Back on the Road – Yellowstone and Tetons
This, I told Hazel, is where Unicorns are bornDo you know how awesome it is to travel? I expected things to be so expensive, especially at the national parks. We have been at Yellowstone for the last week. Do you know how much it has cost us?
$21.00
Yes, $21.00 to go to Yellowstone for a week!
Of course we have all the same food expenses. And there is gas, which is actually cheaper EVERYWHERE else so it hasn’t cost us much more in all honesty! Those are all things we would have elsewhere too though so I am not counting them.
Before we did this we were living rent free (because I owned the tiny house and parked it on James’s land, where he rents his main house to cover the mortgage. So we bypassed rent.) We have been aiming for $600 a month on ‘rent’ (in the form of parking fees) on this new adventure. Realistically we have been hoping to stay under $1,200 a month. With $21.00 spent this week I would say we are well on our way to meeting our goals! (our most expensive week so far (2 months in) has been $170 but that included a hotel stay (that was totally not worth it!))
The importance of good design
This would not be possible without a well thought out design. Most of the free spots to park have no water or electric hook ups. Sometimes they have potable water on site but sometimes they don’t. So it is a lot of ‘dry camping’.
To some people ‘dry camping’ sounds awful! Our version of ‘dry camping’ is pretty luxurious. We have running water, solar power to keep everything charged, a lot of the places have internet access and in case those stars don’t all line up we do have a brand new and very quiet Honda generator! (I insisted so we could have A/C if we need to). Last night we were watching Game of Thrones, in the boonies, with the breeze blowing through our little home on wheels after a long day of exploring Yellowstone. (The kids were asleep, I don’t let them watch that nonsense! They are crazy enough without being exposed to that! ;-)). It couldn’t have been more perfect.
There are a few things we believe contribute to our success:
- We are small (but mighty!) – we can fit into almost anywhere. Our footprint is 12’x7′, pretty much anywhere a tent can sit so can we. The site we are at right now has only a couple places a 20’+ RV can fit into, most of the site was full when we got here, the little ones are the last to go and so far, pretty much every time, one has been available and we can scootch right in!
- Our water tanks are removable – To fill up more water we just throw them in the car, drive in, fill them up and bring them back. No need to take the whole shebang anywhere to fill up a tank!
- Along the same note, our pump – Our dry camping involves a sink, showers, all the normal stuff thanks to our wonderful little pump!
- Solar! – We have a couple different types of batteries that we can keep charged with one 100W panel. If we need to we can drive into a coffee shop and plug one in too… flexibility on where we get our energy has been huge at keeping up with (online) business.
- Verizon Internet – We NEED internet to keep working to keep paying for this adventure. Just before we took off, Verizon opened back up their ‘unlimited data’ plans. It was perfect timing. Although our mifi hotspot has proved to be a dud, having our phones act as a hotspot has been a huge win! (and we can keep up with GoT…) (I still have a trac phone, James is on Verizon, he is carrying us here…)
Our ‘dry camping’ is a lot like normal every day living. We just get to do it in beautiful places!
This has pretty much become my version of the perfect life. You really ought to try it!
If you want to see some finished photos of our space click HERE.
For more pictures of our adventure find us on Instagram.
Sounds great. I have set a goal to purchase a cargo van and modify it to an RV to meet my needs. It might take me a while on my fixed income, but I have my goal. ? You have a wonderful family.
wonderful…GBU guys….be happy..keep smiling! 🙂