Free Camping with a Big Family…
One of the many benefits of living on the road full time, is the option to free camp.
You might be thinking … AWESOME!!
Free accommodation….
I know I was when I learned this was going to be an option for us…
Now, don’t get me wrong, it is awesome,
BUT there are some things you need to consider, especially when you have multiple kids…
I am going to list them here, so you can be as prepared as possible for when you take off on your own adventures….
First night free camping at The Little River Murray, near Lake Boga.
When you have 6 people living in a caravan, the power depletes very quickly, even on super sunny days.
Now it does build back up, but not always to 100%...
If you find it difficult to not use the power, or need your Starlink to get some work done, you might need to go to the library.
Here are some tips to help you with your free camping adventures.
Get to know your appliances, we have done SO much trial and error.
You will need to consider making meals that require little electricity as possible, this could be done on a week when you have power.
Some appliances drain the power more than others, find out what appliances are best to use off grid, and plan your shopping and meals around this.
Try and wash at the same time each day, so you only have to turn the hot water on once a day. It can use a lot of power to heat up the water, especially on cold days
Educate the children on water conservation and power. I love that my 10 year old understands that water is a precious commodity. Even if we weren’t in the van full time, isn’t it great that she has this attitude towards such a precious resource. The kids will adapt better than you think, as long as you are okay and onboard too.
If your Fully Electric like us, a small butane camping cooktop is a great investment.
Your standard of “clean” needs to be reviewed … when you need to wash 6 people everyday, plus do the dishes for the same number, toilet flushes, drinking water etc etc it is incredible how fast 100L can go. I am always amazed at how some people can last a week with their tanks, this is definitely not us.
When you are finding the right free camp, consider where the closest DRINKING WATER STATION IS, you might be doing a number of trips.
When you are finding the right free camp consider where the closest dump point is… for obvious reasons… you don’t want to be carting “the devils esky” any further than you have too.
Check the weather, if you have no sun, you have no power, you don’t want to be arriving and the weeks weather is going to be overcast. You might want to have a back up, maybe a caravan park or even a local showgrounds as a more affordable back up option.
Invest in a good generator and or solar blanket. We bought a backup geni second-hand that was not powerful enough to do the job. We overloaded and burnt out the generators inverter within 24hrs!
Relax as much as you can. Your days WILL be affected from time to time by the weather and the availability of facilities. You will need to be adaptable when living full-time on the road. We have had to deviate from our original plan so many times, simply because we needed power, water or both. It’s tough in the early days, as you are adapting to this new way of life.
Ask for help, people are great, especially local folks in country towns, and also your fellow travellers are great too, most are always willing to help out someone if they need a hand….after all its the Australian way!
Free camping is amazing, you will stay in some amazing places and you will ask yourself how did you get so lucky to experience something like this! Some are not so amazing, but they are free and you can’t complain about that.
I hope this has helped give people some insight into free camping as a big family. please send me a message if I have forgotten something, or if you have any questions as always I am more than happy to help anyway I can.
see you on the road xx
free camping at Mary Kathleen - abandoned mining town - was another awesome and memorable free camp adventure we did as a family.
