Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > CAMPING, TRAVEL and TRIP PLANNING > Boondocking
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 07-06-2011, 12:23 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
HMXDave's Avatar
 
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Central Alberta, Canada
Posts: 271
Question Boondocking or campgrounds?

I know lots of people boondock occasionally, but how many of us boondock more than say 75% of the time? I know for my DW and I, if campgrounds were the only way to camp, we would stay home and stare at the neighbors. We are "weekend warriors" as we still work full-time....so other than a couple of 1 week vacations, our trips are short. I would say we get out 15 to 20 weekends a season, and only go to campgrounds once or twice. We only go to campgrounds if good freinds or relatives request our presence. I can not see what people see in leaving the constraints of urban living to park in a far more restrictive environment with a higher population density...?

So to answer my own question: We prefer boondocking. Anyone else?
__________________
Dave and Kara - Weekend Warriors 2010 Newmar Bay star 3202, Ford chassis, 2017 Jeep JK Toad, Can Am ATVs
Central Alberta, Canada
HMXDave is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 07-06-2011, 12:43 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Baton Rouge LA
Posts: 260
That's all we'll be doing. Our FW will be parked semi-permanently on private land in the middle of a national forest. We will have water (pumped out of the ground into a big holding tank for transfer into the FW) and a septic tank, but no electricity other than a generator.

It'll be just us, the three cats, and the critters of the forest.

liz
__________________
1998 Alumascape 30RLS FW
LibbyLA is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-2011, 12:45 PM   #3
Member
 
BounderRVer's Avatar
 
Vintage RV Owners Club
Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 42
I prefer boondocking always. Before my MoHo, I had a pop-up and could last over a week with no hook ups. Even cooked a full Thanksgiving dinner between using my BBQ to Roast the turkey and the 2-burner stove for the rest of the fixin's. 5 adults ate turkey dinner in my little 8' pop-up. (17' with pull outs) Afterwards, we played cards inside because it was storming outside. Too much fun. My city place is a townhouse, like living in a fish bowl.
__________________
From this day forward make it your vow, Take "Someday I'll" and make it your Now!
BounderRVer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-2011, 09:09 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: somewhere in the west
Posts: 1,168
24/7 last 11 years

Ed
Ed-Sommers is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-2011, 11:53 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
Dave1956's Avatar
 
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 534
We boondock in National Parks and National Forest as much as possible. In between, we try to stop only at State Parks.
__________________
Dave and Anita
Two empty-nesters
2019 Sunseeker
Dave1956 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2011, 06:00 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Full Timer / Vagabond
Posts: 609
I prefer to boondock but my travels do not always permit it. No place to go to or I am not familiar enough with the area to find a spot.
__________________
Ralph & Snickers
2006 3500 Chevy Dually - 8.1 - Allison
2006 30' New Horizon - Solar
ralper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2011, 06:10 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Go Dawgs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Kent, WA
Posts: 1,092
We are pretty much State Park campers. It allows us to see the outdoors and the kids can meet new friends. We don't care if we have hookups or not.
__________________
Arnold
2006 Holiday Rambler Endeavor 40 PAQ
2017 Ram 2500 Big Horn 6.4 Hemi
Go Dawgs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2011, 07:46 PM   #8
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 69
I spell boondocking.....S-E-L-F-C-O-N-T-A-I-N-E-D that's why I got the damn thing so I could have all the goodies and NOT hookup. Besides RV parks with hookups have no wildlife or trees. Just a bunch of TV watchers packed in toooooo close to each other.

Thank God for National Parks, State Parks, County Parks, BLM, Forest Service etc. etc. etc.
Bobthegod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2011, 09:58 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Buxton, North Dakota
Posts: 3,940
I always prefer boondocking and even Walmart to most campgrounds. I also can't understand paying more per night than my house costs to be crowded in with about 20 others in the same space as my yard at home. I did enjoy campgrounds in Europe, where they try to make spaces private with hedges and trees to separate.
__________________
2003 Winnebago Adventurer 38G F53/ V10 605 watts of Solar
1999 Winnebago Brave 35C F53V10 Handicap Equipped
1999 Jeep Cherokee, 1991 Jeep Wrangler Renegade and 2018 Chevrolet Equinox Diesel
John Hilley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2011, 10:53 AM   #10
Senior Member
 
Wayneey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 170
Before retiring, we boondocked about 95% of the time, in National Forest Service, National, and sate park campgrounds, mainly on a weekend and vacation basis. Since retiring, it's been the inverse.

