Questions about vandwelling with a 2 y/o baby...

[Refreshing]

Hello! I have converted my 2011 Chrysler Town and Country into a campervan and have been living in it in Minnesota for the past two weeks while I finish my work schedule. Tomorrow I head to South Dakota to pick up my wife and our two year old son so that we can travel the country all summer.

I absolutely LOVE living in my van. It is super stealth and I can park and blend in pretty much anywhere I want. But I worry about what will happen when we have our son with us. I have been awoken to people shoveling snow next to my car or talking on a cellphone. I just keep quiet. But what happens when a random passerby hears a crying toddler inside of our van??? Or when my son is just being rambunctious before going to bed??? And what about the rule of parking and going straight to sleep when my son and wife usually read five or six bedtime stories before sleeping? Have any of you dealt with this before?

Thank you so much for any advice you can give us!

 

[Almost There]

By yourself it's easy to be stealthy! With a couple and a baby, not nearly so much!

I'd suggest that instead of trying to travel and park stealthy that you adopt a different strategy - that of stopping for the night where you know you'll be welcome to stay.

Use freecampsites.net to find free camping areas all over the continent. You can use their trip planner to plan your route and specify whether you don't want toll roads and interstates so that you're routed on secondary much more scenic highways. You can also specify how far off your planned route you're willing to go to find free camping.

National Forests (not National Parks) and Bureau of Land Management land offer free dispersed camping. I use DeLorme maps in addition to freecampsites.net to find where the good spots are. If you're heading for NF land, be sure to pick up a Motorized Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) at either a local ranger station or ask at a Visitor Center nearby. A lot of this is available on line but I prefer to use paper myself.

I also use Allstays.com for finding Wal-Marts where it is okay to stay overnight...be sure to check the latest reviews since they may show more recent changes than the colored markers show.

I also carry my Flying J RV Guide which shows me which of their facilities has RV parking. Even though I don't need the long spaces for the van it means that their lot is big enough for me to find a quiet spot to park my van for the night.

Casinocamper.com is another resource to find places where it's okay to stay overnight for free.

 

[rvwandering]

Welcome to the CRVL forums Refreshing! Excellent advice from Almost There. There are so many places where you can camp for free or very cheaply that you really don't have to worry about being stealthy. If you must stay in a city spend the day at a park and head to the nearest Walmart, Cracker Barrel, Flying J or big box store when it gets dark.

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[John61CT]

I'd be concerned wrt Child Services taking an interest. Besides having everything very neat and sanitary-clean, fruit & veggies other evidence of a healthy lifestyle,

have a cover story, ideally with backing written evidence, that you are just travelling through.

Fine to have a hard luck story, but you're on your way traveling to a decent job, obviously would prefer to be in a mainstream S&B lifestyle, this is just temporary and you're on your way out of their jurisdiction tomorrow anyway.

Maybe I'm being overly cautious, every place is different, but in general don't trust those $*&#*)@ as far you can throw 'em

 

[rm.w/aview]

Tomorrow I head to South Dakota to pick up my wife and our two year old son so that we can travel the country all summer.
I absolutely LOVE living in my van.

Great post by Almost There! And to you Refreshing, when I read your post I had a flashback to 1968 so thank you for that

 

[Almost There]

I'd be concerned wrt Child Services taking an interest. Besides having everything very neat and sanitary-clean, fruit & veggies other evidence of a healthy lifestyle,

have a cover story, ideally with backing written evidence, that you are just travelling through.

Fine to have a hard luck story, but you're on your way traveling to a decent job, obviously would prefer to be in a mainstream S&B lifestyle, this is just temporary and you're on your way out of their jurisdiction tomorrow anyway.

Maybe I'm being overly cautious, every place is different, but in general don't trust those $*&#*)@ as far you can throw 'em

John, travelling with kids doesn't mean that Child Services takes any interest at all, ever.

If your vehicle shows signs that you're living in it and it's plated for the same place as you're staying repeatedly...then maybe (probably) yes, they'd take an interest. Out of state plates mean exactly the opposite, it means that they're travelling...sheesh!

Vacationing and camping in a vehicle has been going on for decades in North America. Every summer thousands and thousands of families hit the road to see the country. A high percentage of them camp along the way as witnessed by the full campgrounds all over North America.

Child Services is the last thing that Refreshing or any other family travelling needs to worry about.

 

[Whitewolf7]

Welcome to the family! I travel with my 6yr old We have been nomadic for almost 4yrs. It is our preference to camp in nature, where she gets her energy out and can be rowdy. The rare urban boondocking experience has never caught any "gov't eyes". Great advice above, and you might consider wearing him out before getting to your pkg spot. (If you can) Park far away from others. Privacy and curtains. Wait til he is tired, then park for the night. Tell him it's quiet time when you get there. Nighttime routine...consider calming things...my daughter gets tea and lavender oil on her feet. If that's not your thing, warm milk, and a sound machine. I've never had a problem. You will only attract attention if he is standing on the roof of the van yelling "Help me" lol. It's an incredible way to raise a child, and we see things other children only read about GL