The Truth About Crime and RV Living: Separating Fear from Facts

Welcome to Episode 549 of the RV Podcast. 

We've all seen the headlines and watched the dramatic YouTube videos warning about crime and danger in the RV lifestyle, but how much of this is actually based in reality? 

After receiving a deeply concerning email from a couple whose travel dreams were nearly crushed by sensationalized fear-mongering, we decided it was time to have an honest conversation about safety on the road. 

Today we're diving into the real statistics, separating the legitimate concerns from the manufactured panic that's keeping good people from living their dreams. 

Whether you're already on the road or still planning your escape, this episode will give you the facts you need to travel confidently and safely.

We’ll get into it in just a bit.

You can watch the video version from our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel by clicking the player below.

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RV NEWS OF THE WEEK

​New Florida KOA Shuttered by State’s Highway Plan​

Florida's KOA Holiday Campground in Panama City Beach is closing just over a year after opening because Florida plans to expand the nearby highway. The state purchased the KOA land through its power of eminent domain for the continuation of the U.S. Highway 98 expansion project, leaving the devastated KOA owners unsure of what is next.

​California Governor Vows Legal War as Senate Moves to Axe Controversial Emissions Waivers​

The RV Industry is carefully watching what happens to a bill that Senate Republicans just passed, and is expected to be signed by President Donald Trump, to revoke three vehicle emissions waivers created by California that aim to prohibit the sale of new gas powered vehicles by 2035, reduce tailpipe emissions from medium and heavy-duty vehicles, as well as limit smog pollution from trucks by creating stricter emissions standards. (The later rules would affect motor home sales in California and all states that follow California's waiver.) California's Governor has vowed to sue to keep the emissions in place, so the issue is far from over.

​Nature’s Finest! USA Today Reveals the 10 Best State Parks in America​

Everyone who loves a spectacular state park will want to check out USA Today's 10 Best State Parks! First place was New York's Letchworth State Park, second was Florida's Blue Spring State Park, third was Minnesota's Gooseberry Falls State Park, and fourth was one of our favorites, Michigan's Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park​.

​Utahraptor State Park Is Now Open for Adventure!​

Speaking of state parks, Utah's much-anticipated Utahraptor State Park is now officially open! The park has 67 campsites and is located 15 miles northwest of Moab National Park.

RV CONVERSATION OF THE WEEK

This week we're talking about crime and RV life because of a really troubling email we got from a couple. Their message shows just how damaging some of these sensationalized online stories can be.

The thing is, words matter. When content creators blow things out of proportion or focus only on the scary stuff, it really affects how people see things. You'll hear exactly what I mean when we share what this couple wrote to us – it shows how these fear-based stories can completely change someone's perspective, and not in a good way.

Here’s the email… it is long, so bear with us as we think this is something we really need to address in depth:

Hi Mike and Jenn,

My husband and I have watched several of your podcasts and RV reviews and would like to know your honest opinion on the safety of the RV Lifestyle. We are getting to the age where we are going to retire and find a new place to settle down. 

You see, we have lived out of the country for the past 20 years. We are originally from the US and moved overseas when we were in our 40s. Now, we're thinking it might be time to move back to America, but we're not sure where we want to settle, so we thought we'd buy a motorhome and live in it while we traveled the US looking for an area that was a good fit for us. 

We were all set. Yesterday we were preparing documentation for the sale of our property here. Last night I was watching a YouTube clip from a couple who ran into a dangerous situation, which they escaped from, but then I started reading comments and really became concerned at the amount and types of crime RVers experience in America. 

It sounds incredibly dangerous. I heard several messages from all the people commenting and YouTubing (I looked at more clips regarding RV crime). They amounted to the following:

• Don't talk to anyone asking you a question,
• Don't ever leave the motorhome after dark,
• Have a full security system covering the entire area outside the motorhome, have a huge security alarm horn,
• Carry weapons – lots of them,
• Never relax – always look like you are locked and loaded to avoid being a victim,
• Always be aware of what's happening around you,
• Don't talk to others,
• Never give any personal information,
• Never put on an exterior blind – always ensure you can drive away without exiting your motorhome,
• Women should never talk to anyone they don't know without their partner/husband present,
• Never trust a security guard,
• Have 911 on speed dial,
• Watch all vehicles that park near your van – if they make any move to get in front of or behind your vehicle leave immediately,
• Listen to your intuition very, very closely,
• Carry multiple cans of wasp spray and/or a pepperspray gun.

