What appliances do you use on a daily basis and don’t want to live without? How often do you charge your laptop or cell phone? While planning your system set up keep track of what and how often/long you are using different electrical items. Whether you’re planning to go full time or shorter trips, you’re likely going to want to do most of the same things you are doing right now, in your rig. Regardless of if you go the solar route or the generator route it’s important to consider your overall electrical consumption before you head out boondocking. We do not use the generator as our power source, but instead top off draining batteries when the weather has been rotten for over a week or if we’re parked in a low sun exposure area. When we moved into the Airstream we found that it was the perfect size for us and works great a quickly recharging our batteries. Ultimately, we did not end up needing it and it sat in the truck for months. We bought our generator out of need over a year ago while running from wildfires in California. Having a backup solution or maybe for you this is the best solution is a generator that works with your rig. While we have a great solar set up, mother nature isn’t always up for cooperating. If you’re interested in our full solar set up we wrote a whole blog post just about it here > We opted for to install a pretty robust solar set up so we could work and play without worry of running out. ![]() In order for us to be able to live and boondocks full time in our Airstream we knew we’d have t have a solution for power regeneration. Its usually crowded and noisy and generally have little to no view or scenery. While having endless electric, water, and sewer is nice, we don’t love RV parks. We knew pretty early on that we want to boondock most of the time. ![]() We’ve found that hoping for the best and being okay with an alternative has made us much happier!! We always find something we like and if we can’t we can always move on to a new boondocking location! Sometimes we see a picture of the location on line and get so excited to arrive only to find that the view exists from only a single spot and its occupied. Have realistic exceptions for a boondocking location. If you find a better spot then you can move, but most often we find ourselves content with the spot we found. Get the situation and then scout further. There is always a temptation to drive further up the road for the “best spot”, but I promise nothing is worse than needing to return to the original spot you found only to find someone has come in behind you and taken it already. Take the first site you come to in a boondocking location. Having a plan B can save you a lot of time and stress on travel days. With boondocking and RV becoming more and more popular, often the most popular sites may be full when you arrive. Have a plan B on where you will go if there is no spots available when you arrive at a boondocking spot. Knowing ahead of time how you will get out is really important because the last thing you will want to be doing in that stressful situation is also figuring out how to get out. Weather conditions can cause you to need to leave quickly and can sometimes block the way you came in. In all cases we always walk the campsite itself before turning into to be sure we have a plan of where we are going and how we will maneuver within in! No one wants to hit a tree trying to get level!Īlways have a plan on how you will evacuate on area that is separate to how you entered if possible. For us, because we tow and do not have a second vehicle, it can be challenging for us to do this, but when possible we will walk the road ahead of turning down. If possible scout the road ahead of taking your rig down it. ![]() This gives us the ability to see the condition of the road, helps us map out a route to leave if there are no spots available and also helps us better understand site conditions which is critical for us since we rely on solar for our power needs. We utilize Google maps satellite function to help us better understand the road we will be traveling before we arrive. ![]() These apps give the you the ability to search a location, read reviews from fellow travelers about space, road conditions, and in our case, most importantly cell service. Depending on your size and location other great apps include iOverlander, FreeRoam, & Boondocking. We rely on a handful of super helpful apps that we can use to find boondocking spots, Campendium, The Dyrt, and USFS & BLM CG App.
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