Under 50

[hermanmullins]

Joe,

There are so many factor involved in selecting a location to hold an FMCA National Reunion (aka Rally). East coast is great for the eastern half, but bad for the western half. West coast is good for the western half but bad for the eastern half. Mid America is ideal for both East and West. 

In finding a location many consideration must be met. Room to park one to two thousand coaches. Building space for 150 to 200 plus vendors. Rooms for 10 to 20 seminars. Place for 2 to 4 thousand people for entertainment. Caterers , and the list goes on and on. 

Local area eating places. Medical Facilities, Honey wagon service plus potable water sources.

A location that I really like is Gillette, Wyoming. We will be going there in 2018 if I remember correctly. Great place for Families. To the West is Yellowstone NP and to the East is Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Go South you have Denver and don't forget Colorado Springs for the Olympic Training Facility and the Air Force Academy.

When we go there next would be a great time to take a long vacation and make that trip.

Thanks for listening to an ole man rattle on.

Herman 

[jleamont]

Herman, after I wrote it it dawned on me how big it was. So with that being said locations will be very limited.

Thank you for listening to a rally inexperienced person rattle on. 

That trip does sound like a good one. So there is electric, potable water truck and honey wagon? Extra charge for that service is?

[manholt]

There are a lot of young families that RV, most are not affiliated with a club like GS or FMCA....so, young Joe, it is up to you and others to get the one's in coaches, to join FMCA.  Now, if you, JohnJill and Keon/Hayes get together, why not start forming another chapter?  I know, we have the under 60 taskforce, but that's not the answer...don't put a age limit on it, young or  old, with kids or grandkids, that like to travel and do things together, that is of interest to the grownups and the kids!

Carl (no kids)

[patriot44]

On 5/19/2014 at 9:28 PM, JohnJill said:

Yes I am inquiring if there is or can be a branch of the association for member under 50. We are a family of 3) 6yr old girl,8 yr old boy and a 10yr old boy, located in McKinney TX north of Dallas.

We are fortunate to be in our 40s and be able to have this type of lifestyle. We were in Marble Falls over the weekend to where there was a Tiffin rally at the resort we were in. With that being said all of the member were all retired or close to it.

While I always enjoy talking and getting more knowledge from my elders, I would like to be able to meet other families that have the same interests as ours, being able for our kids to meet other kids and experience things on their on level.

Thank You for your time.

John Swanner

 

 After reading this whole thread, there's some good stuff.   But, I agree with you John. We joined Family Motorcoach Association a year and a half ago when we got our coach, and would love to be able to network with some families of similar age,  that enjoy the RVing, living on the road lifestyle. My wife and I are in our early 30s, with two young sons,  and it seems most people we meet through FMCA  or on the road for that matter are much older.   Like you, I understand the demographic of most coach owners,  and very much respect their knowledge.  As our sons grow up though,  it would be nice to connect with families of similar interest.   And I feel like the Association was formed with families in mind. 

 

Lance 

[manholt]

Lance.  Since you are in your 30's, you are toda'ys norm!  When FMCA and Good Sam was formed, the age group then was in their 50's+ and that was the norm!

We had mostly white collar, RV owners and the mind set that mom did not work.  In your generation, high tech and .com rules and a lot more $$$ to be made at an earlier age, as long as you have the right education, than back in the 1960-1980 era! 

When FMCA was founded, most "RV campgrounds" were pastures...no hook ups!  Like everything, it evolved over time...That is one of the main reasons that we want to expand the Constitution and By laws as written in 1971, it's too restrictive, with no wiggle room for 2016. 

Carl

[hayesfamily]

On 11/11/2016 at 1:26 PM, patriot44 said:

 

 After reading this whole thread, there's some good stuff.   But, I agree with you John. We joined Family Motorcoach Association a year and a half ago when we got our coach, and would love to be able to network with some families of similar age,  that enjoy the RVing, living on the road lifestyle. My wife and I are in our early 30s, with two young sons,  and it seems most people we meet through FMCA  or on the road for that matter are much older.   Like you, I understand the demographic of most coach owners,  and very much respect their knowledge.  As our sons grow up though,  it would be nice to connect with families of similar interest.   And I feel like the Association was formed with families in mind. 

