Boondocking 101: Essentials for RV Adventures

 Take a dive deep into the world of boondocking, in this episode of the RV Life Podcast with me, Patti Hunt, I take you on a journey of this unique aspect of RV living, with special guest Kate O'Phalen of O'Phalen Adventures . With over a hundred days of boondocking experience, Kate shares invaluable insights on how to make the most of off-grid living. The episode covers essential topics like water and power management, the advantages of boondocking with a family, and how to choose the right rig. Kate also discusses her incredible journey to Alaska with kids, offering tips on budget-friendly travel and unique experiences. Tune in to learn more about homeschooling on the road, the benefits of living close to nature, and practical advice for aspiring RVers.

Reach out to Kate @ O'Phalen Adventures

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

What the heck is boondocking and will I be able to take a shower? I'm Patty Hunt and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast. Boondocking is certainly different than a lot of things in the RV Life lifestyle. Today's guest spent over 100 days boondocking and she is going to share how you can too. Now I've traveled full-time for over three years and have been without power, sewer and water, but I'm not sure if that's actually considered boondocking. Today's guest will share what boondocking is and all things. How to boondock, even if you just want to do it for a couple of days.

Speaker 1: 0:51

The RV Life podcast was created to educate, entertain and explore the RV lifestyle. My mission has been to inspire you to get out and live life fully. Maybe that's stepping into boondocking, maybe just a weekend in a state park or anything in between. Whatever that is, today's guest is sure to help you along the way. So it's now time for today's fun fact, but I'd like to change things up. I guess I get bored with things easily. So the fun fact segment of the podcast I'm looking to change and I'm looking for you. My listeners help on how I named this section, so here's what I'm looking to do In this section. I'm looking to give updates and things that are happening in the RV world, things that you might need to know about, things I could share with you, and so I'm looking for the name to call this segment. Some of the ideas I've already gotten is what you need to know, or RV ramblings, rv report, any of these names and anything else you want to add. I am going to put this on my social media channel for you to help me name this section of the RV Life Podcast. Now you can find me on Instagram and Facebook at RV Life Podcast. Send me a message, put a comment in and let me know what you think this section of the RV Life Podcast should be called. Okay, so wherever we're calling it today, it is brought to you by Open Road Resorts, and they have five amazing locations. There are two in Montana, one in Idaho, one in Texas and their newest location in Nebraska called West Omaha KOA, and this campground looks amazing, it's highly amenitized and it is beautiful.

Speaker 1: 3:04

But today I want to talk about heading to Yellowstone. So, if you want to go to Yellowstone, red Rock Park is outside the western entrance of Yellowstone National Park, and what I'd like is that they now have rentals so you can rent an Airstream, you can rent a cabin, and this is great for somebody like me who right now doesn't have an RV. So now I'm going to travel for a while and hit the cabins, the tiny homes, the Airstream rentals, maybe even rent a vehicle for my friends at Fireside RV Rentals. There's a lot of options here. Red Rock RV Park has tiny homes and airstreams. I've always thought tiny homes were really cool, so this is my opportunity to get to Yellowstone, rent a tiny home it's all there, it's all in one, okay. Tiny home it's all there, it's all in one, okay. So now, as I've said, this section is really about updating you, giving you information of things to look out for.

Speaker 1: 4:12

One of the things I'm super excited about is being in Hershey in September for the Hershey RV show and for the third year, rv Life is having a party. So that is September 12th, the RV Life Hershey After Party, and, as I said, it's the third annual. I am honored to be asked to host it again this year and this event was amazing. Now the information will be coming. It'll be posted in all of the show notes of every podcast, so any podcast you listen to. It'll also be announced on our social media channels, so check that out. Should be announced shortly after this podcast goes live. That is going to be an amazing event. Save the date, september 12th, from six to 10. And my partner podcast, rv Entrepreneur Podcast, is also doing an event during the day. That is going to be an amazing workshop, so stay tuned for that.

Speaker 1: 5:23

The other thing I want to update you on is our beers top talent. If you're familiar with RV TV, they're doing a special that's called our beers top talent. It's like that show We've all heard about, where people with talent come together, show their talent and this particular show contest. You have a chance to win $5,000. So if you have a talent, you want to go to RV TV and check out this RVers top talent. Now, I don't have a talent. I really don't have much talent. Speaking on the podcast is not necessarily a talent, but again, I'm honored to be asked to co-host that show, so I'm super excited about it. You've got plenty of time, but you want to go and submit if you have a talent. I know there are a lot of talented RVers out there.

Speaker 1: 6:24

The third thing I want to update you on. Vanessa Russell was on the podcast. She's from the Adventure Detour. So Vanessa Scott and their daughter Sissy information on how to RV for less money on a budget RVing on a budget A lot of us are looking to do that Now. Vanessa sent me an email the other day and said that she nominated the RV Life podcast for the RV Share Best RV and Camping Podcast 2024 Campies. So I'm very humbled and honored by that and if you have enjoyed the RV Life podcast, I would love to have your vote.

Speaker 1: 7:22

Okay, so that's the updates for this week. There are a lot of them and that's brought to you by Open Road Resorts, but I'm excited to jump into today's guest. Today's guest will help us understand what boondocking is. She brings excellent tips on what to consider before you go. She has traveled full-time for four years with her husband and three kids in their renovated toy hauler. The family has visited 49 states, including a summer in Alaska. Prior to travel, she was an actor and a homeschool elementary school teacher. Now she is a family content creator, professional blogger and ebook author. O'fallon Adventures was created to inspire families to adventure together more. You can find Kate and her family on Instagram and her blogs and how-to ebooks on her website, o'fallonadventurescom. Kate O'Fallon, welcome to the RV Life Podcast.

Speaker 2: 8:29

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

Speaker 1: 8:32

I am so excited to have you. I know we met for social media actually, which is where so many people we had a conversation and there's just so much information, so I just want to jump right in so you can start giving all this valuable information to our listeners. Now you have a really interesting story as to how you started full-time travel. Will you share that story with my listeners?

