Why We SKIP Campsites with a 13' SCAMP TRAILER
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- Опубліковано 25 гру 2019
- Every time we reserve a campsite we find ourselves saying that campsite reservations are limiting our freedom! Join us as we take out the 13ft Scamp Trailer on another Alaskan adventure with no travel reservations.
In this episode of Playing with Sticks we will be highlighting our move away from campground reservations, our push towards off grid travel, and our simple formula for experiencing the most freedom when traveling. If you are new to the channel we take out teardrop trailers, Scamp Trailers, and other small camper trailers throughout the state of Alaska in search of the perfect small camper trailer. We haven't found the perfect one yet, but boy have we learned a lot about small camper life on the road. As usual we will share with you some of the tips and tricks we are learning from the road.
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If you are into camping, travel, van life, or just living life outdoors check out some of our most popular videos in the playlist below. The majority of these videos have 100,000 views or more and resonate most with our subscribers and new viewers.
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Thank you everyone for getting us to 10,000 subscribers! Honestly, it is from all of you making this a community where people can learn from each other, share their ideas freely, and explore all things small camper trailers. THANK YOU!
I’m a 45 year old man that has never camped till recently and I’m hooked! Loves your channel and your tips
That is awesome to hear Ryan! And really, it just gets better and better the more you do it.
Now if everything we say is not possible where you live. Then by golly get yourself up here so you can at least experience the feeling of freedom that comes with no reservation travel. We love this community, thank you all for making this such a fun adventure with you!
Playing with Sticks, Yes!
Playing with Sticks
If enough people do get up to Alaska, ironically, the pressure to allocate relatively scarcer campsights by a reservation system will grow.
True, true. Luckily there is more than enough open boondocking land for everyone to enjoy. But, it does take some time to find it and you have to cover some good miles from one location to the next :)
Congratulations of topping 10k subscribers. Nothing is more addictive than freedom. Nothing is more necessary for happiness than freedom. Love your channel.
Thank you Pam! It has been a fun journey making these videos and chatting with everyone on here. We couldn't agree more with your freedom statements. Makes us so thankful for all of those who work and fight to protect our freedoms every day.
Love, love, love your channel! We are tiny campers also. We are seniors in our mid 70’s and are so happy with the freedom from “stuff”. Agree with the no reservation thing. Free to move around at our pace, relaxed. Feel like we are part of your family. Precious little ones!
Glad this resonated with you Carole. It is always fun to run into like minded folks on here. Thank you for the very sweet comment.
Completely agree! Generally on the road for months at a time, never make reservations. Boondock mostly, so no worries. 😊 --Mark
Another fellow boondocker and free spirit!
Flying by the seat of your pants is the way to go when traveling. Always been a go with the flow kind of traveler. Life is good.
Sounds like we would travel quite well together :)
For sure! Totally agree with this. I took my three kids on an 11 day National Parks roads trip and and the only reservation I made before the the trip was 2 nights at a campsite at the GC. During the trip I reserved two nights at KAO Cabin site at Glacier. That was awesome. Reservations do cause stress because you have to “get there”
Thanks for sharing Tracey! Yes, you have to get there. Good point.
Agreed. I don’t like the packed in campgrounds unless they have a location or amenity I want. However, my absolute biggest worry is finding a boondocking camp site: Am I breaking a law; Am I on private property; Will someone (official, owner) be really upset and bang on my door - while I’m sleeping!
We actually have those same thoughts as well. Most of the boondocking sites up here are pretty obvious. But every once in a while, like the boondocking site along the lake in this video, we wonder "Is this a boondocking site? Or is this just a well used campsite on some family's private land." For us, when we find a site we walk around a bit to see if there is more than one site in the same area. Typically if there is multiple sites it means it is a public boondocking area.
download campendium and boondocking app
The best channel yet ! Gracias mi amigo for all you share blessing through out your journeys 🙏😎
I love these teardrop philosophy videos. Truly, these were the arguments and ideas that persuaded us to buy our own teardrop last summer.
Love hearing this. These are our favorite videos to make as they are the ones that bubble up from our souls. We go out, have an amazing experience, and then we are just itching to share it with someone. Why not share it with the world! Hope you are finding some great free campsites out there Evan. Where you live you sure have a lot of great ones to choose from!
Congrats 10K subs! You are wise for your ages. We are in our mid-fifties, and have traveled for the past 23 years with 2 boys each summer from urban NC to remote WI. No travel plans, except for general routes and dates.The Best memories were made going anywhere the days took us. Flexibility created pleasant experiences we may never have enjoyed otherwise. No summer in WI was ever the same even tho the destination always was. Great video, thanks!
