A boondocker's bag of tricks

By Bob Difley
Camping overnight in a Walmart parking lot, a rest stop, or a forest service campground where there are no hookups is not difficult and most RVers once they get a little familiar with their rig have done it.

But the real trick to successful boondocking is knowing how to get that third, fourth, or fifth day–or even a week or more out of a boondocking campsite–and be completely comfortable and confident doing it. The trick is in managing your resources–water, electricity, and waste.

Familiarize yourself with these resources–electricity and how fast you deplete it from your batteries, drinking water and how much you waste (and the resultant waste water filling up your gray water tank), and filling the black, or sewer, tank–and how fast you deplete them or fill your tanks, then practice ways to stretch out their use.

Getting as many days in the boonies as you can squeeze in between having to pack up camp and drive off to replenish electricity (charging your batteries), fill your water tank, and dump your waste tanks, is what makes boondocking successful, and staying out longer, and doing it comfortably, is what makes a boondocker happy.

It also takes experience. Every time you boondock, you learn a new trick or two to extend your stay. Simple, common sense acts–that with experience become second nature–like not letting your faucets run, taking Navy showers, re-using the water you run when waiting for hot water to come, reducing the amount of waste water you let flow into your gray tank, turning off lights and TV when not being used–this bag of tricks, once they become habits, you will practice without a second thought.

Look at it this way. If you were just as comfortable without hookups as you were with them, where would you rather camp. With neighbors within 15 or feet on either side of you, or would you choose campsites where your nearest neighbors were 50 or 100 feet or further away? Or you had no neighbors at all.

That’s the beauty of boondocking. Once you learn the tips and tricks, your options are endless–from a crowded LTVA at Quartzsite to a solitary campsite with sweeping vistas and no sign of civilization in sight. And that becomes the next bag of tricks to collect, where to and how to find these pristine boondocking spots.

Check out my website for more RVing tips and destinations and for my ebooks, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands (or click here for Kindle version), Snowbird Guide to Boondocking in the Southwestern Deserts (Kindle version), and 111 Ways to Get the Biggest Bang out of your RV Lifestyle Dollar (Kindle version).