RV Boondocking: RVing Without Hook-ups (Dry Camping Or Black Top Camping)RV boondocking means RVing without electric, water, sewer, or telephone hookups. Boondockers use the utilities the RV provides, rather than hooking up to external utilities.
You may also hear some refer to boondocking as black top camping. They are referring to parking overnight in store parking lots. The popular parking lots are paved with gray black asphalt - thus the term "black top camping." RV boondockers use the self-containment features they paid for when they bought their RVs. They have fresh water, flush toilets, and a holding tank for their used water. They also have lighting of some sort, usually a battery powered electrical system. Most RVs have heating and cooking appliances. Some RVers boondock for a couple days at a time. They use primitive campsites in state or national parks. Or, they take the RV fishing and park beside a lake for a day or two. They may also take the RV to car races, flea markets, or some other event that does not have developed sites. We boondock for weeks or months at a time. We once boondocked for 395 days straight – and then I stopped counting. We added some things to our self contained travel trailer to make boondocking more comfortable. These included a photovoltaic solar system with an inverter, catalytic heaters, a macerator, extra batteries, and a wireless communications. Boondocking does not need to mean roughing it or primitive camping. When we boondock, we live in our RV in comfort. We'll be adding pages here that explain the tools we use, along with general boondocking tips and information.
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