When did boondocking become weird?
I always thought RVs were supposed to be self-sufficient; that they had water tanks and generators and waste tanks so that you could use them to go camping wherever you wanted and be independent. Now,...
Forum Discussion
I put the following together some time ago when it was clear that many situation were being misrepresented and as a result there were at least as many misunderstandings.
We have been campers, real campers, car campers, sail campers, canoe campers and a few others. We are now RV travelers so how and where we overnight is not a big part of the plan.
Feel free to use below as you choose. It is not intended to constrain anything, just clarify some of what goes around.
Life outside of a house:
Real Camping - You have to be able to pick up everything you are going to have with you.
Back Packing - you carry everything on your back and walk where you are going.
Bicycle Camping - pack or load everything you just don’t have lift it all at once.
Canoe(or Kayak) Camping - Like bicycle camping, but packs should be waterproof.
Sail Camping - Just like canoe camping except you don’t have to paddle.
(Allows a lift and carry exception for the boat itself.)
Horseback Camping - like above in most all respects.
Real Camping ends here as all the rest require you to drive a vehicle to the “camp ground”.
Motor Vehicle Camping (not real camping from here on in my view)
Ground Tent Camping - You still had to drive there, but you have to set up camp completely from scratch when you stop.(I’ll admit a gray area here that is equipment dependent.)
Car or Truck Camping - You sleep inside the vehicle you drove there. Ok, it may be pretty well closed in or more like a tent, but you are still in the vehicle at night.
RV Camping (this is camping? I don’t think so... )
Tent Trailer Camping - Still RV and not really camping. Things may not be ready when the parking brake is set, but you sure didn’t go anyplace you can’t drive.
Pickup Camper Camping - Could be something like a tent trailer or a mini -travel trailer that you carry in the pick up and still sleep in the truck.
Travel Trailer Camping - You drive where you are going and when you stop, there is a cabin right behind the tow vehicle and you spend the night in there.
(5th wheel trailers are just like travel trailers that you don’t have to balance as carefully.)
Motorhome Camping - There is a steering wheel by the picture window in the main room. You never leave the cabin unless you want to do so.
Types of Vehicle Camping (still not real camping)
Dry Camping can be applied to any of the following but term only describes the lack of hook ups.
Boondocking, (Flatspoting, Sandtopping and Beachcamping) - only service available is fresh air - Fresh water is available only if it rains. Flat hard ground, let alone pavement is not is easy reach. When you shut the power down, the only light is stars and the only noise is animal sounds (and maybe the refrigerator).
Turnout Camping - you find a wide place on an untraveled road where you can park for the night.
Blacktopping (also call Independent parking) - Stopping for the night in a paved lot without any services.
Stealth Camping - Blacktopping somewhere and making it look like you have just stopped there and are not planning to stay any longer than is necessary. (An art required in some locations.)
Park Camping - Finding an RV campground with some service and maybe a shower that you won’t have to dump.
RV Park Camping - A place to park with full hookups (might include TV and internet) and no mud, but maybe a tree or two in sight.
RV Resort (Nothing like Real Camping) - You drive the RV to a full and complete hook up site with everything and probably has shuttles to shopping and entertainment centers so you have no reason to un-hook the TV, clear the toad to run, or even fire the tow vehicle (if applicable).
What is Not Camping at all:
Staying somewhere that the dwelling can not be moved that same day.
This is to exclude from camping:
Park model trailers - sort of like travel trailers, but no self-contained services, maybe no wheels.
Small cabins with or without running water and electric service. (I have lived in such houses, and did not think of it as camping then and still do not.) A family deer or fishing camp qualifies here, but if it has a fixed bed, it may be called a camp, but that is not “Camping”.
Proposed new vocabulary for the motor traveling people:
Boondocking,- only service available is fresh air - Fresh water is available only if it rains. Flat hard ground, let alone pavement is not is easy reach. When you shut the power down, the only light is stars and the only noise is animal sounds (and maybe the refrigerator).
Flatspoting - This differs from above only in that it may just be a wide place in or on an untraveled road. Not a real parking lot, that is next.
Overnighting - Finding a parking lot or other possibly paved area to spend the night. No services are expected. This includes: Rest areas, Truckstops, Casinos and Restaurant lots. This will also include the stealth version where you try to make it look like you are there for a reason other than just to spend the night.
Payking - A gray area when you pay for a place to park that has only pavement or hard ground to offer. And, they expect you to pay them to use it. (Such a deal!)
Pahking - Buying a place to park the RV that has at least electric and water, maybe showers and a dump available.
Fuhping - This is buying time at a Full Hookup Park. It may also have showers and breakfast. This may have cable TV, but it must have WiFi or other wire.
Revsorting - Spending time at an RV resort that has a heated pool, minigolf and restaurants of its own.
