Boondocking Part One

There are many ways to creatively boondock.  Boondocking is camping in your RV fully self contained without paying camping fees. It can also be living off the grid with smaller fees, as some parks charge an entrance fee or a fee or permit for dispersed camping. 


One way is to drive  by night and park by day at picnic areas in public parks. Many are owned by cities, counties, states and the federal government. Most are stunningly beautiful. 


Nobody questions a parked RV during the day, it's only at night time they come under close scrutiny when boondocking. Many picnic areas are free and you can typically  stay there from the time the park opens until it closes. These types of parks generally don't have camping, but parking at the picnic area all day into the evening is no problem. 


Many day use parks close very late in the summer like 9-10-11pm. One can stay until closing, then hit the road late at night.  If you stick to the 24 hour places, you can generally do your provisioning at night too, such as buy gas and food. 


If you need to stay in one area for a few days to rest up, then try to locate a day use park and a night time boondocking close together. For instance spend the night at Walmart (if allowed) then at daybreak move to the park until it closes, then back to Walmart or somewhere else in the area such as a Flying J. 


You can download the Flying J guide that tells you which ones have RV parking. 


Also consider joining the WalMart RV-ing yahoo group:

This group is the positive voice of WalMart Rving. We are the original WalMart RVing group. The purpose of this group is to discuss overnight parking of RV's at Wal-mart, K-Mart, Flying J, Travel Centers of America, Camping World, Union76 Truck Stops, Love's, Pilot Travel Centers, AmBest Truck Stops, casinos, and similar hosts that allow free overnight RV parking.  We promote a voluntary standard of conduct for RV Parking, as opposed to RV Camping. 

Having a solar panel can give you a lot of passive power, particularly in these days and times when modern solar panels keep charging even when in partial shade.  Mounting a wind generator can also give you power to keep the house batteries fully charged even at night, if there is any wind. You may want to make your wind generator removable so you don't increase your overhead clearance height. 

The Complete Book of Boondock RVing: Camping Off the Beaten Path	RV Boondocking Basics: A Guide to Living Without Hookups
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