Living in your vehicle is tough enough and sometimes its hard to know where to put it. Let me run you through the best apps, secrets, and recommendations I have found as a van lifer.
Download Apps
The best apps to have for finding parking are
- IOverlander 2
- Spot Angels
- Land id
There are many apps out there, but these are the ones that are most user friendly, free, and I use so much when finding parking.
IOverlander 2 is a great app for finding a sleeping spot. They have so many filters to narrow your search down to exactly what you’re looking for. I usually had on wild camping and informal campsites on to find the safest and freest parking for the night. The nicest feature on this app is the reviews for sleeping spot. Then you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. I have never paid for a campsite to sleep at. You don’t need Wi-Fi to run the app, which is great for when you are in the middle of know where. They have a bunch of other camping related features as well.
Spot Angels is used for city parking. I love to explore cities while traveling in the van, but it can get expensive. This app shows you an ariel view of the city streets and highlights in green the free parking. If you have a big rig, I would suggest a parking garage or parking outside the city a little. For most medium sized to small vans, city parking shouldn’t be a problem. The free street parking is always hit or miss. If you are looking for quick parking in the city, go for the parking garage, Spot Angels will help you find the cheapest option for your vehicle.
Land id is a great app for staying out of trouble. You can stay on publicly owned land for free like BLM land or a state forest. However, there are some individuals who own the surrounding land that can get intertwined into the state forest. I use Land id to zoom in on where I am staying for the night and make sure that it is owned by the state and not an individual. If they are nice and you accidentally sleep there you’ll be okay, but you could get in trouble for trespassing.
Maps
Google and Apple Maps are great for starting to find a spot. Especially if you are looking for a scenic spot by a lake or the ocean. This is the place to find parking that you think could be good. Scenic over looks, pull offs, and small little dirt patches are pretty much what you are looking for on Apple Maps. This method is a little more risky and requires more research, but can be great if you find an undiscovered spot.
Types of Spots
There are a couple different environments to sleep in when traveling. Bugs and road noise can be some determining factors for some people.
- Parking Lots: Walmart, Cracker Barrel, Grocery Stores, 24hr Planet Fitness, Cabela’s, Ship Docks, Trailheads
- Pros: safety surrounded by the public, level sleeping, bathrooms
- Cons: noise outside, not very scenic, risk of the knock
- The Forest: Wild camping on BLM land, state forests, or spot on the side of the road
- Pros: scenic, privacy, peaceful
- Cons: bugs, animals may be curious, alone in the woods
- Friend’s House: Ask people you may know in the area if they have a spot for you to crash for the night
- Pros: safety, no potential knock, reunite with your friend
- Cons: coordinate schedules together, don’t be a pest
- Rest Stop: Use these sparingly, nice for traveling to a destination
- Pros: Quick and convenient, bathrooms, showers
- Cons: Noisy, truckers may get mad at you for taking up a spot
Free Land
There is a lot of land up for grabs for van lifers. Which is awesome because we don’t own any land. There are two types of land up for sleeping on and they are both owned by the government. There is BLM land and state forests.
BLM
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has set aside land to keep natural. This is where ecosystems are thriving and companies cannot slap a Walmart parking lot on it. There is a lot of BLM land on the west coast but you can find some pieces all over the country. They are constantly pumping in money to restore habitats so if you stay here, make sure to leave it as you found it. You can find lots of recreational activities on their site as well.
State Forests
Camping in any state forest is allowed, but there are some rules that come with it. If staying at one spot for longer than one night you will need a permit. It’s easy to just pick up and find a new spot each night though. As well, when picking your site it must be 100ft or more from a water source and be carful when having a fire.
State Parks
I utilized state parks during the day. They are a perfect place to park and explore. Especially during the weekdays, there are not many people there. Sometime they are also connected to a campground where we filled up on water, use the bathroom, and other amenities. Many state parks have beaches and hikes that are fun to explore. You may need a recreation pass for some states. They are only about $15 so it’s not too much of an investment. Here’s a list of states with free state park entry
- Arkansas
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
My Recommendations
I prioritize low noise and safety when picking my sleeping spot. I found myself in parking lots more often than wild camping spots. The best place I found on IOverlander was a parking lot at a ferry/ ship dock in Ludington, MI. Its was so cool to sleep next to a giant ship and there was no noise at night. Actually, another van lifer pulled up in the same parking lot to sleep for the night.
It was nice to have a little van community. I just choose parking lots more often because of less bugs and the safety of having others around me. I figure if something were to happen it would be better having others around rather than the middle of the woods. So yeah, I would recommend parking lots, but I am working on getting more comfortable wild camping.