Living Without Hook Ups – Water, Sewer, & Electrical

When we pulled away from our five-bedroom, three-bath, house in Colorado Springs, I knew our way of life would change dramatically. No more storing hoards of extra supplies, having a second restroom available, or watching TV from a different room.

Today, we live in 200 square feet with a cat and a motorcycle that fills have our living room. We have learned how to function on 2-3 gallons of water a day when boondocking. That includes one gallon for consumption. When we aren’t hooked up to electricity, everything gets heated stove top or in the oven. There is no quick fix in the microwave or Bullet Blender. We carefully work around one another to prepare meals, feed the cat, and clean up the constant mess we create.

We love it! That may be hard to believe, but living small makes our problems small. Life is simple: Eat, Sleep, Clean. When we aren’t doing those things, we are able to serve others and work with the SOWER ministry. Our time is filled with purpose.

Let’s not ignore the challenges that come with living away from hook ups though. If you aren’t use to showering with a dribble of water, or washing dishes in a small bin of soapy water, you may find boondocking hard. We’re very spoiled when we are plugged in and have all our utilities provided in exchange for our volunteer hours. Life feels a little bit more normal when hooked up, but not near as exciting.

Matt is not allowed to wash dishes when we are boondocking. This chore requires constant attention to water usage and reusing water in some cases. I have a system of piling dishes in the sink as I clean them and letting the rinse water run over all of them as I pick up one dish at a time for the drying mat. I also refill the small wash bin as I rinse so that it can be used as soaking water for the next round of dirty dishes.

To conserve propane, we turn on our water heater for showers and then use the remainder in the hot tank for dishes. This means sometimes the dishes to pile up for a few meals before getting clean, but they are organized and neat looking in our dish bin.

When it comes to dumping, we try to wait until we are hooked up again at our next project site. However, when we just can’t wait, there is always a dump station along our route for a small fee.

As for electricity, the trailer runs on 12-volt. We can plug our phones into the USB chargers and use a USB mini-fan too. All the lights, water pump, and vent/fans work off of the batteries. We do have 200 watts of solar installed on the roof to keep juice in the batteries at all times. My laptop and camera batteries get charged while we drive, because they are plugged into our inverter located in the cab of the truck. I supposed I could turn on the truck when we are parked, and plug in the Bullet Blender to use it on occasion if I wanted too.

Learning to live with less water, limited electricity, and dump station intervals doesn’t have to be hard. Remember your goals: to live simply, to explore anywhere, and to save money. These challenges stimulate our brains and keep us sharp for whatever we may encounter on the road.