Fulltiming Pastimes: Critter Identification

One of the happier sides of boondocking is getting out where the wildlife is. Face it, RV parks just don't attract most critters--unless they're in the form of cockroaches, invading ants, and garbage can flies.

On the other hand, farther away from civilization, the more likely you are to find yourself in amongst plants and animals who prefer the quieter side of life. Having a camera to record their appearance is great; a pair of binoculars is good for closing in on those that keep their distance. But we've found having a field guide that helps us identify and learn more about this wildlife a real boon.

You don't need a guide that's elaborate or expensive. We've found that many national park visitor's centers have inexpensive field identification guides tailored to the region. We picked up one small "pocket guide" to desert life and it's proved to help us identify and learn more about the fascinating lives of hot, dry country dwellers

Route Planning: How to Find Attractions

The joys of fulltiming include having a bit more time and ability to see the world and its various attractions. But how do you find "stuff" to see on the road?

One of the best "guides" we've found are the AAA auto club's "TourBooks." While a lot of the guidebook is dedicated to the evaluation of hotels and motels--not something we need to worry about--there are also great sections devoted to attractions, both natural and "commercialized." These are laid out alphabetically by city in the various states covered in the guides. For example, we're currently planning a route through Utah, so we're falling back on the Colorado & Utah TourBook to help us find stops we want to make along the way.

While the TourBooks are free to AAA members, since we've started RVing we haven't found AAA membership to be as attractive as it once was, as we don't like their "no change flat tires on trailers" road insurance policy. How do we get TourBooks? We've found we can often bum last year's copy from friends who are AAA members, and we've also found that many used bookstores and yard sales have them at reasonable prices.