Dry Camping to Boondocking 101 Tips and Equipment (RV Living) 4K
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- Опубликовано: 25 июл 2024
- We love staying at state parks while traveling full time in our Grand Design RV fifth wheel, but sometimes it is hard to get a site. What we found is places that offer dry camping instead of power campground sites are easier to get reservations - in state, national, and provincial parks.
This video is about expanding your camping options when other campsites are booked, what equipment we use while dry camping, some tips and must haves equipment to make dry camping more enjoyable, and how all our experiences will help us boondock with our camper in the near future with more confidence.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:49 Dry Camping Options
5:46 Challenges
9:22 Boondocking Options
12:05 Challenges
14:21 RVing Stages to Boondocking
16:43 Conclusion
Special thanks to Marc from @GrandAdventure for all his boondocking wisdom and the use of his amazing drone footage of his boondocking lifestyle.
His youtube Channel / grandadventure
See list of videos below the product links to see more information about the camper must haves we use.
🛒Links to RV Products we use :
Honda Generator 2200 amzn.to/36uwxa4
Restmo-Rainpoint Water Meter amzn.to/3vNdUII
Mopeka Tank Check for propane tanks amzn.to/3k5uCia
Micro-Air easy start for RV AC amzn.to/3qFdQJp
Levelmate Pro leveling system amzn.to/3pAUi7p
Pepwave Internet Router and antenna www.mobilemusthave.com/?AffId=75
We boost 65 RV cell booster amzn.to/3k7Zrmp
Barker 32 gallon blue boy sewage tote amzn.to/3pHF28N
50 foot 50 amp extension cord amzn.to/3dwMxgs
Water Pressure regulator amzn.to/3qHGJ7y
Beech Lane Camper Levelers amzn.to/3s9YjS6
Viaire Compressor amzn.to/37uUQWw
Portable vacuum amzn.to/2NKl4xa
Magma Gas Grill amzn.to/2M9m7Gv
XChocks - chocks for RV reduce movement amzn.to/2ZBZdui
EEzEE tire TPMS monitor amzn.to/3dzHn3k
EEZEE tire booster amzn.to/2MbnKDy
Haloview Backup Monitor System amzn.to/2QWfg58
Dremel Multipurpose Rotary Tool amzn.to/3b3aoBj
KES Self Adhesive Toilet Paper holder amzn.to/2YIlnuQ
KES Self Adhesive Towel Bar Towel Hanger amzn.to/2G6ItVH
Fisher F22 Metal Detector amzn.to/3vSHZGS
xtend & climb ladder amzn.to/3k5sS8C
🎥 Links to videos of Must Have products for more info:
Propane Tracking • Mopeka Tank Check, How...
Water Tracking • Water Meter Track Usag...
How to use a sewer tote • How to use a portable ...
Barker vs Camco • Barker Tote-Along vs C...
4 wheel sewer totes • Camco VS Barker 4 WHEE...
Mobile Internet • AMAZING Mobile Interne...
RV Bathroom Tips • RV Bathroom Tips & Pro...
Air Conditioning while dry camping • Micro-Air Easy Start D...
Magma RV Grill • Magma Grill for RV, Bo...
Sewer Hose Storage • Large RV Storage Tube ...
Honda Generator • Must Have for Your RV,...
Telescoping Ladder • Telescoping Ladder for...
Broken Leaf Spring • Broken Suspension on 5...
Reinforce Your Bumper • Broken Bumper, Common ...
Water Saving Tips • RV Bathroom Tips & Pro...
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We are a married couple in our mid 50s who downsized / sold our house so we could travel full time in our Grand Design Solitude fifth wheel with our dog Scrappy - to live each day more deliberately!
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#rvliving #drycamping #boondocking #grandadventure #RV101
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Great info! We have no desire to boondock but you have made it less scary by recommending dry camping tests! Thanks!
Jackie, that’s exactly what we were trying to say. Thank you.
