Best Places to Stay, Park and Stay Safe in Your Camper Van

“[My worst experience living out of my camper van was driving in the southwestern United States throughout the night and becoming so exhausted that I had to sleep the whole day – and it was brutally hot, so I got really sick and was uncomfortable. My favorite memories would have to be out there, as well – it’s so easy to find free parking and you are constantly surrounded by stunning beauty. I would use freecampsites.net and I’d make sure to check the reviews to know whether it’s safe. That website also tells you how good the cell service is, which is important.]”

Elise’s story highlights the need for staying secure whereas dwelling out of a van in addition to offers a tip on the place to remain and the best way to legally park in a single day. Let’s speak extra about this and put together you with our greatest insights and discoveries.

Deciding the place to remain ought to be an thrilling journey all by itself, so long as you could have some course and aren’t ranging from floor zero. To get you to a snug information base, listed below are some concepts on selecting which choices are greatest suited to you.

Free – If you happen to’re on a finances, staying totally free is your high precedence. Fortunately, there are tons of assets that will help you achieve this. Choices embody the apps Campendium, iOverlander, HipCamp, Free Roam and AllStays; in addition to the tremendous helpful web site freecampsites.web. These use interactive maps to indicate you the place you may keep, so you may hover over your location and see the bountiful choices round you and alongside your route. You’ll want to test the utmost size of keep at every location to keep away from charges or fines.

For a Payment – If cash isn’t a problem and luxury is your high precedence, you need to use the identical apps as talked about above and filter for whichever facilities you’re searching for. KOA campgrounds begin at $35 per evening on common and are positioned all all through North America. In addition they have an interactive map that makes selecting your subsequent spot a bit simpler on you.

Nationwide Parks – After we say they’re “Nationwide Treasures”, we’re not kidding! We can’t reiterate sufficient how unimaginable our Nationwide Parks are. Each has its personal thriller and awe and, in the event that they’re not already, they need to be on the high of your checklist of must-see-destinations. Most supply in a single day parking and tenting and a few supply each totally free with entrance ticket. Try their web site for extra particular data on every park here.

Discovering secure and authorized parking could cause essentially the most complications and nuisances. Fortunately, fellow journey lovers have created apps that ease a few of these difficulties. A lot of the apps have filters totally free parking, payment parking, water hook ups and restroom services, relying on the facilities you’re searching for. Their maps make it person pleasant to find the right spot alongside your van life journey. Along with the apps and web site I discussed above, you may park on any forest service street, BLM land, parking numerous Walmart’s, casinos, Cabela’s, Bass Professional Retailers, Tenting World’s, and Cracker Barrel’s, in addition to in nationwide forests, truck stops and relaxation areas (until in any other case posted). Parking in large cities could be a actual problem and we suggest avoiding this in any respect prices, until you could have the permission of mates or household to park of their driveway or on their property. If it’s a must to in a single day park in an enormous metropolis, selecting one of many parking numerous the large field shops shall be your greatest guess.

Dwelling out of a campervan, with some, most, or all of your valuables, could be a little nerve racking. Staying secure is greatest practiced by way of planning! Plan your route, plan your stops, and plan your provide decide ups. All the time test the critiques should you’re staying someplace unofficial or unsupervised. By no means go away your valuables in plain sight. Preserve the entrance cabin clear and tidy and maintain your keys in a delegated secure place so that you just at all times know the place to place them and the place they’re. Park in a manner that’s simple to go away in a rush. Examine the place you’ll have cell service and the place you received’t. Ensure that maintain your units absolutely charged and have a backup charger absolutely charged. As a lot as you may, or not less than for the primary evening’s keep, park earlier than it will get darkish to change into conscious of your environment. Share your location with mates or household so somebody at all times is aware of the place you’re. Final however not least, take into consideration investing in movement sensor lights – they will push back each man and beast predators!

We hope this gave you a strong basis to start your journey planning. Protected travels!