Here is a rough map of all public land for use by Americans. As you can see there is hardly any in the East.
If this leg of the adventure has taught me one thing it's that I need to stay in the West. There are just not enough free or cheap places to set up camp in the East to justify driving 1,500-2,000 miles East. Not for the type of adventure I'm on.
My plan is for my roaming boundary to stop where the public land stops. If I want to see things in the East, like Washington DC, Virgnia, the Civil War belt, etc. I will store my van in East Colorado, fly back, and rent/borrow a car to do this, probably during the Fall.
Kyle, most Wal-Marts don't mind vehicles parked in their lot overnight. That should give you a solid, free, place to stay near most metro areas. I've also had good luck overnighting in the parking lots for hotels, churches, auto dealers, 24 hour stores and police stations. Yeah, police stations. As long as you only pull in to sleep, they tend not to look at what's in there own yard.
ReplyDeleteI've stopped at Wal-Marts before, yep, but some towns over ride Wal-Mart policy's and prohibit overnight parking. Rest stops are good too in a pinch. My van still looks like a work van so I reckon I could get away at industrial parks.
ReplyDeleteThese are all good in a pinch. But I don't want to be van dwelling in urban environments all the time, I want to be adventure dwelling in the wilderness as much as possible.