Lotdocking - This is a resent Facebookism where someone thought we needed a new word for something already clearly described above. It seems the author thought parking in a commercial parking lot was close to Boondocking. My guess was that same had never actually boondocked at all.
We have been campers, real campers, car campers, sail campers, canoe campers and a few others. We are now RV travelers so how and where we overnight is not a big part of the plan.
Feel free to use below as you choose. It is not intended to constrain anything, just clarify some of what goes around.
Life outside of a house:
Real Camping - You have to be able to pick up everything you are going to have with you.
Back Packing - you carry everything on your back and walk where you are going.
Bicycle Camping - pack or load everything you just don’t have lift it all at once.
Canoe(or Kayak) Camping - Like bicycle camping, but packs should be waterproof.
Sail Camping - Just like canoe camping except you don’t have to paddle.
(Allows a lift and carry exception for the boat itself.)
Horseback Camping - like above in most all respects.
Real Camping ends here as all the rest require you to drive a vehicle to the “camp ground”.
Motor Vehicle Camping (not real camping from here on in my view)
Ground Tent Camping - You still had to drive there, but you have to set up camp completely from scratch when you stop.(I’ll admit a gray area here that is equipment dependent.)
Car or Truck Camping - You sleep inside the vehicle you drove there. Ok, it may be pretty well closed in or more like a tent, but you are still in the vehicle at night.
RV Camping (this is camping? I don’t think so... )
Tent Trailer Camping - Still RV and not really camping. Things may not be ready when the parking brake is set, but you sure didn’t go anyplace you can’t drive.
Pickup Camper Camping - Could be something like a tent trailer or a mini -travel trailer that you carry in the pick up and still sleep in the truck.
Travel Trailer Camping - You drive where you are going and when you stop, there is a cabin right behind the tow vehicle and you spend the night in there.
(5th wheel trailers are just like travel trailers that you don’t have to balance as carefully.)
Motorhome Camping - There is a steering wheel by the picture window in the main room. You never leave the cabin unless you want to do so.
Types of Vehicle Camping (still not real camping)
Dry Camping can be applied to any of the following but term only describes the lack of hook ups.
Boondocking, (Flatspoting, Sandtopping and Beachcamping) - only service available is fresh air - Fresh water is available only if it rains. Flat hard ground, let alone pavement is not is easy reach. When you shut the power down, the only light is stars and the only noise is animal sounds (and maybe the refrigerator).
Turnout Camping - you find a wide place on an untraveled road where you can park for the night.
Blacktopping (also call Independent parking) - Stopping for the night in a paved lot without any services.
Stealth Camping - Blacktopping somewhere and making it look like you have just stopped there and are not planning to stay any longer than is necessary. (An art required in some locations.)
Park Camping - Finding an RV campground with some service and maybe a shower that you won’t have to dump.
RV Park Camping - A place to park with full hookups (might include TV and internet) and no mud, but maybe a tree or two in sight.
RV Resort (Nothing like Real Camping) - You drive the RV to a full and complete hook up site with everything and probably has shuttles to shopping and entertainment centers so you have no reason to un-hook the TV, clear the toad to run, or even fire the tow vehicle (if applicable).
What is Not Camping at all:
Staying somewhere that the dwelling can not be moved that same day.
This is to exclude from camping:
Park model trailers - sort of like travel trailers, but no self-contained services, maybe no wheels.
Small cabins with or without running water and electric service. (I have lived in such houses, and did not think of it as camping then and still do not.) A family deer or fishing camp qualifies here, but if it has a fixed bed, it may be called a camp, but that is not “Camping”.
Proposed new vocabulary for the motor traveling people:
Boondocking,- only service available is fresh air - Fresh water is available only if it rains. Flat hard ground, let alone pavement is not is easy reach. When you shut the power down, the only light is stars and the only noise is animal sounds (and maybe the refrigerator).
Flatspoting - This differs from above only in that it may just be a wide place in or on an untraveled road. Not a real parking lot, that is next.
Overnighting - Finding a parking lot or other possibly paved area to spend the night. No services are expected. This includes: Rest areas, Truckstops, Casinos and Restaurant lots. This will also include the stealth version where you try to make it look like you are there for a reason other than just to spend the night.
Payking - A gray area when you pay for a place to park that has only pavement or hard ground to offer. And, they expect you to pay them to use it. (Such a deal!)
Pahking - Buying a place to park the RV that has at least electric and water, maybe showers and a dump available.
Fuhping - This is buying time at a Full Hookup Park. It may also have showers and breakfast. This may have cable TV, but it must have WiFi or other wire.
Revsorting - Spending time at an RV resort that has a heated pool, minigolf and restaurants of its own.
Lotdocking - This is a resent Facebookism where someone thought we needed a new word for something already clearly described above. It seems the author thought parking in a commercial parking lot was close to Boondocking. My guess was that same had never actually boondocked at all.
