New van dweller

[Carla Harris]

Hello everyone, I'm new to van dwelling and preparing to take off from Indiana in the next few weeks. I have a lifetime of camping experience but no experience with stealth camping or boon-docking, would like to eventually meet up with a caravan to learn the ropes. I'm 63 years old and will be traveling alone. I'm a little nervous about it but I've been wanting to do it for years. Hope to meet up with others in the near future.

 

[Turtlelady]

Welcome from KY, Carla. I bid you smooth sailing with your final preps. My family lived in Valparaiso for about 12 years. They were good years, but eventually we moved back to KY when a good job opened here. Do you know which direction you intend to head first?

 

[OptimistInAVan]

Welcome to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[eDJ_]

Welcome to the CRVL Forum

Your camping experience will serve you well...once in camp. I had plenty of camping experience when I got my first Van rig long ago. BUT....I didn't really know how to travel and make myself at home once I was on the road and found that to be a whole other world. I found myself driving from one campground State or Federal park and missing out on so much along the way. But those were pre Cell Phone & Internet days. I finally learned to visit the tourist information buildings you see when you enter new states. Even tune into some FM radio stations which cater to vacationers and describe the sites of the state.

So to help other new travelers along I created the first website below.(setting up a basic starter rig) Then the second which will be of interest to you. It can be used to pre plan journeys or even use while you are out on the road. This should put a lot of your worries at ease.

Good luck !

 

[Carla Harris]

Welcome from KY, Carla. I bid you smooth sailing with your final preps. My family lived in Valparaiso for about 12 years. They were good years, but eventually we moved back to KY when a good job opened here. Do you know which direction you intend to head first?

I will probably start in Ky and Tn, as i love to do genealogy and have some places there i want to stop for my research, have a nephew near Harlan i would like to visit and another near Asheville NC but after that i have no idea, where ever this Covid will allow me to go. Of course looking for free camping where ever i can find it.  nice to hear from you, Thanks. Carla

 

[Carla Harris]

Thank you so much, this will help so much, i am honestly probably going to blunder around for a while unless i can meet up with others because through all of my camping years i've never travel camped, i'm a little nervous about it. Thanks again, Carla


"Welcome to the CRVL Forum 

Your camping experience will serve you well...once in camp.  I had plenty of camping experience when I got my first Van rig long ago.  BUT....I didn't really know how to travel and make myself at home once I was on the road and found that to be a whole other world.  I found myself driving from one campground State or Federal park and missing out on so much along the way. But those were pre Cell Phone & Internet days.  I finally learned to visit the tourist information buildings you see when you enter new states.  Even tune into some FM radio stations which cater to vacationers and describe the sites of the state.

So to help other new travelers along I created the first website below.(setting up a basic starter rig) Then the second which will be of interest to you.  It can be used to pre plan journeys or even use while you are out on the road.  This should put a lot of your worries at ease.

Good luck !"

 

[Carla Harris]

Wow, just looked at both those links and have to say Thank you again, they are loaded with great info i'm going to need. Thanks again.

 

[eDJ_]

Let me mention a technique a lot of people use when camping and traveling.

The 2-2-2 System. A lot of retired seniors use it as they aren't in any hurry,
and may not traveled much in their working lives.

It goes like this.

You've just broke camp and are getting ready to go to the next destinations on your itinerary. It's about 8 am. You have some places you want to see, visit, shop at, etc that you've found in the trip planning sites that seem interesting so you will do these things in the next 6 hours while driving a total of around 2 hours. (but this can vary)

If your timing is good you will arrive where you want to camp early enough to get a good spot with the amenities you want. (usually by 2 pm) So you check in and get your camping permit for the next 2 days. Your arrival is the first of the two days.

Now that you are in camp at a State or Federal Park you'll stay there that day and the next hiking, boating, or whatever for the day. The next day you'll be considering the next leg of your itinerary and what you'll do where you'll go when you hit the road the next morning.

Thus start to travel for 2 hours, check in by 2 pm and stay 2 days.....repeat.

If you are in the south or west where places are further apart you can add days and hours of driving. (staying on Lowe's or Walmart parking lots where permitted or sleeping some in roadside rest stops)

This is an easy going way to wade into learning to travel and plan out your journey while you travel.

 

[WayOutWest]

Hello everyone, I'm new to van dwelling and preparing to take off from Indiana in the next few weeks. I have a lifetime of camping experience but no experience with stealth camping or boon-docking, would like to eventually meet up with a caravan to learn the ropes. I'm 63 years old and will be traveling alone. I'm a little nervous about it but I've been wanting to do it for years. Hope to meet up with others in the near future.

Hi Carla, and welcome.  Do you think you will head out to the Southwest or West? I know more about those areas than the south and east.  

Boondocking is a lot of fun once you get the hang of it.  But if you are traveling a lot to new areas, sometimes it can be frustrating as it might be hard to find a good spot.  Sometimes it's hard to find a QUIET spot! 
The longest I've lived out of a vehicle up til now, was 6 weeks, while on an across-the-USA road trip.  During that trip, I only stayed in a campground for one night.  That was in Glacier National Park, as there were no good boondocking areas close enough.  The rest of the time I either boondocked or stealth camped in small towns.  I recall it being not too difficult to find spots to camp in the West and Southwest, it was harder on the east coast and midwest.  I spent a night in a church parking lot in Iowa!

 

[Carla Harris]

I would love to make my way out west and south west but im not sure how soon. I have some family I want to visit in Ky, Tn and fl. but i have family in Texas so i hope to make my way out there by spring time. I dont actually have an itenirary and thats what concerns me, i feel like my only plan right now is to blunder around and that is kinda scarry. Thats why i was hoping to meet up with a caravan this winter so i could learn the ropes of boondocking and stealth camping. ive always camped in campgrounds and that just wont be in my budget on a regular basis. thanks for writing. CarlaWayOutWes

 

[tx2sturgis]

Hello Carla, you mentioned family in Texas....I'm guessing they are in the more populated eastern half of Texas, but as you progress west from there, you are welcome to camp at my place, I am in the Texas Panhandle. Plenty of room on my property.

Other nomads and van dwellers have stayed here, and I am listed on Boondockers Welcome.

Travel safe!

 

[WayOutWest]

"Blundering around" is kind of scary.  Sometimes in my experience it's also quite frustrating.  But I think if you can identify in advance some spots where you know you'll have refuge, those could serve as "backup" areas in case your explorations and blundering don't produce results.  If you're looking for a spot in a particular area you could post on here about it and someone might be able to help.