This year (2024) we decided to change up how we RV and try truck camping for the summer months. We have already written one article on our truck camping experience at https://thenonsenseofwj.com/truck-camping-for-a-summer/. As we only had one Thousand Trail Campground in the state of Colorado and none in Utah, we believed, incorrectly as it turned out, that this was the best way to experience these states. Even Passport America and RPI in these states are few and far between. So, instead of paying for campgrounds throughout the summer, we chose to camp in our truck.
Boondocking
Now, we know many people boondock and leave their campers while they go exploring. However, we are not yet comfortable with this. Also, we do not want to feel obligated to put external cameras and security alarms on our camper. We have many friends who boondock all the time and some who boondocked when they began RVing. Although, a few did have a few items left outside stolen, they still recommend boondocking. As everyone tells us, simply stay where you feel comfortable and introduce yourself to your neighbors. However, let us face it, we are glampers. We like campgrounds and full-hookups. Yes, sewer please!
We have boondocked in some spots this year that we would be comfortable leaving the camper during the day to go adventuring. Tom’s Best Spring Road near Bryce Canyon is one such spot. These are designated dispersed camping in the Dixie National Forest. There were many other campers around and we felt very comfortable here. The couple in the Class A beside us even introduced themselves and were very friendly.
However, many times when we are boondocking in Colorado or Utah at a site we found with Campendium or IOverlander, we are by ourselves in the middle of nowhere. We are definitely not comfortable leaving our travel trailer fby itself in these areas while we go off exploring.
Truck Camping
So, we camped in the back our truck for 46 days. We explored mainly Utah, a little of Arizona and Wyoming, and some of Colorado. When we first started, we had a futon in the back of the truck. We could lay the futon down for sleeping. And we could sit up on the futon during the day. However, the futon was much too large for the space. At our age, sleeping on a futon was very uncomfortable and our backs let us know it was not working. So, we broke down the futon with a sledge hammer and strapped it to the top of the truck. Luckily, we found a dumpster at a rest stop with plenty of room to throw in the futon.
We replaced the futon with a mattress topper three inches thick and another smaller topper with bumps. The mattress topper was pretty comfortable for sleeping. During the day, when we loaded the truck back up, we just rolled the toppers to the back of the truck bed. Sitting in the truck bed on the mattress toppers was not as comfortable as the futon. But we made it work.
During our 46 days, we also purchased a larger 55 quart cooler and a 5 gallon drinking cooler. The smaller cooler that we carried was too small and the ice melted too quickly. So, we bought some new ones in Utah. Boy, did they come in handy. While boondocking in Utah, the state had a sudden heat wave. The new coolers made the heat wave almost bearable. We had cold drinking water and our new 55 quart cooler kept ice much longer. Luckily, most gas stations and grocery stores in Utah sell block ice. We bought block ice for the food cooler and cubed ice to add to our drinks. We bought a lot of ice crazy amout of ice in Utah! However, the block ice and the new coolers lasted several days in the heat wave.
The Truck Camping Diet
Our food while camping in the truck mainly consisted of tuna fish, packaged noodles and rice, instant potatoes, and oatmeal. We both lost a lot of weight. If you are wanting to shed some pounds, try our new and improved truck camping diet for a couple of months! Of course, we were also very active in Utah. We did a lot of hiking! Sometimes we would even find hikes while traveling before we ate breakfast. When we hiked the Grand Wash Trail in Capital Reef National Park, we had planned on eating breakfast at the Visitor’s Center. However, we found the hiking trail first. So, we ate granola bars to sustain us while we hiked.
Unsurprisingly, we lost a lot of weight. We usually eat red meat pretty frequently. However, keeping hamburger in a cooler in a heat wave was not our idea of fun. So, we ate a lot of canned meat. Hence, the tuna fish. Sometimes we would throw in some canned chicken and fajita strips. FYI, canned meat is very expensive compared to buying raw hamburger and chicken. Especially as we usually buy our groceries at Aldi – our favorite grocery store. Since we are back in our RV and have our awesome refrigerator, we can eat our normal again. We will probably gain our weight back.