This is all pretty terrifying to contemplate and is making us reconsider being on the road. It sounds like there is not a decent night's sleep to be had! We were looking forward to seeing parts of the US we hadn't ever seen before, but it sounds like a really dangerous gamble. 

We'd really appreciate hearing from you with any thoughts you might have as we still would like to move back to the US to see friends and family, but might need to do it differently. If you could spare a moment we'd be ever so grateful. 

So, the basic question is – is it really that dangerous now? Will we be carrying firearms and walking around like a trooper on edge just to keep from being a target, seeing sights and scurrying off before darkness descends? Are we only safe in a campground and do we need to join clubs to ensure we only have “approved” safe people around us? This doesn't sound like fun at all!

Oh, if you could please not mention our names and location if you choose to address any of this online it would be greatly appreciated. We haven't divulged our plans to friends and family at this point.

Where to start. I guess first of all, we want to say after almost 15 years of doing the RV Lifestyle, that long list of dos and don’ts you have compiled is flat out WRONG. The RV Lifestyle is not like that at all and while we all – no matter where we are, in an RV or a car or in another country – all of us should be situationally aware.

But that list is mostly paranoia. The RV Lifestyle is very safe. Very safe. Yes, crime happens everywhere. In every country. But we can categorically say that there is actually LESS crime and LESS personal safety danger in a campground, or boondocking than there is anywhere else.

Your note really troubled us. We were so upset at the inaccurate impression you had that it rekindled our old journalism habits and we spent a lot of time this week researching the truth about crime and danger while RVing and Camping in America that we are going to do a multiday series on our RVLifestyle.com blog on this very topic, starting with today’s podcast. 

As journalists ourselves, we have to say that social media is filled with so many so-called “content creators” who exaggerate, sensationalize, and mislead people with their reports in an attempt to get more clicks, and more eyeballs and so they exploit anything they can to get attention.

In journalism, the old slogan was “If it Bleeds, It Leads.” Back when there were newspapers, those screaming headlines and sensationalism was to “sell papers.” That trend got worse when the Internet became a competitor and the result today is that what the media largely reports in America – and what passes for reporting by those “content creators” – is highly suspect, highly opinionated. highly biased and thus unreliable.

Here are some facts that might surprise you – despite what we see in the news, crime in the United States has been on a remarkable downward trend. In 2024, we saw some of the most dramatic crime reductions in decades:

• Homicides dropped by 16% compared to 2023, which translates to over 600 fewer murder victims
• Violent crime overall decreased by 10.3% in the first half of 2024
• Property crime fell by 13.1%, including significant drops in burglary and robbery
• Most crime categories are now at or below pre-pandemic levels

Now let us clearly note that there are political groups and factions out there that may dispute the accuracy of the FBI statistics and the whole issue of crime is so divisive and politicized that we hesitate to wade in. But those statistics from the FBI remain our most reliable indicator of what is happening, and they clearly show it is dropping. 

But let's get to what really matters for us RVers. The reality is pretty reassuring: RV-related crime is actually quite rare. Here's what the data tells us:

RV Parks Are Generally Safe Spaces

• RV theft is uncommon, and most RV thefts don't even happen at campgrounds. We’ve traveled 300,000 plus miles in over 14 years. We’re on the road half to ¾ of the time. And only once have we been victim of a theft and that was in a shopping center parking lot along Route 66 in Illinois. While we were eating dinner at a restaurant, someone broke into our RV and stole some camera gear. The thieves also broke into a couple of cars in the same row. That is the only incident we have experienced. The only one.
• Campgrounds tend to have a built-in “neighborhood watch” effect – fellow RVers look out for each other
• The RV community has traditionally been a welcoming, helpful bunch where the pop-up trailer parks happily next to the half-million-dollar motorhome

The Numbers Game

While specific RV crime statistics are hard to pin down (because thankfully, they're rare enough that they don't warrant their own category), experts estimate that your odds of being a crime victim while camping are roughly 1 in several thousand. You're actually statistically safer on the road or in a campground.

