Day 26: Paying To Stay When Van Traveling
A lesson I learned in my first week of van living is that it’s too stressful to be stubborn about finding free places to stay in your van overnight, at least when you are staying in or near populous towns and cities. The time it takes to find a comfortable free spot is extensive and many of the free apps that claim to identify free spots are limited (including many of these).
Boondockers Welcome
I am staying in an ex-van-traveler’s parking lot in North Port, Florida, thanks to the paid app called Boondockers Welcome. The app cost me a few twenties but the host provides everything free.
In addition to offering water and power, he helped me fix an error in my battery bank and made me popcorn and a smoothie after inviting me to the backyard to chat in his lanai. I think this type of Boondockers Welcome host is rare as hosts are only required to offer you a place to park. Everything else is a bonus.
So this paid app is worth it. Although it is part of Harvest Hosts which I have had hits and misses with, Boondockers Welcome seems to have hosts who are genuinely interested in meeting fellow travelers and not overly concerned about people buying things from them or giving them money. This exchange of money is what makes Harvest Hosts awkward at times.
Hipcamp
From chatting at a dog park with a man named Scott, I discovered a place in Tampa called the Fort De Soto County Park. Only one paid camping spot of hundreds is available for Sunday only (the remaining spots are filled every other day for months out), but I need a place to stay every night for the foreseeable future when I am in Tampa, starting tomorrow.
This is when I looked at Hipcamp and found a promising result. It’s thirty dollars per night but the owner of the farm provides wifi (which is a pain point for me right now), has an expansive fruit farm, and provides water. There is also a bunch of land for Chester to run around. This saves me driving time as I don’t have to venture out to a park every morning and evening for his exercise. Everything is there.
Moving forward
It was romantic to think that I could live for free on the land like Mike Hudson talked about in his book, but that’s not realistic now. Perhaps when I go further west and have a better internet solution—or when I take an extended vacation—but not now.
In any case, I am excited to go further north to Tampa. I’ve been there before and it’s more fitting for me than southwest Florida. I am in retirement-ville and parking lot city as we speak. However, the weather is nice and I’m finding some good trails on the outskirts so it’s all good. It beats being in the icy winter climate of the Northeast.
I choose to be happy.
