Drive night Sleep day Boondocking

[delosholly]

This Sunday my DW and I took our TC over to Little River Canyon in Alabama for the day (need to run the truck every now and then). Anyways, this area is part of the National Park system, but it is a Preserve and does not allow overnight camping, only day use until the sun goes down.

While we were there, we picnicked and had the TC available for using the restroom. we stayed around 7 hours. It was then that I started thinking about boondocking spots for future travels. Since we are not retired, often we need to get to a destination, the drive there is not our main function.

So why not drive during the night and sleep during the day at one of the many, many day use only type locations: preserves, monuments, refuges ... located all over the place? There is no fee, and at first when you arrive you can take advantage of the sites they offer or take a short hike, then sleep a while, eat when you get up and leave before dark.

I know that night driving has its advantages and disadvantages (old person's night vision and deer to name two disadvantages) and that sleeping during the day could pose a problem (but not too bad with proper window blocking).

I am posting this because I have not read about anyone else doing this or could not find the thread search keyword to locate the thread.

Del

[SwanInWA]

delosholly wrote:
So why not drive during the night and sleep during the day at one of the many, many day use only type locations: preserves, monuments, refuges ... located all over the place?

Because this.

kohldad wrote:
I save my days for sight seeing and nights for sleeping. There is just too much to see during the day and too many places to boondock at night to catch a good nights sleep. Even traveling I see lots of beautiful country and would hate to miss that by traveling at night. So much for seeing an interesting thing and not being able to stop to investigate.

Driving at night is boring. We've done it -- and we'll do again if we need to. But definitely not our preference.

[Stars101]

We enjoy night driving, but usually stop 1-2am to catch a few zzzzz's.

We are a young family, so we need to haul a## in order to get anywhere, see something, and get back in one week.

I love leaving after DH gets home from work. I drive, we stop for a late dinner and then I find a rest area or truck stop to get a quick nap around 2am. DH will have been sleeping in the passenger seat and will be ready to take over driving in the morning... I tend to fall asleep after breakfast while on a trip LOL. We are a good team.

But we don't truly do the "drive all night, sleep all day" thing you described.

From reading the forums, I'd bet it is an especially small group who does... but I bet there are people who do it!

[AstroRig57]

I would love to do most of my driving at night. 25 years of shift work left me with a bit of a sleep disorder anyhow. The DW, however, would never go for it.

Still, I start off long drives in the wee hours of the morning (typically around 0300) and enjoy the drive in the dark.

I'm like a kid and can't sleep in anticipation of a vacation or long trip, so I might as well hit the road anyhow.

[colliehauler]

Before I had a crew cab, single cab with topper I would haul Collies in back. In the Midwest the heat would be to much during the day for the Collies to travel. I would drive during the night and check into a campground before lunch. I would have a nice lunch and go for a swim then back to the rv for some sleep. The A/C would drown out noise and shades would block out light. When others went to bed for the night I would hit the road.

My body was use to working shift work. This was a very pleasant way to travel. I did this for 1 year before I bought a crew cab. As I got older my night vision is not as good so I travel during the day now.

[RGar974417]

I too prefer driving at night. It cuts down on traffic and makes it easier to get in and out of gas stations.

[greenrvgreen]

Biggest drawback is going to be day use noise levels. Next time you're at a day use area pause and listen for a while and you'll see (hear) what I mean.

There will be people constantly coming and going and slamming car doors and yelling at each other. You'll also find that if you're the only car in the parking lot the next party in will want to park right next to you, no matter how far to the edge of the lot you are. And then comes the slamming of doors and yelling, etc! You'll have an advantage being higher up in your TC but you'll definitely want ear plugs for sleeping.

Second issue will be daytime heat. Doesn't matter how cool the temps are the sunlight is going to cook up your rig, and this will be particularly uncomfortable for sleeping. So pack one or two industrial-sized fans for comfort.

My experience doing this is similar to the other posters--Friday night departures and Sunday night returns. Only thing I would add is that Sunday evening return traffic from recreational destinations can be rough surprisingly late into the night, as there are plenty of other people on the road who've already had the same idea. This is why Mondays are a typical travel day for fulltime RVers.

[mgirardo]

I prefer to drive at night. When we first moved from NJ to GA, we preferred to drive through the night to go back to NJ to visit family. We'd leave around 8 or 9 pm and get there around 7 or 8 am. Which was great, except we were exhausted when we got there. I have a really hard time sleeping when it is day time.

We adjusted our schedule and now usually leave at 3 am. Getting a few hours sleep and then heading out around 3 am makes a huge difference for me. It takes a little longer to get there because we are driving during the day more, but we aren't exhausted when we get there. We do generally go to bed earlier that first night.

