RE. BOONDOCKING

Ever since we started to be “Snowbirds” our idea of spending the winters was dominated by finding the open spaces where camping was free and where we could be close to nature. It is something we would never change. Of course, it was the posting of Rick from Rick and Paulette’s RV Travel which brought me to writing this post. But back in 2005 there was a learning curve ahead of us. How would we maintain battery power? Where would we get water and what would we do with our wastewater? These are three central topics we had to address. With help of the internet we found places where we could purchase solar panels. They would produce power for our batteries. With that we also needed an inverter and a charge controller. We made an order and picked it up on the way south. In order to store the energy we needed a battery pack of deep-cycle batteries. We found them at Costco! We bought a 50gal water tank to haul water and we found out that there were plenty of dump stations along the way for wastewater disposal. It wasn’t really complicated. Or was it? Well, we had also to learn that the capacity of our solar panels had to match the capacity of our batteries. And we had to learn that if that wasn’t the case we still needed a generator. So we bought one “El Cheapo”. It spoke Chinese to me and it was loud. We hated it and got rid of it again. We bought a HONDA EU 2000i. It wasn’t cheap, but the thing can be carried around without breaking your back. It produces up to 2000W and runs 12hrs on one gallon of fuel. And we didn’t disturb our neighbors anymore. That saved the peace!  We ran that thing for 2-3hrs most evenings – that was enough to provide a charge to our batteries until the sun would do its work next morning. Meanwhile, we have more solar power. We haven’t run our generator for 2 months straight. It is quiet around here. We hear the birds singing and the coyotes howling. We are near nature. It isn’t all about saving money. It is about much, much more. A  GREAT EDUCATION But we’ve learned something else: Over the years we’ve learned that we cannot waste our energy. We should not waste our water! Our society is wasteful. In fact, our society’s total energy consumption is mind-boggling. Everyone has to pay the price. Boondocking is the most environment friendly way of living we know of. It fits our desire to live close to nature. Of course, not all RVers want to be boondockers. Some won’t feel safe in boondocking spots, others are bored and don’t know what to do all day, and yet others love the clubhouse, the pools and all the comfort.   FREEDOM If we don’t like our neighbor we move. Our BLM permit is good on all BLM lands in California and Arizona. We’ve got the big choice. When people were nomadic they had the same choice. We are nomads and we will never change. Our bodies will get old one day, but our minds will stay nomadic. Our minds will be on the road. Thanks for dropping by!