5 Top Reasons Why Boondocking is Not Cheap!
Boondocking in Tonopah, Arizona as new RVers!
Boondocking is a beautiful experience, one that I believe everyone should try. It is unique, not your everyday type of camping, full of learning and lessons to be learned. But is it cheap as others have said?
Before I give that answer, lets take a look at what is boondocking. It is dry camping on either BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land or Forestry, which also includes wildlife preserves and sometimes big box stores, like Walmart.. You can camp in wide open spaces, like the desert, or among the trees, surrounded by tall pines that has beautiful, wind sounds in the forest. It is peaceful and relaxing and no worries about intruders, but maybe a small creature might visit you, like a deer or a cow (yes, it did happen to us).
Drum roll please! Here are the top 5 reasons why boondocking is not as cheap as you think:
Waiting in line to dump and get water, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Gas: OMG! Any type of travel that involves a vehicle will cost you in gas, and I mean a lot of money. Gas has gone up at the time of this writing and I do not see an end in sight.
Laundry: If you do not have a laundry set up in your rig (lucky you if you do), you will have to find a laundromat to suit your washing/drying needs. And they can get expensive! Not only to drive to one and use precious gas, but to use a lot of quarters or a card, plus the dryers kind of suck. I have used dryers where I had to put in a lot of quarters just for my clothes to dry, and we are only 2 people!
Shopping: Yep, you will have to use gas again and find a place to do your grocery shopping. Amazon or Uber Eats is not going to deliver to you when you boondock. You might even have to go without a certain product if the local store does not have it. It has happened to me and I had to find something comparable to it.
Dumping the black tank and getting water: Not that many boondocking spots have those amenities. Here is a website I use to take care of our most basic needs. But sometimes they do charge so be prepared for that!
Moving from site to site: Even though you can stay up to 14 days for free, or half a month, you still will have to move. Maybe you are a planner and you have all the boondocking spots picked out, but what if they are full? Make sure you have a plan B! Or maybe you are spontaneous and just pick what ever your heart’s desire. All in all you will have to move and this will cost you more in gas, depending how far you go.
Boondocking in Moab, Utah!
All hope is not lost when it comes to boondocking! I wanted to show you the truth, the reality of life as a fulltime RVer, that it is not as cheap as I have seen on social media. It does take careful planning and plenty of finances.
Click this link to find out how you can save $$$$ when you boondock!!!!