For several years, before we started full-time RV traveling, we watched several YouTubers (Less Junk More Journey, Keep Your Daydream, The Next Exit, and Fate Unbound, to name a few). They all have their personal traveling styles. Fate Unbound, for instance, boondocks in remote areas about 98% of the time. The Next Exit travels almost exclusively in the Thousand Trails system and last year became “snowbirds,” purchasing a casita in the Yuma, Arizona area for the winter months and traveling the rest of the year. The others do a combination of boondocking, RV parks, and state and national park campgrounds.

Based on the expense of staying in RV parks on a regular basis and knowing the budget we had in mind, we initially set our sights on doing a lot of boondocking. Hence, we bought a composting toilet, installed solar panels, and installed a few more 12 volt plugs in the Airstream. We also looked into various memberships with camping perks. And, a few months before we started full-timing, we became part of the Thousand Trails system.

We are still discovering our personal traveling style, but many of the decisions we made before we started traveling have worked for us. Here’s what we’ve learned so far: