I'm looking for advice on Urban Camping

[dug]

So, to save money I want to camp in various places I find if they 'feel' like they would be good/safe.


But I was up in Northern Idaho last weekend and decided to try urban camping out, and it was A LOT harder than I was expecting it to be to find a place I felt good about throwing down a sleeping bag. We eventually ended up sleeping in a park and being woken up by sprinklers both nights.


Do I just not know what to look for, or is this something you just put up with when urban camping?

Also, suppose an authority stumbles upon you while you are sleeping on city property, what are the penalty's and/or fines asscociated with that?

I had a good friend and she camped in some pretty riskay places (park benches, under a tree on the sidewalk, steps on a back street) and mentioned that she was often woken up by a police man, but they just told her she needed to be on her way. No fines or anything.

[TheJake]

roofs of KFC's and Taco Bell's are some of the choicest of spots I've heard!

Might wanna check that out! I know there is a ladder on the side of everyone of those buildings and there's always food in the dumpster if that's your thing!

I slept a few times downtown denver but that was in front of or around the REI and it was obvious to all that I was there for a reason (GARAGE SALE!!!) but that's my only experience with urban camping.

[dug]

roofs of a fast food restaurant... that seems risky, but feasable.

I should add that I'm traveling through Europe, so if possible advice geared that direction would be very helpful


Lizz pm'd me a Wiki link on Urban Camping. She was too afraid to post it because it might be considered spam. I have no clue what Tpunk's policy is on what exactly Spam is, but in my humble opinion this is not spam and a GREAT idea.

Urban Camping Wiki : so there's the link, it's all empty, but if we all add a little advice here and there, it can turn into a powerful guide

[c0urt]

last time i did it, i was in the southeast U.S. on a sunday night, SO i crashed on the roof of a gas station

[ladaz]

I guess it kind of depends on the country and city you're in. Your biggest concern wouldn't be police as they would probably just ask you to move on and it would also be an added sense of protection if you knew they patrolled that area. My guess (as I haven't really done this - only slept in my car or in train/bus stations and airports) would be smaller parks in nicer neighborhoods; though the rooftop idea sounds pretty good, even for Europe.

By the way, what part of N. Idaho did you camp out? I'm from that area. Just curious.

[zylah]

how about infront of any ticket agency, or store
ppl would then just assume u were waiting to be the first one in the next day.

[dug]

Originally posted by ladaz@Jul 5 2006, 11:29 AM
I guess it kind of depends on the country and city you're in.* Your biggest concern wouldn't be police as they would probably just ask you to move on and it would also be an added sense of protection if you knew they patrolled that area.* My guess (as I haven't really done this - only slept in my car or in train/bus stations and airports) would be smaller parks in nicer neighborhoods; though the rooftop idea sounds pretty good, even for Europe.*

By the way, what part of N. Idaho did you camp out?* I'm from that area.* Just curious.

[snapback]129617[/snapback]

I was up in Coeur d'Alene for the Iron Man competition a few weeks ago... I just found a dark are of a nice public park and threw my stuff down. I was woken up by sprinklers both nights though oh well...

how about infront of any ticket agency, or store
ppl would then just assume u were waiting to be the first one in the next day.

That is seriously an amazing idea :D I'll deffinately put it to the test.

[thekid]

if im in a city where there is a airport or train station open 24 hours i always crash in there. if you cant find one, parks are the best bet. havent been woken up by sprinklers yet.

the roof idea will work in certain places but you might be in a city where there are only sky scrapers, and they will be impossible to get up onto.

kinda funny how im writeing this as im sleeping in the madrid airport tonight

[morte]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dug @ Jul 13 2006, 06:13 AM) [snapback]130777[/snapback]</div>

I was up in Coeur d'Alene for the Iron Man competition a few weeks ago... I just found a dark are of a nice public park and threw my stuff down. I was woken up by sprinklers both nights though oh well...
That is seriously an amazing idea :D I'll deffinately put it to the test.
[/b]

i am from western montana,(but in europe now) about two hours from Coeur d'Alene i once slept in the bushes next to the olive garden there. it worked out ok