HOW TO FIND THE BEST FREE CAMPSITES | Boondocking For RV Life Beginners

today we're going to show you how we camped in our rv just outside of banff national park for five days on this beautiful glacial river for free we're george and chris just over a month ago we quit our jobs sold everything we own left our apartment in tampa and hit the road for a year-long rv trip in the past month we have slept in parking lots strangers driveways campgrounds and next to chickens horses and donkeys we're oh we're just trying to eat my hands also that we can explore some of the most beautiful places in north america we've driven through 14 states over 4 000 miles and into our second country canada our goal is to spend a couple of weeks exploring my number one bucket list destination of this trip banff national park [Music] [Music] so on the fire [Music] just to give you a really quick update for the past week we've been staying at a campground just west of calgary right next to my family's rv we went biking down the bow river path walked around lake minnewanka hiked it to stewart canyon hiked it to the lake agnes trail tea house visited bamf village and had our breaths taken away at lake louise and moraine lake and after 10 straight days of driving from north carolina to canada it was really nice to be able to actually set up camp and enjoy an area [Music] but like we said a couple of videos ago when we talked about how we could afford quitting our jobs and going on a year-long rv trip we are traveling on a budget and if we want that budget to last us a year we just can't afford to stay at campgrounds every single night that have hookups and utilities as much as we would like to do that we are going to need to get out of our comfort zones a bit and do some boondocking on public lands real quick if you don't happen to know what boondocking is let's take a moment to chat boondocking also known as dry camping is anytime you camp in your rv without water sewer and electrical connections you are fully self-sufficient so it's a great way to save money which is a big deal for us okay now you know the lingo let's get back to chris naturally boondocking isn't always the easiest and it certainly isn't for everyone is it for us is boondocking something we can do to stretch our budget well there's only one way to find out [Music] that's why yesterday we left calgary to venture out and find a place to boondock for free [Music] and if it hasn't been made clear up to this point we've never done this before and truthfully i was nervous i tend to be a planner i like knowing what i'm getting myself into but when you're boondocking and utilizing public land there's a lot that you can't always account for you have to be willing to go with the flow but nonetheless we left the comfort of our campsite in calgary and i will say we weren't just aimlessly wandering we had done our research and in no way is this video sponsored but we were using two apps to help us find this spot we were using campendium and ioverlander if you're interested at all in boondocking rv life van life and you have not already downloaded those apps i'm sure you have those are the first two apps i would probably download they are open forums where people will drop pins on maps and reviews of certain locations where they have found free parking boondocking sites public land places to dump sewage they are two really great resources to have in your arsenal [Music] yesterday we found a few pins on campendium and eye overlander that we were considering as options to stay for the night and a tip that we've read about boondocking is to make sure you have multiple plans playing a b c and d just in case the first plane doesn't go right and we're really glad that we got that tip because our plan a happened to be a sketchy dirt road it was too small for our rig and then our plan b ended up being privately owned land that we couldn't even stay at and plan c was just to be a little adventurous drive around and see what was out there and we ended up finding some public land that we could stay out that was right on the river let's take a tour okay it's been a few days five to be exact but it's time to give you the tour don't worry it's a short one there's not too much here we're just about 30 minutes outside of banff national park on canadian public land called crown land now there were two campsites to choose from on either side of this bridge and we chose this one because of the size of our rig and there's really only four amenities that i can think of let's go take a look a fire pit technically not an amenity but always appreciated a level sights a scary pit toilet in the woods thankfully we didn't have to use it because they have a toilet in our rv and last but not least the main attraction is this beautiful glacial river behind us and has provided not only the best sights and sounds but also showers yes i said showers remember we're boondocking so we can't use our entire water supply on taking showers back at home when we used to live in an apartment i was a two shower a day kind of guy a shower in the morning was my cup of coffee and a shower at night was how i relaxed and got ready for bed but out here two showers a day is not an option not even one shower a day in many cases and any family and friends that are watching this video right now are probably laughing very hard thinking about george not being able to shower twice a day every day but out here for the past five days we have resorted to showering with baby wipes and showering using this beautiful glacial river right here now here's the catch this is a glacier fed river meaning this is three to four degrees celsius 37 to 39 degrees fahrenheit and for those of you that are far removed from elementary school that is just a few degrees above the freezing point this is the coldest water we have ever been in in our entire lives have you even felt the river yet i want you to know something here's how cold you think it is here's how cold it actually is so don't let it scare you away i'm just telling you it is colder than you ever felt it's gonna make your toes hurt this is absolutely the coldest water i've ever been in here's the question i have how's your stomach right now you don't even feel it yeah exactly i was having tummy aches and george said if we got in here i forget all about my cramps and right now i don't even feel him so he was right breathe breathe [Music] quicker breath baby you're in a glacial river in the middle of the canadian rockies lashes never i thought i felt cold no i told you oh my word how's your tummy it's honestly i can't feel my nose this does more than any medication oh [Music] by the way i was doing some research this morning the temperature of this water is polar the temperature of this water is polar plunge territory temperature obviously outside is not as cold as it is when you do a polar plunge but the water temperature is just about right there oh boy one last time one last time oh my gosh it feels colder today for sure it feels colder today all right walk down a little thank you oh my god walk down a little and get me moving i can't stop walk down i'm trying oh my gosh it burns we thought it would be fun to challenge ourselves to see if we can stay in the water for at least up to a minute up to our shoulders um and by we i mean i thought it would be a fun idea let's see if we can do this [Music] [Applause] so one minute in a glacial river check real quick we've been boondocking for five days in the canadian rockies and we're trying to conserve water so we're gonna go shower in this glacial river this water is three to four degrees celsius and 37 to 39 degrees fahrenheit it is almost the temperature of a polar plunge but i really need to shave my armpits i think i can do it you can do it three two one there you go deeper deeper [Music] okay [Laughter] thanks for watching

Channel: George and Cris

Views: 26,911

Keywords: bought rv, new rv, usa road trip, North American road trip, rv couple, rv beginners, couples who vlog, full time rver, full time rv life, rv life, our new rv, grand design rv, grand design travel trailer, year long road trip, our new rv home, national park rv, national park rv trip, we quit our jobs rv life, full-time rv life, American rv trip, Banff national park, Lake Louise, rving canada, boon docking, compendium, ioverlander, how I find campsites, free rv campsite

Id: ajr4JMQph8E

Length: 9min 49sec (589 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 05 2022