?

George

[Camlee]

Hi George.

I'm not really the best person to ask. In the last thirty years, I've only ever gone camping and before that I lived in a converted Bedford van for 8 months whilst based in Antibes, south of france.

The concept of RVing in this county does not appear to be as widespread as it is in the USA. In fact I'm not even sure we have a word or phrase for it (maybe "Caravaning"). When you do travel down the road you are most likely to see people hauling TT's, Caravans to us. (These people are also known as "Shed Draggers" ). I don't think I've ever seen a Class A on our roads, and never a 5er. I have seen (our version of) Class C's and some Class B's.

So as to whether one is likely to be rousted by the Police, I can only make an educated guess based upon what I've experienced and the fact that I once was a copper in the Met.Police.

Provided you aren't parking on somebody's home property and it doesn't look as if you were setting up camp, then for getting a few hours sleep I doubt whether you would get hassled.

Our offices are on a small industrial estate. I'm sure that if you parked up here for a few hours no-one would mind in the least (Oh unless you blocked the entrance to the fire station ).

[Hitchhiker]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ukrver:
Is there any chance that a new forum be created </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Cam,

Thanks for the question.

We've taken a look around the Internet looking at the big forums, sites with 50,000 plus members. Most of the successful large forums have 20 to 30 forums, we currently have nearly 60. It looks like over time we have diluted ourselves and instead of creating more posts, we may have lowered our numbers because people only go directly to a forum and miss topics that they may have posted in if only they had seen them. We have concerns that this may have negatively impacted our growth. There have been boards explode with members once they reach that 10,000 member level and iRV2 seems to have floundered along with a mediocre growth rate.

We've started looking at each forum to see if we can consolidate some of the related ones and currently have no plans to add new ones at this time. As long as a forum is active, it may be in our best interest to leave it alone. Each will be evaluated for effectiveness.

These contemplated changes will evolve over time and will gradually be worked in as our administrative team ponders the value and merit of each.

We thank you for posting your suggestions and input. Hopefully I have cleared up the question about why we aren't adding an European Forum.