Speaker 2: 9:05

Sure, I do feel like we have an unconventional RV entree. We're probably the last people that anyone would have expected to become RVers, living off-grid. We lived in New York City for almost 15 years. My husband and I worked in the entertainment industry professionally. My husband and I worked in the entertainment industry professionally, and what changed for us was what changed things for a lot of folks. Covid and my husband's job went remote. My oldest was in kindergarten. Kindergarten went remote, everything went remote, and all of a sudden we were left sitting in the city wondering why we were paying really exorbitant rent when we didn't need to be there in person and all the things that we loved about city life were closed. And so we decided our lease was up and we decided, oh, let's go check out some Airbnbs for the summer and we'll come back in the fall in time for school. That was four years ago, so leaving for the summer turned into four years.

Speaker 2: 10:03

We started out using monthly Airbnbs and we did that for about a year and a half and we were loving the travel so much. But what I was missing was having a consistent home base and all the things about Airbnbs that bug you right. There's always something weird about each one. The pillows are really uncomfortable, or this one has only one fork, or there's no trash can in this one.

Speaker 2: 10:23

And I was like tired of the constant packing and the constant problem solving in Airbnbs and finally convinced my husband to get an RV. He was very wary because we didn't even own a car for 10 years, much less a giant trap and towing things around. And I finally convinced him and we bought an older toy hauler in cash. It's a 2007 and totally gutted it. We spent four months just like ripping it apart and building it to be exactly what we wanted it to be, and then had to learn how to tell all the other RV things. But I do joke that, like as city people, we probably were the last people you would expect to be driving a diesel super duty truck and a giant trailer around. To be driving a diesel Super Duty truck and a giant trailer around.

Speaker 1: 11:04

So I'd have to take you back. You actually stayed in Airbnbs and you had two kids at the time.

Speaker 2: 11:13

Yeah, when we left the city.

Speaker 1: 11:14

I was pregnant. Okay, so you were pregnant when you left Airbnbs, I think you said for two years you did that. Am I correct?

Speaker 2: 11:26

Yeah, we did a year and a half of moving around in Airbnbs and then bought the RV and I knew I wanted to renovate it, but I needed a place to do that, and so we stayed in one Airbnb at the end of that for six months, with a big yard that we backed the trailer into and I would walk out to the front yard and work on the RV every day. So yeah, a total of two years in Airbnbs, okay so now three kids, and they are now three, six and eight.

Speaker 1: 11:48

You've been traveling for four years, so the youngest was actually born on the road. Can you tell us about that experience being in an RV being pregnant?

Speaker 2: 11:58

and having a baby. I think people think it was more dramatic than it was, honestly, and I don't know, maybe it was because it was my third baby If it was my first, I never would have done this right, but my third kid I was like I know what I'm doing. There are bigger problems in the world right now. It was very casual and you know when you're getting pregnancy care, it's pretty infrequent up until the end. So what I was doing was that first six months of the pregnancy I was like circling back to New York to just see my doctors once a month or once every six weeks or I think I did one virtual appointment in between and then came it was, we were making it work, but the care is pretty infrequent in the beginning and so that was pretty easy. And then at the end we were settled in one spot. So by the third trimester we settled down so that I could have those more biweekly appointments, more testing and stuff like that. But it was doable. It's more paperwork.

Speaker 1: 12:48

Everything with being nomadic, I feel like, is just more paperwork, but it's all achievable, oh yes, and I think that this is probably a topic that a lot of people don't talk about. I don't think we've ever talked about it on the podcast, so just give people an idea. I've had three kids been close to the hospital every time, long, long time ago. So very different world we live in, but it's possible. Maybe a ebook that you could write on that. I know you've written some ebooks. If you haven't, that might be a good one. Okay, so let's get into. You started a failing and I feel like I keep saying it wrong adventurescom. How do you say your last name so I can get it right?

Speaker 2: 13:32

Oh, failing adventures. Yeah, that's there. Everybody struggles.

Speaker 1: 13:36

Okay, I think I got it. You've inspired families to travel. Where did that start? When you said let's you know, start offering information. How did that all start? You're on the road. You've got three kids now One is a baby. When did you decide to do the website? Share information with people, educate people.

Speaker 2: 13:57

I feel like I've always been like my whole life. It's taken different forms, but I've always been an information sharer. I used to run a blog, I used to run a podcast and the topic has varied, but that's just who I am an information sharer. My friend calls me a thought leader, which feels a little bit presumptuous to call myself, but that's the way I think of it. As information, thoughts sharing. That just comes really naturally to me.

Speaker 2: 14:21

But what I feel like makes sharing information about family adventures really important is that I do feel like, culturally, we have a tendency to have kids and, as women, feel like we're either putting our dreams on a back burner or that doing the things that we used to love feels really difficult.

Speaker 2: 14:43

And one of the things that I think is really important about adventuring together as a family is A that we can show our children that we can still be full humans, even once we're parents.

Speaker 2: 14:55

And, b that we can share in these adventures together.

Speaker 2: 14:58

And I think it's really important to encourage families that, even when it's difficult, that we can get out there and do these things and whatever that looks like for you, that it's okay to still have dreams and still have aspirations, still do things like travel the world, even though I have three small children, and a lot of people might be inclined to say you shouldn't do that or you should wait until your kids are out of the house.

Speaker 2: 15:20

And honestly, sometimes I do look at retired folks having a glass of wine at sunset quietly and think that looks really nice when we're dealing with, like wild children, feral dinner time they're not their best time of day, but I do also think there's something really rich and sweet about traveling full-time with our kids and the experiences that we have because of them. People are so friendly to families with small children. We've made a ton of friends that I wouldn't have otherwise, because they're, like, just charmed by small children, and we have chosen different sort of experiences than I might have chosen for myself if it was just me, and the memories that we've made together honestly, absolutely priceless. It sounds like a cliche, but no matter what happens with our family going forward, this set of years that we've spent all day, every day, together and adventuring together, you can't take that back.

