Traveling from Colorado to Florida Keys and..

[SoulRaven]

Hi, I live in Coloradod, I have a very small Nissan Frontier with a 5ft bed and a topper. I'd like to travel to the Florida Keys and have no time limits. Unfortunately my truck is small and hard to sleep in the bed due to its size, its more comfortable to sleep in the front seat and have done stealth in California for months sleeping in streets and using my gut feeling choosing wisely spots, not Walmarts. My truck and topper has rails and thought about building a wooden storage box and possibly fit a small propane tank to run a long hose to my small propane stove and the heater. I have no kind of insulation in the back either. The back bed is mainly for cooking and storing things or parking somewhere and kickback and watch a movie, have dinner, and/or find a park to pull out the tent and cover the back for longer room and privacy. My question is the route. Has anyone gone through this route? 

My plan is to go directly to campgrounds not too far from the main HWY's/FWYs and end in Florida Keys and stay as long as I can. Then, I'd like to return back home through Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and then to Arkansas or Oklahoma (whichever takes me back home faster). I'm very interested in taking the route back home through the southern states because I'm curious about the foods, blues clubs, and visiting historical museums dedicated to segregation and other historical facts regarding racism. I'm not interested in hotels as I'm on a limited income and can sleep well in my truck, and if anyone reading this has a parking spot I could stay maybe overnight that would be great. I don't use drugs of any kind, and its just me and my little dog wanting to get out, have fun, see the world, and out of this dreaded town I live in and find some cheering up, meet people with a smile. I'm considering doing this as early as December 20th-2017 and if my finances permit after paying bills.

 

[lenny flank]

Key West cops are hyper-vigilant about dwellers. Parking there overnight is not easy. (Heck, finding parking there is not easy even if you're not sleeping in the vehicle.)

If you wanna see a monument to racism, visit the Old Courthouse Museum in Vicksburg MS. It's one big long wet sloppy kiss to Jeff Davis and the Confederacy.

On the serious side, if you are going through Kansas, the Brown V Board of Ed National Historical Site is a must-see.

 

[MotorVation]

I'm with Lenny. It's super difficult to sleep in a vehicle in the Keys, especially Key West. Been there done that (in a van) and it was over 30 years ago. Knock, knock...and they weren't the least bit friendly about it. I love the Keys and live about 8 hours away from Key West but I don't need that kind of hassle in my life. If I took my present van down there I would plan on staying at Boyd's campground. It's expensive. Everything in the Keys is pricey 'cept maybe the major grocery stores. There is legal free camping here in Florida. I was taking a look at free campsites dot net not too long ago. If you boondock in major cities on the way down, Miami etc better make sure you're in a safe neighborhood. We have great weather most of the winter so don't let the negatives stop you.....

 

[akrvbob]

Unless this is an unusual year, I'd suggest you go directly south and stay south. The last time I drove to Florida in the winter it snowed on me as I drove through Atalanta on January 1. My entire way across the south was in the teens at night until I got to NM. That was unusually cold, but certainly not rare.

 

[USExplorer]

You can get away with staying at fishing pier parking lots for one night or so (though South FL isn't exactly flush with them). Many of close down from 1 to 5 am though, just to keep van dwellers out. Police will also patrol and once you are spotted and identified as an out-of-state van dweller, you will likely receive enough harassment to make you reconsider your choice of stopping place.

There are lots of place to stay in the inland parts of South FL, if you don't mind humidity and mosquitoes.

 

[MotorVation]

"HA!!!! I stayed at Boyd's for New Years back in the 70's and it was PACKED!! Our 'reserved space' was on the boat ramp, the sloping part just before the water!! There were about 5 other vehicles with us"


Yep..the only thing good about Boyd's is the legality of it and it's a bit less costly than a motel...

 

[Rocky]

Nothing over 20 feet is allowed to be parked in Key West except in a campground $75 or parking lot $30 there is 1 free parking lot at the end of Southard st.