Going Off the Grid with Dometic
If you stay in Los Angeles long enough, you’ll understand the eagerness to escape. You can only drive down the same streets, run errands at the same shops, and repeat the same routine so many times before you’re throwing clothes into a suitcase and calling up friends to say, “I need to get out of the city.” I say this from experience. But once your suitcase is packed, the bigger question sets in. Where do you actually go? Another city won’t solve it. It becomes a different version of the same noise, the same pace, and the same patterns waiting to resume. Fortunately, there’s an alternative.
Built on a mission of making the outdoors more accessible and a reputation for functional, design-forward gear made for modern nomads, Dometic has long made it easier to venture off-grid, whether that be trekking through dense woodlands or setting up camp in the desert. Now, the Swedish brand is taking that philosophy a step further by offering an experience to Joshua Tree that feels more like a reset than a trip, providing city dwellers the opportunity to disconnect from the pressures of everyday life and reconnect with something more grounding – I know, because I was one of the first to try it.
Once I got on the road, the transition felt immediate. As the cityscape dissolves into open desert, where windmills wave hello, the mental clutter begins to clear with it. What Dometic provides goes beyond a free ride and some gear, but a fully equipped vehicle with everything needed to live comfortably off-grid. Rooftop tent? Check. Dometic’s iconic CFX5 45L electric cooler? Check. Insulated Backpack? Check. Their gear turns the car into a mobile basecamp, removing the usual barriers of outdoor travel. There is no overpacking or second-guessing if you brought the right equipment. The setup allows you to focus entirely on the experience. And for someone who has never camped, this gave me peace of mind.
After setting up camp, the stillness of Joshua Tree began to settle in. The openness gives you space to think without interruption or simply exist without distraction. Somewhere in that quiet, I got hungry, which Dometic had already anticipated. With a curated selection of fresh food that covered everything from breakfast to lunch, thankfully, no canned beans, it was easy to satisfy any craving. As someone who considers themselves an at-home chef, I was curious about cooking outdoors. It quickly became one of my favorite parts of the trip. Using Dometic’s portable camp cooker, every meal felt simple and enjoyable. Setup and cleanup were surprisingly easy, even compared to cooking at home. I could easily see myself using it at the beach, in my family’s backyard, or even on a friend’s deck. It pairs especially well with their electric cooler, since you don’t have to worry about ice melting or food losing its chill in an hour.
Discovering new gear and seeing how naturally it fit into the experience never got old. From hiking through Jumbo Rocks with Dometic’s insulated backpack full of snacks to drinking ice-cold water from their modular sip bottle, I felt prepared in a way that made being in nature more enjoyable. As the day followed the rhythm of light and temperature instead of email notifications, the night felt longer and quieter under an uninterrupted sky. Sitting by the fire, I slowly drifted off to sleep in a way that would not happen as easily in a city like Los Angeles.
What makes this offering compelling is how it opens the outdoors to a wider audience. You do not need to be an expert camper or a seasoned adventurer to take part. Dometic creates an entry point that feels natural for someone used to city life while still preserving the authenticity of the environment.
By the time I made my way back to Los Angeles, passing the iconic Cabazon Dinosaurs, the urgency that pushed me to leave had softened. The city had not changed, but my relationship to it had. That shift in perspective is what stays with you long after the trip ends. And for 17 winners and their guests, that same shift is waiting. By entering, you will have the chance to step away from the familiar and embark on your own escape between April and May, experiencing firsthand what it means to disconnect, explore, and return with a renewed sense of perspective.
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