By Bob Difley
Winter is a welcome time for snowbirds as they leave the cold, wind, rain, and snow of the northern states and head for the warmer southwestern deserts.
Snowbirding is also a happy time for boondockers and frugal RVers since there are millions of acres of desert open for boondocking at no cost.
But if you are new to the desert or boondocking, it is also the time to get your feet wet — but not literally.
A good way to try out both boondocking and snowbirding at the same time is to head for one of the Bureau of Land Management’s Long Term Visitor Areas (LTVA).
These are areas set aside by the BLM for self-contained RVs to camp in the open desert at minimal cost. You can buy a season pass for the LTVA for $180 and it allows you to move around among them all for the one-time charge.
And though there are no hookups, the LTVA have an onsite host, restrooms, a water supply, trash containers, and dump station — and lots of helpful boondockers nearby to give you a hand and answer questions — and maybe even invite you to their campfire.
You can get all the scoop on LTVA locations here. (Click on a link in the description of the Long Term Visitor Areas.)
You can find Bob Difley’s RVing e-books on Amazon Kindle.
