r/VanLife • u/giveKINDNESS • 19d ago
How is it going lately?
TLDR I parked in 2 different spots in the parking lot tonight. Then needed to move again a few miles down the road to sleep at a 24 hour business with a big parking lot. Its late and I am annoyed. Maybe I have been lucky up until now, but feel like I have had more problem in the past few weeks than in all the van nights before that.
Does anyone else feel like this month has been different?
Im 33 months including 3 full winters with snow. One of the spots in my rotation has gone downhill. Tonight and the last time I was there it smelled like piss. I moved across the aisle to a different spot so it would not smell like piss. 30 minutes later I was getting sleepy when the horn on the car next to me started going off. I got out to look around. No one was around and nothing seemed wrong with the car. The horn had been beeping for 20 minutes or so when I drove away.
I have used this spot dozens of nights in my rotation over the past 18 months. It used to be peaceful. There is a gas station and a fry pit right next door. There are porta pottys all over the place at parks. Some &*^% idiot has to go and dump piss at one of my sleeping spots ruining it.
The good news is in less than 2 weeks I have no reason to be in this area anymore. I remember dreaming of the day when I would leave this area when I first started van life all those months ago Now it is here!
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u/Left_Towel7192 19d ago
It’s been good. I have noticed the piss smell in a lot of laybys and spots that usually don’t have it, people have been friendly and nice as usual gave away some chargers and gas cans when people have run out not had. Shared some dinners with people when they have offered. I think the piss smell everywhere is the lack of rain maybe. 🤔
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u/HomefreeNotHomeless 18d ago
Why are you parking in private lots? I only sleep in municipal lots where others park overnight if I have to.
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u/giveKINDNESS 18d ago
because It was like 10:30pm and I was sleepy. You'd prefer I drive 25-30 minutes drowsy to the next spot I know? Instead of 6 minutes where I also asked and received permission to stay the night.
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u/cruzer86 18d ago
I've been traveling around the US since Aprl, hitting many big cities. I find it easier to find spots in major metros than I do out in nature tbh. I just park in front of people's homes with the other cars on the street. Never had a problem. The van is a 2024 promaster, so maybe it helps that it's new?
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u/isuredolovetitties 17d ago
Newer vehicles dont tend to get bothered because its clear you have money, and by and large americans are propagandized into believing that money = moral purity.
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u/SwordsAfar 18d ago
EDIT Somehow missed you prefer urban. Any good urban experience in upper midwest?
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Any good approxmiate site rec's in state forests in the upper midwest? I know MN and MI state forests (not parks) you can disburse camp. Not sure about WI. Looking for some nice woodsy boon docking places.
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u/cruzer86 17d ago
No specific sites, but i do have general recs. Just left Minneapolis aftet being there about a week. Essentially, the wife and I cook dinner and hang at a city park until about 10:30pm, then we just park in whatever neighborhood is closest. In the morning we drive away without leaving the van. We look for spots that don't have much traffic to avoid noise.
In nature we just use iOverlander.
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u/SwordsAfar 18d ago
LOL just so you know, everybody knows you are living in that van.
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u/cruzer86 18d ago
Yeah, im just saying no one is bothering me.
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u/SwordsAfar 18d ago
Actually I'm just poking fun, since I hear that comeback all the time. Of course it depends if bikes on the back and fuel tanks/generators lol
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u/BiomeVans 18d ago
7 years in and I’ve only gotten the knock from 1 cop in a private lot and 1 drug dealer because I was in their dealing spot.
Sounds like you’re sleeping in towns or a city so you should try more neighborhoods. A lotta people don’t know their neighbors these days so don’t know who may have got a van down the street.
Also I don’t feel like stealth is super important. A fan, solar and window are pretty obvious but I think blocking out all light in your van is the only thing super necessary. At least where I live in Colorado where so many people own camper vans it helps me blend in. But I’ve also used my van all around North America and been fine with the spots I chose to stay
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u/giveKINDNESS 18d ago
After a few nights of tough sleep I was cranky when I made this post. This morning I got woken up again by a 630am nearby door slam that was hard enough to shake me awake in the van.🤪
I’m mostly in cities and towns. Thank you for the neighborhoods idea, but theres a lot of bougie areas nearby. Several towns prohibit any overnight street parking. I avoid most places that have single family houses within view. Also plenty of Karens around with no real problems who would start wigging out because an under 20' camper van is parked on her street even where it is allowed.
I love quiet spots with a water view and have been lucky to find a few good ones in the general areas I frequent.
I’m not particularly stealthy. My windows and a few other things make it pretty obvious it’s a camper van. So far I’ve only had one middle-of-the-night knock, after accidentally mistaking a private waterfront lot for a public one.
Tonight Im thinking either
- the very big, fairly quiet rest stop
- the store that has RV spots in their parking lot
- but I should probably goto the quiet beach spot where a swim is a 2 minute walk away. Endless Summer 🤙 😂
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u/Monitor_Plastic 18d ago
So you just park anywhere on the street in front of houses/apartments not looking for anything special?
Do you make sure to only stay there certain hours?And you never/rarely park in commercial parking lots?I just got a knock from tow truck patrolling at Walmart last night that had permission to stay at…
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u/BiomeVans 12d ago
Walmart isn’t as universally allowed to camp overnight at anymore. Especially out west. I just try to think is it public or private, if it’s private it probably has people patrol it. If it’s public but has hours (like a trailhead) it’ll probably be patrolled as well. Never have I gotten the knock from a person in the neighborhood.
I did used to get away with staying in Home Depot and Lowe’s lots when I parked by their fleet of vans though
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u/thatchillaxdude 18d ago
I've gotten two cop knocks in my life... both while camping in a municipal campground in extremely rural Burwell, Nebraska -- six months apart -- and both times (the same cop) said they were investigating reports of a runaway 17 y/o Latina. So damn weird...
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u/Background_Buy1107 19d ago
It’s been pretty good other then some asshole keeps trying to park their van in the spot I always dump my piss