One of my biggest concerns when setting up my van and heading into vanlife was safety. There are two main issues around safety for me when it comes to living in a van – having items or the van itself being stolen; and my own personal safety if someone breaks into the van while I am in it. This post is focused on personal safety. As a single female vanlifer, I wanted to feel comfortable living fulltime in a van, rather than constantly feeling scared in what was meant to be my home.
Being cautious, prepared, and aware of our surroundings go a long way when it comes to vanlife, something I imagine to be true whichever gender you are. Choosing locations that are likely to be safe, being prepared for quick getaways, and maintaining a low profile are some of the main principles to keep in mind for vanlife safety, as I detail further below.
When it comes to personal safety, I am largely relying on maintaining the “stealth” aspect of stealth camping. I don’t want it to look like anyone is living in the van. My theory is that if someone is breaking into the van wanting to steal items, they will not be expecting to confront a person, and not likely planning to attack or assault someone. If they find someone, they are far more likely to run upon finding someone there, and aim for other, easier targets. My concern for personal safety is centred largely around the idea that someone might notice a woman in a more vulnerable living situation that might be easier to prey upon. Is this a realistic fear? I’m sure many others would say not, but I would rather take a few precautions to lessen this chance further. Here are 7 things I do to feel more confident about my safety while living in a van.
7 Things I do to Keep Myself Safe while Stealth Camping
1. Choosing safe suburbs and streets
A lot of people talking about stealth camping suggest parking in industrial areas or near parks to avoid being noticed by people nearby. The problem with this is that these places are isolated. I know that we can’t necessarily rely on strangers for help in a bad situation, but to me, having people around who potentially may help, is a deterrent. And there are many good Samaritans out there, who won’t just stand by if someone is calling for help, or knocking on their door – even if at most they’re calling 000. I would prefer to have that as a possibility than being definitely alone without assistance.
So I definitely don’t park in quiet places. I try to find standard, generally safe suburbs, and streets of homes rather than businesses, where I can fit in relatively well on a street of parked vehicles and where people might be used to different vehicles coming and going.
How do I find safe stealth camping spots?
Spend a bit of time scoping out locations during the day. If you have already lived in a particularly city for a while, you hopefully have the advantage of already having a feel for which suburbs have a reputation for being safer. Have a bit of a drive around areas that you suspect might work and try to find spots where you will be able to blend in while parked there at night. Remember though that streets that are busy during the day – near businesses or retail areas – may be the opposite at night.
If you are new to an area, it can be a bit trickier. I usually search for nice cafes or shopping centres, where you can then quite quickly get a feel for the type of neighbourhood this is. Ideally, you want somewhere that is “nice,” but not super wealthy – where a van or unfamiliar vehicles might stick out more.
2. Low Cost Deterrents
Criminals are often opportunistic. They look for easy targets. A few cheap safety deterrents on the van can make it look like a harder target by demonstrating that the owner is safety conscious could be enough to deter break-ins. While I wanted to install actual security options, a lot of them were too expensive or weren’t quite what I wanted when I initially started looking. So I turned to dummy security choices to look like I had security installed.
Solar Security Light
One of the first “security” items I bought was a fake security system light that sits on the dashboard. It is solar powered, absorbing sunlight during the day and flashing at night to simulate a security system. I doubt it would fool anyone with experience breaking in, but to clearly and visibly having a flashing light in the dark may puts others off at an initial glance.
These are cheaply available, usually for under $5. You can also choose whether you would like a blue or red light, if you want to! There are plenty of other dummy security aids out there – such as this dummy dash cam, although you can buy real dash cams for as little as $50 which might be the better investment!
Window Pane Security
These alarms are what I have on the driver and passenger windows of my van. They are set off by excess vibration such as when a window is smashed. While they may not stop a window being broken, the alarm going off may cause someone trying to break in to try to leave the scene rather than entering the van, or at the least to alert me to the situation if I am asleep in the back.
When I was looking for security for the windows, I was worried that alarms designed for stationary houses might be too sensitive for my van. I didn’t want an alarm that would be set off by every passing car or by the vibrations of the van while driving. I chose the Doberman options as they are noticeable but quite low profile and wouldn’t obstruct my view from the windows. They also can be switched off easily, so if they were sensitive to driving vibrations, I could turn them off again easily when moving. Luckily, they weren’t that sensitive, but will hopefully go off if someone is actually shattering the window. I also like that they can be fitted with rechargeable batteries which are easy to get to. I have mine placed in the corner of the window so that at a quick glance, they look as though they may be wired to a proper system through the window trim.
What about actual security options?
There are a lot of vehicle security options that you could install as well, of course, rather than cheap or dummy options. There are some great-looking systems that you can connect up to your van wiring so they are always sufficiently powered. I always intended to get around to installing a couple of actual options, but as of yet, I haven’t quite gotten around to it! I have also found places to park where I feel pretty consistently safe, but in my opinion, it never hurts to have some extra security – so it is something I plan to eventually do. I’ll write a post at some point about the options I have settled on for when I eventually get around to the cost and effort of installing.
