Do locals not like van dwellers?

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Oh geeze. Now ya'll got me worried about staying places while keeping the peace! So many considerations in many different scenarios. I'm going to adopt many of the strategies talked about here and be respectful to all.

 

[ckelly78z]

The police officer was probably instructed to check out any suspicious vehicles on his beat, just to be knowledgable of what is out there. He has no idea of your intentions without talking to you.

Walmart has greeters at the front door, that make eye contact, and speak you to for a reason, it has been proven to dissuade shoplifters from attempting anything, if they have already been spoken to by an employee.

 

[WayOutWest]

I think it's hard to take one situation and try to generalize about how a given town is, or how "locals" are. Things vary so much place to place, park to park, or local to local, even police officer to another police officer.

I once had police knock on my camper door (not late at night, around 8pm) when I was boondocking in a national forest. They wanted to see my ID. I didn't understand their concern (I was only there for one night, passing through), but as they spoke I got some insight into their concern. Apparently there was another camper just down the road who'd been there for some time. We were not super close to a town, but probably close enough that they felt more comfortable knowing who was out there.

Another time, in Arizona, I was pretty far off into public land on a dirt road, and was awakened in the middle of the night not just by a police car, but by about 4 or 5 police cars and a police helicopter. They stopped to check my ID and ask whether I'd seen anyone out there. They were apparently searching for a fugitive. So, you never know the "backstory" of what police in a given area are dealing with, and like it or not there are criminals heading for the boondocks too.

There are also places that attract drug addicts (like Slab City at the Salton Sea) and those addicts tend to cause problems. Slab City sees a lot of calls to the town's emergency services, both for fire and ambulance. On my last trip to the area I saw an ambulance rush by while I toured Salvation Mountain. Property crime in the small town adjacent to Slab City is higher than average for the US https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/city/california/niland and property crime tends to be an issue in areas where there are large numbers of addicts, as they often steal to support their drug use. San Francisco is a case in point with skyrocketing crime levels connected with huge numbers of "homeless" street addicts.
There are large urban areas around the nation where you'll find clusters of homeless living in vehicles, and typically you'll find a significant number of addicts in such populations. So, I think some of the prejudice against nomads comes from people who have concerns about these kinds of scenarios, even though nomads are a different group, and are more functional, eg having the ability to travel, which many of the people living in broken down vehicles in urban centers seem not to have.

 

[rhodus]

I recently spent the night at a free overnight camping spot.  The local law stopped in to visit with me.  He kept asking if I would be better off staying in a hotel.  I asked if I should be concerned about staying there and he said, no not really but he said the locals don't like people coming and going, and staying here for free.  They see these people as free loaders.  I got the idea he wanted me to stay at the hotel and give the community my hard earned money.  Do you think the locals see us as free loaders or free spirits?

He obviously did.

 

[Sen. Van Paul]

Remind him it's a free country, and he's welcome to get back to work.

 

[crofter]

This is such a cringe topic.

nothing but class warfare. Property owner rights are limited to what they own ONLY. If they have a problem with having to navigate trash or view the "others" they should live in a gated neighborhood  and never leave their bubble.

A town is not their personal HOA... regardless of how try to enforce one in their city limits.

If ANY activity is not specifically forbidden by LAW... you can do it.... diesnt matter how nosey missus bates feels about it.

these are the same people who oppose purple hair and nose rings.. the people who think mens hair has to be cut above the collar... the very same people who are mad that minorities are "ruining" the neighborhood.

Tort Law is great and i would sue any of them for harassment when engaged in a lawful activity.

We ALL pay taxes and have the right to public land and services..even the poor... unless forbidden by LAW.

if they dont "like" looking at my van from the confines of THEIR property lines... i suggest buiilding a fence or closing the curtains... because if there is no law against my activity... Im staying!

fireworks are legal in my town...one crabby crone attempted to get the city council to ban them. She failed and during the 4th festivities hundreds of people thoroughly enjoyed launching all sorts of boomers on the roadway around her house...

Many property owners have been used to their "privilege"  for sooo long they don't see how much the world has changed and it infuriates them.

oh if they only knew what's on the horizon... next thing you know the govt will be putting low income subsided housing in wealthy suburban enclaves.... watch the heads spin then.

So true and thanks for posting this. It seems to me that wealthier people want to make it illegal for anyone else to exist.

And the nastiness they spew is toxic to everyone, same for you as for that cop if off duty would not be welcome in that neighborhood either. The cop is only there as a minion at the direction of the powers that be in that area. 

You will also run into these toxic people in the neighborhood store, and get to experience their nastiness in person. Best to avoid the area. Warning signs should be posted "nasty people ahead detour now"

I have been looking at land parcels and found much the same thing with nasty wealthy exclusiveness. Looking in areas along the west coast, some land parcels are now stated as being below the water line (sea water) & a lot of the construction looks to be substandard and unfinished.  And the parcels are being marketed for huge sums. 

The communities must be changing drastically from small coastal towns into wealthy enclaves. Even if you can afford it, do you want to be rubbing elbows with those toxic people?
-crofter

 

[desert_sailing]

Boy I sure was and still am riled by those types of " locals".
It was and still remains a major reason I am searching for a boat.

I don't know how else to escape the cannibals and zombies that call themselves a community...It's either a boat or the Alaskan bush .. and I enjoy kind people and warm far too much than to be buried under 8 feet of snow alone 30 miles north of the Arctic circle!.. So a boat it is!

I did have high hopes for long term van living... but the people aren't getting nicer and fuel isn't getting cheaper and that in no way translates to long term viability.

It's a bummer that at some point we learn that mistreating others is only cruel if directed at children or puppies....sigh

 

[ckelly78z]

Ironically I hear many of you complaining about someone camping too close to you while on BLM land...as if you have some God given right to your own elbow space. Maybe those complaining should camp at a State Park where the sites are clearly outlined.

