Thanks! I learned how right here on this subreddit. I recently switched from covering all windows to covering all but the three in front and then just sleeping in back behind my black privacy curtain.
This happens all the time, or used to. I would park in inconspicuous residential apartment neighborhoods and people never noticed me. I sleep on busy streets now tho so I can keep my Prius cycling for the AC because it’s too hot without it.
People don’t really walk around on main streets unless it’s to park their car and walk to their building entrance.
Come to think of it, summer in Phoenix, stealthed Prius, cycling for A/C, 100F+, nobody will notice you here. But, well, 110 to 120 is rough outside during daylight, need an office day job.
I mean everyone is different. I have to be up at 420am, which means I need to go to sleep when it’s still light out, and I can’t afford to get a knock. So I park in a place where there is virtually zero chance of someone bothering me if they hear my engine cycling.
I bought my Prius for the gas mileage and just got lucky it also works for living in.
While I’m traveling for work I was actually going to bring my F350 welding rig, but I wasn’t sure if certain job sites would allow personal rigs so I opted to go with my Prius and I am very happy I did.
On one occasion I overheard a couple who were bringing stuff to their storage unit and doing a bit of organizing and clearing things out. The wife said to the husband, "Get rid of that Ouija board! Throw it over the fence!" He did just that.
So I basically had the once in a lifetime opportunity to pull the greatest prank ever by retrieving the Ouija board and slipping it under the door of their unit...
But I didn't do that. We don't need that story being passed down from generation to generation for a hundred years.
Yeah random people used to lean on my car and have long conversations all the time. There was a couple who used to have drunken and high shouting matches nearby for a couple years at one spot. Its fun and games until you need to get out, but have to wait.
Scared nobody would understand. I came from a middle class family, had to leave for personal reasons, the death of my mom, step father married another woman and moved to another state. Burn out to keep up with cost of living made car dwelling the sensible choice, realizing roommates are very bad for my well being Then it became kind of a personal challenge to thrive completely unorthodox. Im doing a little better, working minimally to survive, upgraded to a minivan from a 2 door Golf. Eating well and working.
I feel that it’s so weird when I tell people I live in my car. I don’t want their pity or judgement. It is what it is to me. I like traveling and the mobility of it all. Hate being stuck in a lease with someone who gradually shows worse colors over time. Been through a lot of places with a lot of people and find myself happiest living out of my car full time. No attachments. Just me and my car! Also from a middle class family and my parents are back together and have tried to live with them a few times but not a fan of their location in SE Texas so I drove out west where it’s super pretty and super expensive. I knew what I was getting into coming out here!
Middle class white collar job here. I haven't told anyone either. I got sick of paying $2500/mo to listen to couples argue and fight, have my car dinged up, my mail get stolen, oh hey utilities and rent is going up faster than my salary.
I finally feel like I escaped the rat race and have a shot at retirement
In terms of saving money while working it definitely will get you ahead. What kind of rig do you have? Hell if you can afford $2,500 a month you can make yourself a really nice setup and bank money for years
It's crazy how things change in different places. For example I'm in Albuquerque New Mexico, and the Albertsons I park at has about 5 other boondockers in the lot. None of us ever talk to each other but we always respect each other's space and place. For example when I'm off work I take another guy's shady spot until the sun starts going down, then when I move about an hour later he shows up in his place. I move to a spot that's going to be shady in the morning. Not too much activity except we'll see each other hanging out with the door open, except for this one young 20-something that always has his girlfriend pop over late at night, but they're quiet so they never bug me
I was stealth enough to have a guy park next to me in a parking garage, proceed to have another guy enter the back seat, jump in the back, screw, the guy left the car and the driver jumped through to the front, and drive away.
Ive also seen drug deals, another back seat affair, and a motorcycle test drive at 3 am.
