Do you ‘wild camp’?

I have often thought about the ‘need to leave in a hurry’ in our previous van (non Cali). In over 700 nights we have never needed to and these we’re nearly all Aires or off grid. There was just the one occasion in a car park next to a beautiful beach in Portugal that at 01:00 in the morning became the centre of operations for youfs doing doughnuts in their cars or trading in drugs (in their car parked right behind us!)……. I must admit I did stay awake and keep a cheeky eye out for an hour or so until they had finished and left….. then we were on our own again and woke up a few hours later as if nothing had happened :D

I think if the reason for wanting to make a fast get away is to escape from marauding invaders the pop top would probably make no difference……. all it would take to block you in is either box you in between 2 cars or simply let your tyres down! then what would you do?

‘A life lived in fear is a life half lived’ …….. just get out there and enjoy it:cool:
 
Overnighters 90% Wild/Free Camp.
Holidays and travelling 60% Wild/Free Camp the other 40% in Campsites is usually for Laundry, Hot Showers, Security in dodgy areas and possibly hook up especially if we are not driving much and its overcast. Oh and fill up with Fresh water.
Preference is always Wild Camp.
 
Corradobrit said:
To leave in a hurry (or slowly) I would first need a Campervan. But to me it's common sense. 99.9% of the time probably never necessary but for that 0.1% you'd probably wish you had kept it down. Obviously if logistics demand pop top up then its worth risking the downsides.
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This I don’t understand; Why would there be a 0.1% you’d need to take into account? To rush in a hurry? If you think of that chance, you should never put your roof up… and therefore could safe a lot of money by just buying a van ;):D Having a poptop and use it isn’t a downside, it’s a great plus!
Tip: if you (or partner) doesn’t feel safe for an overnight stay, leave and find another place. We had that one time in 10 years (don’t know how many nights in the westy), a place in Italy where we were visited by some men with strange questions and too much interest in out stuff. So we packed up and left; a little later we had a beautiful spot in a village. That’s all. Never thought of leaving soon in any other occasion.
 
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Had to leave pretty quick one night in Wales (middle of nowhere up in the hills not a tourist carpark either) as local youths decided to turn up in loads of cars around midnight letting fireworks off pretty close to the van, may have been aiming at it who knows!
Plus the dog is freaked out by fireworks, was gone in 30secs.
So yep it’s a risk so always be prepared.
 
We mostly wild-camp, U.K., Ireland and abroad. Using park4night and other such apps. When on holiday proper, we pull into a campsite every few days (trying to avoid weekends when they are busier ) for shower, laundry etc. I keep a log and we’ve now spent 256x nights camping in the van. I’d say only 20% of these have been on official campsites.

It’s not about the money, it’s just we prefer a remote place to ourselves in a scenic location. Or even a stealth camp in a city, so we can attend a gig or beer festival. Not once in all those nights have we had an issue with cops or anti-socials, but we do take our time to make sure it’s a good spot (which gets better with experience) and we leave no trace and respect the privacy of others along the way. We’re not completely anti-campsite, some campsites are better than others and we have a few which we do like to return to when in their areas. However, the large commercial camping sites, busy with families on holiday isn’t really our scene and we do our best to avoid them. We don’t have kids, but travel with our dog. So, the play-park, pool and kids clubs aren’t something we would use. A trail-head carpark serves us better allowing for maybe a sunrise or sunset hike.
 
When do car park warriors become "wild campers"? Asking for a friend. ;)
 
dspuk said:
When do car park warriors become "wild campers"? Asking for a friend. ;)
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My personal opinion is that neither definition relate to what we want.

Camping, to me involves living/sleeping in a structure other than a motor vehicle.

Car park warriors intimates taking up more space to park our vehicle in more space than allocated for other normal sized vehicles.

We look for a place to park our four wheeled vehicle to spend the night in. We should use the French rules as a guide, park in a location that inconveniences on one, place nothing but our vehicle tyres on the ground, and leave no trace of our being there except perhaps our tyre tracks.
 
deb8bd8d99970d3dba0810d2c2b33984.jpg

Currently wild camped here.
 
bvddobb said:
We love the filter in Park4Night for places only accessible with 4x4… Never any big whites there!
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Love the label “big whites”! Will use that from now on… (ours is a fog grey Cali)
 
Just been through this thread. Are people sleeping with the roof down concerned about the buildup of CO2 throughout the night. If you open the windows a little to compensate, is this not more unsafe than having the roof open?
 
acer said:
Just been through this thread. Are people sleeping with the roof down concerned about the buildup of CO2 throughout the night. If you open the windows a little to compensate, is this not more unsafe than having the roof open?
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No more unsafe than driving with the windows closed I would think. I’ve never heard of it being an issue I have to say.

