Caltex,
The hard drive in a Tivo is the same as the ones in your desktop computer. The heads will park when power is removed. Unless you will be using an auto-tracking antenna while travelling and the unit is powered on, you shouldn't have any problems. On the other hand, as Ned said, you have to be travelling some pretty rough roads - too rough for people travel - to do any damage even while powered on. They draw about 40watts, so powering them down when boondocking is a good idea; especially if you'll not be using it for an extended period. That being said, try to remember which programs it is scheduled to record either one time or on a season pass, so you don't miss out on them. Just go into DIRECTV Central, Pick Programs to Record, To Do List, and jot down what you see there.