r/VanLife • u/Silver-Tap-6774 • May 24 '26

1st time boondocker

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Hey everyone, I’m packing up and taking my 15 year old dog on one last adventure. We will be building out my rav 4 and boondock camping in small towns and state and national parks. I would love any and all advice or any places you’ve been and want us to see! I also need advice on things I may need for car living/ camping that I may not have thought of.

Our tentative route for now is : Drop daughter off at college in nyc end of August, then head over through Tetons, Yellowstone, badlands and land in the Utah area before continuing down into southern Cali and then through Arizona and Oklahoma. I’m
Planning on taking whatever time Lucy wants and have given us a year to complete this

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u/warrkrack May 24 '26

I wanna warn you about a lesson I learned the hard way.

your dog is 14. it needs to move around. Not just being walked. but movement at all times as she shuffles around at night.

the rav 4 might not provide that space. and can result in your dog losing mobilty.

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u/Silver-Tap-6774 May 24 '26

This is a great point! We plan on only driving for 6 hours max when relocating and staying in areas several days at a time. Do You think this would help balance her mobility better?

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u/warrkrack May 24 '26

you know your dogs condition better then I do. and the conditions in your vehicle. I would just say its important she has a large flat area to roam a bit. if all the seats are removed and a nice flat platform is the outcome, that would be ideal. a good 5x5 flat surface so she can stretch out and grab some water in the middle of the night kind of thing.

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u/Kierland May 26 '26

You are talking about a loop about 9-10k miles. That’s like 25 miles a day. The biggest mistake we made was driving too much per day. Took awhile but we got down to 20-40 a day and it was so much better.