For me stealth camping started many years ago when I took a Toyota Starlet, a very small car, and I went to Mount Mitchel North Carolina to have some “God Time”, but after three days I left there and ended up stealth camping in New York City.

That car was so small, maybe 75 square feet? (If that?) I took all but driver’s seat out, put in a plywood floor, and still had to sleep in an “L” shape. Ahh, those were the days. But I so remember living on the streets of NYC in secret. People walked past my vehicle never dreaming someone was living inside something so small. This was pre World Trade Center days. I saw the twin towers before they were attacked, and visited Central Park and Time Square Church while I was there. Long time ago now. Stealth camping was not a thing then.

But it is now! It is amazing how nicely a vehicle can be fixed up. I love watching Youtube videos. I’ve learned a lot and implemented some of it. I still like keeping things simple and uncomplicated. I’ve been using a cooler with ice, a real pain, but my second born son just installed four heavy duty batteries in my Kia Sedona (2011), and I will eventually have a small fridge! Looking forward to that.

I just came off a 35 day outing in the van. I named it War Wagon. That will be explained later. But most of those 35 days were spent living in War Wagon, all but six. The above picture was taken on that trip. Just to be clear, I did not sleep under that bridge. That would not be smart. At nighttime, anything could happen under there. But it was a pleasant afternoon of writing.

My personal experience is anytime alone, at night, is a risk. You have no chance of help, and no one to vouch for you. I’ve done it many times in camping type areas. On this trip I spent six nights in the Ouachita Mountains in Oklahoma. But if I’m not in some national forest or park, I try to find a well-lit, side parking spot out of everyone’s way. And I only spend one night.

I feel like I’m less likely to draw attention if I’m not in a secluded dark area. It looks suspicious. Like you’re trying to hide. I look for light. I hide in broad sight, but very out of the way. Probably a Walmart or Lowes, something of that sort. Malls have huge parking lots but they are the worst! Usually security patrolling and running people away. I guess they don’t want my business. I do buy things where I stay.

I did get “the knock” on the door one time. For me it wasn’t so much a knock. First I heard radio noise, as in police radio, and then Sky, my beagle began sounding the alarm, and there was bright light! So as I scrambled to get my dog, the officer decided to investigate. Then came the knock.

Fortunately, I had decided to sleep in my clothes that night, which I often do if it’s not hot. I can respond to things quicker that way. I had my dog on the leash by that time and opened the side sliding door. I asked, “Am I not allowed to park here?” I had not seen any signs saying no overnight parking.

He said, “No, it’s allowable, just highly irregular.” We were both polite about everything. I showed him my I.D.. He ran my plates and such. The whole thing was over in about 15 minutes and I crawled back in bed. I wasn’t breaking any laws. He could have run my plates without bothering me. But he felt the need, I guess.

My thought is, if he says it is highly irregular, then that’s only because he’s not aware of how many people doing it. I know it’s more predominate out west, but it’s happening all over. As our society has become so expensive, some of us become more creative, it’s the American way!

Actually, it kind of ticks me off that American ingenuity is discouraged these days. It’s part of what makes us great! Do we really want to discourage the American spirit? Do they want us all to be conformist, unable to think out side the box? What’s going to happen when we really need that American spirit again, and it’s not there? We’ve all been beat down into conformity.

I know many live in fear these days. What kind of person would live in a car? (We think.) Well, someone not like you, I guess. Jesus slept all around. He was a minimalist, you know. He didn’t force it on anyone, but he did recommend it, even to that rich young man who walked away sad. He would have had no need to live in a car. He would have stayed in the finest of places and ate the finest foods, but he walked away from the words of Jesus, SAD. Hhmmm.

Rest Parks off Interstates are perfect. As long as they don’t have a time limit, which don’t make sense to me. Are they forcing someone too tired to be driving, back out on the road? Not good. If this country continues to inflate into higher and higher prices, Rest Parks will become very important, or businesses with huge parking lots. Why waste all that space at night? Churches should also! Especially Churches. A great way to reach people. But we might be inconvenienced? Hhmmm. The rich man walked away sad.

And we got to do our part. Leave no trace, as they say. Clean up after ourself. I know there are bad apples in every bunch, but most stealth campers are good people and should be treated as such. Most of those parking lots get cleaned with big sweepers and such anyway. Is it really that big a deal? Is the cost not more than offset by our purchases? I’m sure something could be figured out. And of course, small parking lots without enough space should be off-limits. We all get that.

This is officially my first article about stealth camping here at Sparrowhawk2025. I’ll talk more about my 35 day trip as we go. I hope you enjoy. Thanks for visiting the site. Looking forward to hearing from other stealth campers out there! I’m sure you have stories to share.