Can you live out of a van at a truck stop?

I don't think I would want to spend more than a couple of weeks living in a van, even a camper van. Just too small. But my goal is to buy an RV and live in it. That way I can move anytime I want. At least till I save enough to buy property. Also I want to move to TN. To be closer to my son in MD. But I don't know what area I like as I've never been to TN.

 

Land between the lakes area is awesome, around Chattanooga is also great.

 

Depends on where you were at. A few, very few you could get by for a week or more. Most places would spot a vehicle that someones living in and call the cops.

I don't mind living in my truck for weeks at a time, but the biggest fear I've always had is living in a car. Or of course on the street.

 

Southern Calif communities are onto the "rubber tramp" phenom, and like has been mentioned passed laws making it illegal to sleep in a motor vehicle anywhere in the town between the hours ofmidnight and 06:00.
We delivered a 65 trailer show to a park in Irvine CA (cirque du soleil) and the cops busted iur drivers for taking their 10 hour break and sleeping in their trucks. I had to raise hell to get the mayor to back off that abuse.

 

Ok I got some experience in this, as my old job took me all over the East Coast in a class B MH, and then in a small Class C Toyota MH.

Truck stops are a snap. Like I said I was in a small MH, and not once was I ever hassled about overtly parking in the front parking lot. Don't park in back with the trucks. Go in, use the showers, eat, kick back in the drivers lounge, whatever. As long as you're a paying customer, no one will say a word. Oh, and park close enough that you can pick up the free wi-fi, if they offer it. I used to pull in, fuel up, drop some black water if they had a dump station, get a shower and maybe something at the restaurant. Then, it was out to the RV for a little NetFlix or web-surfing, then call it a night.

During the day you will probably be out and about whatever area you are in, so the day shift won't even know you exist. Just pull in around dusk and leave in the morning before like 10am and you'll be fine.

Walmart won't question you, unless the municipality has ordinances stating otherwise, in which case it will be the local constabulary banging on the side of your van at 2a.

Just make sure you go in and buy stuff. And don't stay there for days on end. A day or two, then somehwere else for a day or two, then back to WM, and no one knows the diff. Park out on the perimeter. If there are trucks parking out there, stick around them. Lotsa O/O's use WM for their personal truck storage, so if you park by the trucks they just think you left your van there and went off in your truck. Park near a WM truck. They definitely won't mess with you then.

Another Pro-Tip: Park on the side of the WM where the McDonalds is located. Free wi-fi!!1! And, WM restrooms are cleaned like very hour or so, so walk right in and sit right down, no worries

You're in a cargo van, which is a whole different movie, amenities-wise. You'll get sick of "urban camping" after a couple weeks, so if I were you I would find a place to live real quick.

Any questions, feel free to PM. I did this every summer for like seven years, so there probably isn't too much I haven't seen out there in the urban campground.

 

You can get away with it at the pilot in Hesperia off the 15. Its a bust at the TA in Ontario.

 

What area/county/city do you plan on settling down in? I recommend Orange County if you can afford it. Thats where all the white Republicans are (minus Santa Ana).

 

I stayed in Adelanto for 2 years. Adelanto and victorville are pretty ghetto. Out of the high desert i recommend Apple Valley first and Hesperia second.