RV Etiquette That Might Seem Strange to Outsiders

The weird unwritten rules of RV life

We’re approaching our 2 year anniversary of RV living and it’s second nature to us now. But when we were first doing our research and embarked on our RV adventure, we quickly found out some unwritten dos and don’ts. Here’s the RV etiquette that might seem weird to outsiders.

Don’t knock on someone’s door unless there’s an emergency or someone is dying.

Knocking on doors is considered rude and intrusive. You’re supposed to wait until someone is outside and then approach them. Or, if their windows or doors are propped open, a friendly greeting to alert them to your presence is OK.

Don’t walk through people’s sites.

It’s their yard. Even if they are “renting” it for a week or two, for the time they are there, it’s their yard, don’t walk through it. It could make people feel unsafe, or you could be disturbing their dogs, or sometimes people put up decorations that could be a tripping hazard. Your best bet, walk only in public areas.

Don’t leave your laundry sitting for long periods of time in the laundry room.

It’s inconsiderate to the people waiting to use the machines after you if you leave your stuff sitting there. They either have to waste their time waiting for you to come back or they have to make the decision to touch your laundry and move it out of the machine. If you don’t stay with your laundry the whole time, then set a timer on your phone so you know when to be back to remove your clothing in a timely manner.

Don’t go inside someone else’s RV.

Obviously, if you’re invited, it’s OK. But generally, people chit chat outside. RVs are small enough, there’s usually not enough room inside for entertaining. Plus, it’s an invasion of privacy.

Don’t empty your black tank during dinner time.

RVs have waste tanks for their toilets and once they are full, the sewage must be emptied. But as you can imagine, there might be some smells that aren’t so pleasant. And lots of people in RV life like to cook and eat outside. So, try to empty your black tanks only in the morning or evenings, but not when people are trying to eat. That’s just gross.

Don’t disturb quiet hours.

Every RV park has quiet hours, usually sometime around 11:00PM to 7:00AM. Music has to be turned off, no loud conversations outside, etc. It’s a time for everyone to settle down and sleep. Nothing angers your neighbors more than getting woken up in the middle of the night by unwanted noise. RV walls are paper thin, so yes, we can hear you.

Don’t ask why the RV is rocking.

This is probably self-explanatory, but if the RV is rocking it’s because we’re… doing laundry. *wink* Just move it along, and pretend like you don’t see anything.

Don’t leave all your outside lights on all night long.

This one can be controversial but for the most part, people appreciate it when you turn your porch lights and other outside lights off when quiet hours begin. We always have our blinds down at night, so other people’s lights never bother us. But everyone always complains about lights at night, so your best bet is to just turn them off.

Don’t decorate your yard with pineapples and flamingos, unless it’s intentional.

Also, don’t decorate your golf cart with colorful loofah sponges, unless it’s intentional. I’ll just let you Google these. Apparently it’s a secret language intended to communicate certain things to people who are “in the know”.

That’s what we’ve learned so far. What do you think about these unwritten rules? If you’re also an RV-goer, tell me any rules that I missed.

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