Most free spots in National Forests or BLM land require that campers move every 2 weeks. You may have to move outside of the district or entirely out of the Forest or BLM land. Much depends on how close you are to a major city. It may depend on the attitude of the rangers taking care of the area. Regardless, you must be prepare to move. And at first that two weeks seems like a long time. Then it become a hassle. So be prepared.

This image is of an early camping spot in Utah. The clear water container was a mistake. It got mildew after 1 month. The turkey was very interested in everything. I had just started to unpack when I realized that I would be in a great deal of trouble if it rained (very deep sand). So I learned not to unpack before I figured out if I was going to stay. You can see that there is not much room to move around in the back.

The first time I camped it took 1 full day to unpack and after a two week stay it took me two days to repack.  Now, 5 years later,  it takes me 1/2 hour to pack up. And the set up in a new place takes 1/2 hour. This schedule goes to the dogs if I stay in one place for several months. Then the pack up can take a full day.

Most of the time gain has been in throwing things out. I had WAY too much stuff to start. I was packing as if I was going to drive to South America again. In the USA there is food in every gas station. There is potable water everywhere. Speaking of which I have 2 5 gallon water containers. Don’t need that much in the USA. I will be leaving one of them in Quartzsite. I have shed many unnecessary items. Most of which were packed from fear. Fear that I would run out, fear that I would be stuck, fear that I would never be able to replace item. Bah. Now the comment I get about the set up is “Oh, you are a minimalist camper.” Not really. I am lazy. I do not want to load and unload things. I want to be able to sleep in a gas station without unloading chairs and coolers and boxes of excess.

This is what the back looks like now.

The less you have the quicker it is to pack and unpack!