You’ve probably heard a lot about abandonment (camping without hookups) and wondered why anyone would want to camp where there is no water, sewer, or electrical hookups. All modern recreational vehicles have been built to be independent of these appendages that connect them to land resources. All RVs have a fresh water holding tank and, most of the time, two waste holding tanks, one for the toilet and one for the shower and sinks. They also have a house battery or batteries to supply 12-volt electricity to the RV and a generator to power the 120-volt and 12-volt systems, and to recharge the batteries. Camping without these connections opens up many more possibilities in the vast natural areas and public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Forest Service (FS) to enjoy your RV lifestyle. First, however, you need to be comfortable with camping without hookups, which limits the amount of drinking water, battery electricity, and waste disposal capacity. Here are seven ways to conserve your natural resources and transition from hookups to boondocking.

1. Start by boondocking for just a night or two at a campground that has no hookups and won’t tax your onboard systems. But to go further you need to learn some conservation techniques and alter some wasteful habits.
2. Conserve your fresh water supply by taking Navy showers – rinse, turn off, rinse and rinse. Wash your hands in the same way. Filling your greywater tank is one of the most limiting factors in how long it can be at the bottom, so avoid getting as much wastewater into the tank as possible.
3. When washing dishes, use a small bowl of soapy water. Rinse dishes in a tub of water, rather than under an open tap. Clean food from your dishes before washing them. Use a small bowl of soapy water to wash and a plastic tub of water to rinse. With a little practice, you will be surprised at how much water you previously wasted.
4. Bring extra Jerry jugs or gallon containers of water to pour into your tank when the pump starts sucking in air.
5. To save electricity and last as long as possible for your home’s batteries, turn off lights, television, radio, porch light, computers, and any other power tools or appliances when they are not being used. Use rechargeable battery-powered book lights for reading.
6. If you need to use a 120-volt appliance such as your microwave, blender, or coffee grinder, or your battery-draining water pump, schedule their use in the same time block while running the generator, which will power them directly without need to use amps. without batteries.
7. To find places to camp on public land, stop at ranger stations and visitor centers when entering public land and ask about “scattered camp” areas. Find public lands on state maps that show recreational lands. Most of the roads to these sites will be dirt, but they were solidly built for logging and cattle trucks and fire fighting equipment, and most should be suitable for recreational vehicles.

For more information, as well as RV tips and destinations, visit my Healthy RVLifestyle website or check out my e-book, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands, a comprehensive manual on boondocking.