Leisurely travel utilizing Boondocker's Welcome

[Kstills]

When we talked about RVing, the missus and I decided that barreling down interstates in an attempt to get somewhere to enjoy the outdoors wasn't how we really wanted to travel. While you get to explore that one area you're staying in once you get there, you miss all the stops along the way, at least that's how it seemed to us. Our plan is to use the backroads, more two lanes than four, to travel.

Towards that end, we've joined Boondocker's Welcome. I've read good things about their service, but I'm wondering if anyone here has used them to actually travel across country, or for any distance in between? Most of what I've read here is about occasional usage, and the main complaint/concern is that the locations are too far off the main roads to be useful.

So my question is has anyone utilized this method of travel, and what were your opinions of it, both pro and con? We'll be in a Bvan, which is why it's appealing to us as both driving on the roads we'll be on and the setting up and taking down camp won't be as onerous to us as it would be to someone with a trailer.

[apexandy]

I'm new around here so do tell what boondocking is?

[Jeff7176]

We don’t use Boondockers Welcome, but do use Harvest Hosts to fill in gaps as we travel.

I like to travel 200 miles on a travel day (300 is pretty much the limit) and not have more than two consecutive travel days.

The challenge I see from primarily relying on HH is that we would end up with several travel days back to back, based on staying only one night at a location. That same one night lay-over also doesn’t give much time to check out the local area. We usually go to a farm or brewery, so we get to enjoy what they have to offer, but not much else. We haven’t had to unhook at any of our HH stops, so no issue with setup/breakdown.

If you can get multiple night stays with Boondockers Welcome and have the resources in your rig to be off-grid for the duration, I think it would work very well to get off the main roads and travel more slowly. It would also give you lots of opportunity to “call an audible” if you decide to stay in one place for more or less time than you originally planned.

[Jeff7176]

Originally Posted by apexandy

I'm new around here so do tell what boondocking is?

Staying at a location where you have no access to services like water, electric, or sewer. I usually associate it with dispersed camping on BLM lands.

I consider camping in a National Park with no hookups, but you have access to a restroom (flush toilets or vault toilets) and with dump stations and available water to fill your tanks as “dry camping.”

Both are great ways to camp, and each have their pros and cons.

[apexandy]

Thank you

[TayaraTravel]

I've used Boondockers Welcome only twice, with good experience both times. Each had no hookups but would have welcomed us staying more than one night.

Many of the sites I scoped out in planning offered at least a 15amp power, and some had water/sewer.

The only downsides to BW I see are
1) the hosts sometimes like to get to know you (nice and friendly) but it slows you down if you are trying to get from place to place.
2) since you are staying with an individual, not a company, you have to coordinate arrival times. Accommodation for late arrival can't be assumed.