The main reason is my significant other still works and requires quality cell phone coverage, Internet access, and generally more power than the house batteries can provide. So, we mainly stay in commercial parks but sometimes find a state park that provides the necessary requirements.

We have successfully boondocked at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta which has good cell phone coverage in the area, using a Sprint air card (which was marginal in Albuquerque as, at least the last time we were there several years ago, Sprint didn't have any high speed coverage in the entire state of NM), & daily running of the generator to keep the batteries charged.

The upside of all this is we travel for months at a time and enjoy life on the road ...

Wayne
__________________
2019 Navion 24J
Wayneey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2011, 02:50 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
SteveLevin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 1,195
I agree with the concept that paying to camp 10 feet from someone else doesn't seem to make much sense. The only time we end up doing that is in Oregon on the coast (where you can't stop along the side of the road at the beautiful beaches overnight) and then we just use it to park for the night and each morning head back out to the beach.

Steve
SteveLevin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2011, 06:06 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
HotMech's Avatar
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: The Dungeon in Broomfield, CO
Posts: 187
Send a message via Skype™ to HotMech
If I am going to a place for the place, ie. the lake shore so we can boat and such, then sure, I have no problem boondocking.
If I am at a place because of something else, ie family reuinon, funeral, and such. Then the local campground is fine. I'm only there for a few days, and would usually have people with me that don't know how to conserve, so to speak. My rig is set up for boondocking. solar, gen, inverter, but there are times that campgrounds are best.
Kerry
__________________
Damn, I'm Good!
"I've got dozzens of friends, and the fun never ends, that is, as long as I'm buying."
HotMech is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2011, 06:39 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
tomwalt's Avatar
 
Tiffin Owners Club
Workhorse Chassis Owner
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 1,499
You are my kind of folks :>) I too prefer and enjoy exercising self containment skills over a commercial campground – IMHO that is what the freedom of RVing is all about. I like to use State and National parks whenever I can when traveling. Off season (when it is cold) I’ll use commercial campgrounds more often for the electricity to simplify power management.
My DW likes the nicer campgrounds, so some compromise is required.
__________________
Tom and Amy from Northern Virginia.
2000 Allegro 454/Workhorse P32/TST/Crossfire
Life is a DIY project, so own less and live more
tomwalt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2011, 07:09 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
decodancer's Avatar
 
Vintage RV Owners Club
Solo Rvers Club
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Armonk NY
Posts: 308
Guess I'm the first to disagree. Maybe it's because I camp solo much of the time but I really enjoy a nice campground with lots of activitys. This past weekend I got a no extra charge pancake breakfast, swam in the pool, visited with other dog lovers at the on site dog park, shopped in a great gift shop and made smores in my fire pit. Nothing against boondocking but if I have a choice, a well run campground with wooded sites would be my first choice.
__________________
Fulltime workamper traveling with Toy Poodles Cricket and Liza and Standard Poodle Gable
decodancer is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
boondocking



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Boondocking = Drycamping= ??? Francesca Boondocking 23 09-05-2013 08:16 PM
Help with Veterans' Campgrounds HoboPals Camping Locations, Plans & Trip Reports 18 05-25-2011 12:14 AM
Corp Campgrounds JMonroe Camping Locations, Plans & Trip Reports 22 09-26-2010 09:37 AM
Boondocking to learn you camper mttraveller Boondocking 7 05-31-2010 10:39 AM
Blue Ox To Sponsor Campgrounds at Richmond International Speedway Throughout 2008 DriVer RV Industry Press 1 03-18-2008 04:38 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:17 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.