Do you ‘wild camp’?

[chockswahay]

I have often thought about the ‘need to leave in a hurry’ in our previous van (non Cali). In over 700 nights we have never needed to and these we’re nearly all Aires or off grid. There was just the one occasion in a car park next to a beautiful beach in Portugal that at 01:00 in the morning became the centre of operations for youfs doing doughnuts in their cars or trading in drugs (in their car parked right behind us!)……. I must admit I did stay awake and keep a cheeky eye out for an hour or so until they had finished and left….. then we were on our own again and woke up a few hours later as if nothing had happened

I think if the reason for wanting to make a fast get away is to escape from marauding invaders the pop top would probably make no difference……. all it would take to block you in is either box you in between 2 cars or simply let your tyres down! then what would you do?

‘A life lived in fear is a life half lived’ …….. just get out there and enjoy it

 

[campandfly]

Overnighters 90% Wild/Free Camp.
Holidays and travelling 60% Wild/Free Camp the other 40% in Campsites is usually for Laundry, Hot Showers, Security in dodgy areas and possibly hook up especially if we are not driving much and its overcast. Oh and fill up with Fresh water.
Preference is always Wild Camp.

 

[calibusje]

To leave in a hurry (or slowly) I would first need a Campervan. But to me it's common sense. 99.9% of the time probably never necessary but for that 0.1% you'd probably wish you had kept it down. Obviously if logistics demand pop top up then its worth risking the downsides.

This I don’t understand; Why would there be a 0.1% you’d need to take into account? To rush in a hurry? If you think of that chance, you should never put your roof up… and therefore could safe a lot of money by just buying a van Having a poptop and use it isn’t a downside, it’s a great plus!
Tip: if you (or partner) doesn’t feel safe for an overnight stay, leave and find another place. We had that one time in 10 years (don’t know how many nights in the westy), a place in Italy where we were visited by some men with strange questions and too much interest in out stuff. So we packed up and left; a little later we had a beautiful spot in a village. That’s all. Never thought of leaving soon in any other occasion.

 

[The Merle]

Had to leave pretty quick one night in Wales (middle of nowhere up in the hills not a tourist carpark either) as local youths decided to turn up in loads of cars around midnight letting fireworks off pretty close to the van, may have been aiming at it who knows!
Plus the dog is freaked out by fireworks, was gone in 30secs.
So yep it’s a risk so always be prepared.

 

[bvddobb]

Golden rule: when there is more than one Big White parked up, we look further.

We love the filter in Park4Night for places only accessible with 4x4… Never any big whites there!

 

[Jonathan Duke]

We mostly wild-camp, U.K., Ireland and abroad. Using park4night and other such apps. When on holiday proper, we pull into a campsite every few days (trying to avoid weekends when they are busier ) for shower, laundry etc. I keep a log and we’ve now spent 256x nights camping in the van. I’d say only 20% of these have been on official campsites.

It’s not about the money, it’s just we prefer a remote place to ourselves in a scenic location. Or even a stealth camp in a city, so we can attend a gig or beer festival. Not once in all those nights have we had an issue with cops or anti-socials, but we do take our time to make sure it’s a good spot (which gets better with experience) and we leave no trace and respect the privacy of others along the way. We’re not completely anti-campsite, some campsites are better than others and we have a few which we do like to return to when in their areas. However, the large commercial camping sites, busy with families on holiday isn’t really our scene and we do our best to avoid them. We don’t have kids, but travel with our dog. So, the play-park, pool and kids clubs aren’t something we would use. A trail-head carpark serves us better allowing for maybe a sunrise or sunset hike.

 

[dspuk]

When do car park warriors become "wild campers"? Asking for a friend.

 

[rod_vw]

When do car park warriors become "wild campers"? Asking for a friend.

My personal opinion is that neither definition relate to what we want.

Camping, to me involves living/sleeping in a structure other than a motor vehicle.

Car park warriors intimates taking up more space to park our vehicle in more space than allocated for other normal sized vehicles.

We look for a place to park our four wheeled vehicle to spend the night in. We should use the French rules as a guide, park in a location that inconveniences on one, place nothing but our vehicle tyres on the ground, and leave no trace of our being there except perhaps our tyre tracks.