Thank you! Going from NC to WI sounds like quite the change in scenery. I bet it is amazing seeing the landscap change throughout the drive. We surely love it up here. But at times it would be nice to see some diversity in scenery. Not that the beautiful mountains, forests, rivers, glaciers get old. But sometimes going from one extreme to the other can really make the differences stand out. Thanks for sharing
I appreciate your message of freedom!! Ty for doing this for us ♡♡
Thank you. We really appreciate nice comments like this. And obviously we REALLY appreciate the freedoms we have as Americans.
I always enjoy your videos. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! That means a lot to us.
Great outlook on life...you are an inspiration!!! Thank you...keep on living.
Thank you! Really appreciate the positive comment.
I agree with you 100%. I love to just take off and find a spot and more times than not, you will find a spot that seems just perfect for you.
It is neat to hear there are some like minded people on here. When we made this video we had a feeling the majority of folks would thing we are crazy for not reserving campsites in advance. Thanks for chiming in Shawn!
@@PlayingwithSticks You're welcome and definitely not alone.
Living in the UK we find it difficult to travel reservation free. We are a small and crowded island where camping is popular and space limited especially at busy times . Wild camping can be frowned on and illegal. So you are very lucky. We do however go reservation free in continental Europe. We camp in our campervan.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to you all.
We love learning tidbits like this. When watching movies they make the UK appear so remote/open/free. From a US movie perspective the continental Europe appears more crowded. We have traveled quite a bit throughout continental Europe but have never had the opportunity to visit the UK. We always said we would save the best destination when we finally had some money to properly enjoy it. We watch and read quite a bit of small camper trailer videos/blogs from folks in Europe. You are all fortunate to have so many small camper manufacturers and an appreciation for a limited rv footprint. Here in the states most folks lean towards the larger rigs. We think we see a little shift towards smaller trailers over here lately. We hope the trend catches on. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to your family as well.
So true, England is so tiny...so small, it's about 1/4 the size of California if you dont count Northern Ireland, Wales...so small you can drive around the island, and the weather is terrible and depressing and gloomy all day long.... however, the people are polite.
In the nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland) we have 'Right of Public Access'. In other words 'the public has access to private land where no damage is likely to result and prohibition would be unreasonable'. You can camp anywhere you want. The nature is available for everybody.
You can pick berries in the woods, fishing, climbing or hiking in the mountains of the north etc. There's no trespassing anywere.
With a few exceptions like peoples gardens, military areas and suchlike of course. :-)
Now that is amazing! We never heard of that before. Up here in Alaska there are quite a few properties that will pull a gun on you if you come anywhere near. Pretty territorial folks in many areas. Would love to have that shared outdoor mentality that you mentioned. What a great example for the world you all have set.
Yes...we are very lucky.
Hey guys awesome video! Hope you guys are having a wonderful holiday season!
Thank you guys! Hope you have a wonderful holiday as well. Loved the birthday video by the way. It had a different vibe to it. Was neat to see you both dressed up and in a different setting.
I 💯% agree! Small campers offer soooo much freedom! 😁 Off the beaten path campsites have proven to be the most amazing for me too. Looks like your little guy is having a blast... and that’s what it’s all about! Great video!
Thank you Randi for sharing! Looks like your channel is starting to take off! Exciting!
Playing with Sticks Thanks!
I needed to hear this.
Awesome to hear!
Well people have reservations bc the rest of their lives are stuck to a plan. Alaska is a lot of land and a lot less travellers than a populated area like the west coast. Yes there are places you can pull all kinds of audibles but generally you have to travel during the weekdays or be in the far corners of the area. Reservations suck, and generally you have to be on top of things to get them. But once you have it, then there's no anxiety of whether you have a spot to camp in.
I like the counter argument. Honestly if you think about it, it provides a fair amount of Freedom as well. If you have your campsite reserved you have the freedom to explore the area, freedom to eat and sleep when you want. If populated areas are as tough as you suggest, not having a reservation could equate to spending the evening looking for a site instead of doing what you truly would like to do. Clarence, now I am going to have to go make this video all over again!
I love this way of doing things! I'm convinced! But...we're new to RVing and getting a more conventional 23' travel trailer. Would your advice still hold for a more cumbersome "home away from home?" We're in Alaska, too and want to explore!
I think whether you feel you need to make a reservation or not depends on your family situation. I camp with a kiddo who has multiple diagnoses therefore requiring routine, needing to know the itinerary, and plans in advance. Hitching our teardrop and just seeing where the road takes us would result in my kiddo crawling out of his skin and melting down a few times along the way. So, while we may miss some more desired camping spots while driving towards our destination, everyone arrives a happy camper. We just make note of those passed up site with the idea of stopping for a picnic on the way home and investigate for future camp outs.
