Invisible…
They call it “stealth”…but why do vehicle dwellers need to hide from bricks and sticks folks?
It’s been a bit of wild couple weeks for me in my hometown, where I used to be a fairly recognizable face when the 6 o’clock news was must see TV… and now I work really hard to be invisible.
As I write this, I am parked outside my vet clinic as my dog, Buddy, is having major knee surgery today. I’m sitting in my bed in the back. I woke up at 5am, alone in a suburban public park by the Ottawa river. I’m now a few blocks away from the luxury building I left less than one month ago.
“camping” in New Hampshire during disaster relief….
Stealth, in #vanlife world, means hiding in plain sight, so nobody calls the police - because you aren’t welcome to sleep in your vehicle. Black out your windows. Arrive after dark and leave before dawn. Why?
I think we need to ask ourselves some tough questions about our judgment. Why do we care so deeply about what people do in their cars if PARKING is legal there? But sleeping…that gets questioned.
We call it the dreaded “knock”. It could be a stranger wondering what you’re doing, or it could be the police. Imagine being sound asleep (particularly as a solo woman traveller) and having someone knock on your window.
All I can come up with is…it’s “shady” and it scares people. It seems to me that people think we’re dangerous. It’s better in some places. If you sleep in your vehicle in Bend, Oregon nobody bats an eye I’m told - I’m going there. The culture is different, and van dwellers fuel businesses and a thriving music scene.
Ottawa is NOT that. There are vast parking lots..and many have signs banning camping or recreational vehicles…basically sleeping.
An app called iOverlander is renowned in the #vanlife community for sharing safe, free and “stealth” places to sleep. I opened the map, and in other cities there a LOT…like most US Walmarts (though that’s shrinking), all Cracker Barrels, most truck stops, Bureau of Land Management in the USA. In Ottawa I sure didn’t find much.
I slept in a park near one of my former houses. A neighbour told me somebody had called the police last year. For what? Sleeping in a park? Yup.
Yet, I was working by day and had my Starlink out on a picnic table. I could hardly work because so many people came by to chat while out for walks. I wasn’t “shady” then, apparently.
But, I now know, out of respect for not “burning” the space for others by staying too long, it was time to move on. I will miss the couple who cheerfully bellowed twice a day on their walks, “Good Morning New Friend!”. If only everyone saw us as worthy of a welcome.
