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Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

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Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#101

Post by FollowingTheDao »

solardev wrote: post #27
mrb wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"rich vacationers" ? Most American adults can afford $100/year. Edit: I'll even add: most american adults spend $100 per month , not per year, on frivolous stuff. Fast food. Cable TV. Unnecessary high-end phones (instead of mid-range phones). All these people could definitely afford $100/year.

I think that's a pretty privileged viewpoint. That's $100/year of disposable income for maybe a parking spot where you want to go, maybe available when you want to go. That's definitely not a trivial dollar amount for something like that, especially when there are free alternatives (strip mall parking lots, rest stops, federal lands, moving between neighborhoods, etc.). Then there's the question of being able to offe…

I need AAA and that is $100 a year and it crushes me every time I need to pay it.

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#102

Post by i_am_jl »

solardev wrote: post #5

So it's kinda like Couchsurfing.com and Warmshowers, but expensive ($100/yr) and only for vanlifers? Interesting. I like the community peer to peer model, but it kinda feels exploitative to put an expensive business layer on top of it. What does the $100/yr provide that Couchsurfing's $30/yr doesn't, aside from a feeling of exclusivity? Or is that the point, to weed out poor vanlifers and allow only rich vacationers…

>only for vanlifers?

Couldn't work for a vanlifer, only an RVer. Vanlifers don't have property where they can host.

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#103

Post by FollowingTheDao »

renewiltord wrote: post #40
solardev wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's a pretty privileged viewpoint. That's $100/year of disposable income for maybe a parking spot where you want to go, maybe available when you want to go. That's definitely not a trivial dollar amount for something like that, especially when there are free alternatives (strip mall parking lots, rest stops, federal lands, moving between neighborhoods, etc.). Then there's the question of being able to offe…

Yeah, if I'm going to be honest, if you can't afford $100/yr you can't afford to host, so you're not going to be a contributor to their community. Looks like the filter is working.

Yeah and wow, that’s pretty gross, who are they filtering out for? People like me who are normal don’t do drugs that are disabled and homeless?

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#104

Post by zopa »

ghostly_s wrote: post #89
solardev wrote: post #9

For anyone looking for actually free, no strings attached (and no subscription) camping, check https://freecampsites.net/ instead. It's a community wiki of free camp sites, usually on federal lands of various sorts (National Forests and BLM lands often have primitive campsites with fire rings and not much else). It's great for travel around national parks, especially. But please do leave no trace, pack out what you b…

Like this website, the important caveat is in the Southwest . Public lands other than formal parks and preserves are basically nonexistent elsewhere.

No?

https://www.fs.usda.gov/whitemountain

https://www.fs.usda.gov/dbnf

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nfsnc/recarea/?recid=48114

And lots, lots more

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#105

Post by solardev »

JohnFen wrote: post #73
solardev wrote: post #9

For anyone looking for actually free, no strings attached (and no subscription) camping, check https://freecampsites.net/ instead. It's a community wiki of free camp sites, usually on federal lands of various sorts (National Forests and BLM lands often have primitive campsites with fire rings and not much else). It's great for travel around national parks, especially. But please do leave no trace, pack out what you b…

You can camp for free in all unimproved areas of US national forests that aren't designated wilderness areas or otherwise designated as off limits for dispersed camping. This is something like 98% of the forests. The exact rules can vary a bit from place to place, so always check with the ranger station in that area (don't rely on the website!) for anything special. You usually need to have a permit if you're parking…

Most of that is awesome, thanks!

Why no camping in wilderness areas, though? They tend to be some of the best places to go -- if you're prepared with proper gear. I think camping is allowed in the majority of it, though some areas may require permits? https://wilderness.net/learn-about-wilderness/regulations.ph...

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#106

Post by Zak »

the_svd_doctor wrote: post #88
coherentpony wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the many idiosyncrasies of the English language. The sentence > Don't make fire rings where they already exist means both: 1. If there is an existing fire ring, do not re-use it. Make a new fire ring somewhere else instead; and 2. If there is an existing fire ring, please re-use it. Do not make a new fire ring somewhere else instead. What they _meant_ was the second interpretation, and not the first one.

This took me a while. I think the #1 is what most people would understand.

I understood #2: if there is a fire ring, do not make another fire ring (implied: use the existing one).

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#107

Post by solardev »

ghostly_s wrote: post #89
solardev wrote: post #9

For anyone looking for actually free, no strings attached (and no subscription) camping, check https://freecampsites.net/ instead. It's a community wiki of free camp sites, usually on federal lands of various sorts (National Forests and BLM lands often have primitive campsites with fire rings and not much else). It's great for travel around national parks, especially. But please do leave no trace, pack out what you b…

Like this website, the important caveat is in the Southwest . Public lands other than formal parks and preserves are basically nonexistent elsewhere.

I'd say the West in general, not just the Southwest. By that I mean most of the West Coast (California, Washington, Oregon) has abundant federal lands. Some of the adjacent states do too. Alaska as well. It goes east a bit. Colorado has a bunch. It's more the Midwest and east of there that doesn't have much of them. (edit: actually there are some near the Great Lakes too!)

Here's a map: https://maps.usgs.gov/padusdataexplorer/#/public-access (edit: this map viewer isn't super clear, but go to the Public Access tab. You can zoom in and click on an area to see who manages it. Google it by name to look up specific rules & regulations). They encourage you to use it to find campsites: https://www.protectedlands.net/uses/pad-us-2-0-helps-rv-user...

There's a lot of different public land classifications, with different rules and administrators: https://www.doi.gov/blog/americas-public-lands-explained

In general, you're most likely to run into free camping on USFS or BLM land, which also tend to be mixed-used (as in not reserved for recreation, but also used for forestry or ranching etc.).

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#110

Post by KennyBlanken »

1024core wrote: post #108

> Van, truck or tent camp in California's top outdoor destinations for $0 a night. ... plus $100/year. Why is the annual fee mentioned near the bottom of the page?

Because Warmshowers membership is $30, once and if they mentioned their service (with a tiny fraction of the users and sites) costs $100/year up front, even more people would leave.

It's all about delaying the unpopular bit as much as possible so people sigh and go "well I'm already most of the way through setting up an account..."

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