 

Lance 

Lance I am Keon from Baltimore and welcome to this form post. 

We are not far from you and there are other folks in our age range that live in the east coast/North/MID Atlantic side of the world that travel with children. The best way I have found folks to hang with and get ideas was in the travel section and i think the Lets Meet Up section is whats its called.

I am making a habit to include our travel plans in that section hoping that people would be in areas where we could get together even if its just for dinner and a family movie at the local theater near by.

Unlike most families with children we are super flexible because our children are college age (Daughter in LA going to school and A son who really isnt the Son just got dropped off and never left) and our baby is home schooled (8 year old boy). So we have the advantage of vacation anytime with lots of flexibility. So say if you were going to the Shenandoah Mountains the second we in July and we were going the 3rd, My plans are usually very flexible provided we know enough in advance that the DW can move vacation. We would be ok with an impromptu rally somewhere with families.     

There are others here that are in our same boat and I am super open to talks of another chapter geared for our age group as parents with school age children and family dynamic with grandparent privileges to include EVERYBODY.  

[4downings]

I know that I am a little behind on this thread. We are a family of 4 who have been RV'ing for 10 years in a Class A. Our kids are now 13 & 10 and we are in our 40's. I am finding that the groups are mainly older people and that's fine, but we need a group for the younger members. We are in the Phoenix, AZ area with a lot of retiree's. I joined hoping to meet other families that wanted to travel. When we called several they told us we would be best to keep looking. We are only limited by the school calendar otherwise, we can work on the road. I know that several of the groups claim that they don't have an age restriction, but when events are geared toward "knitting, casinos etc." that isn't something the kids are interested in or not age appropriate. Why isn't there a group? I looked at the Yahoo group, they have 5 members and haven't said a peep on that website since Nov 2016. Anyone else out there in the Southwest area of the country with kids?

Thanks for reading!

[casuall454]

Like so many others, I am "younger" (soon to be 50) and have joined FMCA chapters, however these chapters traditionally had activities tailored to the more tenured members. No solution is perfect however, one of my Chapters elected a few new officers for 2017 this has resulted in several positive changes. The most telling was identification of dates so working members could schedule time off work. Although not all dates had locations or even hosts, just this subtle positive change has increased attendance at chapter rallies. Just seeing increased attendance, is a great thing !!

[jleamont]

4downings, Welcome to the FMCA forum!

We are in a similar situation, I am 45 wife is 47, kids are 15 and 17. We struggle to find families especially with motorhomes. We are mostly weekend warriors and 3 weeks a year vacation trips someplace farther from home.

Keon above is close to us in MD, meeting up with him and his family in two weeks, where are you located?

[hermanmullins]

Joe, try and Keon,

Thank you all for continuing the spirit of FMCA. It was families like the three of you that was the beginning of FMCA. Who knows, you'll could start a new chapter in your area for weekend warriors.

Enjoy, 

Herman 

[jleamont]

1 minute ago, hermanmullins said:

Joe, try and Keon,

Thank you all for continuing the spirit of FMCA. It was families like the three of you that was the beginning of FMCA. Who knows, you'll could start a new chapter in your area for weekend warriors.

Enjoy, 

Herman 

Herman, that was going to be a topic of discussion

[hermanmullins]

FYI, there are so many things Chapters do. Some only have 1 or 2 rallies a year. Some are in an area where they may meet for lunch or have dinners at different members home once a month. The possibilities are endless. If you need help starting a Chapter you can contact your AVP (Area Vice President).I am not sure which one is in your area but it could be either Bill Mallory Eastern Area Vice President (bmalloryfmca.com) or Tom Ziobrowski Northeast Area Vice President (tziobrowski@fmca.com). Or I will be happy to help in any way I can.

Herman

[jleamont]

Ok, thank you!!

[4downings]

We are located in Arizona. A little far from you. LOL   I just joined some facebook pages in our area. Hoping that will help. Who knows, maybe we could get more people to sign up.

