Boondocking 101

Hello Campers!

If you are an experienced RV'er you may be familiar with the pros and cons of Boondocking. If you are new to RV'ing you may have many questions with choosing between Boondocking and campgrounds while travelling.

We are here to talk about the in's and out's of Boondocking, so you can see if its right for you!

What is Boondocking?

The term"Boondocking" is staying overnight with no hookups. "Dry Camping" is staying multiple nights without any or limited hook ups.

Why choose Boondocking?

Many RV'ers choose boondocking for one simple reason: Convenience.

While traveling you can simply pull off the road in a safe area and rest for a few hours or overnight. It is also a great way to save money while traveling because you are saving campground fees. At a private campground rates are typically around $35, let's say you are Boondocking one night per week that is an savings of $1820 per year. This type of savings can go towards more RV adventures, fuel costs or maintenance on your rig.

When would I "have" to Boondock?

While some RV'ers perfer boondocking, you may be in a situation where boondocking is required.

You may have to boondock if:

Service work is needed: You need emergency service done on your RV and you have to wait for the service to be done or for a part to be delivered to your the nearest service department.

If all campgrounds in the area are full: During busy seasons it is not uncommon to find that most campgrounds in tourist areas are booked for nights, weeks or even months ahead of time. Make sure to call ahead to make sure campgrounds are open and have spots with hookups available.

Campgrounds are closed: During out of season times, many campgrounds close down completely.

You are in route and are too tired to travel any further: It is always safer to pull over if you start to feel tired or overwhelmed with the drive. There are many places such as Walmart, Costco or local shopping centers that allow RV'ers to stay overnight in the parking lot.

Events: You may be attending an event that you will be required to dry camp, such as RV rallies, outdoor concerts, etc.

It is important to always be prepared to be in this type of situation and have a plan in case you do. Which leads us to our next topic...

Tips for Boondocking:

Since you are not hooked up while dry camping, you need to be more conservative with water during that time. Here are some tips to make your experience easier:

- In order to save water, you will have to take quicker showers and shut off water in between washing. You may even need to skip showers or create more of a schedule for bathing. If you are traveling, many truck stops do have showers available but you will need to find these locations on your route.

- Use paper plates, plastic utensils and plastic cups as much as possible as well as grilling outside to eliminate dish washing.

- Bring large refillable water jugs to use for brushing teeth, quickly washing hands, cooking, coffee, etc. This will leave more water for showers & flushing the toilet.

- Use baby wipes or cleaning wipes to clean messes made in your RV.

- Never run water continuously for any reason.

- Refill water jugs as much as possible to ensure you always have back up water.

Pro's to Boondocking:

You may be hesitant to dry camp at first, but there are so many perks to giving it a try!

You can travel to many places in nature, save money, experience the outdoors and have experiences that you may not get at an RV park or campground. You also get to enjoy your privacy and not be surrounded by others, many RV'ers have their own "secret" or hidden spots where they get to escape their day to day routine and enjoy the great outdoors!

Have you ever tried Boondocking?

What was your experience?

Share with us on a comment below!