1/1/2024 0 Comments Rv boondocking tipsWe were careful in choosing the quietest generators possible as to not only be courteous to our neighbors (if there are any), but we don’t want to hear the noise either.Īfter Our First Quartzsite experience in January 2017, Dan installed our new battery bank that replaced our coach’s two 12-volt batteries with four 6-volt batteries to extend our stored energy. Shortly after buying our Landmark 5th wheel, we purchased two WEN 56000i 2000 Watt Generators to replace our power source when not hooked up to electric until we could get our solar system. ![]() ![]() With a little research, planning and saving our pennies, we’ve achieved our objective of being free from dependency. We decided to make our boondocking less stressful by making a few purchases and doing our own installations and modifications to make our excursions a little more enjoyable and easier. The best boondocking though in every sense of the word is planting ourselves out there on BLM land. It’s about being independent and our RVs being self contained.Īnyone can boondock anywhere that is legal and/or where permission is granted whether it be in a friend or family’s driveway (Moochdocking), working on a farm (Farmdocking), or Walmart or business parking lot (Lot Docking’). water, electricity, sewer, etc.) also known as FHU’s or ‘full hookups’. It’s living without being tethered to utilities (i.e. In RV and Camping society, similarly, “Boondocking” is another word for living off the grid or dry camping or dispersed camping. Laying back in our zero gravity chairs in the desert or near a mountain stream never felt so good!Īccording to the Oxford English Dictionary, the phrase ‘the boondocks’ is derived from the tagalog word ‘bundock’ which means mountain… It was our own “Little House on the Prairie”. We got back to our roots playing board games, hiking, exploring…just opening the door and experiencing the true essence of life. We LOVED it! We have grown to love SIMPLE LIVING! We found we didn’t need television or electronics as our sources of entertainment. Simply put we learned how to be self-sufficient and independent. Those who have never boondocked would likely think we were learning how to survive the apocalypse….and yes, we think we would! We’ve become proficient at off-the-grid meal planning, cooking without electric appliances, loading enough stores and provisions, monitoring our propane, solar power and generator usage. Now a year later, we’ve become those seasoned boondockers mastering important things like water conservation, electricity management, and the unpleasantries of sewage disposal. We watched, learned and networked taking mental notes of how seasoned boondockers became successful at it. After meeting the crowd, we planted our ratty looking camp chairs at several presentations and campfires sipping cocktails while listening to others share their off-grid camping and boondocking tips, know-hows, experiences, and stories. Others rolled in after us most likely for the same reason. We arrived halfway through the convergence, so we had to take a spot a few washes (flood trenches in the desert) up from the action. Ha! This was our ticket out of our own version of Hotel California. While we were there at the park, we were surfing social media to see that the Escapees “Xscapers” (“Xscapers is a support network geared toward a new generation of RVers who have not yet retired and who have already, or are aspiring to, hit the road pursuing a full-time RV living or part-time nomadic lifestyle.”) were having their Quartzsite Convergence right down the road from us. So, we decided to limp back to a RV resort-ish park in Yuma to collect our thoughts, fill up our water tank, empty our gray and black tanks and try again. We really needed to go to a RV Boondocking School, if there was such a thing. We didn’t get much sleep because we didn’t have the safety net that RV parks provide. We ran out of simple essentials because we didn’t plan. We couldn’t toast our bread in the toaster. Our Keurig wouldn’t power up on batteries. It was freeing…of EVERYTHING! Not a care in the world to interrupt the very peace and quiet we were looking for.īUT, we were very new at it and there were lessons quickly learned…hard lessons. It was just us in the desert with the closest RV being about 200 or so yards away. We were on our own pilgrimage to find that perfect quiet place to call home for awhile on Bureau of Land Management. No more loud televisions and bustling cars. No more slide-to-slide neighbors passing us the Grey Poupon. Gone were the safety nets of park or campground security, coded gates, camp hosts, and utility hookups. ![]() At the beginning of 2017 – our third year on the road – we experienced our very first boondocking quest in Quartzsite and Yuma, Arizona.
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