I need a pep talk! How to Camp alone

You CAN do this! I travel alone. I'm 45 and single. I have had my 2005 T@b for a year. The first couple times I backed it up, I was surprised how easy it was. I can now back into my single wide S curve driveway without guide.

A great hint I learned here is to put your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel. Then move your hand in the direction you want the trailer to go. It works great. Do not turn the steering wheel too far. The short trailer needs just small adjustments. You could do a practice session in a parking lot with a couple orange cones, or coolers.

Another great hint from a friend; right before backing, get your trailer lined up in the direction you want it to go. As you pull forward right before backing, turn your steering wheel to "prime" your back up line. Often, it's opposite of what you started doing.

If you have someone to guide you, be sure you can see them in the drivers side mirror. Watch their directions, then turn and look over your right shoulder to see which way the trailer is turning. A couple times of this, you should learn the technique of backing, and will no longer need to look over your right shoulder.

I have taken "Otis" out 5 times, 3 without any help backing. The only time I need to get out and look, is to see if I need to go further back a few feet. 

Confidence! You can't learn without trying.

Sometimes I nail it, sometimes I spend 15 minutes doing it. The other night I was backing into my very narrow driveway with a car parked into the adjacent driveway spot (shared driveway in a brownstone) from a very narrow alley and my friend said he couldn't believe how good I was at backing up. I did it the next night after picking it up from being serviced and did it even better. In my mind, these were flukes, but it does get easier with practice.

I don't really care what people watching think. Each time I do it, I will only get better. Just go. If it takes you a half an hour, you will learn a lot. If people watch and laugh, who cares? You are more likely to get too many, "helper" to come and give you direction. Tell them to just indicate which direction the rear of the trailer needs to go. Don't let them tell you which way to cut the wheel or other things - it will just complicate things.

I recommend practicing with hitch and unhitch, too.  That's the hardest part and we JUST got our greased and worn enough so I can do it by myself now.  Im talking the coupler of the hitch, used to be way too tight for me.

I was so nervous taking ours by myself, too.  I actually checked out satellite photos of the campground and found our exact site so I could have a plan of how I wanted to line up to back in.  Then, very small adjustments and it went exactly where I wanted.  Beginners luck, but I was so excited!  After I unhooked, I decided I wanted it back about four feet and since I was on a level site, I just pulled it into place.  Another advantage of the T@b!  (I wouldn't do that without a helper if you are not level.)  Good luck!  

I wouldn't worry about it.  The others are right.  Practice.  If it makes you feel any better, on our first trip to Ohio from Gettysburg I planned out every stop.  I'm talking miles per gallon, where I could turn off with out having to back up, Google maps images, everything.  It was an amazing spreadsheet.  I finally realized that everyone at the campground has had to back up a first time as well.  Most people will be glad to help you.  Now I only look like I'm 1/2 drunk when I try to park.

"Remember you can move the tab easily by hand to line up with the hitch" <- If you are on an asphalt or concrete slab. If not, you can still (usually) wiggle it an inch or two to get it on the ball if you get the TV relatively close. <- Not meant to scare you :-)

Some gas stations have drainage troughs between the street and their parking lots.  If you try to pull straight across these, some of them are deep enough that you could drag the tongue jack.  I usually try to pull in at an angle and cross these dips very slowly.  There have been one or two that I bypassed because the drop was obviously too steep for the trailer.

When you are pulling into the station, just be sure there is plenty of room to pull through and exit.

Photomom, don't worry!  We have had ours just for a few months, and we are still very much in the OMG how do you back this thing into where I want to go.  It is somewhat of comedy routine with two dogs hanging out the window and my trying to get my husband to follow my instructions.  So far, we normally take 2 times to get T@Boo where we want her. So just keep smiling, you will get the hang of it.  The first night we had to drive 2 hours to our home, the wind was howling (~45-50 mph) and it was getting ready to snow.  It was the first time I had towed a "large" trailer.  I was nervous as well, but she handled like a dream!  No problems.  So don't worry, take your time and enjoy!

I bought two orange traffic cones at HomeDepot ($10 each).  Found a huge empty parking lot and placed the cones far apart and practiced backing in between the cones.  After a while, start moving the cones closer together.  Before you know it, you'll be able to back into a standard parking spot.  I now use the cones while boondocking in tight areas.  Much easier to see than green trees and green bushes.  Plus, I put them at the entry of my camp area when I leave with my TV.  Love those cones!

Oh, you guys so stick together, PXLated!    But we are taking her out to practice some more this week in the Gila Wilderness.  Hopefully the winds die down.

So, during my last camping trip, the couple next door were preparing to leave.  He's going to back up to the trailer while she gives directions.  

She says, "Roll your widow down so you can hear me."  
He says, "OK.  Let me know when I get close."
He starts to back up while she's yelling, "A little more!  A little more!"
Then there is a loud bang as he backs into the trailer, after which she yells, "Stop!"

Me?  I duck behind the truck and die laughing. That was not the end of the rodeo, but it was the funniest part.

ericnliz, that is the reason I try to graciously decline any help when I'm backing.  I'm not real good at it, but adequate.  "Help" just confuses me.  Switching places with the same result? Yeah, too funny.  Thanks for the laugh.

18 years - bout time you got your wings isn't it :-)

But the only math that counts is altimiter steady or positive = good. Negative = bad (unless landing of course) :-)

My math isn't great and I fly jets for a living. That's why we have calculators.