There are a lot of videos on YouTube about boondocking. And on Facebook and the RV forums there is a lot of discussion about what is considered boondocking. So I’m going to try add my opinion and tell you from my vast experience and extreme expertise exactly what is boondocking and how I like to do it. And also some of the important things you should consider in order to have a good boondocking experience.
What is boondocking? Boondocking usually applies to any free camping whether it be in Walmart’s parking lot or way out in the wilderness. It is almost always is without any services. No hookups, no water, no bathrooms or shower houses nearby. Though that is where you might say Walmart isn’t boondocking. After all, you can get anything at Walmart, except maybe a shower. I wonder if Sam Walton has considered that ?
Inside the realm of boondocking is primitive camping, dry camping, dispersed camping, and wild camping. In the Northeast US, primitive camping is usually designated campsites with maybe pit toilets, or possibly a whole shower house bathroom in easy walking distance. But no hookups. Dispersed camping is usually large open areas where you can set up camp anywhere but there are no services. Although I have noticed pit toilets are becoming common. Which does keep the wild toilet paper nests down. Dry camping is typically RV “camping” without hookups wherever it may be. And wild camping in the context I have usually seen it, is backpacking and no RV. Its hard to consider it “WILD” if your in an RV with TV, Heat, and Running water !
So let’s do boondocking in an RV for beginners. And by RV, I mean all trailers, motorhomes, vans, buses, or whatever you can use to drive someplace and spend the night. And by “beginner” I mean someone that doesn’t have a fully equipped specialized boondocking rig, with 1000watts of solar, 400amp hours of battery power and a 2000watt pure sign inverter, and/or a generator and composting toilet.
The Essential Equipment
Except perhaps for primitive camping, one of the more important items of equipment that you need is something to use as a bathroom or toilet. Now if you have an RV with the appropriate internal bathroom set-up 
I are okay to go out in the woods. I don’t usually drink after 9 o’clock and though I’m feeling extremely old these days, I still don’t need to get up in the middle of the night to use a bathroom. However, I do carry an emergency potty in one of my cargo holds. It is basically a toilet seat on legs that will hold a plastic bag with kitty litter in it. In two years and 87 days of camping, I have yet to use it, but I guess if I needed to I could. I know a lot of van people who just use a bucket with a bag in it. Often padding the lip of the bucket with foam pipe insulation. And actually my Aliner came with a small chemical porta potty which I gave away as I never planned to use it and it took up too much space.
One piece of equipment that can determine the length of your boondocking is your capacity to carry water. Depending on how fast you go through water, boondocking usually ends when you have no more. Now my Aliner has a 20 gallon tank for freshwater and 6 gallons in the water heater. I generally also carry four or 5 gallons of water in recycled milk jugs. Not so much because I run out, but because I make the boys dinner in the back of the car and I like to have the jugs of water there to wet their food with and give them water. If you require daily showers and like to 
cook seven course 12 pot meals, your water probably won’t last too long no matter how much you have. So I generally advise people before they go on a long
boondocking to see what their water usage is and determine how they’re going to refill. I also carry a collapsible plastic 5 gallon jug and a Katadyn Hand Pump sanitary water filter in case I need to get water from a stream or lake. It won’t make enough water to take a shower, but it will produce a few gallons in about an hour free of any dangerous bacteria or chemicals.
Along with the amount of water, is your capacity to store black and gray water. Obviously if you have 60 gallons of fresh water and 15 gallons of black and 15 gallons of graywater storage, you may fill up your waste tanks before you run out of water. In some areas, one way to reduce your waste water accumulation is to wash outside as much as you’re allowed. Again, my Aliner has no wastewater tanks so I always do my cleanup and even my showers outside. I have met people out doing wild camping where they carry a small pop-up shelter tent to use as a shower house. I’ve always found getting up just before sun up and taking my shower in the early light keeps me from disturbing anybody, and the bugs aren’t up yet. This is NOT, I repeat NOT, an acceptable practice at Walmart !!
Next on the list of essential things is energy. For the most part we are talking electricity. Whether you have a large battery bank, or a lot of solar panels, or a generator, most people find electricity something they don’t want to do without. Although, maybe that’s just a YouTuber’s requirement. In my Aliner, electricity from the battery runs the refrigerator electronics and fans, the smoke and fire alarms, the ignition systems for the furnace and water heater in addition to the lights and fans. In order to run any big appliances like air-conditioners or a microwave requires being plugged in or to use a generator. So my current set up is a very tired, 80 amp hour lead acid battery and a 100 watt solar panel. 
I have found that my electrical usage allows me to stay three days before running down the battery on cloudy fall Northeastern days. And almost indefinitely if I have sunny summer days with the solar panel pointed in the right direction. However my usage of electricity is extremely low because I use flashlights more than house lights and I generally don’t run much more than the refrigerator’s electronics & Fans as an electricity drain. Making sure you have high-efficiency lightbulbs (LED) and minimizing the use of other electrical appliances helps. A lot of people that boondocks run
power inverters off of their 12 V system. And you may consider that an essential for your needs. However power inverters are awfully inefficient and waste a lot of electricity. If you don’t have at least 225 amp hours (two 6V golf cart batteries) of electricity and 200 Watts of solar panels to recharge, I do not recommend it. I used a very small 100 W inverter to recharge my laptop one camping trip for four hours, and it nearly drained the battery. The specifications on it said that it used 9 A to generate that 100 Watts of 120 V. So it used 36 amp hours of power from my 80 amp hour battery all by itself. My refrigerator and smoke and gas alarms took another five amp hours in the same amount of time. And so by morning my battery was down to 11.8 V or 70% drained. If I had not had found four hours of sunshine that day I probably would have had to go someplace to plug-in.
A lot of people believe you can charge your battery from your car using jumper cables. That is true, however, usually the best you can do from a car to an RV battery is pushing in 10-20A and if your battery is down 40 A (12 V on an 80 amp hour battery) you’re going to need to run your car for about 3-4 hours. So really, consider conservation as your best friend for saving boondocking electricity. That is why solar is so nice, it runs all day long without any noise or requiring you to do anything. And also why a fixed solar kit is better than a portable solar suitcase kit. People steal those little portable kits so you can’t leave your campsite for more than a few seconds while its sitting out in the lawn collecting the sun.
Another essential you might consider when thinking of boondocking, is how will you stay clean. Most people today think nothing of just hopping in the shower and sudsing up. Or running water in the sink while washing their hands and face. Boondocking you might want to save water and think about how you might take a sponge bath, or even using wet wipes for minor cleanup jobs. To save water at mealtimes, I use paper plates and just wipe out my pots and pans with paper towels. Both of which are quickly disposed of in the fireplace if I’m going to have a hot fire that night. Of course, you never want to leave food coated debris in your fire pit to attract animals. I also always try to plan a no cook meal or a one pot meal, so the clean up is minimal. I will also admit, I have washed my dishes in streams and lakes. I then rinse them with boiling water, probably from the same water source. Using available water for washing is a great way to save potable water in your tanks.
The rest of the equipment you might bring on a boondocking adventure is dependent on what you want to do. If you hang around the campfire and sing songs, you want to bring a chair or two and a favorite beverage or two. Or if you’re looking for solace and solitude you might bring a book or two and a headlamp. Binocular’s, telescopes, and cameras are always a good things to bring any time you’re out camping. And of course bringing along your best furry friend always adds to the fun.
Get out and get camping !! It just doesn’t get any better in life !
Catch you next time around,
Rick, Caesar, Dakota