We would love a share - so we can get some love from RUclips 🤣
Let us know anytime if you have questions about dry camping 🤗
Alice
Love you guys! Thanks so much for the wonderful shout-out! We completely share your definitions of dry camping and boondocking. And we're ready for you to come out west and join us! Just name the time and the place.
Marc, we really appreciate all your help and we definitely want to see you out there. We feel like we know you already just from phone calls.
We really do inspire us - your boondocking know how and your great cinematography 🤗
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents Thank you! And Larry will keep educating me on how to do things the right way, thank you.
🤣 We are starting to film and call it the Marc move 😉
@@DownsizingMakesCents 🤣
Marc, Alice is not wrong when she called you the Bondock King 👑😄🙃
Great information and a lot for us to think about! Doing a test run where hook ups are there for back up is a great idea and will be a must do for us when we start our journey on the road!
Jenna, awesome. Definitely contact us if you have any questions.
Let us know how it goes,
Alice
Great episode guys! Well done and very informative! Love me some Marc at Grand Adventure too!! Alexander Springs here in FL has some beautiful dry camping sites here!!
Thanks. You know how much that means to us 🤗
Yes. Alexander Springs and Juniper Springs are great choices for dipping your toes into dry camping. It is a beautiful area.
Thanks again for coining by. Always good to see you,
Alice
We boondock for 3 month at a time during summer to run away from the heat we love it .what we do we carry a bladder. With 50 gallons of water we also have 8 panels of solar and 3000 watts inverter we never have to use a generator we go to town once a month to clean tanks and wash clothes it works very well so have fun you love birds.
Sounds like you guys have a great set up. Enjoy.
And thanks 🤗
Great information guys, one of the two things I don’t miss about New England is the bugs.
Stephen, the bugs were really bugging us 😅 We tried to ignore but couldn’t.
Thanks for coming by. Love seeing a familiar name,
Alice
Oh my goodness... Same here! I dream of camping where Marc has been. He's definitely an inspiration, I always say he should have been a cinematographer, he's awesome! Love this video guys 💕
Johanna, Marc does amazing work. I totally agree.
Glad you liked it. As always, we appreciate a share.
Thank you for coming by,
Alice
Great video with a lot of great tips! We have only dry camped a few times during our travels just because we haven't invested the money into a better boondocking system yet. Definitely want to make that shift at some point in our lifetime to give us a lot more flexibility while on the road. Thanks for all the information guys! - Shane
Shane, thanks for coming by. We are dry camping more and more - it gets easier with practice.
We hopefully doing a solar overview soon.
Happy camping,
Alice
Just got a new to me 5th a few weeks ago and looking forward to all the fun. Thanks for the information.
Robert, congratulations. Ours was also a new to us.
Feel free to ask us any questions.
Enjoy,
Alice
We enjoyed your video and agree totally!
Great to hear. So many people don’t realize you can take steps and test if your ready for less hookups. 🤗
Alice
Alice there is a great LP mosquito deflector that covers 15’ area (Thermocell). It keeps them at bay pretty good. I also use “Repel” that is made of lemon balm and eucalyptus. That is excellent for walking and smells really good.
Sue, I guess it was obvious how much we were being bugged 🦟 😅
Thanks for the tips,
Alice
Thank you for explaining the difference between boondocking and dry camping. I would rather dry camp. Than boondock. I’ve dried camp before without hooks up. With bath water and electric no sewer. Thus all good know. Thank you so much Alice. Have a great week and see you soon!
Sherri, this is our definition - others may say something else.
But dry camping and boondocking aren’t for everyone.
If you are comfortable dry camping? It opens up so many more possibilities.
Sherri, we really appreciate our loyal watchers 🤗
See you soon, and we hope you have a great weekend,
Alice
Great video y'all. Some good information in there. We are 4 to 5 day people with no hookups. lol That is about our limit then I want my full hookups again. We have done a few days of boondocking and a fair amount of dry camping. I do enjoy the more room and many times less people. When we where out west we noticed the boondocking areas many times where more full than the campgrounds. lol I think it all about the location though. Hope you are having from in the North. Enjoy.
William, at least you have done it. We can’t wait to go out west and boondock. Hopefully by then it will be less busy.
