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

landcamp.org

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

#121

Post by jstarfish »

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…

It's exploitative at any price. Someone is bearing the cost of maintaining a physical campsite to offer something out of goodwill. Charging people for access to it is scummy.

It's like those parking scams at stadiums. All the lots are full, but some dude in a reflective vest starts directing traffic into a private lot, collects $40 per car and disappears into the night. After the game, everyone finds their cars booted/ticketed.

Next up: a subscription service to borrow books for free.

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

#122

Post by culi »

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…

I've also used and tried to contribute to https://boondocking.org/ but I find that the data is often sparse

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

#123

Post by kubectl_h »

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…

In the White Mountain National Forest, unimproved camping is 200 feet from water sources and trails, 1/4 mile from roads. If you have OnX (not sure if Gaia supports this, worth checking), you can drop a pin on the road and create a radius to get an idea of how far you need to go.

I have boondocked in my truck in turnaround/parking areas on little traveled forest roads and never had an issue, but the rangers have been known to knock on windows at the really busy trailheads (really really busy, since covid) as people are known to sleep in their cars to get an alpine start and sometimes they'll overflow into the shoulders of the road.

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

#124

Post by alistairSH »

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.

That’s news to me.

VA/WV has the George Washington National Forest, Mt Rogers National Recreational Area, Shenandoah National Park, multiple Wilderness areas (Dolly Sods, etc). Abundant state parks with a mix of established campgrounds and backcountry camping.

We don’t have the huge swaths of BLM land. But outdoor access is still pretty great (at least from the DC/Mid-Atlantic urban corridor).

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

#125

Post by js2 »

zucked wrote: post #33
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…

Everything you wrote is bang on - please, please, PLEASE: Leave no trace. Haul out your garbage. Don't shoot, shit, or camp within 100 yards of streams, creeks, or rivers. Don't make fire rings where they already exist. Abide by fire restrictions that might vary by county. Stay on existing, marked hiking and motor vehicle trails. As a resident of the West (which has huge swaths of "public" land) I am so tired of folk…

> Don't shoot, shit, or camp within 100 yards of streams, creeks, or rivers.

Folks who've never shit in the woods before may have some trepidation about it. There's a classic book on the subject:

https://www.amazon.com/How-Shit-Woods-4th-Environmentally/dp...

The Internet Archive has the 2nd edition:

https://archive.org/details/howtoshitinwoods00meye

Relatedly, assume all water sources are contaminated and filter before drinking. Giardia is no fun.

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

#126

Post by kubectl_h »

hesdeadjim wrote: post #100
ghostly_s wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

We’re so lucky out here in the west. Practically infinite access to nature. Contrast this to Maine, which despite being enormous has next to nothing for public land.

True, but Maine (and NH/VT) have the distinction of having implicit/legal trespass. So if you are in the know on where there are large tracts of unposted private land managed for logging (not talking about the North Maine Woods, which is amazing - and vast - but requires a fee to enter) you can have really great experiences in wilderness-ish places.

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

#127

Post by Turing_Machine »

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.

(laughs in Alaskan)

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

#128

Post by jmspring »

solardev wrote: post #47
jmspring wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$100/year, $0.27/day is not in the realm of privilege. The groups you mention spend more than that a year to upgrade gear/etc. I call bollocks on this.

I think this is missing the point. It's not "Can I afford $100 for a year's worth of travel", it's that communities have been sharing hosting/staying for a long time already, for free or nearly free. Then suddenly a new company shows up, offers the same service, but now wants to charge hosts and guests $100/yr for doing the same thing as before. Why should they pay that? What does the new company offer? FWIW, it is a…

I didn't miss the point. The groups you mention spend significant sums on equipment each year. They probably also drink coffee from places like starbucks/etc. They have disposable income and $100/year is a pittance.

Your point of pre-existing free services is a whole different matter and has merits of it's own to discuss. I think, as someone pointed out, couchsurfing.org got kinda weird/shady. I was a member years ago and just stopped paying attention (I recall when there were mailing lists/news groups for such). I think money spent on verification makes sense these days.

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

#129

Post by strken »

talldatethrow wrote: post #118
webnrrd2k wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But try to be aware of what you're signing up for: Death Valley Germans [0] [0] https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hu...

I spent 10 days in death valley offroading. You aren't signing up for that if you stay on trails, even ones that are marked for 4x4s. We did 700 miles INSIDE death valley, yet all on real dirt trails. Would I leave an official trail in death valley? No. Is it perfectly safe as long as it's not 110+, even if you have a mechanical failure? Yes.

If you've got water and shade, someone knows where you are, you don't have any underlying health problems, and you're not exerting yourself, then any dry heat on earth is survivable. The saddest thing about cases like the Germans in Death Valley is how most of the mistakes were made before they even entered the park, and how easily they could have been fixed.

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

#130

Post by culi »

boondocking, $80/year for stays, $180/year to also stay at wineries, farms, breweries, etc https://www.boondockerswelcome.com/

boondocking, community-submitted tips https://boondocking.org/

camping, parks, hosting, for-profit https://www.campendium.com/

nature-loving free campers, 501c3 https://freeroam.app/

free campsites, community-submitted tips https://freecampsites.net/

rv camping membership https://harvesthosts.com/

very bougie/expensive hipster, van life membership and blockchain thing https://www.kift.com/

hosting, 3 stays free $100/year otherwise, CA only https://www.landcamp.org/

bicycle tourists https://www.warmshowers.org/

couchsurfing, social network https://www.couchsurfing.com/

airbnb for driveways basically, very expensive https://vanly.app/

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