When we were driving the RV to Iron River, Wisconsin for a lovely weeklong stay on their lake, there was a heck of an accident as we came into the little village. It involved a large delivery truck and a small passenger car. The truck was turned over on its side and the car was off the road on the opposite roadside. There were 2 ambulances and 2 police cars assisting the injured occupants. The woman passenger had been placed on a stretcher and they were trying to cut the metal around the driver to get him out. While we were checking into our campground, the owner said she had just received a call from the police saying a visiting couple had been injured and were being transported to a hospital. They had been staying at this campground in their RV. Apparently, their car had simply pulled out in front of the truck. The truck driver had tried to avoid them, but ended up turned over after swerving hard and hitting them anyway. Two days later, a couple staying over night here said the man had returned to his RV. His wife was injured worse than he was and she remained in the hospital. They said, "he just seemed to need to talk about it, but still seemed to be pretty shook up".

This caused us to do some thinking about how anyone would know where our RV and pet, a tiny Yorkshire Terrier named Derringer, were staying if something like that happened to us. In the past, I have always filled out campground registrations, listing only the RV and it's tag number. The forms usually just require a vehicle tag number and State of registration. From now on we'll use the Tracker toad tag number. This way, at least police could find out where we are staying. The tow bar and out of State plates should be enough of a statement saying we are RVers, probably staying at a local RV park. Still, we travel by toad so far away from the park, we need something else to let authorities know where our home is and who to notify if something goes very wrong. From now on, we will let our daughter and son-in-law know: exactly where we are going to be (or are) staying, the name of the campground and its' telephone number. We're going to laminate a little note attached to the dashboard of the Tracker toad stating who we are, who to notify in case of emergency and that there is an unattended pet in our home. We will also carry a copy of the same card in our wallets. It just makes sense to do so.

We truly like the nomadic, few responsibilities, fulltiming lifestyle. However, having nobody that can tell authorities where we're staying is just going too far for our safety. Our telephone answering and voice messaging service won't help much if we can't dial it, or change the message we answer it with. Neither would the address of our mail forwarding service, provided by Escapees in Livingston Texas, assist authorities in determining much about us, although they do have the past addresses we forwarded our mail to. We usually call Escapees the first chance we get when we arrive in a new campground or town and have them forward our mail, care of General Delivery. Unless we are moving the RV or just arrived, Escapees knows what town we are closest to. If you think that might really help, what authority might think of or know to call Escapees? Would it become known eventually? Probably, but a lot of critical time could have passed, even if they did eventually find us through our mail forwarding service. Everything we carry on us or in the RV lists that address as well as all bank accounts and check/credit cards. Our vehicle registrations and drivers licenses would point authorities to Clearwater, Florida where the vehicles and our driver's license say we are from, no help there, but delays would occur thinking the address is correct. From Clearwater Florida we left Livingston, Texas as our forwarding address and new home. During all our research and planning for fulltime RVing, only one person mentioned this problem or solution. They printed a new card everywhere they went and carried it on a chain around their neck. We thought then and still do that was extreme. We never gave it another thought, until now.

Before putting all our household goods in storage and departing on our fulltime RV life, we purchased a fire proof document storage container. It's stored under the rear bed and would keep the documents stored there safe in the event of the worst actually happening. We also closed out our safety deposit box and transferred all documents to our little on-board, fireproof, key locked safe. After reviewing the situation, we find that almost everything in it is appropriate, except we have our wills stored there. That is a definite mistake. We will package them up and forward them to our Daughter for safekeeping. We will retain a notarized copy for our own records, in the unthinkable event one of us needs them.

About a year ago, we learned there had been a trailer abandoned at a campground. The RV owners were paid up for the week when one day they simply didn't return. The park owners left the RV on the site for about a month. After that, they had a locksmith open it and they put away everything outside, rolled up the awning, disconnected the utilities and moved it to their storage area. That had been the year before and it still sat in storage. One has to assume there was a valid State license tag on the RV and that authorities could have tracked down the owners. While it is still possible the owners just packed up and abandoned their trailer, I now have some doubt. It is entirely possible something happened to them and their heirs didn't know where the RV was, or for that matter, what city or town they were staying closest to.

Still, you'd think somebody could put two and two together, find out the status of the RV owners and actually locate them, but who knows? With that and other campgrounds offering a 10% discount for cash payment, they might not even have used a credit card within 400 miles of the park they were staying at. If they had changed every documented address to their mail forwarding service, as we did, including vehicle insurance, then just how are the authorities going to find the RV if they had gone sightseeing 75 miles away from it? If this was the case, we're fairly sure heirs and relatives could have been located and notified. We're no longer sure the RV would be. If the last will and testaments were also in the RV, along with vehicle titles, deeds and investment documentation that could get sticky for a probate court and their wishes may or may not have been carried out as they planned. For all we know, somewhere on that RV may be documentation the family and heirs desperately need but have no idea it's stored in the RV or where the RV is.

Our advice is to make sure your mail forwarding provider keeps available whom to notify in the event of an emergency and the address and name needs to be kept current. If authorities don't recognize the mail address, as being that of a mail forwarding service and simply send a letter, would it eventually get to an administrator at the mail forwarding service? Would it go into the personal mailbox or bin, which would no longer be called upon for forwarding? What could potentially happen to an authority's request for information from the post office, credit card companies, insurance companies and banking institutions? We're not sure, but we think some steps are reasonable to take on our own to make sure problems don't occur.

The little laminated cards we carry in our wallets and affixed to the dashboard of our tow vehicle also contain medical insurance information in the event that is necessary. We sent our daughter a complete listing of all documentation that might become important. It includes: vehicle title, registration and license numbers, credit/check cards, investment, checking and savings account numbers, insurance carriers and policy numbers as well as all medical insurance information and retirement accounts. In the event it became necessary, she can arrange for our pet Yorkshire Terrier (Derringer) to be cared for and arrange for the temporary storage of our RV home, through our RV insurance. She even knows where a hidden key for the RV door is kept. These steps may seem excessive and we certainly hope they are. However, we no longer wish to take the chance. Certainly, all RVers have different circumstances and the actions and planning results would differ. However, taking a few minutes thinking it over and deciding on an individual course of action might be appropriate. Our little laminated cards have printed on the front, in very bold type:

The reverse side reads much like shown below. This way the little card must be removed from the dashboard to be read. Consequently, our emergency contact can't be called by someone with extraordinary eyesight or by someone providing maintenance service to the vehicle.

"We are Mel & Susan Chaney, SSN 123-456-7890 & 654-78-8765. We are on extended vacation in our RV, which is probably located in a campground within 50 miles of here. The RV Florida license plate number is 555MEL. In case of an emergency please contact John and Jane Doe at 888-555-1234. They are aware of where our RV and unattended pet are located and have the telephone number of the campground. Please notify the campground of the emergency, in the event we are unable to do so. We both have full medical insurance with Insurance of Fiction Medical. Our policy number is 1234567890. It can be confirmed by calling 888-555-3456. "

If you would like to comment on this article, or to make further recommendations, please feel free to contact us via Email at melchaney@dts.net

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