We are enjoying the cooler weather.
Drive safely,
Alice
Hi Alice and Larry. Once again you have the answers. My wife Ellen and I had a good laugh while watching this episode when she looked over at me and asked, ”what’s the difference between boondocking and dry camping?” and immediately, as if on que, we hear Larry ask and answer that exact same question like he was answering Ellen’s question directly!🤣 Thank you 😎
Rick, that’s hilarious. You should have filmed it 🤣
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents It was truly hilarious!😆😎
I can picture it 😂
Great ideas folks thanks!
So many options out there. Glad we could help.
We hoped to be boondocking soon but Larrys recent health crisis has us stuck
@Downsizing Makes Cents Oh I'm so sorry. I hope whatever the condition is will be met with a speedy recovery.
We just came off a 3 1/2 week trip to the Blue Ridge in VA and NC mainly dry camping. We mainly stayed in federal campgrounds. With our senior passes it was $10.00 a night. Getting things level was a challenge most times, otherwise a good way to go. If we were going to stay a weekend we got in on Thursday. We like dry camping. Just learn what you need to do for the type rig you have.
George, perfect examples of how great dry camping is. Thank you.
The type of rig definitely changes things. We hope in the near future to downsize our rig - that will help us. Plus I’d like it to be more off road ready.
Thanks again. And please share the video with others that might find our video helpful - RUclips will suggest it to others the more it is shared.
Thanks again for coming by and sharing your experience 🤗
Alice
Good advice
Thanks for letting us know.
Happy Camping 🤗
Great video. The wife and I have not wilderness boondocked yet, but we have stayed several times at Dupuis campground in Florida to practice camping with zero hookups. We are headed to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in October and will boondock at the edge of the launch field. Our Aliner popup trailer is equipped with enough solar/lithium batteries to run our compressor dorm frig indefinitely and also run our small AC unit for up to 9 hours off battery. We have this set up so that our little dog can nap in the air conditioned trailer while we do non-dog friendly activities....like the balloon fiesta (no dogs allowed on the field). Love your channel.
Steve, that sounds awesome. You definitely are ready.
We would love to go to the Balloon Festival- maybe next year.
And thanks. We really appreciate loyal watchers like yourself. They are hard to come by.
As always, please share. It really helps.
Happy Camping,
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents Boondocking near the field at the Balloon Fiesta is pricey at $100/night for just a place to park and a portapotti, but it is on our bucket list. I am a bit concerned about the nightly fireworks over our site and our aging little low mobility dog that hates thunder/fireworks. A solution might be a long "walk" in a dog stroller every night to get far away when the fireworks go off. I watched your video on dog backpacks. I'm not sure she would go for that.....she has become a grumpy old lady when asked to do things she does not want to do. I think at some point that happens to us all....lol.
🤣 Read the description of that backpack video - there’s a link to another backpack. Chewie got used to it.
Do you use dog calming drops? We do for Scrappy on travel days.
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents We actually got a vet prescription for doggy Xanax for the trip. I have also heard that CBD treats and Benadryl can help. What are dog calming drops? We were also looking at thunder shirts.....not sure our Westie would go for that......
smile.amazon.com/Bach-Rescue-Remedy-Pet-10/dp/B0030NWZUC
Something like this. We tried chews but they were too nervous to eat it. Drops you squirt in and they have no choice 🤣
Marc is a good guy!
Can’t do too much boondocking &. Dry camping with my all electric 43 ft Diesel
Marc is the best! Electric/diesel? Interesting
I meant no propane.
Oh. Got it. Yikes. We are dry camping now. Generator going, solar powering up the lithium, but need to run AC a couple hours in the biters part of the day. We are glad we can put fridge and water heater on propane and have a propane oven/stove.
Makes sense.
Claudia, 🤣 love the play on words
We are moving in that direction, I have installed new batteries and inverter that was my stage one, will probably get a generator next and if we enjoy we will try solar panels, I am very leery of drilling holes in my roof.
