Words by Elizabeth Hensley
It happens to many of us – we are driving down the road when our eyelids start to droop and the oncoming signs begin to blur. Our bed calls to us from the back of the RV, but we have no place to stay.
For the past 15 months, my partner Richard and I have zigzagged 40,000 km (over 25,000 mi) across the United States in our tiny home on wheels - a 1996 Thomas International school bus conversion we call Little House on the HWY. But just like any ongoing RV excursion, we sometimes find ourselves driving down the road with no reservations.
As full-time RVers we get asked where we park on the road, so we hope this can illuminate the reality of where we stay when we don't quite make it to a campsite or RV park.
The Basics
We aim to have multiple options at our reach wherever we are boondocking. Boondocking is a term used for RVing without water, electric, or sewer hookups. This self-contained approach allows us more options on the road. It is how Richard and I typically park. We equipped our bus with 400 watts of solar power, 40 gallons of water, a cassette toilet and a six-gallon jug for gray water. This enables us to live off-grid for days at a time without having to hook up or need additional resources. We also use Leave No Trace principles.
Leave No Trace is key when RV camping on the fly. This refers to a set of principles that minimize environmental impacts. These include knowing the rules and regulations of a place, minimizing waste, and respecting people and the environment.
With these things in mind, we snooze in rest areas and doze in welcome centres. Sometimes we rise and shine and cook breakfast in Walmart parking lots.
If we roll into a parking lot for the night, we gauge by looking if there are RVs or semi-trucks already settled in. If there are none, we will do more research, go inside to talk to a manager or call to see what the location's policies are. Whatever the rules, we don’t want to be that person setting out chairs, BBQing, or dumping gray water or trash in a parking lot because it can ultimately ruin things for everyone else. As for privacy? We close our blackout curtains, cover our windshield with Reflectix insulation and lock our doors.
We aim to find places that cost nothing and feel safe. But no matter where we close our peepers, if we are not expected to be there, we have to be prepared to hear “the knock,” which is usually accompanied by being asked to leave. If it never comes and our eyes open to the sunrise, we know we have been successful.
If the knock does come, it is not as bad as it seems. We have never been followed or cited while staying on the bus. We try to always be polite, understanding and always comply. Then the search continues.
When an asphalt jungle isn’t our thing, public lands fit the bill. The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for these lands known as “BLM” and they are prevalent in the Western United States. These areas allow free boondocking for up to 14 consecutive days. We enjoyed BLM land near Quartzite, Arizona. (You can read more about this area in my article, Nomad Sands.)
But our most memorable night on the road was when we found ourselves sleeping across from the Ingall's family homestead in Kansas, site of the original Little House on the Prairie. The only thing we could hear was the coyotes calling to each other over the tall grass.
On the Highway
Rest Areas & Welcome Centres
If we are traveling by highway we’ll keep our eye out for a rest area or welcome centre. Some rest areas will have a time limit posted to keep things moving. We are usually surrounded by semi-trucks in rest areas and the later it is, the more crowded it tends to be. If we arrive early, we try to park where we can pull out if we can to avoid getting blocked.
Some rest areas are minimal, like when we parked overnight near Mount Shasta, equipped only with a view, and others are well-maintained with bathrooms and vending machines.
Welcome centres in the United States are also a good option for short-term parking. They have a more family-friendly feel and provide travelers with information about the area’s history and things to do. Memorable ones for us have been in New York, Florida, and Virginia state lines, which also make a good place to have lunch and pose with the state’s welcome sign.
While traveling through the northeastern United States, we broke down at the West Virginia welcome centre. Luckily, most welcome centres (this one included) have restrooms open 24 hours, power outlets, and even a place to have a picnic. There was plenty of parking when roadside assistance came to help us get back on the road.
Truck Stops
Truck stops are a welcome refuge from the road, especially while traveling by RV. The fuel stations are bigger and easier to maneuver, and they often offer more than a typical gas station. Some include a large selection of road-friendly appliances and amenities, well-maintained showers, full-service restaurants, and even casinos. We have spent several nights in truck stops without a problem and slept to the growl of diesel engines. However, if a truck stop is full, truckers may cast an inauspicious gaze to an RV taking up a spot that could be used for one of their own. As a bus, we are still small to many trucks by comparison. We learned early to park even with them because reversing could result in being blocked in by a truck without its trailer.
In the City
Parking Lot Adventures
Staying overnight in a city or suburb is full of possibilities, but some of the main go-to spots are not as dependable as they seem. The most popular “stand-by” is Walmart. When we tell people we live on the road they automatically name Walmart as a place they assume we sleep. While it is one option, its popularity among RVers has led to problems as well.
In Homestead, Florida, we got bounced from a Walmart because one overnighter decided to dump their graywater all over the parking lot causing them to ban overnight stays. Some municipalities also enact city ordinances to keep overnight travelers out. Other options to consider are Cracker Barrel restaurants and Cabela’s, many of which come equipped with RV parking.
Another idea we have up our sleeve is going to our gym. We have memberships at Planet Fitness, which has locations across the United States, and they are beginning to pop up in Canada as well. Purchasing the gym's Black Card membership gives us access to any location, and most are open 24-hours. This means that after a long day of driving we can show up to the gym, work out, shower, and take a little nap before moving along.
While in cities we mostly stay in parking lots, but if street parking presents itself, we look up what the laws are for parking overnight. Some cities have strict laws against sleeping in a vehicle, namely most of California, but some are more relaxed. However, in parking lots, discretion is usually up to the business owner.
On the Web
When parking lots and truck stops are not appealing, we find last-minute stops online. Beyond free sites like Campendium and iOverlander, which sort out cheap overnight stays, there are other websites such as Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts that enable travelers to stay at a private property on short notice.
For an annual fee, Boondockers Welcome connects RVers with a network of online listings of free campsites. Members create their profile, browse listings with pictures and specs, and can scroll through reviews for each site. Host profiles also provide information such as availability, length of stay, hook-ups, if applicable, and the amount of notice needed for a reservation. This membership saved us when we had nowhere to go in dropping temperatures in New Hampshire last year.
Harvest Hosts is the more commercial option. These campsites are for RVers who are self-contained and the "host" can be a winery, farm or a brewery. While the stay is included in the membership, it is suggested that if you stay there you will support the business. We have not tried this option, but we know it is popular in the full-time RV community.
In the 15 months we've been RVing full-time, we have only paid for a campsite one time. Staying on the road has become a big part of the adventure. We've found that if we move on promptly, keep the area around us clean, and maintain open communication, there are plenty of possibilities to help us get some much-needed rest while traveling.