tell us what your first night of van dwelling was like

[darude]

tell us what your first night of van dwelling was like

 

[OpenSpaceman]

I drove around for about two hours thinking everyone was watching me look for a place to park. I ended up parking at a big hotel between two truckers. It took a while but I slept ok.

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

I took off from Ohio Feb 2015, I tried to outrun a snow storm, it was supposed to stay well north of me. It moved a little south and I pulled off the highway into an abandoned gas station just as a whiteout occured . tornado sirens went off I kid you not. This was a very rare event according to the weather people. I finally lost it when the sirens went off and started crying. A little buddy heater couldn't cut it in my old drafty camper. The storm went on 3 days. When I was able to travel I headed south and met up with Mr look reed, reno and a seeker  down in Florida. The experience made me stronger. I'm still out here full time.

 

[rvpopeye]

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Oh crap ! I can't remember back 35 years,,,,
I think it was on the front seat of an old (60s) Ford pickup
Somewhere in Texas. With my Dalmatian heater.....

 

[Iggy]

I drove around Salem, Oregon (about 150,000 in population) for a couple hours, trying to find just the perfect spot. I finally settled on a quiet street, next to a vacant house for sale and across from a couple businesses. The street was crowned considerably for drainage. So my bed was tilted and I felt like I would fall off once I got to sleep. Luckily I had a couple scraps of 2x4s in the van and put them under the bed legs, to level the bed.
I laid awake for a couple hours, stressing about safety and cops rousting me. Then I overslept and woke to car doors slamming at the business across from me. I snuck into the front seat and headed to a nearby park.
That has become my favorite spot in Salem but the last couple times I drove by there at night, someone was sleeping in their car. So I moved on.

 

[MrNoodly]

I left Lancaster, SC at the end of August, 2013, and headed to Rapid City, SD to establish residency. I stopped the first night in a state park in Ohio. It was warm and muggy with too many mosquitoes. The second night, at a truck stop in Iowa, was even muggier and turned to thick fog.

 

[akrvbob]

I was going through a divorce, wasn't seeing my kids, had no money but lots of bills.

And here I was, a homeless bum living in a van. Life couldn't get any lower.  :huh:

So I cried myself to sleep. :s
Bob

 

[GotSmart]

I was emptying out a house that I had been told I had a "Lifetime lease" on.  I had put in 20 straight hours both working for the owner's family and cleaning the house. I had a 3 hour drive in the worst storm of the year.  I slipped getting out of the van to gas up, and fell on my head and previously broken ribs.  I took a 2 hour nap, and made the rest of the drive.  I get a call at 6AM telling me I had until Noon to finish cleaning out the house.  My kids drove out to put the rest of my tools in storage, and they were gone at 9 AM. The house was empty.     

I rebuilt four buildings and built one from ground up for this man... He did me dirtier than all my ex`wives did together.  They just stole my money, not my tools.

After that episode, every night in the van has been a good one.  Anything is better than sleeping in the drivers seat.

 

[29chico]

It was the mid-90's and I was dwelling in my 24' class A motorhome and working in the Silicon Valley.  I had a place to park at night w/o any problems other than being a pain getting in and out of with such a big rig.  Not an easy escape if things did get strange.

I bought a sweet 1970 E250 Ford pop top window van (302 2 barrel, 3 on the tree and 17 mpg) for $2200 that had a nice homemade interior & great curtains.  It was pretty stealthy, van dwelling was less of an issue back then with the man. 

My first night of van dwelling I walked out of a 24 hour supermarket, jumped in the van and went to sleep.  I lived out of that rig for over three years w/o any LEO attention of any kind.  It was great!

 

[29chico]

I was going through a divorce, wasn't seeing my kids, had no money but lots of bills.

And here I was, a homeless bum living in a van. Life couldn't get any lower.  :huh:

So I cried myself to sleep. :s
Bob

The evolution that you have gone thru since then makes me think of a saying that I saw at an awesome Greek bar/eatery in the Virgin Islands:

"You have your brush, you have your colors, you paint your world and in you go..."