We do stay at parks with water and power no sewer and we know we can manage our tanks to 12-14 days before we have to dump so we are proud of that capability. We will test fresh water next to see what our limits are. We can probably do 2 days on our batteries before we need recharged, so a small generator would be useful foe us.
Enjoy your video. Enjoy Maine that is on our bucket list
Sounds like you have it figured out.
The batteries and inverter are definitely key.
In the description of our video, we have a link to our water meter video and generator.
Maine was awesome- especially Acadia.
We are in New Brunswick now with power only, but will be in Nova Scotia next.
We always a appreciate a share of any video 😉
Happy camping and feel free to contact us with any questions,
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents nope! I will never have it all figured out, but that makes it fun!
Have y'all been to Okaloacoochee State Forest? It is primitive camping but has room for RVs. I don't know the condition or the length of the dirt road. How do you figure out it a 310gk can make it? (actually that would make a good video.....How to figure out if a 310gk can handle a particular road). Thanks for all of your wonderful videos. They are informative, organized, entertaining, and very useful. Y'all are, by far, my favorite RUclips channel!!!
Thank you so much. What a great compliment
We’ve never camped there.
We look for RUclips videos 😉 and look at Google Maps to see if it’s safe for our setup
California has some great boondoggle spots but everything else is expensive. Alabama Hills, Johnson Valley, Joshua Tree, Mono County near June Lake, Stoddard Wells, Death Valley, etc. Keep up the great videos and I only give Rose 15 minute breaks while traveling also Larry. Lol
We can’t wait to go out west so we can boondock. Probably next summer. We are loving the weather in eastern Canada.
BTW - Larry gives me about 20 minutes now 🤣
Thanks for the compliment- we try to get better with each video 🤗
Alice
Hi Alice and Larry. I was checking your site for days hoping to see a new episode, you all did not disappoint. Unfortunately these type of topics are bitter sweet because its harder and harder to find a peaceful clean and safe camping area 🥺
BTW our Honda 3000is is super quiet
Joe, we really try to release one very Sunday. We definitely don’t want to disappoint 😉
But you are right. It’s crazy out here. But we do find it easier to get spots if you are willing to go without full hookups.
Have you dry camped at a state, National, or provincial park? They do keep them clean.
Alice
We would dry camp at Fishing Eating Camp in Clewiston FL in the 1980’s. There were no designated sites, no water, no electric, just the creek and we loved it! Also Standing Indian in NC where we got 4 mice in our camper the first time in 20 years of camping 😩
If i could suggest that all the newbies please, please, please take good care of our wilderness, don’t abuse it, its a gift from God to his ungrateful children 🥴
Joe, I completely agree. We have seen a decline on trails and state parks.
Leave No Trace 🤗
Alice
Art
The main reason I bought our camper was for hunting out west. This essentially forced us to learn on the go and we absolutely hate when we have to resort to state parks back home in the east. My parents recently bought a class A and was actually discussing with them last night the steps they needed to take to make it out west. For us, anything west of Nebraska, Kansas, Dakota's its all boondocking. Anything east of that line then I like to have reservations in advance.
Excellent points. As full time travelers, it’s getting harder to get reservations at more natural campgrounds like state parks - we don’t like private ones (parking lots).
We can’t wait to get out west and have real space. It may be hard for us to go back to state parks 😅
Thanks for coming by. And we always appreciate it if someone shares the video - it helps RUclips notice and recommend to others.
Thanks again,
Alice
Hey guys👋🏻, last year we dry camped twice, mainly because that was the only sites we could get (the rest of the campground was full). I have to say, I wasn’t a fan…at first…but we got use to it, conserved water & did the navy showers. It was not as bad as I thought. We do not have solar just a generator, even with only having a generator we’d do it more if it meant being able to get a site. Safe travels y’all🤗
Lisa, that’s a perfect example. Thank you. We have done the same thing.
It may not be your first choice, but it’s better than not camping.
