Life in a Van Necessities - Part III

So, where do you go to the bathroom?

For most of us van lifers, we do not have a bathroom per se, in our vans. Some of the folks I’ve met on the road while boondocking or other places do have a bathroom in their vans, but they are the exception. Unless you have the 159” wheel base or extended beyond that with a high top, it’s just very rare to see one. Usually the only full bathroom vehicles out there are the real RV types; Class A, Class B or Class C.

Frankly, I’ve never had an issue and as I’ve said several times in previous blog posts, I do not visit RV parks. The primary reason for that is, I’m basically a solo traveler and RV parks just don't have anything that attracts me; not to mention the high cost to park my van overnight. Most RV parks cost as much per night as motels. They are becoming very pricey.

So, where do I go to the bathroom? Usually I’m boondocking in pretty secluded places and I, like most people that boondock, carry a small shovel as part of my gear and I can dig a cat hole pretty easily and that keeps me inside the law of the land.

If I’m on the road or near a town, there’s always plenty of public places from rest stops on the freeways to restaurants, gas stations and the like. If I’m off grid and have an emergency need for a bathroom, I have a porta-john (portable toilet). This porta-john is comfortable to use and the way they’re designed, there are no odors to contend with.

I bought it new on Amazon for about $150.00 and it’s still new. I’ve never had to use it. It’s small enough so it’s out of the way and consumes very little room.

I have it concealed so that anyone who might enter my van would not even know it’s there. It is a two-piece unit. The top part holds the water for flushing and the bottom part holds the waste. When it needs emptying, simply unsnap the top from the bottom and carry the bottom tank into a restroom or a dump station to empty and rinse it out. Hardly any trouble at all and I’m told it can be used by one or 2 people for 4-5 days without emptying. But again, I’ve never had to use it; it’s only there for emergencies. And, something I think long-haul truckers started many years ago, and that is to always carry a pee bottle.

As a side note about the porta-john. It was also a necessity for me to have in order to join a couple of organizations that require your van or RV to be fully self-contained in order to use their facilities for free anywhere in the country and Canada. The porta-john solves that issue.

1. Harvest Hosts affords members access to 942 wineries, breweries, farms and more for free to camp at overnight.

2. Boondockers Welcome gives me and other members free access to hundreds of driveways, backyards, empty lots, etc. across this great country and Canada. Members have free access as long as you have a self-contained van or RV.

Source: Most of the photos in this blog are provided courtesy of Shutterstock and Pixabay.com.

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Until next time.