Great post here! We are both early childhood educators and both work in structured learning environments. And we agree 100% with your way of camping. Love that you are getting your kiddo exposed to the outdoors and doing your best to ensure it is a great experience.
Lol we lived in Homer when I was little, my dad was a trooper.
How fun! Small world huh. What a blessing for you to have lived in Homer. Probably one of the, if not the most sought after community to live in in Alaska.
Congrats on such great growth! Found your channel a couple days ago and I love it. I'm 20 and from Costa Rica, our landscapes are so different than yours! Mainly beaches and tropical mountains. I'd love getting a teardrop, but there's only a couple companies who build something like that over here and I don't care for them. Thinking about designing one myself and finding out a way to get it built. I have no clue on how to start though, haha. Just downloaded Autodesk Inventor and I think I'll teach myself the program to try and design something. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and your experience with your beautiful family with us. Happy New Year!
Glad you found the channel. A small camper in Costa Rica sounds like your ticket to some amazing adventures. Most teardrops, ours included are built off of the Popular Mechanics teardrop design from the 1960s. You can find the design all over forums on the internet. There are also tons of other designs on the internet if you search them out. There are also books on amazon for less than $25 US that walk you through step by step. However, I love the fact that you are trying to start from scratch and create your own design. You will be really proud of it when you are done. Our friend at Camp and Camera has a UA-cam channel that specializes in building a teardrop. Check it out ua-cam.com/channels/Uu-Wbo58ba8ppxmfYH7Mlg.html
Happy New Years Ignacio!
Thanks for shedding some light on my way! Upon your suggestion, I found great resources online and information from people who already are where I'd like to be! Looking forward to design and build an small, cute teardrop to boondock at the rainforest, right next to a volcano or at white sand beaches! After a while camping with pop-up and roof tents, I've yet to see someone with a teardrop like yours, those seem to be more ubiquitous in North America. Thanks for your kindness, and blessings to your beautiful family!
@@nachojr99 You are going to love it. With that one of a kind teardrop down there you are going to meet so many new interesting people. Our favorite part about owning a teardrop is the attention it draws. We used to hide from attention, but with age we find it is nice to meet friends quickly at new campsites.
Merry Christmas from 🇬🇧
Merry Christmas to you as well. I bet Christmas' are quite beautiful over there!
Merry Christmas from OHIO!
I really only have the option to camp at state parks. There are some which are easier to get into and are simple but nice. There are the ultra memorable ones that you need to make a reservation right when the window opens 9 months in advance at 12:01am. Then there was the Covid rush when my state reopened bookings for camping in June and I can no longer get into any spur of the moment trips. Lucky I was able to plan three.
We have a few of those ultra memorable ones as well. The first that comes to mind is the Russian River campsite on the Kenai. Have you spent the time making sure you don't have any BLM or National Forest land hiding under your nose? I assume you have, but doesn't hurt to ask.
@@PlayingwithSticks Russian River looks fun! Appreciate the tips. BLM doesn't have anything on the east coast. The NFS sites are pretty distant from me for a ultra rustic trip with no water, vault toilets, and most are hike in. I can find non optimal sites at parks in my area but the weather has been too hot low/mid 90's atm. Tempted to pitch this new tent I am testing out in the back yard and do some home camping.
I have a VW Tiguan, and I'm trying to figure out what I can tow. Tow capacity is 1500 pounds. Can I tow a Scamp? Is a teardrop better? What do you suggest? Thanks.
How does dumping holding tanks and getting your fresh water tank filled work
Oregon was impossible to find a place to camp within two hours of Eugene, sadly, we couldn't even visit family- everything is reserved literally through November. Thank goodness for casinos.
PS thanks for getting me excited about hitting the road again, especially with my kayaks. Those four months on the road took their toll.
Wow, that is crazy! Thank you for sharing that. Also thank you for sharing casinos as a good alternative. We have seen quite a few videos and blogs about casinos not allowing older model travel trailers on the lots. Did you come across this at all?
You are most welcome. We truly love the kayaks in combo with small camper trailers. It has opened up a whole new dimension to our travels. Where did you end up going during your 4 months?
@@PlayingwithSticks no, they're pretty chill, they just want you to be respectable and mind your business, from what I've seen, we didn't even have issues with the rooftop tent, lots of vans, too. Sequim offers free electric hook-ups! Seven Feathers near Roseburg lets you stay five days, we did that, and then up to Forest Service land in Umpqua a week for mushrooming (!), then back to the casino. For the most part everyone couldn't be nicer, and the locations are beautiful- taking my dog for walks on the beach etc. Literally nothing like 'I am not a casino person' expected.
