Who PREFERS boondocking over campgrounds?

[HMXDave]

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?

[LibbyLA]

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

[BounderRVer]

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.

[Ed-Sommers]

24/7 last 11 years

Ed

[Dave1956]

We boondock in National Parks and National Forest as much as possible. In between, we try to stop only at State Parks.

[ralper]

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.

[awarnes]

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.

[Bobthegod]

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.

[John Hilley]

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.

[Wayneey]

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

[SteveLevin]

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

[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

[tomwalt]

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.

[decodancer]

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.