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A big part of van life is learning how to stealth camp. Stealth camping basically means parking and sleeping somewhere you’re not supposed to be, like neighborhoods, hotel parking lots and hospital parking structures. Stealth camping is pretty much inevitable if you’re living or passing through a city where there’s not a campground or rest stop in sight.
In many cities, it’s still illegal to sleep in your car, so you have to be creative and live under the radar. We used to call it being a “secret agent”, and were careful not to draw attention to ourselves.
We’ve stealth camped quite a bit in our Toyota Prius, and now are starting to do it in our 1994 Chevy Astro camper van.
Here are top tips and advice based on what I’ve learned in my experience stealth camping, plus what I’ve heard from other van lifers and RVers.
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1) Park late and leave early
If you want to park and sleep somewhere you’re not supposed to be, it’s important to arrive after 9pm and leave before 6am. We’ve always done this and have never experienced the dreaded “door knock.” We’ve arrived late and quietly parked on city streets, in campgrounds, at marinas, even on the side of the road, and have never gotten caught.
2) Keep your rig immaculately clean
When we were stealth camping in the Toyota Prius to pay off debt and save money, Tom always said to never “look homeless.” We kept the car washed, the insides sparkling clean, and ourselves clean and well-dressed. We used to play a game where we’d try to guess which vehicles housed van dwellers. It always seemed really easy to pick them out from the crowd of parked cars. We’ve seen so many ratty vans and cars parked on the side of the street and in parking lots, begging to get a door knock from police. If you have an old vehicle, that’s fine – just keep it clean.
3) Tint your windows or install curtains
When Tom first started sleeping in his car, he didn’t tint his windows. He felt so exposed lying there in the back hatch. Anyone walking by could look in and see his tuft of hair poking out of a sleeping bag. After two nights attempting to sleep in his car, Tom immediately paid for a dark window tinting. After that, we felt a lot more hidden when we slept in the Toyota Prius. My Chevy Astro van has built-in pull-down curtains which are just amazing for stealth camping.
4) Buy dark-colored bedding and a window sunshade
Stealth camping means you don’t want anyone with a roving flashlight to be able to peer into your car or campervan and see you sleeping there. We invested in dark blue sheets and blankets for sleeping in the Prius, and also would hang a sheet between the two front seats. To give us even more privacy, we put a window sun shade across the front windows. I swear, nobody ever saw us in the back of the Prius! It was like our own little dark fort.
5) Have an escape plan figured out before stealth camping for the night
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If you’re afraid of riff-raff bothering you or your camper van when you’re asleep, be sure to have an idea on how you’d escape. Can you quickly get to the driver’s seat and move your rig if you feel threatened? Do you know exacty where your key is? How would you react if someone started breaking into your car? Is your phone nearby so you can call 9-1-1 if you need to? It’s important to map out an escape route of the area where you’re stealth camping, and know exactly how you’d react in case of an emergency.
6) Don’t argue with police or security
If you do get a late night knock on your window, do exactly as the police officer or security guard says. Don’t try to justify your actions or think of an excuse, just start your vehicle and get the heck out of there. Most van lifers seem to get away with just a reprimand from a cop and no ticket. Best to keep it that way by cooperating and being polite.
7) Change your location frequently when stealth camping
I once interviewed a guy who lived with his girlfriend and dog in a small car in the San Francisco Bay area. He moved every single night, sometimes sleeping in San Francisco, sometimes in Oakland, sometimes in Berkeley. He’d pick a quiet neighborhood, pull in late at night, and find a dark spot in the street where they’d hunker down and sleep for the night. When you’re staying in a city for a prolonged period of time, it’s good to move around constantly. Try a neighborhood one night, a hotel parking lot another, and an abandoned building lot the next night.
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8) Find a public restroom nearby where you can get ready for sleep
We always knew where we could go brush our teeth and get ready for bed before we parked the Prius for the night. Try not to brush your teeth where you’re parking or it will be super obvious to people in the area. Also, don’t take a pee right by your van. When we parked at a public marina, the same guy would pull in late every night, then smoke a cigarette and pee right outside his truck before reclinging in the front seat for the night. He wasn’t worried about secret agent status, was he? It was so gross!
9) Don’t drink any water within two hours of going to bed
It’s the worst thing in the world to have to crawl out of your parked vehicle and use the bathroom in the middle of the night. It’s so traumatizing that I remember the one time it happened to me when we parked outside our storage unit. I had to open the door and pop a squat on hard cement at 2am, waking Tom and making thunderous sounds. After that I really limited my liquid consumption, and if I did have to go, I learned to hold it until at least 6am.
10) If you can’t hold it all night, consider a bucket
If you don’t have a bathroom in your van or car and you’re not one to hold it through the night, you might want to consider an emergency toilet. It doesn’t have to be this fancy, though, a simple bucket with a lid will do. To let you in on a secret: when we first moved aboard our sailboat, we went #1 in a bright orange Home Depot bucket so we didn’t have to go to the marina restroom, which was nasty!
11) Make sure your spot feels safe
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If you’re stealth camping in a neighborhood, it’s good to pick one where you feel safe. I’d say choose a good middle-class neighborhood with many cars already parked on the street. That way, you won’t stand out. I know some home owners’ associations, like my sister’s, discourage street parking. Neighborhoods that are too upscale might not like you being there, but on the flip side, be sure not to park somewhere with crime.
12) Let there be no light
When we stealth camped in a Sausalito marina, we never used our phones or anything bright after we crawled into the back of the Prius. Light really stands out when you’re hanging out in a parked car of van, tinted windows be damned. When I absolutely couldn’t sleep, I’d put my Kindle on the lowest setting and read underneath the blankets.
13) Where to try stealth camping
So, you want to try stealth camping? Here’s a list of place that have worked for us many times, or places recommended by other van lifers or car dwellers.
-neighborhoods
-campgrounds
-marinas
-hotel parking lots
-church parking lots
-vacant buildings with for lease signs posted
-hospital parking structures
-abandoned developments
-24/hour fast food joints
14) Places where you can legally sleep in your vehicle
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If stealth camping freaks you out too much, there are places you can legally sleep in your vehicle.
-rest stops
-campgrounds
-public lands where dispersed camping, or boondocking, is allowed
-casinos
-some big box stores like Wal-Mart, Cabellas and Sam’s Club
-truck stops
-Elk’s Clubs, if you become a member
-RV parks (become a member of RV club The Escapees and get a discount at many RV parks)
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I stealth camped at hotel parking lots. They suck. Why? People park at all hours arriving pretty late and taking off very early. Getting a good night’s sleep at a hotel parking is not possible.
That is a good point! I think stealth camping in places like that is more for an emergency, if you don’t have anywhere else safe to park.
Sometimes I park in industrial employee parking lots during the winter, because it is cold enough that the security don’t want to make rounds to check on non-employee vehicles.