RV Boondocking News Blog - Living Without Hook Ups

One of the skills for making boondocking enjoyable if you haven't installed solar panels is the efficient use of your available electricity, which will reduce the length of time you need to run your generator or engine to recharge batteries. Recharging batteries always takes longer than you think, and the sound of a running engine can detract from the otherwise peace and quiet of boondocking in the wild.

So the simplest and most efficient skill is learning where and how much electricity your rig uses and what you can do to reduce this usage. First the simple stuff:

• Turn off all lights, including porch light and unneeded inside lights.
• Turn off TV, radio, computer, etc. when not in use.
• Don't leave electronics in stand-by mode, which still drains battery.

Next, change your old electricity-using habits acquired from too many years of too much cheap electricity.

• Get up in the morning with the sun and go to bed at night when it does, saving the use of lights.
• You can both recharge your batteries and stall their depletion by lumping heavy electrical usage together while running your generator. For example, if it's been a hot day, use the dinner hour to run your roof air-conditioner to reduce interior temps and your microwave for cooking. Then wash your evening dishes while your partner showers (both using the high-usage water pump), then you shower while your partner dries--all accomplished in little over an hour of running time. Your batteries will have lost none of their stored electricity, and you will have given them a boost as well.
• Have plenty of rechargeable AA batteries for your book light, instead of using an interior light that drains your main house battery. Recharge when you get to hookups or with an inverter while on the road.
• Train yourself to enjoy quiet, so that you don't automatically turn on the radio or television just to have some noise.
• Cut down on your TV time by taking a walk after your evening meal. You not only reduce your TV time, but will get needed exercise and help digest your meal. And this time of day is the active period for birds and wildlife, so bring your binoculars.

Many of America's most scenic drives wind across and through remote public lands, such as our national forests (NF) and land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Though not receiving the same publicity as our National Parks and Monuments, the National Scenic Byways (NSB) and the especially notable All-American Roads are mostly low-traveled, two-lane roads that showcase historic, scenic, and cultural treasures that define America.

But since they are often remote, you sometimes cannot find private campgrounds with typical amenities, such as hook-ups, along the way and unfortunately may have to cover the whole route in one shot--from a RV resort at one end to one at the other. Unless, of course, you have honed your boondocking skills and are comfortable camping either in primitive (no hook-ups) government campgrounds or boondocking in the open forest.

These skills enable you to take your time, stopping often, even for a couple of days at a nice forested campsite, and exploring the area more fully. Some, with hiking and biking trails, waterfalls, scenic overlooks, and hot springs you would have to skip if you weren't able to boondock along their routes--or spend time and fuel driving in and out of the forest from a developed campground at its extremities.

Scenic drives like Idaho's Payette River NSB follow wild and scenic rivers where you can spend a few hours or a couple days rafting the exciting rapids with a river rafting outfitter, or stay a couple days in a forest service campground along the Salmon River within walking distance to hot springs that flow through bathing pools and into the river.

At the National Scenic Byways Program's Web site you can request a free map and guide to the more than a hundred scenic byways to help plan your summer adventures.

Check out Bob Difley's BOONDOCKING and saving money on the road eBooks at RVbookstore.com