As a land owner, I don't want van dwellers on, or near my land, just like you don't want them parking too close, and entering your bubble.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

It is the height of arrogance to go into another tribes village and demand that they conform to your culture.

 

[desert_sailing]

Aren't Americans supposed to be one tribe protected by law and guaranteed access and rights?

This whole country is based on other tribes from all over merging and evolving.

 

[user 423]

Yeah, gee, aren't we supposed to be of one tribe as Americans and the 'village' is the whole USA where as long as you are within the law you are supposed to be able to travel freely.

I guess that's being naive since recent history shows that we are a long way from being one tribe.

 

[jimindenver]

How many times do you think the locals have to see a spot occupied long term possibly being trashed out by someone that doesn't want to spend their hard earned money before they have a bad taste in their mouth.

How many times does a gas station attendant have to empty the cans around the pumps because RV'rs/dwellers fill them up without spending a dime before they think oh great, here's another one when you pull in?

How many times does a restaurant watch someone shove fistfuls of goodies and napkins in their pockets before they hide the stuff because of the bums?

How many times does a ranger have to deal with the lands being abused before they close the areas?

The list goes on and on. Dumpsters get locked, water taps are turned off, roads and areas being closed, laws being enacted, etc. We are our own worst enemies.

 

[jimindenver]

Maybe a YouTube star should put out a video on ethics instead of putting the burden of your existence on everybody else.

 

[desert_sailing]

The vast majority of people were C students in school.
They didn't care to go above and beyond and put in the least effort needed to get by.

Should we expect their desire to be more than the most mundane to have changed now that they are graduated?

C students in society just as in the classroom.

 

[PeterPiper]

The vast majority of people were C students in school.
They didn't care to go above and beyond and put in the least effort needed to get by.

Should we expect their desire to be more than the most mundane to have changed now that they are graduated?

C students in society just as in the classroom.

And don't forget that in that equation, there are a lot of D and F students

 

[highdesertranger]

What gets me is when people try to poo poo their bad behavior. They act like they are entitled. Like what they do is OK and doesn't cause any harm.

Like putting their poop bags in the trash cans at gas station islands.

Or washing with so called biodegradable soap in lakes, creeks and rivers.

Or dumping grey water on the ground.

Or when people are careless with fire or insist on lighting fireworks.

One that really gets me is graffiti, I saw a you tube video were a popular full time RV dweller was filming graffiti saying how beautiful it was and what great artist they were, I couldn't unsubscribe fast enough. This person is well known to members here but they are not a member of the forum.

I could go on and on.

This is the main reason I will not tell people over the internet of my favorite spots to camp. I have been burned by that, not by the people I told, but they told people and those people trashed the place and the place was closed soon after.

We as a group are putting the rope around out own necks.

Highdesertranger

 

[flying kurbmaster]

Here is the way I see it in this situation, one cop comes to the op tells him tells him locals don’t like free loaders, in other words he is the local.

 

[RvNaut]

Part of what we have is a case of

"They world hates me, treats me like discard-able refuse, so why should I care, they hate me regardless of what I do!"

So there they are . .isolated from society.. and how does society treat them?

Perhaps if society created places from the misifts to be, offer them help.. real help.. but our society will spend billions of jails and war but little to nothing on people.


Those well ensconced in society, see these people as a threat to their existence. They also see them "getting by" without engaging in the rat race and this causes much anger, for they have to do their job every day to make ends meet, and they see those not doing that as useless people.

This country, and most of the world exists to feed profits up stream... most people .. well they do not see this.. they live inside the rat race bubble and see those outside it as cheating...


so yeah... if you know this, then you would avoid getting in the face of these people..

Then there are those that do not have this awareness.. on either side of the coin...the homeless hate the homed and vice versa... it is the same as we see with people that have psych issues... some know they have them and work with them to limit the impact, and others ether deny they have them or know not that they do... and that also applies to both sides of the coin.

Humanity that operates on the basis of "is it profitable and how much profit can we squeeze out of it" is a dead end path..... hopefully we are able to mature up out of this period of growth and move on to more worthwhile endeavors....

 

[Cammalu]

Whoa. I woke up to a hell of a thread here. Hope it doesn’t get ugly.

I am only confused by one thing. I want to know the difference between washing your hair, brushing your teeth, peeing behind a bush, washing your dishes in a pan then throwing out the water, spitting and rinsing out your toothpaste mouth and letting your gray tank drip into the ground.

I see this all the time and it seems the same to me.

 

[bullfrog]

^^^It is the same to me and in both cases because of it being done to often in crowded places where it damages or permanently changes the natural setting it is a problem. It is causing people to change their view points as well, finally as it becomes more of a problem with more people. Nobody wants to camp somewhere that smells and looks like somebody used it for a bathroom. Nobody wants to deal with insects and animals drawn in to a water/smell/food source by a previous camper, especially if they are still there a few hundred feet away causing the problem. This is one reason people have quit sharing locations for more isolated locations as people seem to feel if no one is around who is going to care. Many have pets that just increase the problem and justify it by the fact there is so much wildlife around peeing and pooping it won't matter when in fact their behavior and the other campers before them attracted the wildlife there by their actions. It used to not be as much as a problem as very few humans visited remote natural areas for short periods. Now with so many doing extended stays some being forced out of urban areas living there it is becoming a big problem. Cities have utilities, sewers and trash pickup for a reason, that reason is because there are so many people living there it would become impossible to live there without them. Many of our natural areas are becoming crowded enough they are being destroyed because of a lack of those services for the number of people using them, the wildlife has to adapt or die. It amazes me people don't seem to realize what an impact they have on natural areas and act more responsibly.