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Boondocking
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The Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show
By Melanie Cullen
The open road and the big sky are what inspire a lot of people to make their first RV trip. They ease into RVing by visiting a nearby (and beautiful) campground where they can hook up to water, waste and electrical systems. Having this umbilical cord makes RVing easier but it also can make you feel tied down. As you get more comfortable with your RV adventures the desire to go further off the beaten path and fully off-grid will inspire you to think about boondocking.
Boondocking, or RVing in a remote spot without connections to water, power, or a sewer, can be a little scary when you are first venturing out. It is just you and your RV alone in the world. It is so peaceful, beautiful, and refreshing to be out there, away from it all. There is almost nothing better when things go smoothly and there is almost nothing worse when things go wrong.
One step to ease into boondocking is to go to The Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show in Quartzsite, Arizona, held every January. Quartzsite (or Q) is the biggest show in the country for boondockers, dry campers and RVers, and attracts over 150,000 attendees. It’s in Arizona just off Interstate 10 right by the California border, and it’s free.
The show is heaven on earth for RVers. It’s a ton of fun with hundreds of exhibits, live shows, bargain products and fellow RV enthusiasts. The fact that the desert is gorgeous and the temperature will be in the 70’s in mid-January doesn’t hurt either! Boondocking at Quartzsite is as easy as boondocking gets because you’ll be surrounded by thousands of boondocking experts, vendors, and RV tinkerers. There is even an installation & service area on the show grounds.
Even as you enjoy your time at Q, you can prepare for your next boondocking trip by getting tips on techniques and hotspots from all the new friends you’ll make. Plus with so many RV experts around if something does go wrong, help is just a short walk away. And if that doesn’t work out, there are myriad campgrounds nearby (and even some motels).
When you boondock, all you have is what you bring, and you have to bring all of that back with you. To prepare for your first boondocking adventure you should focus on three things: water, waste, and power. These three elements comprise the main difference between boondocking and using traditional campgrounds. When planning what to bring, keep in mind any trade-offs you might make between these three pillars of boondocking. While boondocking is a little more rigorous than staying at a campground, if you plan ahead you will be fine!
Having enough water is essential to everything. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the USA recommends storing at least a gallon of water per person per day for drinking and sanitation, and more if the temperature is hot. But you should bring a lot more than that since you aren’t preparing for a disaster – you are there for a fun trip!
The key to keeping your waste under control on your trip is to plan ahead. When you’re shopping, consider the packing materials that contain what you are buying. Food and bathroom supplies are big sources of packing material waste so either shop wisely or unwrap whatever you can at home and then repackage everything in bulk containers.
When you’re in the middle of the great outdoors enjoying the tranquility that going off-grid brings, the last thing you want is a noisy, smelly generator buzzing around your camp. Installing a solar array to charge your RV house battery gets you power wherever you are, and it’s easier than ever due to improvements in technology and a huge drop in solar panel prices. The tricky thing about a solar and battery storage system is that batteries can’t capture all the electricity an array produces because the battery and array operate at different voltages. This voltage difference can cause up to 30% of the electricity to be lost in translation. Savvy RV technicians, who are experienced in putting solar arrays on RVs, know the key to fixing this: an MPPT charge controller.
An MPPT charge controller helps you get up to 30% more power from your solar system by regulating that voltage between the batteries and the solar panels. That way your batteries will receive all the power being harvested from the solar panels. And like any purchase you make for your RV, make sure you pick an MPPT charge controller that is as rugged as the places you go boondocking.
Bring plenty of water, keep an eye on your trash, and solarize your RV with an MPPT charge controller, and you will have a blast when boondocking. You will of course take everything back you brought with you. But in places like Quartzite, you’ll also leave with new friends and the boondocking expertise to go as far off-grid as you’ve been dreaming.
Melanie Cullen is VP Operations and Marketing at Blue Sky Energy, visit them at www.blueskyenergyinc.com.