This Community Doesn’t Require an Address

Escapees RV Club creates connections on the road

By Andrea Agardy

There’s something romantic about packing up a recreational vehicle and hitting the road in search of adventure. As exciting as the possibilities of miles of open highway can be, however, the yearning for community is always there.

That’s where Escapees RV Club comes in. Headquartered in Livingston, Escapees offers many programs and services to its 35,000 member families, including discounts, safety seminars, social gatherings, mail forwarding and more.

In the 1970s Joe and Kay Peterson, an electrician and a nurse crisscrossed the country with their kids in a 26-foot Airstream trailer. They befriended other RVers as they traveled from job to job, and nearly everyone they met shared the loneliness that can come with life on the road. So the Petersons decided to do something.

Building a Community

“Kay and Joe really poured their hearts into forming this community,” says Georgianne Austin, Escapees RV Club communications director. “It really meant a lot to them and really enriched their lives.”

Kay Peterson began writing a newsletter, sharing what she’d learned about other families and announcing plans to meet up again. The publication became so popular that on July 4, 1978, the Petersons made it official, and Escapees RV Club was born.

“Community really is an important piece of the RV lifestyle, especially for those who are travelers full time,” says Travis Carr, the Petersons’ grandson, and current Escapees president. “It’s great seeing all these beautiful places, but at some point, you still want to sit down around a campfire and chat with somebody.”

SKPs, as club members call themselves, are now a diverse group from all over North America. Some spend a few weekends a year traveling, while others have made RVs their permanent homes. The majority of SKPs are retirees, but as working remotely becomes more convenient, younger folks are getting involved in the club, working full-time jobs and even raising families on the road.

Education

Making sure RVers have the knowledge they need to stay safe is one of Escapees RV Club’s core tenets. The club routinely shares vital information through a variety of means, including its website, bimonthly magazine and programs like RVers Boot Camp.

The three-day, in-person boot camps are especially helpful for new RVers. As tiny homes on wheels, RVs have water, sewer, electrical, and ventilation systems that require routine care and repairs. RVers can save themselves time and money by learning how to take care of those things themselves.

“Boot camp helps people get a better understanding of what those systems are so they aren’t so scary when you’re looking at it for the first time,” Austin says.

The boot camps are also social occasions, giving attendees a chance to meet and form friendships that can last for decades.

“You walk away with more than slideshows and notes,” Austin says. “You actually have these relationships you can later lean on if you run into a question on the road.”

The boot camps are so popular that the club has taken the concept and made it mobile.

“Inspired by that, we have RVers Online University, which takes all that content, plus a new course about how to become a full-time RVer, and puts it into an online university format,” Carr says. “It’s a robust education platform that will walk RVers through that content.”

Making Life on the Road More Manageable

While RVers enjoy the freedom of coming and going when they please, there are responsibilities that need tending to, no matter where you call home. Escapees helps its members with those things, too.

For example, the club operates the largest privately owned mail service in the country. Escapees can provide legal addresses for members who live in their RVs year-round so they can get their mail and have a legal address for their driver’s licenses and voter registration.

“We become that domicile for them,” Carr says. “It becomes their legal residency. Once the mail comes to us, they can set up a schedule and let us know as they move around the country where they want that mail to be sent to, and we send it their way.”

Escapees also helps connect its members with jobs on the road, as well as discounts for services like insurance, tires, and more. The club is a vocal advocate for the RV community on issues like voting rights, taxes, and motor vehicle laws, among others.

“The benefits and the opportunities that we offer ultimately are about supporting RVers. When people feel supported, they feel like they’re part of something, and that’s where the community comes up,” Austin says.

“We were founded on the idea of keeping RVers connected and supported by each other, and we’ve grown into a club where we offer a lot of benefits and services that help strengthen that safety net and support network,” she says.

Getting Together

The club hosts dozens of get-togethers each year, ranging from its national rally named Escapade — slated for July 18-23 in Rock Springs, Wyoming — to smaller events catered to more specific interests and casual gatherings.

“You’ll hear people say RVers are the nicest people in the world, and it’s really true,” says Carr, who has spent many years of his own life traveling the country. “It’s such a unique bond. We have something in common, and that brings us together. I think it’s the passion for gaining new experience. We’re all chasing freedom and adventure, sharing stories and learning where’s the next best place to go.”