Afraid of sleeping out in random parking places after reading this

[Warboar]

My old company's office was down in Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle.  What a Shite hole to say the least.  Homeless problem compounded by the drug use made me avoid the office like the plague.  Would have to park in a parking garage two blocks away and walk to the office.  The whole walk it smelled like feces and urine.  Then you had to contend with all the beggars asking for money.  The office used to be located in Bellevue and not far from Microsoft's headquarters. 
When working out of the City of Lynwood's office there was a guy who lived out of his truck with a cab over camper.  He would stay the limit which was around 72 hours or so and then move to a different public area.  He and I would talk quite a bit as he was a Veteran as well.  He had had a pretty hard life after his wife and daughter were killed by a drunk driver and he ended up turning to drugs to cope with the loss.  Anyway he had been clean and sober for quite some time and trying to get his life back in order.  He said that he had been beaten up quite a few times while living on the streets. 

Only place worse than Seattle that i've been to is San Francisco which is an absolute nightmare now.  Which is to bad since it was once one of the most beautiful cities in the US. 

 

[cerd]

I think it really depends on the area. I think if its an active area with regular traffic, you will be okay. Most of these incidents happen in secluded areas when nobody is around for hours at a time. When there's not a single car around in an urban area, it's probably a bad sign.

Just this past weekend, we arrived to our destination too late to check in. We stopped at a local bar and asked if they knew anywhere that would be open, like a state park where we fill out our own slips, etc. They told us that we would be fine just parking in their lot for the night, so we did. I was a little surprised at how active the bar was at midnight on a Thursday, but aside from waking up to car doors when they shut down, everything went fine. It was actually quieter than the campground that we stayed at the next night.

[mel s]

Thats just plane creepy.  Why other than being really cheap would you want to do that?  I understand Seattle like other large cities has priced the housing market out of existence for the average Joe, but really?  Maybe its time to move out of that mess knows as Sea-Tac and learn to embrace small town life.

Anyone driving a RV who is traveling a long distance and doesn't overnight in rest areas, truck stops or parking lots is wasting $$

[Oldgator73]

Anyone driving a RV who is traveling a long distance and doesn't overnight in rest areas, truck stops or parking lots is wasting $$

I agree. We are destination campers and often travel 12+ hours a day. We stay at rest stops, truck stops, Walmarts (although that is getting increasingly dangerous). Just can’t see paying money for a few hours in a CG.

[cadee2c]

Amen. I think it's unfortunate that the defacto definition of "boondocking" has become blurred, to now include sitting at the curb or in front of Walmart, neither one of which (in my opinion) is boondocking or even camping. Personally I'd like to see a push to "redefine" boondocking back to its original meaning.

When I park at walmart overnight, I call it wallydocking.

[cerd]

I agree. We are destination campers and often travel 12+ hours a day. We stay at rest stops, truck stops, Walmarts (although that is getting increasingly dangerous). Just can’t see paying money for a few hours in a CG.

Again, that depends on the location. You'd have to pay me to stay overnight at a walmart in the heart of any major city and I probably wouldn't sleep. I like the unofficial checklist to see what kind of neighborhood you're in.

1) If all of the pumps are prepay or credit only, thats a mild warning. If you have to enter your zip code at the pump just to get gas, thats a big warning.
2) Size of the key to use the gas station bathroom...no key is good, small keychain is a warning, and any keychain too big to fit in your pocket is a red flag.
3) If the gas station has bullet resistant glass or the local businesses have metal bars over the doors and windows
4) If the schools and churches in the area all have enclosed yards or look similar to a penitentiary

If I see more than two red flags, I won't even stop for fuel after dark.

[John From Detroit]

Well if you note my screen name (John from Detroit) used to be John IN Detroit)

Interesting thing about Detroit.. Yes there are many neighborhoods which fit the "Not nice" description of the original post But just a few blocks away are very nice neighborhoods in many cases.

