The Three C’s of Motorhome Living: Communication, Cooperation, and Consideration

Posted: January 18th, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Camping Tips, RV Camping | Tags: , , , | No Comments »

by Laura Weaver

When we decided to “motorhome it”, we weren’t quite sure what we were getting ourselves into.  Of course, the allure of traveling and the excitement of our adventures were first and foremost in our minds.  However, we had never camped before and weren’t quite sure of what to expect during our first extended road trip.  In fact, we had a “Plan B” to fall back on just in case things didn’t work out for us.

I guess first and foremost, the thing you need to keep in mind when spending so much time in a motorhome is the fact that you are sharing this experience, as well as the limited space, with your traveling companion.  It is imperative that you are able to communicate, cooperate, and consider this person.

Our morning routine is a “song and dance” of sorts; taking turns using the water, the facilities and the space.  Our movements and habits need to be carefully choreographed in order to stay in sync with each other.  I carefully time turning on the water in the sink to put in my contact lenses while he lathers in the shower with the water off.  He opens the medicine chest for his grooming items as I brush my teeth, leaning over the bathroom sink.  He reaches up to get his clothing out of the overhead cupboards while I bend low, retrieving mine from the bottom ones. We have everything timed perfectly.
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However, there have been times when things didn’t run as smoothly…especially in the beginning when we were still learning how to communicate, cooperate, and coordinate our actions.  One particular event stands out in my mind (and probably always will).  Just about everything that could possibly go wrong, did.

We had been on the road for several days before staying at a beautiful campground in upstate New York.  Even though there were not many campers that night because of freezing weather conditions, we were all given sites in the same area, so were camping side-by-side.

My husband arose early, choosing to use the campground’s heated shower/bathhouse in order to not disturb me and let me sleep a little longer.  Besides, because it was literally freezing, our water supply source froze overnight, so he was waiting for the weather to heat up so we could use our own water.  Unfortunately, the weather didn’t heat up quickly enough.

When I awoke, I decided to bathe in our own shower because our little dog badly needed a bath and it’s easier for me to bathe her in our shower at the same time I’m bathing.  I flipped the water pump switch on so I could use our reserve tank, as well as the water heater switch.  My husband informed me that we needed to dump after my shower because our tanks were pretty full and we weren’t certain we’d be at a campground that had the sewer hook-up at our next stop.


As I finish bathing our little dog, I noticed water not going down the shower drain, covering my ankles.  I call to my husband to 1) grab a towel and start drying off our wet dog, and 2) release a little of the gray water into the sewer drain because the gray water tank is too full and I still need to bathe.  Since my husband doesn’t answer me, I step outside the shower stall, grab a towel for the dog and walk into the living area, dripping wet.  To my surprise, my husband had opened all of our shades and blinds, including the drapes which cover our windshield.  Then I see him, animatedly talking with our neighbor.  He happens to look up into our motorhome via the windshield, as does our neighbor.  Imagine my humiliation as our neighbor starts to wave to me, realizes I’m totally naked, then pretends he doesn’t see me.  YIKES!

Needless to say, my husband quickly comes to my rescue, apologizing profusely and promising to never open the window coverings again without my knowledge.  As he goes outside to take care of our overflowing gray tank, I hop back into the shower only to run out of water…our freshwater tank is empty.  I trek to the shower house, literally shaking from the cold, to complete my shower.  Realizing I left the water heater turned on in the motorhome without any water, I race back as quickly as I can.  Luckily, no damage there was done, although I’m surprised considering the way the morning has gone so far.

After this disastrous event, my husband and I had our “talk”.  It was from this mishap that we set up the three “C’s”:  communication, cooperation, and consideration.  Motorhome living has been smooth sailing ever since!

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