As you can see from this picture, we're in the desert.

In Canyonlands National Park, Utah, and we're miles from anything urban.

There isn't even an electrical pole for 50 miles around.

 

Boondocking / Dry-camping

Rich or poor, boondocking is a great way to travel, to see places you only see in magazines, and meet great folks. And that's why we're glad we set ourselves up for boondocking. Though the up-front costs are higher and preparation takes longer, it's worth the effort.

We really feel we saved a lot by boondocking and that our trip was that much better because of it. US National Parks offer no hook-ups but have water on the way in and a dump on the way out. Solar panels will extend your stay for many days and most parks deserve it. Some don't allow generators, while all restrict their use.
We also ended up at places you can only dream of because of boondocking. Places like a front row campsite in Monument Valley (see Utah), or an extended stay along the banks of the famous Copper River in AK while wheel fishing for sockeye! The experience of boondocking in the desert at Quartzite, or Imperial dam - Yuma, or even Borrego Springs, in CA, are places you'll never forget.

Boondocking is a state of mind. It helps you to realize the importance of being environmentally friendly.  You're closer to nature, and you're always thinking conservation, keeping it clean, leaving it clean and packing it out. That's the way you got it, and that's the way you should leave it for the next camper, and if it wasn't. clean it!.

We found the US is quite ahead of Canada when it comes to camping. There must be a dozen government departments involved in developing and up-keeping campgrounds and camping places such as the Bureau of Land Management - BLM, the Dep't of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engineers - Corps, National Parks - NP, etc... and we have found that these organizations keep things simple and inexpensive, as compared to camping in Ontario. The US is more concerned with making camping available for its citizens instead of gouging them with pristine over-developed, under-staffed and expensive Provincial Parks like we have in Ontario. Imagine paying $32 + $12 to reserve a campsite in Ontario while in the US it's often $12-14 and ONLY on a first come first serve basis....
And you know what else?... most Americans respect their wilderness, and dirty campsites the likes we see in Northern Ontario, are next to non-existent in the US... and we know because we camped at over 100 remote places in the US.

Camphosts / Camp Host / Camphosting / Camp Hosting /
Call it what you want, it's the other thing our American friends do well, and it probably count's a lot in keeping campsites clean. 
In most campgrounds, especially those considered unorganized campgrounds / remote places / primitive camping spots and also in many organized campgrounds, you will find a camphost. There is a camp site set aside, usually the nicest one, for a trailer, supplied with water, electricity, propane, water, solar panels, phone, fuel, generator, or a combination of these, depending on the circumstances and remoteness of the site, for a Volunteer Camphost. This spot is reserved for the camphosts who basically are there all season to call in any emergency, take payments if required, issue permits and generally clean up the area. This system ensures respectability of basic camping rules and generally keeps all the camphosted campgrounds clean and free of any trouble. These jobs are in big demand and the US government has established a WEB site for volunteers to use in order to reserve for these National campsites..... We met a lot of great camphosts, some were Canadians.

Like I said, boondocking is a state of mind and it lends itself to thinking outside the box. Some National Parks have a restriction on size of trailer. If you're travelling with a 36' Fifth Wheel or a Class "A", you'll be hard pressed to get a campsite big enough. Having a unit that's not too large saves on fuel. Saving on fuel, allows you to travel that extra distance and see spectacular places. Having a rig that's easy to tow allows you to go into wilderness places with ease, and being self sufficient for boondocking, well... that allows you to stay there for days, giving you more quality time to do what you came for.

As compared to some other travellers we have talked to, I'd say we travelled at a reasonable cost. It wasn't cheap, but it surely wasn't on the high side either. We did not limit ourselves on travelling as we went down roads that are still difficult to find on maps. We did not miss too many attractions along the way either. From National parks to caves, to helicopter rides over the Grand Canyon. Again, the one card you cannot leave without, is the yearly pass for the US National parks. Another money saver... BLM camping pass at about $175.00 for the whole Winter, it's a great experience camping out in the desert. And if you like hiking, desert excursions are an experience.
Thanks to Velma's tireless efforts and great gourmet cooking, we only did restaurants on average once a week. and did I mention, we ate well too!

Travel Expenses / Costs - Budget
Our budget and expenses are as follows. Mind you, we probably categorized some expenses wrong, but the bottom line is the same regardless. That was easy to figure.

We planned a year and spent 11 months 7 days on the road. We travelled a bit over 40,600 kms and of that 26,339 kms were from campsite to campsite, our direct line of travel. That left 14,300 kms of side trips / excursions! We had estimated the cost at $25,000.00 US ($32k Cdn) and we were expecting to add more. As it turned out, it cost us less! This is the breakdown in US dollars since most of it was spent there.

Item                              Estimate                       Actual

Campgrounds               $4,500.00                    $2,371.00

Food                            $5,500.00                    $4,320.00

Attractions                    $3,000.00                    $2,035.00

Miscellaneous               $5,000.00                    $5,600.00

Insurance                      $2,000.00                    $2,000.00

Fuel                              $5,000.00                    $4,870.00

Totals                           $25,000.00 US            $21,196.00 US

What we set aside minus what we came back with, leaves an exact cost of $550.00 / week Cdn. We probably averaged closer to $600.00 up in AK and $500.00 / week in the southwest because we did park for about a total of 2 months in the Winter. Out of the total 40,639 kms travelled, Niagara Falls to Sudbury, the long way around, we poured 6,851 litres of fuel through the Cummins engine for an overall 16.73 mpg Cdn, and we averaged $2.69 US / US gallon fuel - .85c Cdn per litre, mostly due to cheaper US fuel vs ridiculous Canadian prices.
On the 1st of October we left, fuel prices went through the roof. They somewhat settled back the Fall we ended the trip.

We hope this write-up helps travellers thinking of undertaking such a trip... to do so. You will never regret it.

Happy trails,

Velma and Denis
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