Speaker 1: 16:16

Absolutely, and these so again. And I'm on the other side of it. I'm sitting outside at sunset. I don't choose a glass wide, but that idea of sitting there quietly and I could go back and look at what it was like when I had kids. I raised my three kids and then Dan and I got together and there were two more and they were older. And now to look back and look at that contrast, I wish that we had done more of that, because it does seem like it's difficult and a struggle, but I think sitting in a home with three kids there were days it was a struggle. Listen, dinner was the witching hour for sure, and then you're waiting for bed time, dinner is so hard.

Speaker 1: 17:02

Yes, and then, from then on, it's something about the sunset, but we'll talk about that in another time. It's the sunsetting. It's no one's kids' best hour, yes, so just. And the thing that I think, if I went back and can say so, dan and I have five kids, four of them have kids, so we have nine grandkids and I said if parents could be grandparents first, that would be the greatest thing, because I can look back, not judging what anybody's doing, not judging what my kids are doing. They're all raising kids differently. They're all incredible parents, and it is a struggle, for sure. It is challenging. It's probably the most challenging job anybody's going to do.

Speaker 1: 17:47

And, that said, I believe, now that I'm past it, it could be done in an RV Again, whether that's full-time or part-time or just getting out there sometime. As we do on the podcast, we go in different directions as they come. I want to jump in, though, because now you're talking about three little kids and you're going out there boondocking. So, first of all, explain to our audience what boondocking means, because I think it has different sort of definitions. So what does boondocking mean?

Speaker 2: 18:22

Yeah, I like to say that boondocking is a really silly word because it is for just not having hookups, and that can mean a variety of things. Like you said To me, true, boondocking is no hookups whatsoever, but there's also a spectrum of no hookups. Right, have just power, or we can have power and water, or we can have less power than our rig is maybe wanting, or we could have a spigot at the site but not hooked up to the rig. There's definitely a spectrum of what not full hookups means. But traditionally pure boondocking, if you're a purist, would mean zero hookups, whatsoever, whatsoever and you are self-sufficient and that's mostly what we do. But again, that can also take a variety of forms. Like you can boondock in a casino parking lot or a Walmart parking lot, or you can boondock on public land, on BLM land, on national forest land.

Speaker 2: 19:24

There's just such a it's a wide catch-all kind of term.

Speaker 2: 19:28

But what I think is most important is just learning the difference between how your rig functions when it's plugged into all the things versus when it's not plugged into any of the things.

Speaker 2: 19:38

And when I tell people who are not familiar with RV life about the difference between these things, I feel like living in an RV with all your hookups is really not that dissimilar to apartment life or like a tiny home village Like you. Still, you have some stuff to learn about RV life specifically, right what you can and can't flush the maintenance that an RV requires specifically, but in general it's not a huge leap from living in an apartment to living in a comfortable RV. But boot docking really is like a different set of skills. It's figuring out where are we getting our power from, how are we conserving our water, which to me is honestly the trickiest part and then what are we doing with our wastewater and our trash and our all of that? And how are we finding places to park? Rv parks are pretty straightforward you look them up on the internet and then you drive in and park. Boondocking is a lot more complex.

Speaker 1: 20:34

Right, and we're going to get into these details because I want my listeners to get a good idea of what that looks like. What's funny is and I asked you what boondocking means because when I researched and I like to look at what words mean there was a rabbit hole. So boondocking is, like you said, a strange word. And there was a rabbit hole because there are people that believe, like you said, purists. Boondocking is not in their mind. Going into a campground and not having hookups, that's not boondocking. Boondocking is when you're on natural ground, not necessarily somebody who put stones down or cement. So there's really these very different ideals and belief systems.

Speaker 1: 21:23

I guess in it what we're saying boondocking and again, my whole thing is do what works for you, call it what you want. There's this great debate between what is our being as opposed to camping. Do what you want, call it what you want. Let's not get hung up. But for the most part, we're talking about boondocking being not connected to power, sewer, water, and you're going to help us figure out some of the things we need to know so that we could safely choose that. So, if you could, let's start one thing at a time. Where is the best place to start. I believe you talked about the kind of rig you have, what kind of RD camper you have right?

Speaker 2: 22:10

Yeah, and I agree with you. I am not personally a boondocking purist whatsoever. Do what works for you. Park where you want to Make it work however you want to, and I would disagree that being in a campground without hookups at all is not boondocking. I think that's boondocking. You need all the same skills. The only thing that's different is that you're paying for it. So, honestly, we don't do a lot of that because it's pretty easy to boondock for free once you get the hang of it.

Speaker 2: 22:38

But yeah, I think the first thing you want to think about if you are planning to be a big boondocker and again, if you're just going to do it a night or two at a time as you travel places, you can be a lot more casual about all of this stuff that I'm going to talk about. But if you're planning to spend long periods of time off-grid, then you do want to think about the rig that you're in, or that you're thinking about being in, before you make the leap, or, if you've already made the leap, think about what your limitations are going to be with the rig that you have. Honestly, one of the reasons why I try to teach people about boondocking is because I thought I would be the last person to ever boondock. I was like I love my hot showers. I can't do that, me too.

Speaker 2: 23:15

We ended up accidentally with a rig that's great for boondocking, and so now I'm like okay, but if you boondock think about this because we got lucky and not everyone does Our rig has really big tanks. So our rig has 110 gallons of fresh water that we can carry with us, and we have two gray tanks and a really decently sized black tank, and so those are the things that are the hardest to modify on your rig. A lot of the other limitations we can make accommodations for, but I would say, if you really do think you're going to be a boondocker, to consider what your tanks look like, first and foremost, because that's going to be your limiting factor in how long you can last, okay.

Speaker 1: 23:59

So tank space, what I'm hearing fresh water that you need for you know everything, and again, I want to just break it down for people who are new to all of that. Some of our listeners are just thinking about starting out the RV life, so let's break it down. Then it's whatever water you use then goes into either the gray tank or the black tank, and so we have to consider those things. You also have to consider the number of your family. You're talking about five people that you take with you, so that's something that people need to consider. More people, more water that's needed.