I definitely open windows on both sides to create good ventilation when I cook with the roof down.

Happy to learn more though - never looked into it.
 
acer said:
Just been through this thread. Are people sleeping with the roof down concerned about the buildup of CO2 throughout the night. If you open the windows a little to compensate, is this not more unsafe than having the roof open?
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I have wind deflectors so crack the windows an inch or so. Never had an issue, open windows more and others when cooking with gas.
 
Cali Phillip said:
I have wind deflectors so crack the windows an inch or so. Never had an issue, open windows more and others when cooking with gas.
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Kayleigh said:
That’s exactly the way to do it.
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That’s what we did last night. Neither security, nor mosquitoes/midges were a problem last night, but do you have any concerns about these issues using this method?
Also, still interested in whether anyone has ever suffocated in a newish van with the roof down overnight. (I guess if they had, we would’ve heard about it already).
 
acer said:
That’s what we did last night. Neither security, nor mosquitoes/midges were a problem last night, but do you have any concerns about these issues using this method?
Also, still interested in whether anyone has ever suffocated in a newish van with the roof down overnight. (I guess if they had, we would’ve heard about it already).
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Must have done 600 nights solo like this in the west coast, so plenty of midge( all be it near a beach) and survived ! All the late said, if we are two, it’s noticeably more stuffy and better with the roof up ( bed down quieter) or open a side window.
 
acer said:
That’s what we did last night. Neither security, nor mosquitoes/midges were a problem last night, but do you have any concerns about these issues using this method?
Also, still interested in whether anyone has ever suffocated in a newish van with the roof down overnight. (I guess if they had, we would’ve heard about it already).
Click to expand...
From a security perspective I have never had a problem when sleeping in either urban or wild locations with the windows open behind the wind deflectors.
 
We are just back from 4 weeks traveling through Spain, Portugal and France. Park4night is a great way to find a good spot and there are a lot of 'free of charge' options that are great to stay, the nights we stayed on a campsite or camperparking where more about getting a shower, fill up the watertank or get some washing doen. On average we spend around 17 euro per night, no electricity and the two of us. Even on many of the free spots there is a change you have services like toilet and (drinking) water.
View attachment IMG_3731.jpegView attachment IMG_3385.jpegView attachment IMG_3325.jpeg
 
I'm waiting for the :-
Friend of a friend of a friend was gassed in their Campervan/Mtorhome/ Caravan while wild camping on an Aire or Campsite and £1000's of pounds of jewelry and gold bars they happened to be carrying were stolen - story/post.
 
WelshGas said:
I'm waiting for the :-
Friend of a friend of a friend was gassed in their Campervan/Mtorhome/ Caravan while wild camping on an Aire or Campsite and £1000's of pounds of jewelry and gold bars they happened to be carrying were stolen - story/post.
Click to expand...
Yes, I heard that story too!
 
acer said:
Very good! Did you need levelling ramps? Roof up? Hidden from the road? Car free at night? Always interested in how other people do things.
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We did use levelling ramps - even though not strictly legal in Spain. We were visible from the road. The roof was up.

Parking and sleeping in your car - even with the roof up - is legal anywhere in Spain unless parking is prohibited, or parking is allowed but sleeping in the car is prohibited. The latter is particularly true in places like the Pyrenees where backpackers might want to park for a few days but the parking might otherwise be overwhelmed by motorhomes.

However, to park lawfully overnight all four wheels must be on the ground, so levelling ramps are not strictly lawful for wild camping. I doubt many police know that rule, and even if they did I doubt they’d be arsed to do anything about it.
 
Amarillo said:
We did use levelling ramps - even though not strictly legal in Spain. We were visible from the road. The roof was up.

Parking and sleeping in your car - even with the roof up - is legal anywhere in Spain unless parking is prohibited, or parking is allowed but sleeping in the car is prohibited. The latter is particularly true in places like the Pyrenees where backpackers might want to park for a few days but the parking might otherwise be overwhelmed by motorhomes.

However, to park lawfully overnight all four wheels must be on the ground, so levelling ramps are not strictly lawful for wild camping. I doubt many police know that rule, and even if they did I doubt they’d be arsed to do anything about it.
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In my experience the Police do check known park-ups in Spain. I’ve seen several visits early in the morning. It’s best to leave nothing outside your van overnight as that will be construed as camping leading to a fine.

Edit: I didn’t know it was ok to keep the roof up while sleeping, so that’s good to know. Although I would probably avoid that while wild camping as I like to be prepared for an emergency exit if needed.
 
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