@@PlayingwithSticks The plains to the PNW to the Southwest and back again- soon, to the gulf!
We just bought our first teardrop trailer and plan on boondacking in areas of the continent where grizzlies are possible. Everything I read about avoiding bears states that you should cook away from where you sleep. Should we not cook in our teardrop's cooking galley and store all our food and cooking utensils away from our teardrop?
Hmmm... I am guessing the "right answer" would be cook 100 yards away from your camper and store all cooking items in your car. However, that isn't very realistic or enjoyable every day on the road. From all our time in bear country we have seen quite a few bears up in tents and hovering around campers looking for food. However, we have never actually seen a bear work his/her way into a camper. We have seen them work their way into tents. So with that said you would probably think we do our cooking in the galley. But, we actually don't. We cook fairly close to our teardrop, make sure to clean up as much food leftovers as possible and then store our cooking gear in the galley. Multiple years of camping this way for 3 months at a time and so far (fingers crossed) no issues. Our thought in bear country is that if we were to continue cooking each night in the galley we would build up quite a bit of smells and oils to attract bears. Because we switch campsites every few nights we feel cooking away from the teardrop would lead to less bears spending the evening sniffing our galley. Who knows if this theory works. But it sure helps us sleep better at night!
Thanks for your insight. I really enjoy "playing with sticks". Please keep it coming!
Easy to say when you’re in the least densely populated state in the union. We tried boondocking near Chiricahua National Park in Arizona recently, and every spot was taken. Of course, we can always stay at a travel center if absolutely necessary. But I’ve noticed there are a lot of people criticizing planning and preparation. I would love to have that luxury, but I’m here to tell you, it doesn’t always work that way.
That’s a really good point. Last summer I went up and down the coast of Oregon and the interior of Oregon and Washington. Almost every night I was forced to stay in a Cracker Barrel, Walmart, or rest stop. However, with some research, I ended up finding many sections of Oregon where I was able to freely camp wherever I wanted to whenever I wanted to. Although it would’ve been fun to have reservations on the coast, and these other areas in Oregon and Washington, I would much rather search out the quiet places and live on my own time. But I completely get you there are areas of the country where this just isn’t possible. For example, Arizona in the cold months because everybody flocks there during this season .
@@PlayingwithSticks Very good points. I think most of us prefer, and search for, quiet places of solitude. I appreciate your rational and friendly response. I just subscribed. All the best!
I totally agree, never reserve - it's boring!
I love your take on spontaneity and freedom from reservations but my plan is to get me one o' them scamps to do national parks in the lower 48, so I think reservations will be needed, far in advance. BLM, state national & provincial forests not so much. Love your channel, thank you!
The Scamp paired with National Parks sounds like a great trip Russ. We agree with the National Park vs BLM, State, and Provincial Forests comment. Some places are just a must when it comes to reservations. Now we haven't traveled the lower 48 extensively, but when we do we have found that their is usually private campgrounds outside many of the National Parks that is a good fallback. But, even they can be booked up as well.
Oh, I assume you watch Elsa Rhae's channel. If not check it out. It will get you so excited to get your Scamp and get out on the road!
@@PlayingwithSticks Big fan of Elsa Rae's channel. Good tip on private campgrounds. Another fantasy trip: Alaska Highway from New England!
@@russgaulin3721 Love that idea. Funny you mentioned that. The teardrop trailer we use in the majority of our videos made its way up here from New England, I think it was from Maine.
Hey Drew and May! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
We mostly stay at state parks - I have tried to find free campsites I'm interested in here in upstate NY, but mostly they are state forests.
Maybe this year we'll work harder to find free lakeside camping. Wishing you and your family many blessings in the new year. ~ Maria
We had a wonderful Christmas Maria. Hope you had a great holiday season as well! Free lakeside camping sounds pretty nice to us. I bet you all have some beautiful settings up there! We have seen many great pictures of upstate New York. Also I bet camping in the fall up there is wonderful. Happy New Year Maria!
Thank you for the great content!
You are most welcome Lisa. Glad you enjoyed it!
I love our Scamp...and we live outside 3/4 of the time. Wife would not do Nucamp
Aren't they amazing little trailers! I think you made a good choice going the Scamp route. Built to last!
We only made one reservation for our trip to Florida. Just one campground that we really wanted to stay on near Pensacola. Otherwise we plan to just drive, use the app, make some phone calls and just go. BTW do you guys own the Scamp now? Seen it in quite a few vids now. Or are you guys just borrowing it? Just curious if you bit the bullet yet?