While rare, there have been some high-profile incidents that got the RV community's attention:

In 2024, the murders of James and Michelle Butler while beach camping in Texas drew massive and lurid media coverage. It was a terrible story. The couple were robbed and their RV stolen.

There was also a highway rest stop murder where a camper was killed by a deranged thief. 

Crime might make headlines, but millions of RVers are out there right now having safe, wonderful adventures. As we noted, the statistics show that both general crime and RV-specific incidents remain relatively rare, especially when you take basic safety precautions.

Look, we know that there are a lot of YouTube videos out there with screaming thumbnail headlines saying DANGER or SCARY in which various content creators tell stories about situations they experienced that they say caused them to worry about their safety. 

But watch them closely, listen to what they say. In most cases, you’ll detect a lot of exaggeration, a lot of guessing and a lot of alternate and more innocent explanations for what they are reporting. They’re trying to get clicks. Take what they say with a grain of salt and a healthy dose of skepticism.  

RV life remains one of the safer ways to travel and live. You're more likely to have issues with weather, mechanical problems, or that one campground neighbor who runs their generator too long than you are to encounter serious crime.

So, to our email writers scared about embracing the RV Lifestyle…come back home. Get that RV. Get out there and you will have incredible adventures. 

There is so much more we can say… and we will in our detailed blog reports. We’ll publish them one after another the rest of this week. And, yes, we’ll talk about crime in Walmart parking lots, we’ll talk about how to know what locations you should avoid, what personal security measures you should practice, and we’ll even talk about the wisdom of carrying firearms.

SOCIAL MEDIA BUZZ – Wendy Bowyer

Wendy Bowyer reports on the hot issues most talked about this past week on social media and our RV Lifestyle Community group.

The summer camping season has officially kicked off and it was so much fun seeing pictures of people out there camping last weekend on all of our platforms – be it the private RVLifestyle Community or the RVLifestyle Facebook Group.

And one post in our Facebook Group that basically attracted some 700 comments was from Gwen. Gwen wrote about an issue so many RVing couples can relate to – and that is the topic of backing a trailer of fifth wheel into a campsite and setting up camp.

In the post, Gwen shared a picture of her and her husband from May 18, 1972, the day he asked her to go steady. They are young, and in love, and so happy (and pretty darn cute!). And next to that picture, she shared one of her and her husband from today, more than 50 years later, and they still look in love and happy and pretty darn cute.

And she wrote:

“Ok, we're pretty new, but is it just us? Why is nobody talking about the arguments. … We've been through a lot y'all, but the stress during set up and tear down of this new RV might have me returning that ring. What is your advice? I've tried drinking already.”

Obviously Gwen has a great sense of humor and this post led to a wonderful discussion of how stressful the whole setup and teardown process can be for couples with the strongest relationship. And while so many RVers identified with Gwen and her husband, many also shared helpful tips I'd like to share with you.

1. Limit your daily driving time as much as possible. This will keep you from arriving at the campsite exhausted and more likely to lose your cool. We at the RVLifestyle always recommend the 330 rule – which is to drive no more than 330 miles a day, or stop by 3:30 pm local time. This rule ensures you get to your spot before dark, and you are not completely wiped out when you arrive.

2. Get walkie talkies for better communication when backing into a campsite. Forget the hand signals and yelling back and forth. Get walkie talkies so you can more easily communicate between the driver and the one giving directions. Gwen said she tried to do hand signals to help direct her husband when he was backing in their rig, and that was how a fight started. So just skip those and invest in walkie talkies.

3. Get a backup camera. This also helps immensely.

4. Always have a checklist. Write down what needs to be done to set up camp and break camp, and then assign duties. Many couples have the man do the outside jobs, the wife do the inside jobs, but do what is best for you and make sure each person knows his or her job.

5. Keep a sense of humor, which it sounds like Gwen already has!

6. Compliment each other on what went well. 

7. And finally, remember it gets easier with time! When you are new, you are still getting the hang of things. The more you do it, the better you get. The more your system is tweaked to work for you and it will get better.

