Boondocking: We're Off Grid

I'm so excited to be writing this post. This post is all about boondocking and I'm excited to say we are actually doing it. So what is "it" you ask? Well boondocking is the term used to describe living in your rig outside of a campground, RV park, or any other place that offers basic amenities like electric or water. It is living completely off grid. 

We've lived off grid before and survived. The extent of that experience was dry camping in a Walmart parking lot for the night. Wait! What?!? What's the difference between boondocking and dry camping you're probably wondering. Or maybe you aren't, but I'm going to attempt to tell you anyway. Boondocking is being completely off grid on undeveloped lands in remote locations. It is away from public commercial spaces and even private developed spaces. Like now, we are camped on this dry open land with only the light of the moon shining down on us. There no parking spaces, no narrow lanes to navigate through. We just drove our rig across the hard, compact desert sand and chose a spot. Most significantly is there is no noise. No noise from other campers, or sounds from the highway or even noise of the town for that matter. The only sound I hear are my kids playing and the occasional yap of someone's dog somewhere in the distance. 

Dry camping, on the other hand, is parking your rig in the parking lot of a store, restaurant or other commercial property or in the driveway of a private residence. Dry camping is not being completely off-grid. You still have access to resources such as a pavement to park your rig on, lights from the city or establishment you are parked at, you can run into a store for necessities, or connect to a local business wifi. 

I'm sure there are better explanations about this but what I just described at least gives you the gist of it. 

So we are actually boondocking tonight. We are in the middle of the desert somewhere in Arizona (don't worry...I know where we are but don't want to give away to much information on our whereabouts). We are surrounded by sand, rocks, and cacti and a few other rigs. We are here on BLM land (bureau of land management) where we can legally stay parked for 14 consecutive days. There is no running water, no light poles, nothing but us and the land. It's completely exhilarating and I am so excited to be doing it. 

I'm a bit nervous living off of just our house battery. I've never been in a situation to have to find out how long it lasts before needing to be recharged. I connected my solar panel to it this morning but again haven't tested that either. With no working generator I don't know how long we can last out here. My other concern was the amount of water I was able to fill the tank with. We haven't had to test how much water we consume on a regular basis so I don't know how long a tank full will last us. Even though I have some unanswered questions about our survival... Ha! I make it sound like we are lost in the wilderness. We can actually start this baby up and drive away anytime we feel like it so we are not actually "surviving" but you know what I mean. So even though I have some unanswered questions about our survival I couldn't be more excited to be doing this right now. 

I wasn't sure how the kids would handle it but they are troopers and taking not having *gasp* electronics to keep them entertained with a grain of salt. They are laugh, playing, and entertaining each other on their own which makes this moment that much more special. 

All in all I must close by saying I have a new respect for western pioneers. The desert is treacherous and doing what we're doing tonight but with a lot less resources is admirable. 

When we wake up in the morning having survived the night I know then I'll be ready for my spot on Naked and Afraid... I write from the queen sized bed in the bedroom of my home on wheels lol. 

Until we see you on the road or somewhere around the globe... Peace, Love, and Boondock

NomadicMama
nomadicmama3@gmail.com