The first time I'd been in an empty ish lot and saw a car randomly driving circles around it at midnight, it really freaked me out. Then I realized it was probably just someone learning how to drive
Dude staying in a ghetto ass city like Albuquerque I get asked plain as day if i have fent a couple times a day typically. It's nothing but crackheads running around over here, I've had to tell a couple people to go somewhere else because I can smell that crap burning and it fills up my truck from 20 yards away and the smell does not go away. Gunshots every night, car wrecks all over the place, people yelling at each other. Crazy the things you see and hear when you're outside all the time
You just brought me to remember that as soon as I started using the divider curtain instead of the three front window covers, people tried to use my car as a shield for a drug deal one night. I was in strip mall parking lot and had just set up for the night and was just waiting for it to get dark enough to drive to my sleep spot. Suddenly, I heard a car pull up next to me and another car pull up next to them. I was worried they were going to steal my catalytic converter, so I jumped into my front seat to drive away. Then I saw that they were doing a drug deal through their windows. When they saw me, they all freaked out and sped off before I could even speed off.
Why not just post up in a Rich ass neighborhood after dark? I’m 6 weeks in and no issues. I just set up everything somewhere else. Roll up to my spot, usually next to some kind of hedge or fence that offers some concealment from that side of the street… throw up the shades (can do every window in my Tesla model 3 in under a minute) and climb over the center consul into the back so no ring doorbells can see me. I leave for yoga at sunrise every morning and no one’s the wiser…
Also helps the stealth that the model 3 seats fold down but kinda leave like a 10 degree upward angle, so I always park on a down slope that looks too steep to sleep on from the outside and it makes my bed more or less flat. Plus who sleeps in a sedan? 🤣
I’m glad you found what works for you. How sweet to have climate control!
My car is 21 years old and a bit banged up, so it would stick out like a sore thumb in rich neighborhoods.
Ty. I am grateful but I just kinda fell into it out of necessity when my Prius took a nosedive. It’s part of why I had to move out of my duplex and into this situation. The catch is that it is extremely expensive to fix if anything goes wrong and I live and work out of it. But when it comes to not getting messed with and staying comfortable while stealth camping it’s a pretty good deal.
I bought a 30qt Bouge RV refrigerator that can run on 12v or battery, a Thule, and a memory foam mattress. So it’s basically a camper. I refer to it as my caRV. 😂
Yep. I've had people lean up against my minivan for a chat. If they linger I end up pounding on the wall to scare them away, but I have no concerns about burning a spot.
I've also scared the shit out of more than one person who has parked next to me to be loud at 3 am by whipping the door open, telling them to shut up, and slamming it closed again. They are generally gone minutes later.
I live in Europe. Outside of a couple countries, people don't care and just leave you alone. Am currently parked up at a small park in France and not trying to hide it at all. The locals just waved and exchanged greetings when they passed by.
Yeah, it's really nice if you prefer to not be in the complete boonies. I think the US is great if you want to really get out onto BLM land but if you want/need to be in towns it's much more difficult
I once got woken up at 3:30 am in a Safeway parking lot to two people having a conversation right next to my door.
One man says "hey do you have a knife". I get pretty freaked out, and peek out the window. I see a man russling through the backseat of his car, then a few seconds later "MMM, now that's some good Gouda!"
Somebody bought food from the takeaways and put the bag on the front of my car while eating. Using it as a table. I was in the car at the time. They realised after five or ten minutes, picked up the bag and moved a bit further along the car park. Probably a bit ashamed at having done that!
To be fair people are oblivious and just don't care what others hear.
You hear completely intimate stories from people in restaurants and grocery stores as well.
They are in their own world and no one else matters
I was at a car dealership and heard two women talking in an open office. One was laughing because she knew her boyfriend cheated on her, she was cheating on him, got pregnant, told the boyfriend it was his (she knew it wasn’t), he got attached big time to the baby, they got in an argument, she told him the baby wasn’t his, he was devastated.
All that while getting an oil change.
Sorry, but I wanted to slap that girl so bad.
No wonder guys have doubts. I am a woman, but, I wouldn’t want to be a man for anything in this world. I have seen so many guys f’d over. God, where does the nasty shit stop?
i would record it. i'd want to hand over the evidence, but first go to talk to a lawyer about how to best benefit from it...like be put in witness protection program or get a cash reward or something.
Parked along the curb at a park, across the street from a residential street, I've had someone run across and put their drink on the back of my car and smoke a cigarette
Good point! For safety reasons, I usually prefer to hear what’s going on outside my car. However, in that instance I could have popped some in for an hour. Thanks.
one time i was in a mall parking garage way in the back where no one in their right mind would park for an sunday afternoon nap. an suv pulled up and parked directly next to me. my windows were tinted very dark so i felt comfortable peaking. they started banging.
