boondocking

n. living without conveniences such as municipal electricity or water, indoor plumbing, or grocery stores, especially when camping with a recreational vehicle;roughing it. Subjects: English

Editorial Note: Other variations on to boondock, according to the Historical Dictionary of American Slang, are the military sense of ‘to go into or through boondocks; to march through boondocks as punishment or training’; the youth or student sense of ‘to go with a date into a wooded or isolated area for the purpose of love-making’; and the trucking sense of ‘to travel on back roads.’ The 1963 citation probably belongs to the latter sense. Etymological Note: From the boondocks, a wild or unpopulated area, from the Tagalog bundoc or bondoc ‘a mountain.’

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Citations: 1951 Quentin Pope @ Guam, Mariana Islands Chicago Daily Tribune (Dec. 29) “Bungling By U.S. Found In Trust Isles Of Pacific” p. 2: The trust territories administration is ordering officials to live as if in a desert island economy. “Booondocking"—raiding of available supplies from wherever they can be held—has official blessing. 1961 Monroe County News (Albia, Iowa) (Mar. 20) “Facts for Hunters” p. 4: The store of outdoor wisdom gathered over 25 years of boondocking and chore-dodging falls into four broad categories. 1962 Bill Dredge Los Angeles Times (Jan. 14) “Mexican Joy Ride by Camper Unit” p. 17: Time was, not many years ago, when a motorist, bound for boondocking in the wilds of Baja California, said good-buy [sic] to his wife, hugged all the children and plopped a bedroll in the back seat of a war surplus command car. [1963 Deming Headlight (N.M.) (Oct. 31) “Formal Opening of the Lonnie Beyer Jeep Sales & Service” (in advert.) p. 5: New Willys models provide a dual-purpose vehicle suitable for family or business use, as well as “boondocking.”] 1983 Judy Fossett Sunday Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, Okla.) (Oct. 16) “Mother Left With Pain, Hate”: They were friends, and on the night she was killed, Paula, Brett Harris and Karen Winfield went “boondocking” along the river in Harris’ Toyota Land Cruiser. 1995 Bill Moeller RVing Basics (Jan. 1) p. 11: Staying in a place with no hookups is known as boondocking, primitive camping, or dry camping. 2005 Bill Draper @ Emporia, Kan. Kansas City Star (Kan., Mo.) (May 21) “RVers taking scenic route all the way to Wal-Mart”: “Boondocking,” also known as primitive camping, is the RVer term for camping without the use of such conveniences as electricity and water. The subject, especially as it pertains to Wal-Mart lots, is a favorite topic among Internet-savvy travelers on such sites as freecamping.com, fulltimerver.com and Woodbury’s rvtravel.com.

Posted 23 May 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend