Newbie Full time in Van

[nlewis]

Wife and I just purchased a class b van. We are going to fulltime in it. We will keep our day jobs and only be in the van at night. We have a trip coming up next week in Los Angeles. Since we are new to rv ing we plan on staying mostly at rv parks. But would really like to do some stealth camping on this trip a couple night to get our feet wet. We be there for at least a week. We are getting past the nervousness of this purchase and getting excited. Any suggestions are welcome. Im sure we going to have many question on this trip as we have never rv before. We suppose to have a 2 hr walk thu when we pick up the van. But a walk thu is different then being on your own. We been talking about doing this for years. Finally this year its was either do it or stop talking about it. We made to leap and fingers crossed we are hoping this is the best decision we ever made. I really hope that we can use this forum to help us with anything that might come up. Any suggestion are very welcome.

[JaxDad]

JimK-NY wrote:
This is a good example of what I mean.

Clearly the police were out of bounds and being typical bullies. Regardless you do not win an argument with the police. Ask any minority how they come out regardless of their rights.

If you ask any LEO they will tell you without any hesitation, regardless of the issue, the fastest, easiest and least confrontational method to deal with something is to ‘nip it in the bud’. They order crowds to disperse *before* the broken windows and burning cars. They post signs in parks that they close at 10pm so they don’t have to break up drunks partying around a bonfire at 2am.

They stop people sleeping overnight on public roads, regardless of who they are, before a bunch of bleeding hearts scream about homeless people sleeping in derelict vehicles being ‘bullied’ by the police trying to remove them.

This is EXACTLY the reason so many places, rest areas, public parks, WallyWorlds, whole cities, are being posted “no overnight parking”. There’s ALWAYS going to be few idiots and rabid socialists who will ruin it for the rest of society.

[JimK-NY]

JaxDad wrote:

JimK-NY wrote:

4x4van wrote:

free radical wrote:

Btw parking or stoping overnight is NOT camping..I dont camp..

On pretty much every city street in the US, sleeping in your vehicle overnight IS considered camping, and IS illegal.

Actually the opposite is true. Sleeping in your legally parked car is legal. Back in the 70s the Supreme Court issued a ruling striking down vague vagrancy laws. Most communities abandoned their vagrancy laws. Those that do remain are likely to be held illegal and unconstitutional if ever challenged.

Many communities seek to get around the unconstitutional aspect by banning overnight parking. That would apply to all vehicles including those of the neighborhood residents.

A friend of mine had some relatives visiting for one night while they were passing through in their class B.

He was rather surprised when he got up (pretty early) and they were gone. They re-appeared in time for breakfast and a little more visiting before heading out.

It seems one of the neighbours had made a remark to them while they dewatered their pooch before bed about not ‘camping in the street’ and the visitor said they’d checked and overnight parking was allowed. They were then told ‘parking yes, camping no’. The relatives ignored them, climbed in, locked the door and went to bed.

Before they even got into bed there was a knock at the door. It was a Sheriffs Deputy ‘just checking everything was alright’........ and another one every 20 to 30 minutes until they finally gave up and headed to a big box store on the edge of town.

But overnight parking was legal......... LOL.

This is a good example of what I mean. If you upset the neighbors, you are not likely to win. Clearly the police were out of bounds and being typical bullies. Regardless you do not win an argument with the police. Ask any minority how they come out regardless of their rights.

[JimK-NY]

JaxDad wrote:

JimK-NY wrote:

4x4van wrote:

free radical wrote:

Btw parking or stoping overnight is NOT camping..I dont camp..

On pretty much every city street in the US, sleeping in your vehicle overnight IS considered camping, and IS illegal.

Actually the opposite is true. Sleeping in your legally parked car is legal. Back in the 70s the Supreme Court issued a ruling striking down vague vagrancy laws. Most communities abandoned their vagrancy laws. Those that do remain are likely to be held illegal and unconstitutional if ever challenged.

Many communities seek to get around the unconstitutional aspect by banning overnight parking. That would apply to all vehicles including those of the neighborhood residents.

A friend of mine had some relatives visiting for one night while they were passing through in their class B.

He was rather surprised when he got up (pretty early) and they were gone. They re-appeared in time for breakfast and a little more visiting before heading out.

It seems one of the neighbours had made a remark to them while they dewatered their pooch before bed about not ‘camping in the street’ and the visitor said they’d checked and overnight parking was allowed. They were then told ‘parking yes, camping no’. The relatives ignored them, climbed in, locked the door and went to bed.

Before they even got into bed there was a knock at the door. It was a Sheriffs Deputy ‘just checking everything was alright’........ and another one every 20 to 30 minutes until they finally gave up and headed to a big box store on the edge of town.

But overnight parking was legal......... LOL.

[Gulfcoast]

Here's the headquarters for cheap van living...

Cheap RV Living

[JaxDad]

JimK-NY wrote:

4x4van wrote:

free radical wrote:

Btw parking or stoping overnight is NOT camping..I dont camp..

On pretty much every city street in the US, sleeping in your vehicle overnight IS considered camping, and IS illegal.

Actually the opposite is true. Sleeping in your legally parked car is legal. Back in the 70s the Supreme Court issued a ruling striking down vague vagrancy laws. Most communities abandoned their vagrancy laws. Those that do remain are likely to be held illegal and unconstitutional if ever challenged.

Many communities seek to get around the unconstitutional aspect by banning overnight parking. That would apply to all vehicles including those of the neighborhood residents.

A friend of mine had some relatives visiting for one night while they were passing through in their class B.

He was rather surprised when he got up (pretty early) and they were gone. They re-appeared in time for breakfast and a little more visiting before heading out.

It seems one of the neighbours had made a remark to them while they dewatered their pooch before bed about not ‘camping in the street’ and the visitor said they’d checked and overnight parking was allowed. They were then told ‘parking yes, camping no’. The relatives ignored them, climbed in, locked the door and went to bed.

Before they even got into bed there was a knock at the door. It was a Sheriffs Deputy ‘just checking everything was alright’........ and another one every 20 to 30 minutes until they finally gave up and headed to a big box store on the edge of town.

But overnight parking was legal......... LOL.

[JimK-NY]

clikrf8 wrote:
......a night of stealth camping in my neighborhood wouldn’t bother me but probably would my neighbors. Best of luck to you.

That is one of the main points about being stealthy when camping in areas such as a residential neighborhood. Staying overnight could be entirely legal and within local ordinances, but you do not want to upset neighbors, who are likely to call the police, who are then likely to ask you to move on. If you are visiting friends or relatives, go meet the immediate neighbors and let them know what is happening. Chances are very high they will be welcoming and friendly.

[clikrf8]

I think that parking in the 24 hour gym is a giod idea as long as property owner is okay with it. Ditto, any other business as it may act as a theft deterrent for business owners. As far as stealth camping in a residential neighborhood? We spent the night at my sisters place in our camper on the street as her driveway is steep and other beds in her home were occupied. I dont like the idea of continual parking in neighborhoods as in some cities as far as some people were dumping their black tanks and dumping garbage. These folks sound like professionals and a night of stealth camping in my neighborhood wouldn’t bother me but probably would my neighbors. Best of luck to you.

[JimK-NY]

4x4van wrote:

free radical wrote:

Btw parking or stoping overnight is NOT camping..I dont camp..

On pretty much every city street in the US, sleeping in your vehicle overnight IS considered camping, and IS illegal.

Actually the opposite is true. Sleeping in your legally parked car is legal. Back in the 70s the Supreme Court issued a ruling striking down vague vagrancy laws. Most communities abandoned their vagrancy laws. Those that do remain are likely to be held illegal and unconstitutional if ever challenged.

Many communities seek to get around the unconstitutional aspect by banning overnight parking. That would apply to all vehicles including those of the neighborhood residents.

[Grit_dog]

Well this thread is going swimmingly!
OP, I'd suggest you do what you want and don't get wrapped around the wheel about it like some do...

[4x4van]

free radical wrote:

Btw parking or stoping overnight is NOT camping..I dont camp..