Right now, though, our clothes are a lot looser. Windell must wear a belt for his pants. Jessica has to tie her shorts and pants even tighter. Maybe Jessica will even wear the bikini that Windell wants her to wear in her fifties, if she can keep the weight off. Probably not though.
So Much Dirt
Dirt is the main constant while camping in the truck in the desert. We purchased pump sprayers before we started this journey. Although we usually do not shower every day normally, we do like to stay clean, shave, and wash our hair. So, we purchased three pump sprayers and a gravity camping shower for us.
The cheap, gravity camping shower did not work well. Maybe we are a little spoiled. However, it did not have enough pressure to even remove shampoo. We put it up as high as we could on the truck to no avail. So, we mainly used our pump sprayers for showering. The naked person would stand in the poop tent while the other person hosed them down. It took two people to shower. By yourself, you could not get the little head at the right angle to rinse your hair.
The pump sprayers did get us cleaner, for a little bit. However, showering outside in the desert means you are showering in the dirt. Everything is dirty. We bought a cheap little rubber mat to stand on while we showered in the toilet tent. But we were so dirty. Dirt just ran off us onto the mat and then the ground. Even though the mat was easy to spray off where you stood, the underneath was all muddy. At the end of the truck camping, we were so tired of trying to get the dirt off that we just counted the number of days to the campground and our travel trailer.
While returning from Wyoming to Colorado, we treated ourselves and stayed at a nice hotel. We felt so sorry for the hotel staff. After we finished showering, the washcloths were so dirty and we could not rinse all the dirt out. However, we felt awesome! Our hair was clean and not greasy. We put on clean clothes that were not covered in red dirt. And, we even had a huge, free breakfast with cookies!
After several more days of traveling and adding dirt to ourselves and the truck, we finally returned to our travel trailer. We were both so filthy. When we each had a long shower, we were several shades lighter on our skin. What we thought was tan was dirt! Also, being able to really scrub our toes in a shower without standing on more dirt was the best feeling.
Truck camping in non-desert states may be completely different for keeping clean. However, in Utah, the wind blows dirt everywhere. The pump sprayers are not going to get you clean. And, forget about the gravity shower! While hiking, riding the shuttles, or even bumping along in the Jeep tour, we knew we were those people whom everyone shimmies away from. We did try to stay clean, use deodorant and shave. However, trying to keep clean while camping is a lot harder without a pressurized shower and clean floor.
Disorganization can be Fun – Not
It does not matter how organized you try to be while truck camping. Things become very chaotic quickly. We thought we were so smart. All our clothes were labeled and we put all the items we thought we would use daily in the side compartment of the camper shell. We tried to be organized! However, because almost everything had to be pulled out of the back of the truck to sleep every day, things became disorganized instantly. Bathroom and shower items got mixed in with kitchen items. Forks were placed in our hiking backpacks instead of the silverware container.
Camping in the Truck was a whole different ballgame than living in our RV. Everything was out of place. Although it was hard to pull things out from underneath the futon, we did have more storage area. When we removed the futon, many items had to put on the hitch or crammed in the back of the truck bed. So, things were easily misplaced. Windell could not wait to return to his trailer just so he could put his stuff in its place and it would stay there.
When we were considering purchasing a pop-up truck camper for future trips, we watched You-Tubers who lived in their truck campers full-time. They added solar, indoor toilets, sinks, etc. However, we have decided we are not those people. We are the type of people who do not want to try to fit all our living into the back of our truck. We want indoor showers, a refrigerator, a flush toilet, and toys for our hobbies. The truck camper is not large enough for us to live in full-time. It is okay for a few days for some amazing adventuring, but then we want to return to our travel trailer with all of its comforts.
So, we will not be buying a new pop-up camper shell or slide in truck camper. We are going to enjoy coffee programmed in the morning and everything organized and always in its place. Our amazing little travel trailer will travel across the U.S. with us.
We did it!
Wow, we actually camped in our truck for 46 days and didn’t get divorced. Some of the YouTubers we watch truck camp a week or two. They live in houses and travel and adventure part-time. We do know that there are people who live in their vehicles full-time. We say Kudos to you! It is not for us. A truck camper does not provide all the comforts and benefits of the travel trailer. Oh, sure, we will still vehicle camp every once in a great while……for a couple of days…..before we return to our refrigerator and shower.