RV QUESTION OF THE WEEK

QUESTION: Newbie question…Why do people put tire covers on their RV's? I've never covered the tires on my cars, trucks, or boats…. Just curious – Tom

ANSWER: The reason is that the people who make tire covers tell them that they will protect their tires against UV damage from the sun, or help prevent dry rot. The truth of the matter is that such protection is only needed if your tires are in one place, for a long time, not being moved and getting prolonged exposure. In my opinion, the only time you would need to do this is if the RV is unused for months on end.  I laugh when I see them used on RVs in campgrounds, RVs that will only be there a couple of days. Maybe their owners think the covers look good, I don't know. We tried tire covers once, a couple of years ago on our fifth wheel when it was going to be unused for a couple of months in the wintertime. I took them off two weeks later when I found a colony of mice had moved into one of the covers and somehow crawled in between the tire and the cover and made a cozy little nest. 

MIKE & JEN’S STORYTIME

A Malodorous Misadventure with Bo

So there we were, all packed up and ready for our big family moochdocking trip across the state. I had my camera rolling, doing my usual enthusiastic introduction for our YouTube channel, when I spotted Jennifer suddenly tapping on the window glass from the house and waving her arms like she was directing aircraft traffic. I thought maybe she'd seen a toppling tree or something.

When I looked to the side, I saw our beloved seventy-pound Norwegian Elkhound, Bo, discovering what could only be described as the motherlode of deer droppings on our front lawn.

And when I say “discovering,” I mean he was rolling in it like he'd found buried treasure. Which, from his perspective, I guess he had.

You know, when we named him Bo, we thought we were being clever. We had no idea we were accidentally creating the perfect acronym for his most prominent characteristic.

Body Odor. That's what BO really stood for in our household that day..

I'd read somewhere that dogs roll in smelly things because of ancient pack instincts. Something about communicating awesome discoveries to their wolf family.

Well, the only thing Bo was communicating to our pack was that we needed hazmat suits and possibly barf bags.

With soap and wash cloths, we went to work to de-poopify our furry disaster. An hour of scrubbing, shampooing, and questioning our life choices.

By the time we actually hit the road, we were way behind schedule. But at least Bo was clean and confined behind what we'd come to call “the Bo Barrier.”

This ingenious mesh contraption was our solution to Bo's insistence on squeezing his considerable bulk between the driver and passenger seats while we were driving.

Picture a seventy-pound dog trying to become one with a gear shift. It wasn't pretty, and it definitely wasn't safe.

Bo gave us the most pathetic, guilt-inducing stares through that mesh barrier, but we held strong. Safety first, hurt feelings second.

The trip itself was wonderful. Family time, great food, campfire stories under the stars. Bo even seemed to be on his best behavior, running around with the kids in the big backyard.

But then, just before sunset, as we were all gathered around the fire sharing stories, someone noticed Bo had wandered into the woods behind my son's house.

And that's when we heard it. The unmistakable sound of a large dog having the time of his life in something unspeakable.

There he was, doing his signature poop-rolling routine with even more enthusiasm than that morning. If there had been judges, he would've scored a perfect ten.

Twice. In one day. Our dog had managed to find deer droppings twice in completely different locations, hundreds of miles apart.

It was like he had some kind of supernatural poop-detection radar that we'd never noticed before.

Looking back on it now, we learned a valuable lesson about RV travel with pets.

Accept that your dog's ancient instincts will surface at the most inconvenient moments possible.

Because apparently, thousands of years of evolution have programmed dogs to think that rolling in poop is more important than maintaining social relationships with their humans.

But here's the thing – despite the extra cleaning, the delayed schedules, and the occasional need for nose plugs, we wouldn't trade our adventures with Bo for anything.

We realized that loving your pet means accepting their quirks, even when those quirks involve a twice-daily commitment to smelling like a barnyard.

SO WHAT’S THE MORAL? True love means accepting your pet's most disgusting habits while maintaining your sense of humor and a well-stocked supply of dog shampoo. Also, sometimes the simplest naming decisions have the most aromatic consequences. MAYBE WE SHOULD HAVE SPELLED BO’S NAME DIFFERENTLY.

Want to see the video we did on this trip? Click below: