They use apps and message boards to find out-of-the-way places to camp for free. They call it boondocking, although they might have moved on to a newer phrase so middle-aged dads like me don’t make it seem lame. Overlanding pros pride themselves on not paying for campsites. Facing a 10+ hour drive and a very late arrival, we did something we’d never done before. Okay not quite, but it was a lot further than I expected.

It turns out that Cape Hatteras is way out there (that’s a fancy navigational term). Just two little states away – how far could it be? I hadn’t even bothered to look. Whatever we saved by buying used books will be paid for in lost gas mileage.Īfter a night driveway-camping in Jacksonville, we just had to hop up the coast to Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. They call it the Book Mine because it was once just a giant mountain of books which they’ve since tunneled through. We donated a pile of books and dove into the stacks. Thirty-odd years later, her account was still active. They let you trade in old books for a generous credit toward different old books. She was a regular there starting around age 9. The Book Mine is a Jacksonville institution, just a mile from where Monica grew up, which explains a lot about the person she is today. School was starting (keep in mind we are homeschooling this year) so we pulled the camper up to the venerable Book Mine. With that in mind, our first destination on the second leg of summer 2020 was 4 nights on Cape Hatteras National Seashore, which has a rarity in campgrounds run by the National Parks: electrical hookups.īut before we left the Sunshine State, we had one important pitstop to make.

We can crank up our Coleman Mach AC unit and freeze our butts off no matter how hot and humid it is outside. With the RV, we’re free to book a beach campground anytime. We were successful a few times, at Fort DeSoto, Key Largo, Anastasia Island, and Key West and not as successful when our first trip to Key West coincided with a “cyclone bomb” (although it was still a great trip). And with how quickly sites fill up, you need a Farmer’s Almanac and a lot of luck to predict when to tent camp at the beach.

Before our RV, when we were tent camping on Florida’s beaches and islands, we had to find the sweet spot when the weather and water temperature were warm enough to want to swim, yet still cool enough at night to sleep. One of the best places to camp is at the beach, but it isn’t that simple.

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