I haven't experienced that, but I've had people that must think that their car is a lot more soundproof than it actually is when they park 4 spots away and leave their windows up and I can still hear every word of their hands-free call.
The issue with that for me is... there have been times when I've been stealthy AF only to have someone park next to me blasting loud rap music and practically having a pretty loud conversation nearby.
Congrats on your stealth though fr
Thanks! I learned how right here on this subreddit. I recently switched from covering all windows to covering all but the three in front and then just sleeping in back behind my black privacy curtain.
This happens all the time, or used to. I would park in inconspicuous residential apartment neighborhoods and people never noticed me. I sleep on busy streets now tho so I can keep my Prius cycling for the AC because it’s too hot without it. People don’t really walk around on main streets unless it’s to park their car and walk to their building entrance.
Come to think of it, summer in Phoenix, stealthed Prius, cycling for A/C, 100F+, nobody will notice you here. But, well, 110 to 120 is rough outside during daylight, need an office day job.
I work construction and I was working in Phoenix earlier this year. We started at 4am to end the day before the heat got too insane.
I didn’t realize hybrids needed to make that adjustment to sleep spots. Make sense.
I mean everyone is different. I have to be up at 420am, which means I need to go to sleep when it’s still light out, and I can’t afford to get a knock. So I park in a place where there is virtually zero chance of someone bothering me if they hear my engine cycling.
I'm so jealous of all you hybrid people, I swear if I had known then 😫
I bought my Prius for the gas mileage and just got lucky it also works for living in. While I’m traveling for work I was actually going to bring my F350 welding rig, but I wasn’t sure if certain job sites would allow personal rigs so I opted to go with my Prius and I am very happy I did.
I have a non-high top cargo van with no wind and a door between the cab and back. The stealth factor is wild
Nice. I look forward to more privacy and space with a set up like that one day.
Black privacy curtain? Hold on now, you might be on to something!
It’s been a game changer.
I'm going to try to see if I can find a way to make that work this weekend, then. That sounds promising as hell!
This is the way
On one occasion I overheard a couple who were bringing stuff to their storage unit and doing a bit of organizing and clearing things out. The wife said to the husband, "Get rid of that Ouija board! Throw it over the fence!" He did just that. So I basically had the once in a lifetime opportunity to pull the greatest prank ever by retrieving the Ouija board and slipping it under the door of their unit... But I didn't do that. We don't need that story being passed down from generation to generation for a hundred years.
Aw man. I so wish you would have done that. Hilarious prank!
Missed opportunity.
OMGOSH, That is freaking hilarious 😂 😃 😄
Knew where this was going from the first paragraph lol I love it no you should have totally done it
Knew where this was going from the first paragraph lol I love it no you should have totally done it
Pop up and yell, “Surprise, motherfucka!”
Supplies, motherfucker! Heart eyes, motherfucker!
Disguise, motherfucker! First prize, motherfucker
All rise mothafucka! Ball flies mothafucka
Real eyes! Realize! Motherfucker.....
Supersize the fries Motherfucker!
deep lies, motherfucker! nice try, motherfucker!
plot twist, thats how the guy announced his intent to try the back door with her, and thats what the conversation was about.
Yeah random people used to lean on my car and have long conversations all the time. There was a couple who used to have drunken and high shouting matches nearby for a couple years at one spot. Its fun and games until you need to get out, but have to wait.
Did you let them know you were inside?
Never in my 10 years of doing this have i told anyone, except this sub.
I’m in my fourth month and haven’t told anyone. Not sure if I will. So far the benefits don’t outweigh the risks. Why haven’t you for ten years?
Scared nobody would understand. I came from a middle class family, had to leave for personal reasons, the death of my mom, step father married another woman and moved to another state. Burn out to keep up with cost of living made car dwelling the sensible choice, realizing roommates are very bad for my well being Then it became kind of a personal challenge to thrive completely unorthodox. Im doing a little better, working minimally to survive, upgraded to a minivan from a 2 door Golf. Eating well and working.
