Who would a landowner contact about hosting caravans?

[FrozenTundra]

I'm a landowner in North Wisconsin who's been following Bob for years.  I love to travel and live out of my vehicle, and I'm often away from home for work as a Union tradesman.  

I've got a beautiful rural property on Lake Superior near public beaches and wilderness areas.  Lately I've been entertaining the possibility of hosting a small caravan of nomads as a way of supporting the community and try to do some good for people.  

However, there are obvious problems with inviting strangers from the internet to camp on your property.  It'd have to be the right group of people.    I believe this would require vetted, responsible individual(s) that could act as "camp host(s)", so to speak, in order to keep the peace and ensure ethical and responsible behavior.  

I've heard Bob talk about the problems with finding cheap places to camp in the Eastern States.  Free and legal vehicle dwelling isn't as easy around the South Shore of Lake Superior as it is out West.  Under the right circumstances, I could see being able to facilitate places to stay and community connections for a not insignificant amount of nomads over the course of years or even decades.  

Do cheapRVliving.com or any of Bob's affiliations provide an infrastructure for accomplishing something like this?  Who would I speak to about how to arrange and implement such an endeavor?  

I imagine Bob is prohibitively busy, and endlessly besieged by masses of people trying to contact him, but I'd like to speak with somebody I can trust.  Somebody who has been centrally or authoritatively involved  with the caravan communities would be ideal.  It's a big commitment--one that could incur liability on multiple levels of analysis-- but there exists great potential enrich people's lives, develop longstanding friendships, and perhaps even get other members of the localcommunity here on board if things go well.  

I would appreciate any advice.

 

[rvwandering]

I think Suanne is the person you should contact. Here is the webpage with information on her and the other organizers:   https://www.meetup.com/Caravans/messages/archive/
You'll have to sign up on Meetup to contact them.  It sounds like your property would be a wonderful gathering spot!

 

[kaBLOOnie Boonster]

Another practical approach to getting a higher caliber of visitor/camper is to charge a small fee.  I've seen that technique serve as a "miracle drug" in camping areas.

 

[BeachHouse]

I too am a land owner (a small hobby farmstead in Florida) and have some second hand experience with this.
My area is quite popular with motorcycle enthusiasts who are some of the absolute best people you'd ever meet (much the same as mobile-lifestyle folks). The owner of the acreage next door is an older biker type guy who used to open his parcel for other bikers to camp on during the annual "Bike Week" festival (when hotels charge outrageous prices). He did this for many years and loved it but a couple years ago, due to another year with a few too many bad apples and strange faces, he was forced to change from a 'come as you are' type affair to a private, invite only deal. He wound up having to tell old friends 'no' and it was hard.

Bikers (like mobile-lifestyle folks) are overwhelmingly good, trustworthy people but you have to be clear-eyed about reality. By virtue of the lifestyle, there's an unfortunately high number of fringe-elements not running to freedom, but running away from society... meaning, perhaps anti-social, perhaps mentally ill, perhaps untrustworthy, etc.

Based on what I've seen (and the stories he's told me), you might want to keep something like this somewhat exclusive. Referral only. Find good people and only allow campers who are referred by good people. This isn't to say that you won't occasionally have an issue here or there but throwing it open to 'the public' absolutely guarantees you will have issues, potentially severe ones whereas referrals have the age-old, tried and true formula of social proof to keep things healthy and balanced.

 

[travelaround]

I agree, it is a good idea to charge a small fee and keep track of the ones that don't clean up after themselves, and don't allow them back the following year..

 

[Gr8ful]

f it's your land & you charge a fee you might want to check your insuurance as then it turns into a for ptofit instead of a few friends stopped by type thing.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

I would speak with an attorney about charging $$$ as an "undesirable filter." You may be shooting yourself in the foot.
"Park at your own risk" may be enough of a thing in your state but be damned sure.

