When did boondocking become weird?

[ohhell10339]

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, apparently that's so oddball that it requires a label: "boondocking." Shouldn't that be the default setting for an RV? Why this feeling that one should end every day comfortingly hooked up to water/sewer/power/cable/piped-in oxygen, just like the home that you should probably never have left?

It seems to me that this feeling that you need to be plugged into the grid every moment that you're not actually moving is what enables all those shysters to sell a 100 square foot slab of concrete with a sewer outlet, electrical plug, and water spigot for the price of a hotel room (or more!!!). I honestly cannot fathom staying at one of those places any more than maybe once a week, when you can dump, flush, launder, and recharge everything. That might be worth the horrible expense. But otherwise, if you convince yourself you can't live without all those umbilical cords, even for a few days, then really, what's the point of even having an RV? Why not just drive a car and stay in hotels?

I guess my question is, when did this all happen? I know that in my college camping days, "boondocking" was the norm. At some point, which I obviously didn't catch, "camping" turned from parking your 23-footer out in the national forest for the weekend--no hookups--to paying $110 a night to park your 45-foot Behemoth Industries Luxury Cruiser at Slab Heaven RV Resort and essentially duplicating the experience of living at home.

What happened, exactly? When did boondocking start being weird?

[ppine]

I will be out there with no one around. I don't get all this snarky conversation about people you have never met.

[toedtoes]

I have never had a need or desire for scare lights. I enjoy seeing the nighttime activities of the animals where I camp and scare lights would chase all that away. Deer, coyote, raccoon, bobcat, and even bear are all things I don't want to miss due a fear of man.

[Old_Man]

Regarding safety in parks and boondocking...

I will use motion-sensor lights at night. All sides. Get too close, I'll have a nice sight picture. Of course, I don't need one with a shotgun. Just rock salt with the first shot.

Hell, I'd give them the Onan if they really wanted it. I'd rather sell it but if that's all it takes to get the GU to leave us alone, I'll disconnect it and leave it where they can just grab it.

But motion sensor lights are a must-have. The startle factor alone makes them indispensable. Might set it up to trigger an air horn, too. The brown stain in their pants would be worth it.

[Old_Man]

ford truck guy wrote:
I really don't give a **** what it is called... Or what others want to do... I do what makes my family and myself happy . .

Camping - Glamping - RVing - Boondocking - , I really don't care... Its my time, my vacation, my RV. I will call it what I want, when I want.

That is the beauty of having an RV, IT HAS WHEELS... If you don't like it somewhere, MOVE IT..

^^^
This.

[Old_Man]

Matt_Colie wrote:
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.

tl;dr

[Old_Man]

ohhell10339 wrote:
Man, the attitude of people here is a great reason to go dry camping...who wants to be near all these nasty old farts in a slab park?

Who the hell are you to insult people?

I claim the pejorative "nasty old fart," and wear it like a badge of honor. I'll be out there dry camping with all you nasty little millennials. And you and your brats better be quiet.

[Old_Man]

Ductape wrote:
When did MYOB become weird and critiquing other's choices become normal?

For REAL. I will RV the way I choose. No one else has any say. So STFU and MYOB.

[Old_Man]

ppine wrote:
I agree with Old Man. One of the secrets to enjoying the outdoors is timing. As a retired guy I head to the low desert in early spring and late winter. Then we start gaining elevation as the weather warms. I avoid campgrounds altogether in July and August and hit the backcountry.

That's how we're going to do it. We'll start heading south again probably late Sep, get to a bit of a lower elevation, but recognize the autumn weather patterns and travel accordingly. The intent will be to arrive at the winter home (Coyote Howls Park in Why, AZ) sometime around thanksgiving.

I'll break out my smoker and do about three birds to share with everyone but especially those who are lower-income. Hard to be lower than me, but at least it's steady.

Spring, summer and part of the autumn will be spent mostly in solitude. Just the five of us (two humans and the three felines who own us) and be more social in the winter, when we need the contact more, because of the reduced lighted hours. I get very bad SAD. So being able to have some contact is good for me, lets me get my altruism on, to whatever extent I'm thinking about it.