We have often wondered if the guidance we give only applies to the West Coast. That is really great to hear that this style of travel worked for you all the way to Florida! Unfortunately we still don't own a Scamp. They are pretty hard to come by up here. We had 2 different Burro trailers slip right out of our hands. However, (hush tone) you are the first people we have told that we got a new trailer. It is a project trailer that we will be starting on in April. That will put our Scamp shopping on hold for a bit. Thanks for watching the video guys. We feel honored when you come over and watch our content. Especially beings you are one of the main Scamp experts here on UA-cam (You and Elsa).
I'd recommend calling ahead for reservations. Hurricane Micheal did a number on the panhandle and quite a few camps have shutdown permanently and several are still closed for repair. The volume of campers are filling up the remaining camps and spilling over to the surrounding areas. Just my thoughts from the Wiregrass.
@@PlayingwithSticks Well it hasn't worked yet. But we're going to give it a try. Cool glad to hear that and we hope all go's well with the build.
Thanks for sharing this. Sorry to hear about all the damage. Hoping everything gets up to running smoothly again soon down there. Florida is by far one of our favorite places in the States. Great people, weather, fruit, and loads of fun things for us tourists to do.
We love our Scamp. Provides so much freedom, agree with you 100%! We are traveling to Alaska now! +1 Subscriber. Thanks for your videos. Check out our journey when you get a sec. Looking forward to the next video. Also, any Alaska tips would be appreciated (should be there ~September/October, no reservations).
Do you have trailer breaks on this scamper?
We do not. But when it has a full tank of water and the camper is fully loaded for a week, it could definitely benefit from them. What we have realized over the years is that most vehicles can tow more than you would think. It really is the stopping distance that is the issue. Great question Jose!
Thank you for your response You've helped more than you know!
I don’t understand. If you have reservations, I’m assuming you have to pay for that? Then if you wing it an go with no reservations don’t you have to find a place that will allow you to stay for free? Or do you just pay if a site is open? Sorry Newbie.
Yes, if you have reservations you pay for them. Even if you don't make it to the site. If you go with no reservations you still have places in mind. But sometimes one of the places isn't what you expected so you can move on to the next place down the road. All over the country campgrounds seem to be a bit clustered. Meaning, where there is one there is usually a few more nearby. Here in Alaska we are blessed in that if campgrounds are full when we arrive we can typically find a free boondocking site within an hour drive or less. But, just like the camgrounds it is best to find these online before hand so they are easy to find when you are in a pickle. Hope that helps.
Your little man growing up so fast! Love to explore up your way one day. What's the best time of the year for camping?
He is growing quite quick isn't he?!!! We would say the best time to camp up here is May, June, and July. May is not ideal because there is still snow blocking some of the best hiking trails. June we would say is typically the best month because there is much, much less rain. July is great too, but you are heading into a little more rain. Once August shows up rain is pretty much in the forecast quite often if you are near the coast. June is also a great fishing month if you love to fish. July is a little lull between the salmon runs before they pick up again in late July/early August.
@@PlayingwithSticks that's good to know. We have a teardrop and plan to do a 30th anniversary trip in it for 2020. We haven't quite decided which way we're going. June is the month we were planning our trip😊. The grand canyon, the maritime provinces and Yukon/Alaska, were some of our ideas. Love your little baby as well. Little buddy is a big brother now! Congratulations 💕
I always travel by the seat of my pants, planning ruins the experience. Boondocking rules 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞
We are right with you. Boondocking is top on our list as well!
I dont buy boots on internet or make reservations. Just asking for aggravation and that's senseless. You nailed it with the time constraints. More faster hurry . Leave that demon back at the city limit sign..
Try 53k subs. Congrats
Thank you Glenda!
Campsite reservations are the worst. They ruin the freedom of RV life. Who want to plan the exact campsite they will be at in the future, it takes all the fun out of traveling.
Good to hear we aren't the only ones.
Alaska is big and open for a very good reason....the weather is terrible....gloomy all day long and wet every where...terrible food options.....if anyone is looking for great nightlife, please make Alaska on the last of your list.... you can drive for hours and not see a single human or a car....very lonely...this why we still call Alaska the "Last Frontier " after all these years, decades, century+....... however, if you love the wilderness and endless nature and boondocking anywhere, everywhere, whenever you like for free then Alaska is your mecca for that.... a lonely place for serious free recreational and leisure experiences......that's if you can tolerate the dull food....
Sounds like you live here or may have lived here at one time?