I have deleted some of the posts due to needless bickering. Be nice!
My Stealth Parking Skills Suck!
- Thread starter RollingOm
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Whitewolf7
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I think we all can relate! Find out what your "comforts" are, and utilize those. Would earplugs help? Some self-defense items under the pillow? Dark curtains would help. Your nightime routine? I'm sure it's been said... Walmarts, Sam's Club, hospitals all have cameras. Some have courtesy patrol. When I have boondocked in the city, I choose one of the above. I park under a bright light (use window covers), back in your spot, preferable to have 2 ways out, window covers, always keep your driver's seat clear, keys with you. You'll find your comforts. I have boondocked in 24 states alone, with my 6 yr old. NEVER a concern. It helps to be heavily armed lol. If that's not your style..a nice, deafening airhorn?
Yes, finding your comfort zone is a good way to start; also, some people excel at boondocking in the wilderness, others love campgrounds, while other people are great at stealth parking in urban areas. Same reason why some people love driving trucks, others camp in vans, and others travel in RVs . It is all a learning process, and what I'm finding out is that it is better to go with the flow, and not do anything you don't feel comfortable with. There is nothing wrong with renting a room for a few weeks, or a few months, if you're going to be in a city or area where stealth parking is difficult.
RollingOm
RollingOm
Aesthetic Voyager
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Having a minivan in good conditions like I do it’s going to be easy for me to blend in with all the other cars parked on the street. I don’t know what your truck looks like. I plan to stay in a trendy neighborhood with Old apartments that don’t have parking lots. People have to park on the street and my vehicle will blend right in. I’ll choose different spot every night so nobody will notice.
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Wow, thank you for reminding people of that. - Because your terrible experience was mine too: after medical malpractice in 2011, I suffered so much agonizing pain, that when I finally managed to drive myself to the ER, NO spaces were open. And I saw 3 RV's parked. - So after opening the car-door, right in front of the ER's entrance, I just collapsed. 
Well, LA is a ********, yes I lived there for a few years and can bitch about it.
Avoid the usual areas, downtown, south central, venice, etc
The cops can bang on your vehicle but you do NOT have to answer them, of course if you violate the parking sign, you'll get ticket/towed but if you are legally parked no worries but most people freak out when a cop bangs on your vehicle. This usually happens in Venice beach.
But if you have out of state plates, no matter where you park, you're going to stick out as an easy target. You might be able to boondock near Marina del Rey. I've heard there is a parking lot there where the owner doesn't care if you sleep there or not, this information is 3 years old from a first hand source.
The only 'safe' places to park would probably be santa monica, malibu, manhattan/redondo beach, PV.
Park somewhere in Orange County, Disneyland, hospital, etc or "the Valley" you can find places, I did for weeks at a time, not the same place but I had no issues.
Avoid the usual areas, downtown, south central, venice, etc
The cops can bang on your vehicle but you do NOT have to answer them, of course if you violate the parking sign, you'll get ticket/towed but if you are legally parked no worries but most people freak out when a cop bangs on your vehicle. This usually happens in Venice beach.
But if you have out of state plates, no matter where you park, you're going to stick out as an easy target. You might be able to boondock near Marina del Rey. I've heard there is a parking lot there where the owner doesn't care if you sleep there or not, this information is 3 years old from a first hand source.
The only 'safe' places to park would probably be santa monica, malibu, manhattan/redondo beach, PV.
Park somewhere in Orange County, Disneyland, hospital, etc or "the Valley" you can find places, I did for weeks at a time, not the same place but I had no issues.
Annie W said:Wow, thank you for reminding people of that. - Because your terrible experience was mine too: after medical malpractice in 2011, I suffered so much agonizing pain, that when I finally managed to drive myself to the ER, NO spaces were open. And I saw 3 RV's parked. - So after opening the car-door, right in front of the ER's entrance, I just collapsed.
I was surprised to find that a local ER has valet parking
I learned this after I'd parked at the far end of the parking lot and walked thru the rain (sent for tests), but hey.
the_wanderer said:
Yeah, luckily the local police gave me information as to what areas to avoid, when my phone was stolen two days after I arrived to LA.
The areas you mentioned are an excellent choice, thanks!
RollingOm
Good post! Don't worry about cops, "it's not their job", lol, so they won't do anything. I wore out 2 driver seats in a club cab pickup in 15 years, so you talk about cramped! But I had friendly storage units in FL and not so friendly ones in CA.
I can empathize about the trapped feeling on your back under a fiberglass shell. I never even considered it. It's probably nothing to worry about though, but I did feel safer reclined in my club cab truck with quadruple reflectix on all windows with velcro on all window edges. The biggest fault is getting out of your cab and walking into the rear Leer cover, lol: it's a dead giveaway. In CA esp., there's a good chance there is a camera, at least one, on you at all times: not including the 2 or 3 satellites in the sky from Sundown to Sunup.
Silicone valley thrives on exposing and harassing vandwellers in CA and anyone else with their technology, paid in full by the government(s). The State is starting to rip at the seams, since the whole world is trying to fit in So. CA. If you can vandwell in CA, then you are a true veteran of vandwelling. There are vigilantes making rounds in cars at night in groups of 20 cars following each other (in Orange County) harassing people passed out at bus stops; and their technology broadcasts a vandweller to Edward Snowden's vigilante groups in realtime. Around midnight in LA, you can feel all the wifi activity around you at night, and very few sleep soundly in the wee hours in LA. (on average in LA, there is a person every 25 sq. feet!)
I can empathize about the trapped feeling on your back under a fiberglass shell. I never even considered it. It's probably nothing to worry about though, but I did feel safer reclined in my club cab truck with quadruple reflectix on all windows with velcro on all window edges. The biggest fault is getting out of your cab and walking into the rear Leer cover, lol: it's a dead giveaway. In CA esp., there's a good chance there is a camera, at least one, on you at all times: not including the 2 or 3 satellites in the sky from Sundown to Sunup.
Silicone valley thrives on exposing and harassing vandwellers in CA and anyone else with their technology, paid in full by the government(s). The State is starting to rip at the seams, since the whole world is trying to fit in So. CA. If you can vandwell in CA, then you are a true veteran of vandwelling. There are vigilantes making rounds in cars at night in groups of 20 cars following each other (in Orange County) harassing people passed out at bus stops; and their technology broadcasts a vandweller to Edward Snowden's vigilante groups in realtime. Around midnight in LA, you can feel all the wifi activity around you at night, and very few sleep soundly in the wee hours in LA. (on average in LA, there is a person every 25 sq. feet!)
