When you’re travelling in a van and stealth camping in town for a night or two, you can pretty much wing it when picking a decent place to park. But when you live in a van in an urban or suburban area full time, choosing your parks gets a bit more important. If you’re going to pop up in spaces more than once, you want to make sure you’re doing this somewhere safe AND that you’re not going to be bothering someone living nearby. People might let it go if they think someone’s camping out for a night, but if they think this is happening regularly outside their home, they tend to be less understanding. I’ve been lucky enough to never have received the dreaded knock in the middle of the night, so I think I’m doing something right! Here’s what I look out for in choosing a safe, comfortable place to sleep.
Deciding on Types of Places to Park
Much of the little advice out there on stealth camping in a van suggests parking at night in industrial areas or by public parks to avoid being noticed by others. For me, as a woman, there was no way I wanted to be out somewhere so isolated overnight. I know – people will say that you can’t rely on others to help you – but I’ve always found help from strangers when backpacking or otherwise in trouble and like to believe that people care. (I’ve also recently been reading Human Kind by Rutger Bregman, which has been a great affirmation of this human goodness – I highly recommend it!)
Picking a Suburb
So I wanted to be near people, for safety. How did I choose where around the city to park? I’ve lived in my city for a long time, so picking a “safe” suburb was pretty easy – often suburbs I, or friends, live or have lived in. That being said, I also still rely on my gut and if something feels off, I’ll usually make a decision pretty quickly as to whether to move somewhere else for the night. Sometimes, places I am familiar with during the day turn out to be busy parking spots for a nearby pub overnight. I’ve learnt how to sleep with a bit of noise after being in the van for so long, but sometimes it’s just too much to be a good spot. I’m certainly not willing to wear earplugs at night as I want to be able to be aware of my surroundings in case I do need to move quickly.
If I’m staying in a town I’m not familiar in, I do use some of the other common advice of parking near an apartment or unit block, where multiple vehicles are parked on the street and are coming and going all the time. This way, you aren’t necessarily so noticeable. I often look for places like this near a university, where lots of students are coming and going, while also feeling like a relatively safe type of area. I stay away from areas that look too run down, or look too wealthy – where suspicious eyes might be keeping an eye for strangers on their street.
Picking a Street
My general principles are to pick streets with lots of vehicles on the street. Even better if there are any utes or tradie vehicles to help the van blend in more. I specifically avoid staying right near parks – this feels too isolated and vulnerable for me. I try to pick spots by houses which have a high fence or trees or bushes forming a barrier in their front yard – this makes it harder for them to notice or be bothered by me. The fenced off backs of houses on street corners are also good, where I still might be parked to visit them or someone across the way. I also make sure to avoid multi-storey houses, of course – as it’s very easy to look down from a height and notice the solar panels and vent that are much harder to see from the street.
I also have regular spots that I rotate regularly. I go to small group fitness classes early in the morning on set days of the week, so I like to park nearby the night before. My theory is that if my vehicle is seen by people in nearby homes semi-regularly, they may be more likely to think it’s someone’s boyfriend/girlfriend who spends the night at one of their neighbour’s places. This being said, I try to not regularly park in the same place multiple times a week on an ongoing basis. I don’t want to wear out my welcome. So far, this seems to be working for me – and I’ve been staying in some of these spots for almost the full time I’ve been living in the van – over two years!
Other places I will stay at that aren’t industrial are generally 24/7 services or workplaces – universities that have 24/7 access available – there are almost always a handful of students who will be there at all hours, so there are always vehicles around. Near hospitals where staff park is also convenient. This could come across as creepy though so beware – I am actually both a uni student and work at the hospital for the places I park, so I have always had a legitimate excuse to be there if questioned by security, although I have never had. And although Maccas often have limited parking signs, I’ve never experienced anyone enforcing this when I have stayed the night in one of their parking lots.
Safe Parking Choices in Case of a Crash
Something I wish I had planned more for in my build is for a crash. I have some safe guards in place for if I get into a crash while moving, but I do feel vulnerable being parked on the side of the road, as I sleep on the van side closest to the road (my build layout made this the only viable option). There are stories of people having their vans crashed into while parked. Not long after I moved into my van, a friend’s brother had his car crashed into and written off while parked somewhere I stayed quite often.
From my loose observation, narrower streets with more cars parked actually seem to force people to pay more attention, and drive more carefully. On wider streets, people think they can look away or be less mindful, and may veer too far to one side easily. The one time I’ve had someone hit my van was when parked on a really wide road with plenty of room. They hit my side mirror and smashed it at 5 am (an easy replacement, luckily) – a confusing way to wake up. I’ve never had any trouble on narrower roads, and this is what I try to stick to where possible.
Flat Roads: Prime Real Estate
This is one thing I found out pretty quickly after moving into the van! A slight uneveness in the road when you park for the night can make a big difference to how you feel the next day. Take note of the angle of the road. If you’re parking on even a slight incline, make sure you sleep with your head at the higher angle. I actually read about this before living in the van, but didn’t realise that even a tiny difference with my feet higher than my head would leave me with a horrible headache that I couldn’t shake for a full day. I would not recommend this.
The other thing to watch for is sideways tilt – some roads will heavily taper off to the kerb. Depending on your bed set up, this may be less of a problem, but especially if sleeping on a narrow bed, as I was, you might find a small shift has you about to fall out of bed at any moment – even worse if you happen to be trapped in a sleeping bag at the time!
Parking Direction
As you can probably tell, I’m pretty cautious about safety. This is probably more than is needed, as I live somewhere quite safe. But you never know! Because of this, I always make sure to park in a way that would let me leave without having to do a three-point-turn or crazy manouever, just in case I need to leave in a hurry. I also make sure I have my keys in a set spot when I sleep, for easy access. I talk more about safety over here, but I think this is just a generally good principle that makes my life easier when leaving in the morning as well.
How to Keep Good Spots
Once you have a parking spot you like and feel safe and undisturbed in, do your best to keep it that way! I try to avoid doing anything that might be considered annoying – no waste dumping or inconsiderate noise or obvious cooking. When I get to my parking spots for the night, I get into the back right away.
My van is unfortunately quite noisy when it runs and particularly when it starts, so I try to avoid another common piece of advice – arrive at your overnight spots late and leave early. I try to arrive at a reasonable time and if I have to leave early, hope it’s not too disturbing. Otherwise I just stay till a regular time, or till I want to go elsewhere.
In Summary
- Pick safe, or safe-looking areas – ideally vetted by those who know the area
- Trust your instincts
- Keep to a semi-regular schedule of places chosen as good spots
- Choose streets with other vehicles so you can blend in
- Avoid nosey neighbour types
- Be a good neighbour yourself
- Avoid slopes
- Kick back and enjoy the convenience of your home for a much lower cost than everyone else in this area, because after all, for you,
Home is where you park it! 😉