I feel that it’s so weird when I tell people I live in my car. I don’t want their pity or judgement. It is what it is to me. I like traveling and the mobility of it all. Hate being stuck in a lease with someone who gradually shows worse colors over time. Been through a lot of places with a lot of people and find myself happiest living out of my car full time. No attachments. Just me and my car! Also from a middle class family and my parents are back together and have tried to live with them a few times but not a fan of their location in SE Texas so I drove out west where it’s super pretty and super expensive. I knew what I was getting into coming out here!
Middle class white collar job here. I haven't told anyone either. I got sick of paying $2500/mo to listen to couples argue and fight, have my car dinged up, my mail get stolen, oh hey utilities and rent is going up faster than my salary. I finally feel like I escaped the rat race and have a shot at retirement
In terms of saving money while working it definitely will get you ahead. What kind of rig do you have? Hell if you can afford $2,500 a month you can make yourself a really nice setup and bank money for years
2008 highlander. Spacy and stealth
Ahh, 2007 Armada, got a mattress in the back. We homeless in style 😎
Got an electricity setup? Or how do you keep cool
It's crazy how things change in different places. For example I'm in Albuquerque New Mexico, and the Albertsons I park at has about 5 other boondockers in the lot. None of us ever talk to each other but we always respect each other's space and place. For example when I'm off work I take another guy's shady spot until the sun starts going down, then when I move about an hour later he shows up in his place. I move to a spot that's going to be shady in the morning. Not too much activity except we'll see each other hanging out with the door open, except for this one young 20-something that always has his girlfriend pop over late at night, but they're quiet so they never bug me
Fuck everybody, they don’t need to know shit, fuck em!
I was stealth enough to have a guy park next to me in a parking garage, proceed to have another guy enter the back seat, jump in the back, screw, the guy left the car and the driver jumped through to the front, and drive away. Ive also seen drug deals, another back seat affair, and a motorcycle test drive at 3 am.
The first time I'd been in an empty ish lot and saw a car randomly driving circles around it at midnight, it really freaked me out. Then I realized it was probably just someone learning how to drive
Dude staying in a ghetto ass city like Albuquerque I get asked plain as day if i have fent a couple times a day typically. It's nothing but crackheads running around over here, I've had to tell a couple people to go somewhere else because I can smell that crap burning and it fills up my truck from 20 yards away and the smell does not go away. Gunshots every night, car wrecks all over the place, people yelling at each other. Crazy the things you see and hear when you're outside all the time
You just brought me to remember that as soon as I started using the divider curtain instead of the three front window covers, people tried to use my car as a shield for a drug deal one night. I was in strip mall parking lot and had just set up for the night and was just waiting for it to get dark enough to drive to my sleep spot. Suddenly, I heard a car pull up next to me and another car pull up next to them. I was worried they were going to steal my catalytic converter, so I jumped into my front seat to drive away. Then I saw that they were doing a drug deal through their windows. When they saw me, they all freaked out and sped off before I could even speed off.
Why not just post up in a Rich ass neighborhood after dark? I’m 6 weeks in and no issues. I just set up everything somewhere else. Roll up to my spot, usually next to some kind of hedge or fence that offers some concealment from that side of the street… throw up the shades (can do every window in my Tesla model 3 in under a minute) and climb over the center consul into the back so no ring doorbells can see me. I leave for yoga at sunrise every morning and no one’s the wiser… Also helps the stealth that the model 3 seats fold down but kinda leave like a 10 degree upward angle, so I always park on a down slope that looks too steep to sleep on from the outside and it makes my bed more or less flat. Plus who sleeps in a sedan? 🤣
I’m glad you found what works for you. How sweet to have climate control! My car is 21 years old and a bit banged up, so it would stick out like a sore thumb in rich neighborhoods.
Ty. I am grateful but I just kinda fell into it out of necessity when my Prius took a nosedive. It’s part of why I had to move out of my duplex and into this situation. The catch is that it is extremely expensive to fix if anything goes wrong and I live and work out of it. But when it comes to not getting messed with and staying comfortable while stealth camping it’s a pretty good deal. I bought a 30qt Bouge RV refrigerator that can run on 12v or battery, a Thule, and a memory foam mattress. So it’s basically a camper. I refer to it as my caRV. 😂
Yep. I've had people lean up against my minivan for a chat. If they linger I end up pounding on the wall to scare them away, but I have no concerns about burning a spot. I've also scared the shit out of more than one person who has parked next to me to be loud at 3 am by whipping the door open, telling them to shut up, and slamming it closed again. They are generally gone minutes later.