It works pretty well for the kids too since they generally fall right back to sleep after the initial wake up at 2:45. When they were little and we could easily lift them, we didn't even have to wake them.

Since I am not normally awake during the overnight hours, it can be hard to make that switch short term.

-Michael

[DutchmenSport]

delosholly wrote:

Johno02 wrote:
and DutchmanSport If you want to party all night, ... PLEASE don't park next to me!!! ...

I do not think you read the original post. There is nothing in it about partying all night....

Perhaps a bit of explanation of the term "party". Anyone in the military, especially in the Army would have understood the intent of this term "party" and probably caught it's meaning immediately. But, even after 30 years since military service, some terms are still a part of my life.

Anyone in the Army is first introduced to this word, usually the first or second day after their initial induction. We're introduced to a "G.I. Party".... which sounded pretty cool when the drill sergeant used the term, only to mean we had to clean up the barracks. That was the first introduction to the term.

"Party" was the term used whenever a task had to be performed, and it mean .... "do it with all your might!" "Party Hardy!" Whether that was cleaning the barracks, or getting ready for a road convoy, or qualifying at the riffle range, or going to the DMZ in Korea! Whatever you do, do it with all you might!

So, just to clarify the language .... If the OP wants to drive at night and sleep all day, there's nothing wrong with that! Go for it man! Do it and live the "gusto"! Do it with all your might! (Party Hardy!)

The rest of us old folks will just lay around at night and remember those former days when "rock-and-roll" meant .... grab your riffle, grab the ammunition, load it, and let's go, fire away! The mind wants to "go", but the danged old body just won't let us! I'll stay in bed at night! I'm to danged old for the drinking group "party" these days!

[Johno02]

Someone close to us is a truck driver and does night driving all the time. Many times driving at night is one of the best ideas, especially to avoid traffic in and around major cities. I used to enjoy night driving all the time. Many times going to Dog Shows, we would leave in the night, I drove while family slept. When we got there, they would do their thing, and I would sleep, ready to drive all that night. So, yes, it does work well for some.

[2oldman]

The only time I drive at night is when it's 90F+ and I don't want to bake my tires.

[pconroy328]

If you can actually get a good night's sleep during the day. And if you're able to stay awake during the night. I did 3rd shift (and 2nd and 1st) for a few years. My body never fully accustomed to 3rd. I was still always tired.

I'd think it would take a while to get in synch. Kind of like flying across the pond. It takes a few days to get into the new schedule. You might be drowsy those first few nights.

[delosholly]

Johno02 wrote:
and DutchmanSport If you want to party all night, and are able to do it, that is great and I envy you that. but PLEASE don't park next to me!!! I want to sleep at night!

I do not think you read the original post. There is nothing in it about partying all night.


Thanks to all others for your comments. I too usually like to see the countryside while traveling, but when time is short and there is a main destination to reach, I think I would not mind reversing the sleep/drive cycle. I just thought that doing this would open-up a lot more possibilities for one-sleep-period spots.

Anyways, drive safe and get out there and camp!

[Johno02]

If you want to party all night, and are able to do it, that is great and I envy you that. but PLEASE don't park next to me!!! I want to sleep at night!

[DutchmenSport]

It's kind of like this.

When you are a kid, you refuse to go to sleep, but once down, you refuse to get up.

When you're in the prime of your youth, you refuse to sleep, but have to sometime, so you push day and night to stay awake, and once again, you are forced to sleep sometime!

When you get old, you WANT to sleep, but can't. As a kid you use to sleep 12, 14, 16 hours at a stretch. When old, you get ... maybe .... 3 or 4! Your brain switches "on" after 3 or 4 hours of deep sleep, and that's pretty much it! So now you are old, you WANT sleep and can't!

I remember driving 24 hours non-stop and still had energy to go in my late teens and early 20's. Now that I'm past 60, I can barely drive more than 4 hours, and that's with 6 hours dropped in there for potty stops! (Yea, getting older just sucks!)... Diapers when a kid, and diapers when old again! Well, I'm not old enough for diapers, I can still stop every 15 minutes and use the potty in the camper! Darn, getting old sucks!

So you know, if you are young, and it fits your life style and fills a purpose... sure! Go ahead and sleep during the day! And party all night! There are no right or wrongs when it comes to RVing! That's why we drag our homes behind us, so we can use them whenever and wherever we want!

Sleep? um ... what's that. I'm getting 3 1/2 hours a night now.... what do I do with all the spare time? Fix the roof of the house! nope! To dark outside... um... well ... I'm reading RV.net! (cheers!)