Joy, that's some interesting insights. I find it reasurring that,
(especially from a womans' POV) you felt comfortable stealth camping
and didn't have any trouble in regards to safety. As Martha Stewart
would say: "it's a good thing". (Just what you need. Another TV
reference  ;^)

My goal is to do the "long trip living in the van" thing. As of now, I
need to do some upgrades, (engine swap most importantly) before I do
this. Regardless, I am heartened to read of your overall experience.

One would assume that a 6' 2" dude would have no hesitations parking
in neighbourhoods in strange cities, but I still do. Maybe I just need
to practice stealth camping in my own hood'!

Since I am curious about this stealth stuff I searched archives found
some good tips at.

Others may find this helpful:

http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0308C&L=vanagon&P=R11822

Or:

http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?S2=vanagon&L=vanagon&q=&s=stealth&f=&a=july+2000&b=jan+2007

Anything to add Joy?

Or other Vanagon Stealth Pros?

TIA,

--
Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia.

http://web.mac.com/tubaneil

On 1/27/07, Joy Hecht <hecht.joy@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Nathaniel,
>
> I'd say the simple answer is "way too many cop shows."
>
> I traveled around the US in my van for two and a half years, all over the
> country.  I would not dream of carrying a weapon of any kind.  I camped in
> all kinds of places - truck stops, rest stops, campgrounds, city streets,
> friends' driveways, you name it.
>
> I had no trouble whatsoever.  None.  Nada.  Zilch.  No one ever bothered me.
> The only time I ever felt a tad nervous was camping one night in the parking
> lot of a local park somewhere in Pennsylvania when a few kids started drag
> racing in the lot in the middle of the night.
>

SNIP

> But don't worry about random gun violence.  It is not a concern.  A motor
> accident is a much more likely risk.
>

SNIP

> Joy

> :::-----Original Message-----
> :::From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> :::Of Nathaniel Poole
> :::Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2007 4:43 PM
> :::To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> :::Subject: Re was Alarm system, was Bus story - using a gun??? Now this gun
> :::stuff worries me; VC, honest
> :::

SNIP

> Should this really be a
> :::concern or is this just selective reporting in the media and too many cop
> :::shows? Anyone else run into problems with folks waving guns in their
> :::faces
> :::while traveling in the US? I've never run into it in any of my trips to
> :::the
> :::US so far.
> :::
> :::Nathaniel
> :::
>