Speaker 1: 24:35

Once people have thought that through, if they haven't bought a rig yet, thinking about the kind of rig they buy, based on how long they want to be out, what would be the next consideration that people should think about? So they have tank space for, say, 20 days? I don't know tank space. I don't think you could wait a minute. Let me think about this. So I had a hundred, not with five people, no. So let's get this for real instead of just arbitrary. I had a 110 gallon freshwater tank. I believe it was 110, 120 gallons, just two of us. The longest I ever boondocked was when I went to the Reno Air Show and that was six days and I was doing video, so I needed that shower and doing my hair every day. There was no skipping days. There's no hat. I don't wear hats. Maybe I should start wearing a hat, because you can hide the messy hair.

Speaker 2: 25:35

Or a headband.

Speaker 1: 25:36

A headband? Yeah, I don't do any of that. I need somebody to come on to talk about how to braid the top of your hair.

Speaker 2: 25:41

That's another trick I'm like if you're flipping, choosing on the top of your hair. That's another trick. I'm like if you're flipping, bruising on the top. A little French braid on the top.

Speaker 1: 25:48

Okay, I'm great at French braiding. I just don't know how I'd feel about it. I got to embrace that, I guess. So I can go long, but I will tell you, we showered and I'm talking military type shower every day for five straight days and we still had water and tank space. So that was a great thing. But again, it's going to depend on how many people, how long the shower, how much showering you need to do all of those considerations. So you're probably looking at, let's say, a week or so that you could be out with that kind of tank space, maybe longer. What are you saying?

Speaker 2: 26:28

So I will say we can max out if we're very careful. I think our longest stretch without dumping or filling was 15 days. Oh, wow, for five of you, yes, for five of us. I will say, like the kids are not showering every single day, we're washing hands and feet and we are definitely doing military showers and I'm also not washing my hair every single day. But yeah, we publicly and generally, you're going to max out at 14 days anyways, because most public land you're allowed to stay for 14 days or less, and we were in one spot where we were on a 14 day limit but everyone ended up sick and so we stayed one extra day because we were just too sick to move on that 14th day, and so we tested our limits and made it to 15. But there are ways to mitigate running out of water, say, or having full tanks. It just requires more effort. But I will say we can stretch five people to 15 days if we're very careful five people to 15 days if we're very careful.

Speaker 1: 27:28

Okay, so we're covering water. I do want to take a minute to talk about my friends at Clear 2.0. When I am hooked up, I use the three-stage water filter. It's an amazing system that they've come up with. It's a carbon block instead of the granulated carbon, so it gets the clean water down one micron. Might be something people are not familiar with. Getting it as low as you can is a great thing for clean, fresh water, but if you're in an RV and you're boondocking, then they now have, or they've had, a pitcher that you just pour the water in and it filters it, and I have had this pitcher for a couple months now. The house that I live in now I'm in a house right now, as most people know the water was so bad that it actually upset my stomach. That's how bad it was, and the person that I'm staying with has had no problem with it, but maybe I'm more sensitive. Person that I'm staying with has had no problem with it, but maybe I'm more sensitive and I started using this pitcher a couple of months ago and it's been fantastic. So it tastes better, smells better. I could actually drink it. So I highly recommend Clear 2.0. You could go to clear2ocom, use RV Life Podcast to get a discount. They are offering 15% to our VitaLife podcast listeners. And that's all going to be in the show notes, but when we're talking about water, clean water, certainly important.

Speaker 1: 28:53

So now let's talk about, I would imagine, the next thing is power, and there's a lot to that. I'm sure when you're going to be, what the temperature is going to be. It's going to be really hot, it's going to be really cold. The temperature is going to be it's going to be really hot, it's going to be really cold. Heating, air conditioning, power. For me, we have in the RV, a residential refrigerator. Some people have residential, some people have an RV refrigerator that can run on propane, throwing a lot of stuff out there. So my biggest thing was making sure the refrigerator stayed cold. That's always an issue getting up in the morning and making sure I could have my cappuccino. My cappuccino machine must be able to run. And then, of course, air conditioning if it's hot. Heat if it's cold. What give us your take on power? What?

Speaker 2: 29:47

gives your take on power. Yeah, so even your intro question, you were like there's 85 different concerns. I'm like, yeah, that's fair. There are a lot of ways that you can come at the power question. And I just want to say right off that I feel like one of the reasons I was intimidated to boondock is that I see so many people with $10,000 solar setups so they can run everything like they're on grid and that's awesome. No judgment If you can afford that and you want to do that, if you have the weight for it, more power to you. But I was like we have a 2007 rig and it does not make sense to me to spend $10,000 on solar for it, and so I was really intimidated to even think about it. And in the end that was silly because we spent just several thousand dollars on solar and we have absolutely plenty for our needs. But you don't even have to have solar to boondock. If you're not going to do it all the time, you can have a generator. Ours has an onboard generator. You can also buy an external generator for relatively inexpensively.

Speaker 2: 30:49

But I will say, if you want to do it for any amount of time, you should look at your solar options and again we spent four thousand dollars and it was more expensive because we did it in alaska, where everything is more expensive. But we ended up with, I think we have 800 watts of solar on the roof and we upgraded our batteries. So we have 500 amp hours of batteries and a small inverter. And we didn't do the install ourselves because, again, we were in Alaska, it was really expensive to get the parts even shipped to us. But you could even do it for probably half that if you were willing to be adventurous and not pay for the labor. And we chase good weather. So we don't use the air conditioning upgrade, I will say, because that's a big power hog, but we could if we wanted to turn the generator on. But what we have for several thousand dollars is plenty of power for our needs.

Speaker 2: 31:37

Our fridge is not a residential one, so it does run on propane, but you still need power to run your propane fridge. But you still need power to run your propane fridge. And we have power to run the lights. We have power to run the water pump. Honestly, I feel like the power is a much easier salt than the water. The water is the one where you're always going to be like negotiating and counting and watching your meter and deciding if you can afford a shower today, but the power is, once you get the hang of that, it's pretty consistent.