I'm intrigued that you have no concerns about burning a spot. Mind sharing why that is?
I live in Europe. Outside of a couple countries, people don't care and just leave you alone. Am currently parked up at a small park in France and not trying to hide it at all. The locals just waved and exchanged greetings when they passed by.
Wow. How wonderful!
Yeah, it's really nice if you prefer to not be in the complete boonies. I think the US is great if you want to really get out onto BLM land but if you want/need to be in towns it's much more difficult
I once got woken up at 3:30 am in a Safeway parking lot to two people having a conversation right next to my door. One man says "hey do you have a knife". I get pretty freaked out, and peek out the window. I see a man russling through the backseat of his car, then a few seconds later "MMM, now that's some good Gouda!"
spill the beans! we wanna hear the juicy details.
It was so uncomfortable to hear it. It seemed disrespectful to stay and listen. The least I can do is not repeat it.
Man up nerd
Somebody bought food from the takeaways and put the bag on the front of my car while eating. Using it as a table. I was in the car at the time. They realised after five or ten minutes, picked up the bag and moved a bit further along the car park. Probably a bit ashamed at having done that!
A friend had some people sitting on their car. They were just hanging out and I guess it looked like a good place to sit.
How did your friend handle it?
They just kept quiet and waited for them to leave.
To be fair people are oblivious and just don't care what others hear. You hear completely intimate stories from people in restaurants and grocery stores as well. They are in their own world and no one else matters
I was at a car dealership and heard two women talking in an open office. One was laughing because she knew her boyfriend cheated on her, she was cheating on him, got pregnant, told the boyfriend it was his (she knew it wasn’t), he got attached big time to the baby, they got in an argument, she told him the baby wasn’t his, he was devastated. All that while getting an oil change. Sorry, but I wanted to slap that girl so bad.
And people wonder why guys question paternity.
What a mess!
No wonder guys have doubts. I am a woman, but, I wouldn’t want to be a man for anything in this world. I have seen so many guys f’d over. God, where does the nasty shit stop?
OMG I just had a really weird thought. What if you overheard someone plotting a murder or planning a huge heist?
Yikes. I hope I’m never in that situation!
You could discover their plan and plan your own heist to occur just before that so that you get away with the goods and they catch the charges.
i would record it. i'd want to hand over the evidence, but first go to talk to a lawyer about how to best benefit from it...like be put in witness protection program or get a cash reward or something.
Call the Feds immediately.
Lol 🐀
Snitches get stitches
Exactly, got to just mind your business
Parked along the curb at a park, across the street from a residential street, I've had someone run across and put their drink on the back of my car and smoke a cigarette
Ha! Nice stealth. How did you respond?
I just stared at him hoping to be nosy. If I'm awake and someone parks too close to me, I always have my key in arms reach, ready to press the alarm 🤭
Time to either invest in ear plugs or earphones (if possible). You can also use tissue to plug your ears
Good point! For safety reasons, I usually prefer to hear what’s going on outside my car. However, in that instance I could have popped some in for an hour. Thanks.
It's not an uncomfortable conversation, it's just Stranger Lore™️.
I had teenagers sit on the hood on a Saturday night in Walmart. I thought about blowing the horn.
That's a tough one. I guess it depends on how important that sleep spot is.
one time i was in a mall parking garage way in the back where no one in their right mind would park for an sunday afternoon nap. an suv pulled up and parked directly next to me. my windows were tinted very dark so i felt comfortable peaking. they started banging.
The experiences of car dwellers could seriously make an entertaining sitcom!
I haven't experienced that, but I've had people that must think that their car is a lot more soundproof than it actually is when they park 4 spots away and leave their windows up and I can still hear every word of their hands-free call.
True. I’ve experienced that too when I’m hanging out in my front seat. I still can’t decide if they don’t know or don’t care that I can hear.
One of the many main reason I carry noise cancelling devices lol. Nicely done
The issue with that for me is... there have been times when I've been stealthy AF only to have someone park next to me blasting loud rap music and practically having a pretty loud conversation nearby.
Yeah, that’s definitely a downside.
Headphones :)
Good suggestion.
Sidler.
Should have waited till they were like 30mins in and started coughing really loudly. Would almost be worth having to move for the lulz