Customer Reviews

Over the Next Hill : An Ethnography of Rving Seniors in North America

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a newcomer to the world of RV's I found this book both interesting and disquieting. Many of my intial observations as I moved through RV parks in the West last fall were confirmed. Others were better understood. But better yet, for a retired engineer, they were quantified. How do I compare to others in age, money, marital status? Are my thoughts as I select a park similar to others? How many people travel with dog and/or cats? How much does it cost?

It also helps me understand what motivates people who stay at Quartzite or the Slabs. (Cultural/societal phenomenons that are hard to believe.) It draws clearer pictures of the aging couples I see and what brought them to where they are. It also shows where they're going in their life. It describes "trailer trash" in loving terms.

In other words, its a study of retirement and eventually death. Its uniqueness is that it focus on RVers, specifically the fulltimers.

The scholarly style may put some readers off but in my opinion, if you are thinking of selling the farm and fulltiming, you need this book before you buy that 40 foot motorhome. Or if you just want to head south in the winter, or camp by the lake near home you should have this book to understand the people around you. And even if you don't plan to have an RV ever, this will tell you about retired life, maybe more than you realy want to know.

I finally understand why I want to be an RVer! The book was informative and the subject matter was thoroughly investigated. I'm passing the book around to my children so they will understand why their crazy Mom wants to hit the road as a Senior RVer.

I felt that this book was too dated to be of much use. Apparently much of the research took place 10-15 years ago and I must think that there have been significant changes in RVing in the elapsed time.