Once a bone gets broken and medical bills hit, when you make 8K a year, friends or not...
(How much before someone loses face and sues? Anyone else removed their rose lenses yet?)

I think that about covers it.

Yes yes, I know how evil and deflating this sounds...but so is losing what you worked for to some opportunistic loser...
(...and the nomadic ranks are generously sprinkled with lawsuit-funded individuals who are already down with the process.)

 

[FrozenTundra]

I too am a land owner (a small hobby farmstead in Florida) and have some second hand experience with this.

........................................

This is precisely my line of thinking.  The problems you outline are the reason we can't have nice things.  I've seen it from my time in the adventure motorcycle community; I've seen it from my experience with the shooting sports communities at public venues; I see it every time I go to the public beach and have to pick up trash.  I would hazard a guess that less than 5% of people usually account for over 90% of the problems.  

I'm not interested in dealing with the general public on an open basis, and I'm definitely not interested in running any sort of payment based campground. From what I saw of the caravans when I was out West earlier this spring, I think there must be some way to identify ethically well-adjusted members of these types of communities and offer them an opportunity to operate on the honor system.  

It's probably also necessary to identify individuals with both good judgement AND who are willing to take responsibility for making authoritative decisions if/when problems arise.  They could be formally appointed to speak on behalf of a landowner who is either absent, or simply doesn't want the hassle.   

 

[wagoneer]

You might attend an RTR and base your opinions on the people that you meet, RTR's happen in January.

 

[FrozenTundra]

I would speak with an attorney about charging $$$ as an "undesirable filter."

...........................
I've certainly considered this.  Fortunately, Wisconsin has some strong laws that protect landowners from incurring liability by allowing people to recreate on their property.  It stems, I think, from our strong hunting, fishing, and outdoor sports traditions.   

 

[highdesertranger]

Frozen Tundra your light blue font is unreadable on my computer. I don't know about others but I can't read it. highdesertranger

 

[FrozenTundra]

Frozen Tundra your light blue font is unreadable on my computer.  I don't know about others but I can't read it.  highdesertranger

Sorry, I'm using my mobile phone and don't see a provision to edit the color.  

The color text was just a copy of the quote I was responding to.  Upon further examination, I see how the quote function works differently that I had assumed on my Android phone.  Perhaps this will work better.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

Yeah, its better now.

 

[Ella1]

You might consider using an accident waiver and release of liability form for people you invite or allow to use your land in such a manner. It might give you some protection. It might not.
google accident waiver and release of liability form

 

[JD GUMBEE]

google accident waiver and release of liability form

...THEN, pay a real LAWYER to tell you your risks and how the protections available can best serve you.

The law is not something you bet real assets against via "Google."

Too many loopholes state to state.

Besides, you cannot pull Google out of their bed naked @ 3AM for a blanket party based on bad advice.

 

[travelaround]

If you want to collect a fee but not for profit, it could be a donation fee for HOWA, the non-profit charity associated with this website. (Homes on Wheels Alliance)

 

[Cammalu]

Great idea about howa

 

[highdesertranger]

I was told by a Lawyer that a release of liability or accident waiver or whatever you want to call it. doesn't protect you from anything, in fact the lawyers love it because she said it proves that you knew there were issues and they would use it against you, for knowingly not dealing with the issues. she said it was like the statement they put on the back of baseball tickets saying the organization is not responsible if you get beaned with a foul ball. she said that a good lawyer would use that against the organization and win every time.

mind you I am not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV. so do your homework.

highdesertranger

 

[JD GUMBEE]

HDR mobile courthouse and morgue
Instant Legally Binding Resolutions for Less.
^^^
It sells, right?
Come on...it SELLS!!

 

[FrozenTundra]

Besides, you cannot pull Google out of their bed naked @ 3AM for a blanket party based on bad advice.

Wow, what state do you live in?  They let you get away with that?  You guys must have the most polite, considerate, and ethical lawyers in the country.  LoL