A Tipping Point: Xscapers Annual Bash 2019
To say that this year’s Xscapers Annual Bash was epic would be an understatement.
This year’s Annual Bash was beyond anything any of us could imagine. Even when we started planning ten months prior, we didn’t fully understand what it would become. It has surpassed what the original founders and attendees imagined four years ago during that original January gathering. This year’s Bash became a showcase of what Xscapers is and what it will be.
It was a tipping point.
Our New Home
We found a great new home with welcoming hosts in Lake Havasu. As we upped our game, we required more manpower. Around 50 volunteers pitched in to get it ready. This included striping the parking lot with over 300 pull through spots to make arrival day a breeze. The line of rigs never got past four or five before we had them safely tucked away in their cozy spots. Registration was handled with a team of volunteers that quickly made sure attendees received a swag bag and a booklet of the week’s activities. In the end, we had over 500 attendees show up for the week!
Don't Miss out on the fun!
Not knowing about a Convergence shouldn’t be the reason you don’t attend one. Be the first to learn about new Xscapers updates and Convergences.
Sunday got the educational part of the week going, with some discussions on boondocking and saving water while we were dry camping. This was followed by the one of the many presentations and seminars that would highlight the week. The afternoon was a great for hanging out while listening to some relaxing, low-key music from fellow RVers with a bloody mary in hand. All the while, the kids (and some adults) wore themselves out on the 30-foot inflatable slide and bounce house.
There were many late nights with some reports that the last person at the fire went to bed when the sun came up. Many great friendships were made and even a few relationships started in the seven days we were there. It was truly a remarkable time bringing 500 nomads together in the desert to form a community for a week. There were many first-time attendees that truly found their tribe and were only upset that they had not been to a convergence before. And there were a few who showed up and decided by the end of the week that Xscapers was not for them. That’s fine.
We don’t expect Xscapers to appeal to everyone. There were no major complaints, but if someone expected the Bash to be like your typical RV rally, they were in for a surprise! Xscapers is trying to avoid the typical. It was created to fill a gap that has grown in the RV community as more and more workers are taking their jobs remotely and exploring at the same time. Those RVers spend a lot of the week pent up inside and love to blow off steam with other likeminded RVers once in a while. I think it was best summed up when at 10:30 p.m. while riding on a mobile DJ platform through the crowd of hundreds bouncing and dancing in a scene of fog, lasers, and choreographed lights with 18,000 watts of music blaring through more than 10 speakers hanging from the ceiling in a room that would rival any of the rave clubs in Vegas, one partier was overheard shouting,
“this ain't your grandma's RV rally”
If you know me, you’ll know my favorite statistic is how many people at a convergence made plans to travel afterward with another Xscaper they met at the convergence. A whopping 80% of the 500 people at this year’s Annual Bash met others that they had a connection with and decided to meet up again down the road. That is absolutely amazing. The Xscapers events might only be a week, but the spirit and the friendships at those events continue on afterward.
Don't Miss out on the fun!
Not knowing about a Convergence shouldn’t be the reason you don’t attend one. Be the first to learn about new Xscapers updates and Convergences.
Photo Usage
The photos below may be used for personal purposes on blogs and social media with the following conditions:
- The Xscapers Annual Bash watermark remains visible
- Credit is given to Xscapers and the event Xscapers Annual Bash 2019 with a link to Xscapers.com
Photos and video should not be used for commercial purposes.
Author
JP Smith
JP has been on the move full time for almost 20 years, working as a tour guide around the world and specializing in the national parks of America. His travels have taken him to more than 75 countries and all 7 continents. An adventurer at heart, he’s walked across Spain, sailed the Virgin Islands,and ridden a motorcycle from Alaska to Argentina. Originally from Texas, he’s also lived in both New Zealand and Europe. About 5 years ago JP started living in a motorhome between trips as a tour guide. He now lives full time in his motorhome!
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[…] we made it to the Lake Havasu Rodeo Grounds to meet up with 500 other RVers. There’s a great blog entry on the Xscapers page about the annual bash, so I don’t need to go into the nitty-gritty. There were planned and […]