Speaker 2: 32:10

The only thing I will say that really surprised us was this winter. Winter was a lot harder because the days are shorter. So not only were we getting less solar, because the day ended at 4.30, we were using our furnace a lot more, and the furnace is a power hog. There will be things if you go the solar route that will affect how much power you end up having the length of the day, your temperature right, like you're running your AC or your heat more often than usual. That will affect it. But I feel like the power, once you get a handle on it, you're pretty set. Like you, you get to be good at that part.

Speaker 1: 32:47

And again, there's so many different options for power. Like you said, you could use a generator, whether it's inside or an exterior one. You have propane, like our RV did have some like a 40 gallon propane tank, so it ran the heater and ran the residential, ran the RV refrigerator. We had some solar. You could always increase the solar, but it yeah, to your point. It's like there is no one size fits all. It's really getting engaged from what I'm hearing from you. And that gauge is what do I need to run? What kind of power do I need for me in this rig doing what you want to do? So now let me ask what is the longest that you've done? Boondocking? Let me just ask it that way. I think there's more to that than just a number of days. But you do mostly boondocking. Is that correct? We?

Speaker 2: 33:45

do? We have done about 100 days in a row.

Speaker 1: 33:50

That's our so wait, wait, 100 days in a row boondocking.

Speaker 2: 33:55

Yeah 100 days in a row, not in one spot, because again, we've asked that in 15 days We'll go and normally that means you have to move around on public land. You can't just stay indefinitely on public land. There are rules about how far you have to move around on public land. You can't just stay indefinitely on public land. There are rules about how far you have to move and I talk about this a little bit in my ebook. But generally we'll move every 14 days and on the way hit up a dump station, dump all of our dirty water and then fill up with clean water. But, yes, like 100 days in a row of not having any hookups whatsoever.

Speaker 1: 34:27

Wow, wow, okay To me that means like basically indefinitely yeah.

Speaker 1: 34:32

And again so boondocking has its place for certain people. When I first started out and unbeknownst to me so, when I started as I've told this story before, dan and I started during COVID as well he said he was in the entertainment industry as well and he said hey, there's no money coming in right now, no chance for the entertainment industry to open back up anytime soon. Let's just sell everything and go buy an RV and be full-time on the road. I had been in an RV a total of seven nights that was my experience in two separate times and I'd been quote unquote camping in the tent maybe two weekends. So this was really foreign to me and we decided to buy. I finally said okay, we bought the RV and I said let's stay close to where we launched from, which was in Las Vegas.

Speaker 1: 35:28

And we went to Lake Mead, to the campground, didn't think anything of it. There was no hookups there. There was a water spigot. If you had a long enough hose you could attach and get some fresh water, but to dump you had to pack it all up. We have a 40-foot Monaco Dipplemat, two slides, the whole thing. We had to pack it all up to go up to the dump, to dump. And not only that. We had a problem with the freshwater tank because the person who owned the RV had put all this pink stuff in it to winterize. So I kept smelling it. People said, oh, it's not harmful. No, I'm not Jordan King. Yeah, no, that doesn't smell good. No, it doesn't smell good. I have a keen sense of smell, so it was making me crazy. We were packing up every four or five days to dump. What I've come to realize is that was boondocking. We did not have power.

Speaker 2: 36:29

We didn't have I know that's boondocking.

Speaker 1: 36:31

That's boondocking. Okay, so I've done it. You got thrown in the deep end, for sure, for sure. And not only that, we were there for 30 days. You could stay there for 30 days. Then, I think, we dumped, we moved and we stayed two more weeks because we couldn't leave. At that time, we were waiting for things to get settled. So really, I don't want to tell anybody. But 45 days of this, and so I survived.

Speaker 2: 36:58

That's a hard way to start.

Speaker 1: 36:59

I will say but you know what? Because I didn't know what I didn't know. Maybe it was, I don't know. But anybody who knows Dan knows that he gets his idea, he goes for it. And I was enjoying myself. We were right by the lake. It was beautiful, met amazing people, did so much. We were taking trips and experiencing things in the area. So I don't know, it was a risky thing. Yeah for sure, but I'll tell you. I then got somewhere where we had full hookup and You're like this is the life.

Speaker 1: 37:38

This is life, yes, yes, and we would go into campgrounds and they had pools and this is life, but anyway, yeah, so it's definitely finding where that sweet spot is. Some people like you can be off grid all the time with those jumps and taking care of things and being right back to being out in a national park somewhere. That sounds great.

Speaker 2: 38:04

It's so beautiful. I feel for sure the full hookup life is the luxury life. We stayed at a campground for a couple of weeks recently and my kids were like we love the pool. But I will say my oldest did say at the end of the day she was like I actually miss boondocking. And I was like oh really. And she was like, yeah, I like that I can just run outside and go dig holes and just like there are no rules and I go play and they're observing lizards and birds and just being a little bit feral. And she was like, oh yeah, I forgot.

Speaker 2: 38:37

When we're in a campground we have to stay in our spot and not bother the neighbors and not yell too loud and there's a time and a place for both. But I do think that's beyond the absolutely amazing views that we get, boonocking and the fact that it's free 99. Beyond that, there's a lot of benefit to having our three kids just out being wild, outside, doing what they want, living in nature. It's really nice to not have to worry. You know that parenting thing where you're like I don't want anyone to be bothering them or them to be bothering anyone else and I don't want them to be accidentally destroying the neighbor's sewer hookup. It's nice to just let them go outside and be free.

Speaker 1: 39:14

Okay, and that was what I was going to ask why you chose boondocking. But you certainly answered that question and that sounds like an amazing life for you guys and the kids. You know, if they're having a meltdown at dinnertime, nobody's looking judging, seeing it. Okay, it happens, and it happens to all of us. So let me just take a break, but then, when I come back, I want to talk about your eBooks, I want to talk about Alaska with kids, I want to talk about homeschooling and we've got a lot more to talk about. But as we travel around you and I have talked, we both have diesel vehicles and we want to save money. So, as you said, great thing about boondocking is the money that you're saving.