3. Maintain visibility
What do I mean by maintaining visibility? Being able to see what is happening outside your van while you are in it is key to being able to stay safe. It allows you the ability to assess the situation and determine if there is any level of danger or not. A few extra seconds of awareness of trouble could be enough to give you the chance to take action. And if you hear something sketchy, being able to check what’s going on around you even if just to reassure yourself that everything is actually fine makes a big difference to how well you can sleep that night!
One of the things I needed to balance in my build was my desire for complete blackout in the back of the van for sleeping and from the outside for stealth vs. the need to be able to see what was outside the van easily at any point. Being able to look into the cab gives me a great view out the windscreen, and along the sides of the van thanks to the really great visibility of my side mirrors. However, in my build, the back of the van is intentionally cut off from the cab, with a sliding door of thick plywood, which does a good job of preventing any light bleeding in or out. I also have insulated magnetised window covers that I made to use for the back doors of the van. They work really well to keep the heat in and hide light from the outside. But neither of these make it easy to take a glance outside, at least without being super obvious to anyone actually out there.
I settled on needing to install the creepily-named peephole, but most are designed for house doors were too long for the sliding door. The sliding door to the cab is made of 12mm thick plywood, with car carpet on the cab-facing side, and wallpaper on the other. Most peepholes were made for doors that are much thicker. The thinnest I could find was this one. It’s not a perfect solution, but it works okay for now and gives me better visibility of what is going on around me, although when it is really dark (no streetlights), I find I do end up just opening the sliding door a crack to get a better view through the side mirrors. I plan to install another one in the back doors of the van eventually.
Depending on your build, you may need to think about a few ways to maintain your visibility of your van surroundings.
4. Keep a low profile
In terms of personal safety, you can’t be targeted if no one knows you are there. When parking up for the night, I always try to be as discreet as possible when getting into the back of the van. I can use the sliding door to get between the cab and the back of the van easily, which can be a good option at night, especially in the evenings when people might still be walking by frequently. During the day, if I am somewhere I plan to also be that night, I tend to adopt a casual approach, comfortably hopping in the back doors as though I’m just stepping inside to get something briefly. Most passersby are just walking through and will not take too much notice or remember you later.
Making sure my inside lights and other signs of life are harder to detect from outside the van are also important to maintaining a low profile, keeping me more inconspicuous. Most van life is never really 100% stealth, and someone who knows what they’re looking for will be able to identify a van that someone is probably living in. The good news is that most people just aren’t paying that much attention!
5. Prepare for a quick getaway
I did several years of self defence training in Krav Maga, and some of the most important things I learned were:
- Situational awareness: being aware of your surroundings is key.
- Awareness of exits: ideally whenever you enter a situation/place, you should identify the exits, in case you need to leave
- Leaving a situation as soon as possible, if you are able, is the best kind of defence.
- Whoever attacks first is the most likely to prevail: The psychology of this gets complicated, but this is where those few extra seconds gained by being able to look outside your van can make a big difference. It allows you to make the first move rather than being taken by surprise, whether that means preparing to defend yourself, or simply getting into the cab and driving away.
6. Maintaining Multiple Exits
When I am driving, the sliding door between the back and the cab is locked, to hopefully reduce air-borne missiles hitting me if I were to crash. At night, or when parked, that door is unlocked, so that if needed, I can scuttle into the cab and drive away immediately. I generally try to keep all exits clear, so that if someone were to break in via the front, I could easily leave by the back or side doors. When fight or flight mode is activated, I know that fine motor skills deteriorate, so I was conscious of this when doing my build. Any exits ideally need to be easy to access, nothing too fiddly that I won’t be able to manipulate in such a situation. A benefit of my van is that even when it is locked, you can open the back door from the inside without unlocking the van at all.
When I park for the night, I never park facing a dead end or somewhere where I might need to turn in order to leave. I park with the front facing out, so that if I need to leave in a hurry, I can do so with relative ease and speed (knowing that the van is SLOW to accelerate).
I also always put my keys in the same place every night, so that I know exactly where they are and can reach them with ease when I need them.
7. Self defence training
As I have said, I did self defence training with Krav Maga Global for years. Krav has been immeasurably valuable for me, helping me gain confidence and assertiveness that has transferred into so many other areas of my life. It can be challenging and uncomfortable, and a big part of it is actually getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, with pushing through stressful situations and developing resilience and not giving up, but finding a good school with instructors who will support but challenge you is so worthwhile. It’s also a great way to get fit, and definitely one of the best forms of self defence out there. You can find a school near you in Australia here.
Summary
How much do you really need to worry about safety? I think that generally, Australia is a pretty safe country, and that living in a van isn’t that much more dangerous than living in a house. I’m sure some people will think this post is over-cautious. However, vans are somewhat less secure than most houses, and it doesn’t hurt to take a few simple precautions. The additional peace of mind is worth it for me, without a doubt.