On pretty much every city street in the US, sleeping in your vehicle overnight IS considered camping, and IS illegal.

[ol__yeller]

clikrf8 wrote:
Seattle: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/06/591300547/a-homeless-mans-truck-is-his-home-judge-rules-in-seattle

And Seattle wonders why they have a homeless problem...

[clikrf8]

Seattle: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/06/591300547/a-homeless-mans-truck-is-his-home-judge-rules-in-seattle

[free_radical]

nlewis wrote:
Thanks everyone for your quick response. I will provide more details on how we plans to go about things. I will admit that the size of the vehicle is of some concern. We currently live in the bay area and plan to travel frequently to southern ca. Which is one of the reason we went with the class B. When in Souther ca we plan to use the van for driving around and such.

The other issue I should point out is over the past years we are almost never home. We are mostly home at night. During the day we are at work or running errands or just hanging out. The routine we have in our heads is parking somewhat close to a gym and doing all our showers and getting ready for the day there. This will give us a chance to start going to the gym on a daily basis which we have been trying to do for the longest time. A heaven commute schedule has just made it very difficult to go to the gym. Also we work near Sf so to be able to park anywhere is very important in our case. Having the class b van means we longer have to worry about long commute, buying a house in unaffordable bay area , changing jobs to a totally new city and possibly not liking new job. Currently wife likes where she works. And no new jobs were coming up very often in places that are affordable. We had got to the point where we had to do something.

Also as far as the daily things. We will mixed in some air&b during he week to break things up. I also thought we could use that to cook our meals for the week. We have solar and 2k inverter and induction cooktop that can be ran off the inverter. Also have microwave that can be ran off inverter. Basically everything can be ran off the inverter but air conditioner.
During the day we just plan to be gone most of the time at work, running errands, having fun, cafes, gym etc. Then only using the rv to sleep and travel for vacation.The recently when looking at rv whenever we step in the 25 footers it was always this is just a little to big for what we want to do.

We also plan to hold on to our apartment during our adjustment period. If all goes well we will let the apartment go. If all does not go well we will have to keep the apartment and perhaps just use the van as a commuter room.
Another reason we did not go with he 25 footer we were considering(The wonder by Leisure Travel) is that was 15-20k more than the rv we picked. Just could not picture paying the much. We did not want slides or diesel or Mercedes platform so our choices were limited.

Added background. We lived and Los Angeles years ago and always talk to going back. But our job situation is better here. So we talked for years of living in both places. Keeping our jobs here and go back to LA as much as possible. The van allows us to do that. Driving a 25 footer to LA often just seemed daunting. I know what we doing is risky. But last time took a risk it ended up being the best thing we ever did. At the very least we will know if its possible. Not pursuing this living in both places was something we just had to do. Everyone also keep in mind we are nervously going forward with our plans. Been researching for year and half. I know research does not equate to the real thing. I know there will be things that come up which is why Im on this forum. Im hoping to use this forum to tackle many of these issue. What tying say is yes we are scared and wondering if we did the right thing. The class b just always seems to b the rv we came back to.

By stealth I just plan on parking near malls, hotel parking lots on occasion. 24hr fitness parking lots(we plan to join their gym) Basically urban areas
Thanks

Seems like you are unecesarily complicating your life,,why not stay in an appartment and simply comute to work..
Why doing all this stealth camping especialy in a city where parking is hard to find, if you dont absolutely need to?

[free_radical]

Fizz wrote:
Before we bought out first TT we rented a Class B (Roadtreck) for two weeks.
By the third day we knew this was not for us, especially for Snowbirding let alone full timing.
RENT FIRST!

Stealth camping is like living outside the law, you are constantly looking over your shoulder.

I lived in my truck camper when working in Alberta and never considered myself an outlaw or bothered to waste time looking over my shoulder..its perfectly legal to park overnight almost anywhere unless theres a sign prohibiting so..

But then Canada is stil very free country..

I Parked overnight at WM or truck stops,bought breakfast or dinner,,showered at YMCA gym..no problems ever..
just make sure to lock your doors every time..

Btw parking or stoping overnight is NOT camping..I dont camp..