I was about three months into my vagabonding life (way back in 2016) when I realized that the whole basis of camping is about trust. I was staying at a small campground just off a secondary road that got a fair amount of traffic. I thought to myself, for the first time, what keeps people from just pulling over and taking everything I have, or whatever they can fit in their car?
What keeps them from doing that? Most people are honest and decent and wouldn’t even think of taking something that doesn’t belong to them. They are people who respect property and privacy whether it’s their next-door neighbors or a camper just passing through their town.
I had my rental house broken into in 2014, the first time I’d ever been burglarized in 38 years of adult life. The thieves took every electronic thing they could find. It was devastating and I was paranoid about safety for months. Everything eventually got replaced (rental insurance is worth it) and life went on.
Two years later, I moved into a tiny trailer, and literally everything I owned was either in that trailer or the Subaru towing it around. It was a scary thought that someone could steal everything I had in one go. My first few campgrounds, I was a wreck, putting everything inside the trailer before I went anywhere. I had a wheel lock, two hitch locks, and a tracking device. No one was gonna take my stuff.
And then, after a while, I relaxed. Campsite theft of anything is rare. I’ve never heard of it at a campsite I’ve been at and I’ve not had anything of mine stolen. At Death Valley, I left all the windows open during the day while I was off exploring and it was all there when I got back. The farther away I was from urban areas, the safer I felt. No one is going to drive a couple hundred miles to the middle of Death Valley or Nowhere, New Mexico to jack my laptop. Or my trailer.
Now, I leave my trailer (with a good hitch lock) and my chair and popup shelter and go off for hours to see the sights, visit friends, or just do some laundry. And when I come back, it’s all still there. I trust people to do the right thing. 30,000 miles, 219 campgrounds in 37 states and 5 provinces, and I haven’t been disappointed yet.
(Full disclosure: The only camper I’ve met who lost anything had their trailer battery stolen when the rig was parked in their front yard in Portland, Oregon. Also, most crime rates have decreased in the last 35 years. The crime rate for burglary in 1980 was 1,684 incidents per 100,000 people and by 2014, it was 534 incidents per 100,000 people, a decrease of more than 50%)
Stop overthinking. You’re only creating problems that aren’t there.
Anonymous
I had an electric frying pan stolen off a picnic table in a campground in the 1976. But nothing since. 🙂
Me too! This is actually the only time we heard about campground theft. We usually camp during the “off season” and are surrounded by older folks (like us). It’s generally a very nice community. We leave our “stuff” and never give it a second thought.
I can recommend Spot trackers, I have used them for years and they are very reliable. It may not be the most economical solution if you are not full-timing though, so I would suggest investigating some that would let you pay/use monthly in that case.
Annie, what tracker do you use? Can I ask? We want one and I have not yer done any research. (We have no Tim Hortons!)
Based on the excellent research you have done in the past (and from which we benefited) I’m interested to know what you chose.
Jeanne
Thanks, Laura! I do believe most people are good, honest, and kind. I could be wrong, but I don’t like to think so.
I have the wheel lock at home, I don’t carry it. I use the Proven Industries hitch lock, and if I’m feeling very nervous, I put the CM wheels on. I use a tracker, yes, partly because it sends a message daily to a family member with the trailer’s GPS coordinates. There is the whole aspect of personal safety and trust, which I didn’t go into in this post.
Oh, that is so sad, Jamie, that someone felt the need to invade a campground that way, it feels like such a violation of personal space to have something stolen. I’m thankful this kind of behavior is rare, rather than normal.
I like this and I think it’s for the most part true. Glad you feel that way.
Thanks so much for your insight on this topic! I find myself flipping between letting go and freaking out. Finding that peace is much tougher for me than it is for my partner, who is perhaps a bit more relaxed than I am 🙂 Your post gives me much to think about.
Curious, as this has crossed my mind during our short experience thus far (still in the learning to be Zen about camping, perhaps): do you ever worry about leaving your camper to go exploring, and returning to find the camper gone as well?
We have the same solid hitch lock that you do. Do you still deploy the wheel lock or the tracker, or have you relaxed on those as well? Please feel free to pm – maybe that isn’t something to ask in a public place?
Thanks again!
We have never lost anything from a campsite but we do know it happens occasionally. We have friends who were hosts at Cataloochee Campground in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. They told us of a thief who went on a spree and walked through multiple campsites picking up odds and ends. The thief took a nice chair from our friends and a pair of shoes from their neighbor. The shoes had the owners orthotics inside so it was a double whammy.
Thanks Annie for that very reassuring comments.
We just arrive (june) from a 3 months trip around south west USA and you confirm that we think about the safety in camping.