The rule when parking at a Flying-J (Usually decent areas) Or Wal*mart (mixed) or Cracker Barrel (Usually decent) is .. If you feel uncomfortable (I have in a couple spots) MOVE ON.

For example. the local Wal*mart to where I am now.... MOVE ON.

[Oldgator73]

Again, that depends on the location. You'd have to pay me to stay overnight at a walmart in the heart of any major city and I probably wouldn't sleep. I like the unofficial checklist to see what kind of neighborhood you're in.

1) If all of the pumps are prepay or credit only, thats a mild warning. If you have to enter your zip code at the pump just to get gas, thats a big warning.
2) Size of the key to use the gas station bathroom...no key is good, small keychain is a warning, and any keychain too big to fit in your pocket is a red flag.
3) If the gas station has bullet resistant glass or the local businesses have metal bars over the doors and windows
4) If the schools and churches in the area all have enclosed yards or look similar to a penitentiary

If I see more than two red flags, I won't even stop for fuel after dark.

In that last bunch of years I have not come across any fuel pumps that do not ask for your zip code when using a CC when fueling. To my knowledge all pumps are either pre pay or debit/credit card.
I have not had to ask for a BR key at any place I have gotten gas. But we usually stop at the big convince stations like WaWa or Royal Farms.
By the time I am ready to stop for the night it’s pitch dark out so i’m Not seeing school and church properties.
What I do is look at the parking area under consideration. If there are no other RV’s there, I don’t stop.
If there’s a sign prohibiting overnight parking, I don’t stop (Duh).
On longer trips like the 4 week trip we took in June we will stop at rest stops or Walmart’s in between staying at intended destinations. We will also stay at a few hotels along the way.
It’s all a matter of what you are comfortable with. I can only say what we do.

[Old_Crow]

When I park at walmart overnight, I call it wallydocking.

That's what we call it when we pull into our property in Arkansas and hook up. 

[jayc2640]

We stayed overnight in a Walmart once.  I didn't like the noise, the discomfort of not having slides out, no shore power, etc.  I may be spoiled, but we usually stop for the day between 2:00 and 3:00 pm.  So, we're in the campground for more than a "few hours".  I'm retired, and if I can afford to stay in a campground that is secure, has shore power, sewer, wifi, and maybe even cable, I'm going to do it.  To each his own.  Those of you who like rest areas, Walmarts, truck stops, etc., more power to you.  It's just not for me.

[LarsMac]

We've taken advantage of Cracker Barrel a number of times this summer. So far, all good.

We even camped at a WalMart, in a small town in New York.

Worst Cracker Barrel experience, so far was in St Jo, MO a big group of sports fans were staying at the Motel next door, and had an all night football game going, and friends showed up, and parked at the CB and kept us awake for half the night.


 

[cadee2c]

That's what we call it when we pull into our property in Arkansas and hook up.

lol thats clever.

[SeilerBird]

During the ten years I spent full timing I spent hundreds of night camping in Walmart parking lots all over the country. The only time I felt threatened was in Roswell NM. There was a horrible thunderstorm with lightning going off everywhere. I am glad I did not get hit by lightning.

[Oldgator73]

During the ten years I spent full timing I spent hundreds of night camping in Walmart parking lots all over the country. The only time I felt threatened was in Roswell NM. There was a horrible thunderstorm with lightning going off everywhere. I am glad I did not get hit by lightning.

Roswell! You could of been abducted and probed.

[cadee2c]

Roswell! You could of been abducted and probed.

Maybe he was, maybe he was abducted and replaced with a SeilerBird replica. Maybe the Seilerbird we see now is a fake SeilerBird.

[Oldgator73]

Maybe he was, maybe he was abducted and replaced with a SeilerBird replica. Maybe the Seilerbird we see now is a fake SeilerBird.

They walk among us and we have no clue. The goal is to clandestinely replace all of us with their replicas. The person making your chicken sandwich could be a replica or...the person that woke up next to you this morning.

