I spent 72 hours stealth camping in Seattle, WA and documented my experience. What can I say, I like my beauty rest, and the city is not a restful place. / dustyodyssey www.buymeacoffee.com/dustyody...
I don't hate but dislike van people cuz. Alot of them stay longer then the 16 days there allowed. And alot of them don't clean up campsites. When they abid by the rules of nature and the forest service. I don't have a problem with them.
I stayed at the Home Depot in Sequim WA twice more I went for the third time amd the lot had no overnight parking signs ALL over, marked every 10 ft. But the walmart is good there.😊
Hello Dusty! Stealth camping is not something I particularly want to do but I do plan to live in my van for at least a year here and work to save before heading out west. I am in Indiana. I live in Bloomington now which is home to IU. So, being a college town, parking is limited and getting worse because they keep building apartments. I could get by with Walmart now and then and there are 3 horse camps I can utilize but you can only stay at each horse camp 30 days per calendar year with no more than 14 days each stay. And, only one horse camp is near me. I travel up to an hour away for my cleaning jobs so I can stay in different small towns so I still have research to do. Once I get one of my vehicles up to par, I plan to do more scouting in preparation. I know tons of places in the country or used to at least but I would say they are obsolete by now. I do have the option to pay a relative to park in their yard but I don't know how much she will want to charge me and I don't want to have to pay if I can avoid it. That is at least a year or more off though. I do have a van and a Subaru wagon now but both need work similar to what you had done here. I've driven with rattling, shaking and rolling for far too long because of money and I'm trying to get past that now that I have the van but found it needs some work to ride better as well. It is what it is since I can't afford something newer but I will be honest, it has gotten extremely annoying over my lifetime of car issues. Lol however, all the issues have given me knowledge I didn't have before. But, it will be my worst fear out there. Happy trails!
When you said you replaced the struts, did you mean the shock absorbers? I didnt think the hiace had struts? Any problem getting the correct parts to replace or did you call in advance and have them order them? Cheers.
Re: stealth camping and busy bodies, here's one for you. We have a duplex (main house + studio apartment) and while our son was away at college, we'd rent out the main house and my wife and I would squeeze into the tiny studio. So, son finishes college and moves back (summer 2023). Tenant's lease in main house is up in a couple of months, so we figure we can get by with dad (me) sleeping in our driveway in my Eurovan camper. One of the neighbors (a male version of a "Karen") complained to the police. Actually complained twice. First time, I wasn't "home" in my camper, police showed up middle of the day, camper shore power plugged in and pop top extended, not exactly stealth mode, but then, it's MY driveway FFS. My tenant was around and they asked her what the story was. Tenant said, the van belonged to her landlord (me) and that I indeed owned the property, including the driveway where my camper was parked. Police said no problemo and left. Forward a couple of weeks. Sunday am, I'm sitting in my camper, side sliding door wide open, enjoying coffee and reading the newspaper. Two black and whites pull up. Three officers get out and approach. We exchange good mornings and what's up? Lead officer says they got a call about someone "living" in a van? I look around, then look back at them and say, hmmm, must be me ;-) I then very respectfully explain that (1) I own the van, (2) I own the property, and (3) if I want to hang out in my van on my property, I'm gonna do it. Lead officer asks for my ID, no problemo, I'm happy to oblige. He sees that all I've told him checks out. Then he and his partners comment what a cool set up and off they go. After that episode, I continued hanging out in my van for a few more weeks until my tenant vacated and we could move into the main house. I also left a note on " Mr. Karen's" car window that if he continued the harassment, I would be the one calling the police on him. Haven't heard a peep from him since :-)
That's crazy! I'm glad the cops didn't give you a hard time. In some areas it's amazing how little you can do on your own property. Also, it's amazing that anyone cares that you're sleeping in a van in your driveway
Unbelievable! I hang out in my van all the time in my own driveway here in Seattle and never thought about neighbors being bothered and intrusive. I will be on alert I guess and will have my ID on me.
