So you’ve seen these neat little state decal sticker maps of the USA that go on the side of your RV, right? These are RV sticker maps.

They are designed to be applied to the side of your motorhome, travel trailer, fifth wheel, camper, or other place of your choice.

You start with an empty map and then add state sticker decals as you visit each state in the USA or province in Canada. Some examples are here.

These are perfect for people who like to travel the USA and Canada in their RVs. They are excellent for starting up conversations with other campers and locals in the area.

But there is an ongoing debate…. when do you get to put a new state sticker in your map?

When Do You Get to Claim a New State Sticker for Your RV Map?

The general consensus is that these state stickers are a fun way to track where you’ve visited in the country.

However, it seems there is not a consensus in the RV’ing community as to when a sticker can be applied for each state. If you’re traveling as a couple, then the likelihood of having different opinions increases.

The State Sticker Police got together and came up with 9 possible state sticker rules. Some of the considered options for when you get a new state sticker are listed below.

These range from the more flexible options to the most rigid of sticker application rules. The possible rules are that you can get a new sticker when you:

  1. Drove through the state without your RV (e.g., drove through in a car on the way to somewhere else).
  2. Stayed in the state without your RV (e.g., stayed in a hotel or with relatives). Campers who adhere to this rule are probably the only ones with a Hawaii state!
  3. Drove through a particular state in your RV while on the way to somewhere else.
  4. Drove through a particular state in your RV while on the way to somewhere else AND stopped to put your foot on the ground (e.g., stopped to get gas/diesel).
  5. Visited at least one unique thing in that state while on the way to somewhere else in your RV, without staying a night in the state.
  6. Spent one night camping in the state in your RV while on the way to somewhere else. Hence contiguous states will likely be skipped in your sticker map and there will be gaps from state to state. If you go with this rule, expect lots of questions about how you got from Washington to Maine, but have no stickers for states in between. Unless you drove through Canada, you’ll need to explain your logic for why all the other states don’t count!
  7. Visited at least one unique thing in that state while on the way to somewhere else in your RV, and stayed at least one night camping.
  8. Spent more than one night camping in the state in your RV while on the way to somewhere else.
  9. Stayed in the state as the state was the destination (e.g., visited a National Park for a week).

There are some other pretty interesting variations proposed by RV’ers, e.g., states I had a beer in while near my RV, states I stopped to go to the bathroom in, states where I got gas/diesel.

Further State Sticker Rule Complications

To further complicate the sticker application rules, the sticker police came up with additional questions for the bylaws to address:

  1. Does the state sticker map belong to the owner or the RV? For example, what if an owner rented an RV in Hawaii. Does Hawaii now get a sticker on his/her continental US RV?
  2. What happens when an owner gets a new RV? Does he/she have to start with a fresh state sticker map, or can the map of previously visited states transfer to the new state sticker map of the USA?
  3. What happens if an owner sells an RV with a state sticker map? If the sticker map belongs to the RV, does the new owner get to keep adding to the existing map?

Proposed Bylaws for RV Sticker Maps

The State Sticker Police came up with an easy solution to the existing unwritten sticker norms dilemma. The new bylaw rule is:

It’s your state sticker map and hence, your decision.

Feel free to pick any potential rule from the nine possible scenarios above, or make up your own variation.

Where to Place the RV Sticker Map

Most of the available sticker maps are of a vinyl variety and easy to apply. Simply clean the surface with isopropyl alcohol and apply the sticker.

Smooth out any bubbles using a credit card wrapped in a t-shirt or other fabric. The stickers are generally of high quality and water and UV resistant.

Some campers put the sticker map on the back of their RV. Some choose to put it on the inside side of a slidout, so that it is protected from the weather when not at a campsite with the slide pulled out.

Yet others choose not to put the sticker map on the body of their RV, but instead put it on plexiglass or some other similar board and then display it on the dashboard of their motorhome while in a campsite.

There are many other possibilities for where to place the map. Just like with the state application rules, it’s your choice as to what works best for you.