Safe travels to you, too,
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents Yes for sure, we’ll do it over & over again if it gets us out there in beautiful Mother Nature. Unfortunately we’re not able to get out there right now. I tore my Achilles Tendon been in a boot & on crutches for 3 wks, have 3 more weeks before I can get into the Orthopedic Doctor to determine the next move😩
Eh!!!! You guys finally made it back up here. It's spencer I hope you remember me. I did tbe west coast last 7 months . Missed you guys in Oakville before I left . Well I'm heading out your way in about a month. Then down to bell Florida. My sister has a 140 acres there. I will probably spend the winter. I hope to issues at the border.
Spencer, yes. It took a bit - waiting for rules to change so we can go to Nova Scotia. We leave for there in a couple of days. Maybe we will catch up with you this time?
So 140 acres in Florida? Is that a moochdocking invite? 😉
I hope the border does open up. We feel so bad for all our Canadian friends that had to deal with the cold instead of escaping to the states.
Good luck. Message us if you head to Nova Scotia,
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents sounds like a plan . And yes Florida for sure . There are alot of horses though. Lol it's called rock bluff ranch if ya want to check it out . But first east coast . Thanks for reply
We loved our time in Maine. Thanks again. And we do try to answer every comment,
Alice
Dry camping is my favorite because you have a designated spot which is usually not near a neighbor.
Joyce, yes!!! We are loving dry camping the more we do it.
We would love it if you shared the video with others - RUclips notices 😉
Thanks for coining by. And enjoy the space,
Alice
In our first Kanada camping vacation we where Dry camping the most of the time only 1 night we were on a full hookup campground. Good we only stay 2 days on the same campground but for me the dry camping is better because you have more private space
Which part of Canada were you in? We loved Ontario Provincial Parks and now are at our first New Brunswick Provincial Park. Power only - big site but no privacy at this one. We hope our next one is better.
Thanks for coming by.
We’d love it if you share with someone that may enjoy it - RUclips loves seeing a video shared 😉
Thanks again,
Happy Camping,
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents what were your requirements to enter New Brunswick? Their website is so confusing!!
@@DownsizingMakesCents we were in british columbia most of the time and a few nights in Alberta.
@Mary Karen Mary, I totally understand- there are a lot of rules. We go through most of it in another video.
After you watch, if you still have questions, definitely ask. We will try to help
ruclips.net/video/Whk8UPZygxU/видео.html
Alice
@Mr Caligolo We hope to go that way in the future. Looks beautiful,
Alice
Hi 👋🏻 … it’s me, the snarky one! 😛
🤣 We would get along so well 😉
I just got my Solitude 380 fl this year and had some Provincial Parks booked in Ontario, but with Covid they where all cancelled. Im nervous bring this fifth wheel into these parks with the low trees. Had issues with my 19 Imagine 2600RB hitting trees.
We stayed at 8 different PPs in Ontario, tail swing got us once. Ours is 35’ and people called it a monster 🤣 You could do it. Just go slow.
Google map the campground and see if there are any videos about the place.
We took footage but never made campground tours.
There’s a Facebook group for Solitudes. You might get some help there too
Good luck,
Alice
I love Grand Adventure. Oh but DMC is a close second 😉
Suuuure 🤣 No one does drone footage like Marc.
We do appreciate all your time with us - there are a lot of RV channels out there 🤗
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents you earn my viewership with quality style and informative content.
Thanks. We needed to hear that. RUclips isn’t showing us any love lately 😞
@@DownsizingMakesCents for whatever reason YT feeds me RV soap opera videos. I don't care what those people had for lunch or that they're undecided about what to wear . Unbelievably those channels have lots of subs. Either way I'll keep watching DMC
@@SevenBears1 I know exactly what you mean 🤣
Thanks again 🤗
Joli
Merci,
Alice
dry camping is boondocking but boondocking is not dry camping. kinda like cover and concealment.
Hmmm 🤔 I’m going to have to think about that one 😅
Alice
You got to come out West. Plenty of boondocking, lots of mountains. I think you will really like Colorado and all the states in the West. Get out of the East.
John, we plan on it in the future. We are in Nova Scotia now,
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents Well, you can't get much farther East than that. I am in San Francisco Area