Hi everyone, a very cool site. Thanks! My son and I will soon be leaving on what I hope will be a healing journey. For the last year we care for my father as he slowly died of mixed dementia. But he is in a better place, and it is time for us to move on.

My son, 24yo, and myself, soon to be 50

, are building a small travel trailer, and we are looking forward to traveling around the country seeing what we can find. We have to do it on the cheap, because dad's medical bills, he was in the hospital 9 times in the 2.5 years with us, pretty much sucked us dry. But that's ok. We plan on carrying a very nice power washer we have, and when we need more cash, we will find power washing, or something else to fill the gas tank.

I'm sure I will ask dumb questions about the NF, but somebody has to ask them! Like where might we find a nice place to pull off the road here and there, or can I gather firewood.

Looking forward to meeting everyone around the campfire.

duke

Welcome aboard,sorry to hear about your loss, but glad that you have the strength to move on with your life.
As far as "building" a TT, you may want to look for a good used one, there a lot of good deals out there right now, could be just as cheap & a whole lot easier in the long run, you could be on the road using it, instead of building it.
You can find a lot of info on NF Campgrounds by clicking on the arrow, in the upper left of this page, for simple "overnighters" you need to look for dispersed camping, these places are usually free.

Welcome aboard. Sorry to hear of your loss but you have picked the right place to heal. Check our the Camping with Suzi section for some insight to where, how, and such of camping in national forests. The "Main" forestcamping.com website will give you information on developed campgrounds while Camping with Suzi provides a little more personal stuff.

While dispersed camping rules vary some what from forest to forest, in general the rules follow your common sense logic: Don't camp next to water; pack out what you pack in; and, so on. However, the number and locations to "pull-off" for a day or two are endless and limited only by you how far off the path you want to go.

One things that has become more an issue in last few years is transporting firewood from one place to another. Many places now restrict firewood to local stuff. Another thing that is being tried is what I call "Yellow Post" campsites. These are semi-dispersed campsites that require you to obtain a permit (sometimes free, sometimes not). You find them mostly in southern California and, I think, it is tied into the campfire permit required by the state.

I would recommend you get a copy of "Travels with Charley" by Steinbeck to read either before you leave or while on the road. I think you'll be able to relate.