How To Be Prepared in an Off Grid RV

Living off grid in an RV is an exhilarating adventure. With a husband, two young kids and two dogs, there’s always something interesting going on. Being prepared in an RV is a lot different than being prepared in a home or even an apartment. There are many considerations to be made, but mostly, you learn extremely quickly that skills outweigh stuff. 

In an RV, how you prepare changes greatly. Being prepared now takes on the form of survivalist, bushcrafter and self-reliance. While we can still be prepared with some necessities, changing our expectations and minset is what helps us to be the best prepared when living off grid in an RV. 

Here are some ways to be prepared while living in an off grid RV:

Solar – Part of living off grid means not being connected to hookups. Solar is one of the best alternative energy options for an RV. Many people choose to have an external solar panel which they can unfold and hook up whenever they’re stopped. You could also look into the fully integrated option with the panels on the roof, transmitting energy into batteries which are hooked up into the RV electrical system via an inverter. The integrated option is definitely a lot more complicated, but if you’re good with electronics, there are a lot of great tutorials online to learn from and do it yourself. 

Boondocking – One of the benefits of being off grid is that we don’t have to be attached to any hookups. If our RV will make it, we’ll park it. We tend to camp in national forests and on BLM land. Find your local national forests and BLM land by doing an internet search. The East coast tends not to have any BLM land, but there might be some national forests. There are also camp hosting positions available at state and national parks if that’s something you’re interested in. However, boondocking offers the freedom to stay in some truly amazing places with very few people around. Do keep in mind though, that there are still going to be people around. If you know the spot, then so do other people. Unless you live in Alaska, there’s very few areas that are undiscovered, especially if they’re national forests or BLM land.

Self-reliance – Gone are the days of doing laundry with a washer and dryer, we’ve gone back to the old ways with a washboard and clothes line. The off grid life is slightly more time consuming but it’s not necessarily harder, it’s just different. We wash dishes by hand, we spend a lot more time outdoors, we do a lot of DIY, we make a lot more fires, we build things, we perform our own RV maintenance and so on. We try to be as self-reliant as possible. 

Composting toilet – Because we boondock, we don’t want to have to leave just to empty our black tank, so we invested in a composting toilet. The composting toilet is extremely easy to use and works just as advertised. We empty out the #1 tank everyday and empty out the #2 tank every three weeks or so. We can also use any toilet paper we want, we’re not forced to use the RV specific toilet paper. 

Security – Because of the off grid life, security is still a concern. You may want to look into a dog or two as they’re great first alarms. There are also cameras that run on batteries and hook up to your wifi that can easily attach to the outside and inside of the RV. There’s also door alarms which attach to the inside and whenever the door is opened, it makes an obnoxiously loud noise. In addition, make nice with the locals and other tourists. Forming community is a large part of overall security and well being. The RV community is extremely welcoming and friendly and we all tend to look out for each other. 

Snowbird – Our solar can’t support our AC system so we’ve chosen to be the snowbird. We spend the winters in the south and summers in the north. You don’t need to live this way. If you can make it work in one area or another, that’s fantastic. If you don’t mind the snow or colder temps, stay in the north. If you don’t mind the extreme heat, stay south. There are plenty of ways to make it work even without working AC or heat. 

Living with less – When we lived in a home, we were well stocked on anything and everything we ever needed. I had my dehydrator going all the time, I was canning all the time, I was storing food in mylar bags, storing extra supplies, rain catchment systems, huge garden, etc. Living in an RV, I can’t have a lot of these things or I need to figure out another way to do it. I certainly store a lot less gear and food and can’t store very much water because of weight, but we do the best we can. We prioritize what we actually need. I buy more eBooks instead of physical books. I dehydrate via the sun instead of an electric dehydrator. We also reuse a lot of things and have learned to be far less wasteful. You learn how to live with less and how to get by without modern conveniences. 

Disasters – Disaster planning in an RV is quite different than in a home or apartment. For instance, if there were a tornado warning, we would need to leave the RV immediately and head to the closest building. Making disaster plans needs to be specific for the RV experience. Having the bug out bag and other essentials easily accessible at all times is a must. How quickly could you pack up and go if you had to escape? Tape your disaster plan(s) visible to the entire household by taping it to the door, cabinet or other visible spot within the RV. 

Skills – Skills have become a huge priority. While I knew a lot of skills before off grid RV life, we’re now putting a lot of them to the test in everyday life. We’re practicing our small game hunting and fishing abilities, learning to garden vertically, learning how to make things instead of buying them and so on. In general, skills and knowledge are extremely valuable and weigh virtually nothing. 

Quickly move – One of the added benefits of living in an RV is the fact that it’s easy to up and leave whenever. We have our entire home on wheels so we can pick up and go at the flip of a switch. Of course, we have to keep gas in mind. The RV can travel a good distance on one tank of gas, but it does take quite a bit of money to fill it up. If you’re planning to travel to certain areas consistently, you might consider caching some items along your usual routes.

Living off grid in an RV and being prepared at the same time is not only doable but also a challenge worth accepting. Embracing change is a daily challenge and one that we’re excited to face. 

Is the off grid, minimalist life for you?