[toedtoes]

I think where you camp and how you camp are personal choices. No one's choice is right or wrong - it's just perfect for you.

[ppine]

I agree with Old Man. One of the secrets to enjoying the outdoors is timing. As a retired guy I head to the low desert in early spring and late winter. Then we start gaining elevation as the weather warms. I avoid campgrounds altogether in July and August and hit the backcountry.

[pnichols]

Old_Man wrote:
I will never be in the desert in the summertime.

We go when and where we have to go ever-chasing those rocks, and that's sometimes out in the true boondocks with or without the sun around. 😉

I guess that's why we're not against always having our two generators along and using them as needed ... but we do also have 230AH of AGM batteries with us ... plus the V10 that we can idle to spin it's big alternator as a Plan C backup.

[Old_Man]

pnichols wrote:


That being said, solar plus a usable high power generator is near ultimate. A propane fuel cell, plus solar, plus a usable built-in high power generator probably is the ultimate.

I will never be in the desert in the summertime. If we have to travel east, we will take the northern passage between SEA and MSP. Not scorching for anyone or anything. We will be traveling with cats, and I suspect at least one of us will be keeping close to the rig. Our cats are family, as much as your children. We won't abandon them.

On cooler days, or in cooler places, we'll explore. I'm done with 100 degree weather. Park in the shade, panels in the sun. No one around, it's the way to have fun!!!

[starcraft69]

ScottG wrote:
Nobody's method of "RVing" is any better than anyone else's and it's pompous to suggest that whatever you do in your own case is better or somehow more correct than what another does.

Boondocking has never been weird or even special. It's just the definition of one type of RV use.
All uses fall under the heading or "RVing".

YA what he said!!!!!!

[pnichols]

Old_Man wrote:
I'll be buying an A and one of the first things I rip out of there (and sell for whatever it'll fetch) will be whatever POS Onan is in there. Sounds like a lawn mower with a Briggs and Stratton. Fine engines, but archaic. Loud. Stinky.

I'll have a Honda. Quiet. Not very stinky. And a 750 watt solar system. LiFePo4 batteries. Two. Looking like 240ah. I haz planz!!!

Hmmmm .... I'd never ever spend Class A or Class B or Class C type money for a motorhome with a built-in generator that was improperly installed enough such that it was too vibratory inside to use, or too noisey inside or outside to use. (Too smelly is easy to get around.)

Even though we also carry along a little Honda portable, our built-in 4KW Onan is vital in that our coach air conditioning allows us to do such things as :

1. Pull over on the open road for a comfortable long lunch anywhere in hot weather. i.e. Use at an I-80 Utah Salt Flats rest stop in the summer.

2. Keep the dog cool in the coach while we're outside the motorhome for hours in hot weather. i.e. The Wyoming high desert in the summer.

3. Explore the backcountry in the Texas Panhandle in scorching temperatures searching for flint. i.e. When at least 100 degrees outside - come inside to avert heat stroke and have lunch at a remote reservoir.

4. Get a full nights sleep in terrible conditions. i.e. A Walmart parking lot during a no-hookup-campground-available 90-90 night in the Southern U.S. in August.

Plus .... there's various other nice-to-have and emergency scenarios where continuous 120V AC power in a motorhome would be priceless.

I love the low humming of our built-in Onan ... it's the anywhere, anytime, anyseason Sound of Independence. IMHO, considering the big bucks we pay for an RV, flexibility in order to maintain full self containment under all conditions should be the Name of the Game.

That being said, solar plus a usable high power generator is near ultimate. A propane fuel cell, plus solar, plus a usable built-in high power generator probably is the ultimate.

[ppine]

I always ask my girl at the end of a long trip say over 2 weeks what her favorite camping spots were.
She nearly always says things like "the night we pulled over in the National Forest in Oregon and heard the cows." She never mentions RV parks, parking lots or camping with other people. That is exactly why we have been together for so long.
Wilderness by definition is not accessible by a vehicle.
Camping is whatever you want it to be.
I think RVing can include a lot of time in the backcountry. Those are my favorite sights.