[Wirly]

From what we are reading online and on this forum , we see a need for a safe quiet place to stay overnight or even a couple of days while visiting an area . Anyway we have 16 acres in Upstate South Carolina that has woods and pasture available for Boondockers passing through our area. We have no idea how to set up travelers knowing there's a safe place while passing through. Thinking we would need Boondockers to call not only to see if there is still space for them but also for combination lock on our gate. We'd also ask then to give us their license plate number (just to protect us in case someone isn't honest). It's free but we are going to ask that everyone leave a donation for the use of the land. We wont be charging just only asking that our guest donate something to help us keep up the land (We plan to installing a drop box with envelopes in hopes that all our guest will help us in some way). One day we hope to be able to offer water and power and even that will be offered in hopes of donations and gifts to help offset our expense. For now if someone must have power or water, we can come offer it on a limited bases in cases of emergencies , like with generator problems or what have you. Mainly we have our pasture empty and wont be using for a few more years. And even when cows are on on the land, we only raise 2 each time, still leaving so many places to park on the pasture not being grazed. The land is very nice and no dung remains in the pasture. It's all composted. So anyway if anyone has ideas on how to go about this please let us know. We won't be offer this on craigs list or the like. We only want to offer it on good RV community forums. We want to keep our soon to be fellow Campers, RVers and even tent dwellers safe, where they can get a good nights sleep without worry but we also want our property respected. So however we do this we will need plate numbers , so we know who is who and if anyone disrespects us or our property , we will be able to leave feedback on forums. Please let us know what you think and give us any advice. Thank you, Wirly

[Wirly]

Also I cant figure out how to start a topic. I'm having trouble even with the help page. Ugh I'd love to start the topic boondocking in upstate South Carolina.

[Oldgator73]

I think it’s great that folks offer their property for those of us traveling through their area. But isn’t there some concern about folks getting injured on your property even though you probably have insurance?

[ChasA]

Hi Wirly. Welcome to the forum.
There is a web site where you can join others who share their property.
Boondockerswelcome.com.
What town are you near? My daughter lives in North Augusta.

[Roy M]

Also I cant figure out how to start a topic. I'm having trouble even with the help page. Ugh I'd love to start the topic boondocking in upstate South Carolina.

Go to the Home page and scroll down to Boondocking. Click on that then New Topic

[Wirly]

I received a message to go to boondockers welcome. The problem I see with that web site and others like it is that they are all paid sites. We wanted to help those who don't subscribe to these clubs and sites just so they can find a safe place to park. Not to mention we want to offer our property free with the hopes that each of our guests would offer something to help offset our costs. I don't think the paid boondocker sites allow that from their registered hosts. For us a kindness should be blessed with like kindness. Nothing in life is free but if we all work together , life can be grand. So naw boondockers welcome is not for us as hosts. We want to bless others with a safe place to stay and hopefully they leave behind a little something to help with our costs. We have to mow, weed it all , maintain fences and pay taxes each year and so if we offer our property as a safe harbor we would hope each guest understands that and helps us in someway. Maybe they help my husband stack lumber , or trim the fence line or leave a donation in the drop box but all in all we help them and they return the favor. Everyone is blessed that way. A leach never feels good after draining someone, it just feels stuffed and goes on always searching for another free ride. We don't care for leaches , we are looking for real people with real dreams in a real world. And so how we go about offering our land to like minded people is still a mystery but hopefully word of mouth will work just as it has for hundreds of years. And if our property never sees a camper, RV or tent, all is well it will see a couple of cows again and those cows use are land and then pay is back with a full freezer. ahaha So anyway if someone has ideas how to get the word our throw them my way or hey just pass along the info and soon word of mouth will do it's thing.

[SeilerBird]

Maybe he was, maybe he was abducted and replaced with a SeilerBird replica. Maybe the Seilerbird we see now is a fake SeilerBird.

Now you have me wondering if I have been replaced. Things have been different lately