How much are you spending on groceries and eating out?
One goal of this journey is to discover how much it costs me to live a full-time nomadic RV lifestyle. I have budgeted $300 for groceries and $75 for restaurant meals monthly. Both line items have benefited from the hospitality of family and friends and by rural camping locations. There is not much temptation to go out to eat when there is nowhere close by to go. On the other hand, I went all out on meals in Savannah during our three-generation girls weekend. (While baby Emilia enjoyed her bottle, Megan was introducing me to the espresso martini!).
After two months, I believe that the grocery amount is doable, the restaurant amount is not. I want to be free to experience regional specialties and go out to eat with family and friends along the way.
How does your food differ on-grid and 0ff-grid?
So far, on this journey, I have never been able to use both electric and water hookups at the same time. In fact, the trailer stayed winterized until arriving at my current campground in northeast Florida. Thank goodness, you will agree, given those cold and challenging nights in the Carolinas.
All of the electric & water sites were taken when I arrived last Thursday. I was grateful to get one with a water hookup, lake view, and paved parking pad. I’ve made a couple of runs to convenience stores and a Family Dollar within six to ten miles, but there is no grocery store. I am not running my refrigerator so I can prioritize lights and heat. The generator (whose carburetor was replaced under warranty) and the solar panel are keeping the battery charged fine.
Here’s what I found: For dinner one, a frozen Mexican bowl that I ate with tortilla chips from the pantry. For dinner two, a two-serving bag of no-longer-frozen brocolli with one of those microwaveable white cheese pasta cups. (My microwave works when the generator is running). For dinner three, chicken tenders from the closest convenience store with green pepper strips and fruit salad. For dinner four: avocado and the rest of the tortilla chips. Family Dollar also provided a can of hearty beef and vegetable soup and a bag of non-refrigerated meatballs in Italian sauce that are still on hand.
To sum up, I need to plan ahead better on groceries. I expected to have electricity here, to be running the fridge, to be able to buy what I needed after I set up camp. Instead, I found myself wandering Family Dollar in search of meals that would be healthy and tasty enough.
Have you been sampling the local cuisine?
Readers of my canoe tripping books know how much I love a cheeseburger and fries, especially with a fresh salad. The El Dorado near the Arrowhead Campground did not disappoint in that regard. By South Carolina, I was determined to have some BBQ and found it on Hawg Heaven’s all-you-can-eat buffet, along with corn bread, ribs, homemade mac and cheese, green beans, butter beans, and peach cobbler. Yessir, I was eating well in the South now!
In my imagination, in the planning stages, I was going to be grilling steaks and making homemade pizza. Whirling some smoothies around with my new immersion blender and reaching into the fridge for a cold beverage whenever the mood struck me. So far, I haven’t even come close. Tomorrow, though, I move on to new possibilities. The next place has electric & water at every campsite., and you can trust that the pantry will be much better provisioned.
Laurie Apgar Chandler 