Speaker 1: 40:00

I use OpenRoads fuel cards for my diesel and I have saved so much money. Now you said you've also used the card, but you sometimes forget. I'm going to call you out on it. Let me just explain to the listeners OpenRoads fuel card the card is free to sign up. There's a link in the show notes to get to it. If you forget the name, you attach your bank card and then I have an app on my phone that shows me all the gas stations in the area that have diesel, what the cost is, what my savings is going to be. And I got into the habit of using it. I have like for my car regular gas card and I forget to use that. It saves me money. You would think I would use it all the time it's not a small amount either.

Speaker 2: 40:49

It's a lot. Diesel is not cheap and saving on filling my giant truck is a big deal.

Speaker 1: 40:54

Exactly, and so once I got in the habit of open roads, it almost became a game, because I get on my app and I'd say okay, so I'm in Pennsylvania right now and, if anybody knows this area, I'm on the East coast of Pennsylvania and there's a number of States I can get to very quickly.

Speaker 1: 41:12

Most people where I am in Pennsylvania always know that if you go to Delaware, which is 15, pennsylvania always know that if you go to Delaware, which is 15, 20 minutes away, you could save on regular gas. They always said less expensive gas prices as well as getting to New Jersey, they have less expensive gas prices. So with the open road fuel card, it almost became this game of okay, which states are we going to go through? How long do I have, like, how much gas is available and I take well, can we make it to the next state? Because it would be four, five, six, sometimes 10 cents or more, less, and when you've got 125 gallons fuel tank, which we had, it became huge savings. So because it became a game, like for me to go into a gas station that didn't take the open roads card was just I couldn't handle it, cause I love that you gamified it.

Speaker 2: 42:06

That's really smart.

Speaker 1: 42:08

I did, I did, and poor Dan, we didn't ever like getting below half a tank, but if I wanted to get to a state where we could save money, he's like, all right, we're going to be cutting it close, but OK, and I will say we never once ran out of gas, so that's a good thing. But open road, go card, yeah, fantastic. Ok, so let's talk a little bit. Obviously, you homeschool the kids. They are young. How's that working? Talk to our listeners about homeschooling.

Speaker 2: 42:41

I feel like I am more zen about it than most people, probably because I was actually homeschooled up until sixth grade. I feel like slightly like a proof of concept, like I turned out okay, I ended up with a graduate degree. I have friends. I can let go of the stress that I feel, like a lot of parents feel like, oh my gosh, are they going to have friends? Are they going to be able to go to college? Yeah, they're going to be fine.

Speaker 2: 43:04

I now have a rising fourth grader and a rising first grader and still just playing around third kiddo and I hadn't ever intended to homeschool them. They were in public school in New York City when we left. But it has been the greatest gift I feel unexpectedly, to get to educate them and educate myself together. I feel like I'm constantly homeschooling myself, and traveling is just. It just makes homeschooling so fun because you can do things like.

Speaker 2: 43:36

We wanted to learn about how airplanes work, and so we listened to a bunch of podcasts about the Wright brothers and read some books, and then we went and stood in Kitty Hawk where they launched their first flights and walked the length of how far they flew the first time and then how far they got the second time and finally by the fourth time it was like a legitimate looking flight and my kids will never forget that. Because when you have these sort of visceral, in-person physical experiences it just clicks so firmly and deeply. And I just love the combination of homeschooling on the road, which a lot of people call road schooling. I think it just gives so many learning opportunities. It would be like hard to not be learning while you're living this life. It's like learning smacks you in the face every day, so it feels like it's not a challenge. I would say the biggest challenge about road schooling homeschooling being with your family all the time is that you, as the teacher, never get a break.

Speaker 1: 44:37

That is true. My kids went to regular public school and I was a teacher for actually 20 years and I will say and I've had people that I've spoken to a woman in particular I spoke to that was talking about how she was homeschooling the kids and I said that I had been a teacher and it was a shame. She physically took a step back, as if I were going to judge her, and I said no, listen, what you're doing is fantastic. This school environment is not for everyone and I honestly I should probably do a whole podcast on it, because I think for a lot of kids the school environment is not the best place.

Speaker 1: 45:19

I won't go down that rabbit hole right now, but anybody who is working to homeschool their kid, it's like you said it's messy. There's no right and wrong, there's no perfect, but those lessons they are learning, they're not going to forget. They're not going to forget those lessons. So I think that you can't screw it up. You can't go wrong. I don't think parents are expected to know it all. You can't go wrong. Now I am going to have, now that we brought it up, somebody on this show that is doing a podcast on homeschooling. He and his friends were homeschooled throughout and he's just a wealth of information, has a lot to share. But I loved hearing from parents of you know what the school's screwing up too sometimes. I mean yeah.

Speaker 2: 46:05

There is no perfect education. Exactly.

Speaker 2: 46:09

There's no perfect A lot of parents feel like, oh, I don't have a teaching degree, so I could never. And I'm like you don't have to have a teaching degree. You're a human who's living an adult, human life and that's what we're wanting for our kids, right? We're wanting to raise them into being good humans and you don't need a teaching degree for that. And again, I feel like just living together your lives all day and traveling and seeing the world together is such an education, even just accidentally, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 46:41

If there are things that you're concerned about being able to competently handle, there are ways that you can mitigate that. You can buy a curriculum for if you're afraid of middle school math, you can give them a middle school math curriculum where you don't have to know anything, or you can use tools like Outschool we use. We have taken a lot of Outschool classes for niche things that my daughter is interested in, like she took a Greek mythology multi-week class with a Greek mythology expert because I was like I have some basic Greek mythology knowledge but I'm not an expert, and I saw my kid between the out-school classes and the field trips we've taken and the podcasts she has listened to and the library books she has read, she has a college-level understanding of Greek mythology. I am not exaggerating and that didn't come from me, that came from me providing her resources. You don't have to be a subject matter expert on everything, you just have to be putting in the work to provide the resources for your kids.

Speaker 2: 47:41

And I will say really quick, because the library is a huge resource for homeschooling. I have compiled on my blog, ophelianadventurescom, 200 plus, I think it's 235 libraries all over the continent that will give you a visitor guest pass, either for free or for cheap. And so we do that. We use our Kindle with our home library and we visit libraries in the places that we visit and check books out all the time. So I put that list together for travelers, particularly for homeschool parents who are looking for those kind of resources. My kids and my husband are actually at the library here right now, like, like recording.

Speaker 1: 48:17

That's why it's so quiet. Yes, okay, that makes sense, because usually when I get on the podcast with people that have kids or dogs or they're in a campground, I say look, if there's noise from the kids or the dogs barking, we just this is as if it's live. There's not editing that stuff out, and so that's what you did you sent them off to the library. Good thinking, it is very quiet.

Speaker 1: 48:41

Yes, yes, but so you have a lot of resources and I want to talk about again ophelanadventurescom, and I'll put it in the show notes lots and lots of resources, lots of just an incredible wealth of information. As I went through your website, one of the things I want to talk about. We don't have a ton of time, but I do want to touch on going to Alaska and doing that with kids. Now, before we get into that, I want to share with people you're taking a trip across the country or just from one state to another, or just traveling through Pennsylvania. I found the greatest toll pass and that is called Innovative Toll Solutions. You could get there through Open Roads. Again, the link will be in the show notes. You go to myopenroadscom.

Speaker 1: 49:30

This toll pass covers 48 states, all connected, 40. I know right, wait, my mind is a little blown. All connected, 40. I know right, wait, my mind is a little blown. Okay, I began. Wish we had video of this, but because your reaction? So it costs $24 a year. I connected with this company about six, seven, eight months ago. All 48 states, one toll transponder in the RV and if you get a fine, so you go somewhere. The transponder doesn't work, something goes wrong, they have concierge service that'll fix it work it out for you, take care of it for you.

Speaker 2: 50:10

We ended up with a couple of tickets because we ended up in a state where our transponder didn't work and I was like trying to tow the rig down the road while I'm like trying to read the sign like crap, how do I pay that online? And then, of course, they got mailed back to our home state and it took us two months to find them and then we had to pay a late fee. I was like man, that was an expensive tool.

Speaker 1: 50:30

Exactly so, again, the toll transponder is less than my Pennsylvania E-ZPass that's like $25. Is less than my Pennsylvania easy pass that's like $25. So no big deal. But, yeah, the fact that it'll cover those types of things, because that's what happened to me. I was in Texas, went through tolls. It got sent to my mailing service. By the time I got to it it was 25 days that you had to take care of it. Yeah, it was beyond 25 days by the time I got it, so this has saved me. We've been using it seamlessly for 70 months.

Speaker 2: 51:03

Yes.

Speaker 1: 51:05

Yes, Informations in the show notes, but let's talk about a little bit about RV Alaska with kids, that you do have eBooks that you mentioned and they're all on the website. So anybody who wants to know about boondocking all the details are in that ebook as well. As you know, talking about going to Alaska with kids, You've got a lot of blogs with great information so people really can connect on your website and social media. Where, just real quick, where's your social media? What are you on for social media?

Speaker 2: 51:40

I'm on Instagram and it's my name. Kate O'Fallon is my handle, but if you search O'Fallon in any iteration you will find me, because apparently there are not a lot of us.

Speaker 1: 51:50

P-h, not S, not for people get confused and I will put it make sure it's in the show notes for people and they can reach out to you and ask you questions. Certainly connect with you.

Speaker 2: 52:00

But let's talk a little bit about Alaska with kids alone in Alaska and I just kept feeling like I don't see very many people doing this, and I think it's because it feels really intimidating. It's really far, you have to drive through another country to get there, and the information that was out there was just overwhelming. So I wrote this ebook as a super simplified way to be like. Here's some itineraries based on how long you have in Alaska. Here are my best tips for traveling up there. Here's everything I would do in each place that we went. We spent four months up there, and so I really distilled it down into what was the best of the best. What were the things that we did?

Speaker 2: 52:49

Where I see people like, for example, they really want to go on these sled dog tours, but a lot of the tourist stuff in Alaska is super expensive and, of course, this is our life, not a bucket list trip. It's just our life, and so I'm not going to spend $200 times five on a sled dog tour, even though I really would love to go sled dogging. But I found a place that I shared in the book where you can go for just 10 minutes for 10 bucks a person. So, okay, how do we do these really amazing Alaska adventures without spending a thousand dollars every day.

Speaker 2: 53:20

That was my hope is to be able to inspire people. A you can do this. It's intimidating but I got you. And B, like you can do it without spending 20 grand, which is like a lot of people that I see going up there. This is like a bucket list trip and they have waited their whole lives to go and I'm like more power to you. But that was not my experience. I can't spend $500 times five on a bush plane for us to fly places, like I had to figure out what were the really amazing experiences we could have without spending that kind of money. So that's what I've hoped to do with this book is inspire people and make it feel accessible and that sounds amazing and people can find that book easily, get to it.

Speaker 1: 54:03

So much information, because Alaska is one of those places I'd like to go and because I've heard how difficult it is getting there. We have our RV is a 2002, so old I didn't know that I wanted to make the trip with that. So I thought, okay, I could fly in, rent something, maybe do it that way. So now I'll have to rethink that.

Speaker 2: 54:27

I like doing it on a budget. Make it accessible for people who are driving their own rig up there, but also people who fly into Anchorage. And then there are a ton of people who do this every summer rent an RV in Anchorage and then circle around the state for two weeks. So that's why I've got like different lengths of itineraries for like, if you only have, if you've flown in and you have two weeks, these are the things you've got to do.

Speaker 1: 54:47

That is awesome and that's definitely one of those things on my bucket list and I want to hear. We're going to do the question of the week. It's time for the question of the week and I want to hear from you what's on your bucket list. Alaska is definitely on my bucket list. Before I do that, I want to talk to people about National Indoor RV Centers, because that's where I will be purchasing my next RV. They do Class A, b and C and they just do it right.