 

[WildTrappist]

Errmagerrd!
i want to say I was so cool and confident!
I was NOT!
I had been reading the forums on here for 6 months and still could not actualize a plan so I drove around in a panic for two(or so) hours until I was exhausted. I pulled over on a very busy street and jammed a blanket up into my rear windows to hide behind and slept. Nobody noticed me. ( I was sort of hurt by that...) I have since learned how to soothe myself.

Night number Two was the Same Song Second Verse! But eventually I found the very best places to be and now I sleep like a baby. I have several locations in 5 towns, and I know I can find good spots when I travel.

 

[Patrick46]

"You have your brush, you have your colors, you paint your world and in you go..."

aka: "you made your bed...now go sleep in it"
Haha


I agree, though...you've certainly moved on and became a new person there, Mr. Bob!

Well done, Sir!

 

[SoulRaven]

My first night not spent in a driveway was unplanned and quite the adventure; I wrote about it here.

 

[Canine]

I was 19 and lost my apartment because I was young and dumb. During summer time I moved into a tall, insulated camper shell on the back of my truck. No dog at the time. It was fun. I didn't have any fears because I was too young to realize how "wrong and bad" I was for living in the back of a truck. It was kind of fun. When a friend learned of my current situation, her and her husband insisted that I stay with them until I could get another apartment. Wish I had stuck to my guns and stayed in my camper until I found a new place.

That was never meant to be a permanent thing, though, so not really a fair comparison to actually living full time.

When I moved into a slide in camper this summer, it went well. Had an out-of-the-way place to park it. Was concerned it may be too small, but it was fine even with a dog. My custom build didn't follow my timeline, so am staying with a friend for now. Can't wait to get back to it!!!!!

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

After spending considerable time in small backpacking tents, sleeping in the Forester was luxury.  No problem sleeping at all.  My only anxiety was finding suitable boondocking sites the first month.

-- Spiff

 

[USExplorer]

I pulled into the local Walmart on a dry run. Found out that sleeping without any mattress or pad on hard folded down seat backs requires acclimation. Gave in and bought a mattress pad.

I almost chickened out the first time I camped stealthily, along a right-of-way running through a state park just outside a suburban development. It seemed almost a miracle that I lasted the night without being bothered.

 

[Rugster]

A month or so after I bought the van, had a night with no wife and no kids. Didn't have to work the next day so decided to give it a try.

Was extremely foggy but not hot so drove over to Walmart, went inside to buy a DVD but left my walet at home. Went back, got in the van, cracked the windows, pulled the shades and slept on the bench seat of the jack knife couch. Was pretty darn comfortable and I actually slept really well.

Woke up the next morning and headed home. Happy to see it was pretty easy and comfortable, a viable plan B

 

[Wanderer]

tell us what your first night of van dwelling was like

Well, having bought the van 3 weeks earlier, then getting rid of seats, and building a platform and installing some other items, I then headed up to the rest area. (Gee Creek) and stayed the night.

In the intervening 3 years, I have had several moments of irritation and disgust, but never fear which is a nice thing compared with what others have said about vandwelling.

 

[Canine]

Well,I was just out of the Navy and had an old Falcon Station wagon.I met this gal at a party and I'm not saying she was overweight,but she was wearing this t shirt that said"This package sold by weight,not volume.Some settling of contents may have occurred"Anyway,the rest is kind of personal.

 

[karenishere]

My first night camping in the Matrix wasn't as harrowing as so many of your experiences, I was just on a road trip, not in any sorrow.  I pulled into a Denny's, had dinner and folded myself into the back of the car with the windows half open and screened.  Woke up to a torrential rain splattering my face and muddled around half asleep to get the power window rolled up.  Morning comes and I steel myself for a crappy day of puddles and mud ... but no, turns out I parked next to the sprinkler system.