2011 Wolf Creek 850N/Polar Cub/240w Solar/2-6v Lifeline AGMs/Morningstar Sunsaver w/RM-1 & SureSine-300 Inverter 2011 Ford F-250/6.2L/3.73/Bilsteins/Air Bags/Torklift TD w/Fastguns 2004 Jeep Wrangler/4.0L/5-spd US Navy Ret.
rrupert wrote: I believe some would define boondocking to mean staying at a hotel without room service. Is there a difference between camping and RVing?
We got into this issue when we bought the coach, DW didn't think anything we did in it was "camping". We settled on
Camping = no organized spaces or very big spaces, i.e. you can't spit and hit your neighbor. You can have a campfire and may or may not have water/dump available somewhere in the area but you're on your own for power/water/electricity in your site. Many BLM "campgrounds" out west meet these specifics.
RVing = packed in like sardines in a tin, rules up the ying yang, full hookups, campground has amenities like pool/restaurant/hot tubs.
As you can tell I'm biased toward boondocking and do use the term properly. We like to "camp" as a destination in itself with sightseeing as an added bonus. We "RV" as a necessary evil to see things in an area we can't find more secluded spaces. That's why a coach with good QD generator, 100 fresh and 75/100 black/gray tanks was important.
No right or wrong in this question, "camping" in resorts is great for some people.
* This post was
edited 07/22/12 03:15pm by daveshan *
'99 Alpine 36SDS/8.3 ISC 330 Cummins
Or
'05 Lance 845
'06 Super duty SC/SB 6.0
Upgrades include: StabilLoads, Air Bags & Timbrens,Swaybars
Usually towing an '01 Wrangler, lifted/locked on 35"s or a mildly built '98 Cherokee on 33"s (only one locker)
Daveshan,
I love your response. I guess the level of technology that we haul around with us has a lot to do with it. We only stay in campgrounds when traveling and prefer boondocking with the luxury of having a small generator to charge the batteries now and then. Peace and quiet in the middle of nowhere is what we like.
I always thought boomdocking meant no electricity, no water, no sewer unless you provided it yourself or had none at all. So if you bring your own generator and use your own water, and dump on the ground you're still boomdocking.
I never thought about "location." But I guess the term "the boonies" came from somewhere? But where exactly is "that". So, to keep (my) definition consistent, "the boonies" would be any location where commercial water, electricity, and sewage is NOT used. So you can 'boomdock' in your own driveway, a commercial campground, the Amazon, or on the top of Mount Everest as long as you're not connected to commercial utilities, but are self-sufficient.
That's just my opinion.
DutchmenSport
2005 Chevy Silverado 3500 Dually Duramax 6.6L V8 Turbo
Century Truck Cap Commercial /Toolboxes
Northeast Outfitters Canoe
I agree that Wally docking isn't boondocking or even camping in my book but I think the issue is that these terms are only relevant either here or when talking to others that understand the terms.
Over the years we have been tenting, RVing, dry camping, boondocking, and even had hook ups from 30a to FHUs with the folks.
In all this time I never thought we had done anything but gone camping until I started up on this forum. Tell my folks that we went boondocking and they would look at me like what the **** is that. Explain the term and they would act like I was being a elitist for calling camping by a fancy name.
It's kind of like Tex-Mex food. Take a tortilla and put beans, lettuce, cheese and sour cream on it and roll it up and you have a burrito. Leave it flat and you have a tostada, fold it and you have a taco. Drop your plate and have the tortilla shatter and you have a taco salad etc etc etc. Same food, same taste but call one by the wrong name and someone will be there to correct you.
So while the terminology may help describe HOW I went camping, I'm still just camping in the long run.
2011 GulfStream Amerilite 25BH
2007/2003 Ford Expedition
Nights camped in 2011 21
Nights camped in 2012 16
rrupert wrote: I believe some would define boondocking to mean staying at a hotel without room service. Is there a difference between camping and RVing?
Had to laugh, that describes my BIL and SIL. Sadly their other halves haven’t camped and really want to go, but they can’t get their spouses away from the comforts of home. I use those terms fairly often, but I don’t think there’s any single criteria that defines it. The closest single factor I could come up with for RVing would be isolating oneself from the outdoors, or maybe spending time in the outdoors without lacking the creature comforts of home.
I love to camp, but I can stay in a cabin in the same area and do similar physical activity and not enjoy the trip at all. It’s just not camping. And to me, a big RV is similar to a cabin and that’s probably why those RV’s don’t appeal to me, they isolate me from the outdoors. I’m probably influenced to a degree, too, by a long history of tent camping and hunting where you’re exposed to the elements and have no creature comforts at all. And the further I get from that the less I’m truly camping.
Where one “camps” is a factor, too. I don’t think you can camp in a parking lot or urban area or an RV resort. Even a commercial park seems a stretch to call it camping. My distinction between the two isn’t even clear cut to me, there are gray areas. It’s easy to pick examples to illustrate it, someone who spends a lot of time in the RV, watches tv, had little interest in the outdoors and is in a developed area with many amenities isn’t camping, they’re “RVing”. Someone backpacking or tent camping is “camping”.
It’s the area in between that gets more interesting and I think I tend to make the distinction based on how much the person is outdoor oriented vs comfort oriented. My aforementioned BIL and SIL would not be “campers” even if I took them to a remote area and parked them. They wouldn’t want to walk, would complain if their muscles were sore or if it rained on them and they’d rather be back in the RV watching tv and microwaving a snack.
Anyway, that’s how I tend to make the distinction and many people may disagree. That’s fine, one value of counter arguments is it allows you to test and refine your own reasoning.
Actually I think terminology is a great way to describe what I do, I never use it to tell someone else what they are doing. I'm more into the diversity of camping and find the different ways fascinating.
I was once told we were not campers because we used a tent, stove, lantern, chairs, etc....
Maybe the term boondocking wouldn't be misunderstood if when described we put more emphasis on the boonies part where no amenities are a given than the fact that we are dry camping.
I can dry camp in a full fledged RV resort by not using the goodies but to boondock I must be in the boonies.
* This post was
edited 07/22/12 02:41pm by JiminDenver *
DutchmenSport wrote: I always thought boomdocking meant no electricity, no water, no sewer unless you provided it yourself or had none at all. So if you bring your own generator and use your own water, and dump on the ground you're still boomdocking.
I never thought about "location." But I guess the term "the boonies" came from somewhere? But where exactly is "that". So, to keep (my) definition consistent, "the boonies" would be any location where commercial water, electricity, and sewage is NOT used. So you can 'boomdock' in your own driveway, a commercial campground, the Amazon, or on the top of Mount Everest as long as you're not connected to commercial utilities, but are self-sufficient.
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