[jleamont]

3 minutes ago, 4downings said:

We are located in Arizona. A little far from you. LOL   I just joined some facebook pages in our area. Hoping that will help. Who knows, maybe we could get more people to sign up.

Just a tad bit of a distance issue

[hayesfamily]

Does a chapter have to be "Regional" or can it be broad in the sense that anyone anywhere can join?  The reason I am asking is because it would be really nice to split the country and half and have a chapter covering west of the Mississippi and one covering East. This way it allows for families that only get 7 to 8 days of vacation some Regional options versus trying to get people from the west coast to come all the way over East and vice versa. 

I am like Jleamont, weekends are our thing as we try to camp 2 weekends out of the month. We will do 2 nice 10 days a year and sneak off for a quick 5 to 7 day if we can. 

My situation with children differs from most because we homeschool. So places like Disney is an option during non peak times but the summer is when most people my age (37) with school age children can travel with education not being interrupted.  We are willing to explore options during the summer as well. 

 I would like to do a fun week with a bunch of of families with children during the summer even if central Florida is the choice of destination. Between International Blvd, 192 in Kissimmee, Cape Canaveral, the beach, Tampa ... Disney wouldn't have to be an option. AND prices are ok. 

It seems that most folk on here are from the mid Atlantic area and South (could be wrong) so places like New Orleans would be awesome, for those who like northern climates Niagara Falls is awesome for children and families with reasonable prices campgrounds. 

Cedar Point is an awesome getaway option from what I'm told. I also think Mount Rushmore is a possibility for families but that's far for those in the south east to do a week their. 

Everything that I have mentioned would be the type of Journeys people can take that would not be three and four day drives. Even if someone came from Florida let's say to Niagara Falls you're looking at leaving bright and early Saturday morning and getting into Niagara Falls late Sunday to turn around and do it again the very next weekend in reverse.

[wolfe10]

Keon,

Absolutely, there are chapters that are not tied into any one geographical area.  They are called International Chapters by FMCA.

So, they are more tired to common interests than to geographic areas. 

And, certainly they could have sub-chapters or events in one area one time and another area next time.  We have done that for many years with the Diesel RV Club. It is an International Chapter.  Last Rally was in Arizona.  Next one in Indiana.

[manholt]

Joe.  Any of us would be more than happy to help, give you ideas, anything fits in FMCA.  That might be the reason you have not found any chapters in PA. Time to think out of the box.  You and Keon have on a small scale started something, get in touch with AZ, sure 1,800 miles away, but that's how INTO's are formed.  Casual is in Ohio!  Go for it guy's!

Carl

[nmeremianin]

Just read through this thread, Although I am not under 50, I am 56, my DW is 46 we have a 10 year old daughter, I certainly feel like I am under 50! My little girl keeps me young! lol.

Anyway, we joined FMCA in September at the Hershey RV Show, in 2015 we bought our 2015 Precept 36UN.  We are not full timers, get out whenever we can, our family loves to camp.

It would be a great addition to the FMCA if there was a group who camped with their kids. I tried to start a  forum for members who have children under 20, without much success-- doesn't seem like there is much interest in this demographic within the FMCA. Only a few replied. Some great idea's in this thread. I tried to find a Facebook group for FMCA members who travel with kids. I have to admit, it's a little disappointing.

 

[hermanmullins]

Keep at it you may be the start of something big.

Herman 

[manholt]

Quote

 

Send a PM to Joe Leamound,  he's 45 with 3 women!  You only have 2.  Joe lives in PA., close to you.

[mcfarland5travel2019]

Hope you have not given up!! We are a under "50" and travel with 3 kids and dogs.. there are other that we have met along t he way.. 

[jleamont]

5 hours ago, Mcfarland5travel2019 said:

Hope you have not given up!! We are a under "50" and travel with 3 kids and dogs.. there are other that we have met along t he way.. 

 Nope, he hasn’t given up. I keep in touch with Nick. He just purchased his first DP. And he’s been out several times in it.