RV Off-Grid Living vs On-Grid RVing Near Quartzsite Arizona

Long Term OFF-Grid RV Living – I’ve been full-time RVing for the past 10 years. I split my time between long term stays in RV parks and living off the grid on forest land in my RV.

In this video, I’m showing you what OFF-grid RV living vs. ON-grid RV camping both look like near Quartzsite Arizona.

(Don’t miss the “related article” to see all of my TIPS for living off the grid in an RV!)

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TRANSCRIPT:

Hi I’m Curtis with The Fun Times Guide. In this video I am going to drive through a few different options that are available for both on-grid or off-grid living in your RV down in the southwest. This will give you a general idea of what you can expect in the way of cost and comfort.

This is an example of the less expensive RV parks. It is nothing very fancy. But there are spacious lots for each RV. And the cost is quite manageable. This particular section is $820 per 6 months. And it is geared toward people who are going to be here year round.

There are not much in the way of amenities. But you don’t have to move your RV to… You know, you have full hookups. So once you park your RV, you can be comfortable for as long as you wish. It is about a 50/50 mixture of permanent park model trailers and RVs. And during the summer months when it gets hot, there are just a bare skeleton of people around here.

It is clean and well-maintained. And it is a good community where neighbors watch out for each other. And you don’t have to feel that your door needs to be locked every time you step away from your home. It’s a good place to live. And a good place to spend most of the year.

This is a step up in quality for an RV Park. Rent here is slightly over $1,100 for 6 months. So it comes out to about $2,200+ per year. For the increase, you get similar-sized large lots. You get paved streets. A palm tree in every lot. You also have laundry facilities, an exercise room, a library, and you also have a swimming pool.

Here again, the majority of the spaces are occupied by permanent park model homes. But there is adequate turnover in the RV sections, as well. This is a large park. It has roughly 600 residents. There is a larger selection of activities going on. They have a Meeting Hall, where they have weekly entertainment. And they have a larger year round occupancy than the smaller park

Again, you have a sense of community in an RV park that you don’t really accomplish boondocking out in the wilderness.

This is an example of a boondocking area on BLM land. This one is about 15 miles from the nearest town. And you are allowed to camp anywhere alongside the road. As an example, this is one of the pull-offs here where you could set up camp and you are allowed to stay 14 days for free. This particular location is far enough away from the town that it is not all that popular.

If you follow this road out, it leads to off-road areas where you can take your off-road vehicle.

It is not completely abandoned — as there are a group of RVs camping together off in the distance here. So you can see, you have nothing in the way of amenities. You just have wide open spaces where you can be left alone.

I apologize for the motion of the camera, but this is a rather rough road. This is a long-term visitor area outside of Quartzsite, Arizona. This is what it is like during the 2 busiest months of the year: January and February. The big tent show is going on, so it is quite busy in here. But the rest of the season is not nearly as crowded as it is now. You can stay here for $180 for a 7-month permit. And you will have access to a dump station, a water station, and dumpsters. And we are about 4 miles out of town — so gas and a small amount of groceries are available fairly close by.

These have been just a few examples of the different types of places that you can spend time in the southwest — and give you an idea of the cost. There are multiple opportunities for each style of living. And you can feel comfortable that there will be a place for you if you choose to come to southern Arizona for the winters OR for the long term.

I hope this information has been helpful, and we’ll see you on the next video!