Being homeless and hopping from one base-camp to another every week or two allows for utilizing some nifty tricks to be comfortable and save money.
Firewood:
Note: This trick usually works only at established campgrounds.
Instead of paying $4-$5 for one cubic foot of firewood, wait until Monday evening to collect all the leftover wood that the weekend warriors left at their camp sites. It’s almost like trick or treating; you go from spot to spot and get the king-size logs or maybe a couple of twigs.
Prime Camp Site:
Never-ever-ever arrive at your destination on a Friday or Saturday. Arrive on Sunday evening or anytime Monday. Plan it so that you arrive to pick out a campsite after the weekend campers have left. If you arrive at a spot that you desire on a Sunday evening and there are still occupants there, don’t be afraid to ask them how long they are staying…it might just be that they are leaving within a few hours. Call dibs on the spot and then go climb a couple pitches till they leave.
Washing Dishes:
Soap/Water/Bleach- Use three large bowls. First bowl has water and soap. Second bowl has just water. Third bowl has water and a bit of bleach. Scrub off the remains of your meal in the first bowl, rinse the floaters off in the second bowl, then dip it in the bleach bowl to seal the deal. This method really makes you feel clean and peppy.
Rain- If it looks like its going to rain that night, just scatter the dishes out on the table for a nice rinse/soak.
Dirt- For a dry rinse, just toss a handful of dirt in our dish and rub it around with our hand. The dirt will dry out the remnants of the food and scrap them off. Dump the dirt and you have a dusty dish that just needs a rinse.
FareShare Mugs- Eat everything you can in a FareShare Mug by GSI. To rinse, put some water in the mug, screw the lid on and shake. Dump the nasty water. Now put some fresh water in, squirt some soap, screw on the lid, and shake. Dump the water and quickly rinse. However, if you can’t do all that this instant, just screw the lid on to prevent all the food remnants from getting all crusty.