Speaker 1: 55:15

I can't say enough about this company. So there are dealerships, sex locations across the country, and everybody from the owner, brett Davis, on down to everybody you meet are just people that are dedicated to the end user, the customer, doing things right, making the industry better in every way possible. Yes, I'm thinking about what my next RV will look like and what my next steps are. In the meanwhile, one of my bucket list items is definitely to fly into Alaska and do that as a tour. So now for the question of the week. I like to ask my guests what's one of the top bucket list items that you've done or you would recommend for my RV Life podcast listeners state and I would always hem and haw.

Speaker 2: 56:20

I'd be like I really loved northern Arizona and I loved the coast of Oregon and I really love northern Maine and the mountains of North Carolina. And then we went to Alaska and I was like, oh sorry, it's Alaska, it's really just hard to beat and it's just perfect for RVing because the cities and the towns it's not my favorite part of Alaska. The best part of Alaska is being out in the wilderness, which is like, yeah, you have your own rig and you park it out there. It's just ideally suited for RVing. So highly recommend anyone if you ever make it up there. The more accessible places, I would say the Canadian Rocky Mountains my mind was also absolutely blown heading there. We boondocked overlooking a glacier up in Jasper National Park and that was really fantastic. And what remains on my bucket list is central Mexico. I want to take my RV to central Mexico and so I'm hoping to do maybe next year, like Oaxaca, for Day of the Dead is on my bucket list.

Speaker 1: 57:13

So, wow, now central Mexico. That definitely sounds like an e-book in itself, so we'll let you we will end up being an e-book. Yeah, because that has to be another one of those challenging things. And again, we didn't pre-do this. Alaska's on my bucket list. I do want to go out in the middle of nowhere. I want to see the Northern Lights. That is a dream.

Speaker 2: 57:36

Tell me you saw them Sort of wrapping the Northern Lights. We saw them like 10 times and people, if you only go for like peak tourist season in Alaska, you will not see them because it never gets dark. But if you have enough time or if you schedule your trip on the shoulder seasons, like early May and then starting again in September, you will see Northern Lights and it is breathtaking, it is spiritual, it is. I highly recommend it for everyone who can possibly do it. I have photographs of the Northern Lights over our rig that just make me so happy. My kids played on a playground underneath the Northern Lights one night. I just, you can't, oh, I highly recommend it. That sounds like it, if you have enough time, to stay into September, because that's when you start seeing them again.

Speaker 1: 58:22

Okay, so plan my trip for September. That sounds great. Now I have to plan it for after, as we talked about the Hershey RV show, so I'll plan it for after. That would be a nice after all that work, okay. So September it is for Alaska and the Northern Lights. Wow, it just sounds amazing. And you just make it sound amazing. Okay, so now we have to talk about feature campgrounds. This is time for the feature campgrounds of the week. You've thrown me off because that's all I can think about. Now I'm going to go Google places to go in Alaska to fly there and get an RV. That sounds great.

Speaker 1: 59:01

The Featured Campground of the Week is brought to you by RV Life Campground and this week's Featured Campground is Drummer Boy Resort in Gettysburg, pa. This is a 1,012 campground. It has 450 sites. Thousand trails campground it has 450 sites. This rv resort offers many amenities full hookups, cabin rentals, plenty to do in the campground, as well as being close to the battlefield, tours, ghost walks and it's really close to washington dc, baltimore, mary. It's also pretty close to Hershey PA. So if you're thinking about going to the Hershey RV show for a day, it's not a bad place. I wouldn't want to go back and forth each day, but if you're going to be there for a day, it's a good place to stay.

Speaker 1: 59:51

Campground has a solid 6.8 rating on rvlifecampgroundscom, with 197 reviews, and you could use the book now button, which is right there on the site, to book your stay at Drummer Boy Resort. You do that by visiting campgroundsrvlifecom and you could also see photos, tips, the full amenities, everything you need to know about this property right there, and that is RV Life Campgrounds is part of RV Life Pro. If you're not an RV Life Pro customer, you can still see the campground. You're limited, though, I'll be honest. You're limited as to what you can see. You're looking to be an RV Life Pro member.

Speaker 1: 1:00:38

There is a 25% discount in the show notes, and what I really love about the RV Life campgrounds is it is the most comprehensive source. So, whether you're looking at RV parks, campgrounds, resorts, you could also find city, state and national parks, corps of Engineers and so much more. So any kind of camping you're looking to do boondocking, it is there on campgroundsrvlifecom. Okay, wow, all right, one more time, give your website how people can reach out to you, and I'm going to go read about Alaska as soon as we get off this call.

Speaker 2: 1:01:25

Yes, come find me on OphelanAdventurescom or on Instagram at Kate Ophelan. I'm always responding to questions on there. I also have on my Instagram several Alaska highlights, so if you want to do a deep dive on our adventure in Alaska, you can go. Look at all those as well. And, yeah, I hope I've influenced all of you to go to Alaska.

Speaker 1: 1:01:40

Absolutely, and maybe some more boondocking for people. We covered a lot today. Where are you boondocking at right?

Speaker 2: 1:01:47

now Twin Lakes, colorado, which is one of the most beautiful boondocking spots that I've ever seen. So if anyone's on a Colorado adventure this summer, highly recommend figuring out how to boondock and come park here, okay.

Speaker 1: 1:02:00

So now we're going to need pictures of you, the family and where you're at right now and we'll post them on Instagram and Facebook at RV Life Podcast. So we want to see this beautiful view and that is the one thing I think is the most amazing about boondocking are the sights for sure. Thank you so much for the incredible wealth of information. I think we just touched on a lot of things that people could go get more information on your website. I know I'm excited. Alaska, maybe, some boondocking, some more boondocking sounds great, but thank you, thank you, kate, so much for being with me.

Speaker 2: 1:02:40

Thank you so much for having me. It was really fun.

Speaker 1: 1:02:43

Yes, it was, I enjoyed it. You have been listening to the RV Life Podcast. I'm Patty Hunt, wishing you a great rest of today and an even better day tomorrow.