Stealth Camping in San Francisco, Redwoods Camping in Bodega Bay

[Rizzian]

I'm pretty sure that my Whole Foods has resident "stealth campers" who are parked in their lot every night, connected to the free EV chargers. Same cars night after night.

I'll be the first to admit, that I've NEVER really enjoyed camping and I'm guessing that's not a particularly popular opinion in these forums. In fact, the last time I went out with my boys on an overnight Boy Scouts excursion, I was laying there on my deflated mattress, sweating in the heat, staring at the roof of the tent and counting my blessings that it was only one night before I could go back to the comfort of my home and bed. While I still appreciate nature, enjoy visiting new places, making new friends, and having experiences - camping has only served to reinforce my appreciation for the comforts, amenities, and technology that I have worked so hard to provide for myself and my family. Perhaps I've gone soft with all of the modern conveniences I enjoy, but I feel that it's even stranger for people to spend tons of money on lightweight, waterproof, outdoor "tech" clothing and equipment, only to drive a few miles "off-the-grid" and devote a weekend to living like time traveling cyber-frontiersman visiting the American West of the 1800s.
I hate camping.
There, I said it.

Years ago, as a young, struggling student and musician, I'd spent more nights than I wanted to sleeping in cars and vans throughout the Midwest. While it wasn't always a first choice, a van or car with room to lay flat or decent, reclining seats certainly beat sleeping outside. I guess where we differ is that I don't understand where the "adventure" would be in leaving behind my comfortable home and parking my $90k+ SUV next to the displaced and homeless folks living out of their cars at Whole Foods. Those folks are "stealth camping" because if the police catch on, they might not have another place to charge in this town and it's 90+ degrees every day. This whole "let's go car camping for fun" thing leaves a bit of a bourgeois, privileged residue in my mouth. It's kind of like showing up at a soup kitchen and having DoorDash serve you a lavish 8-course spread from Ruth's Chris (with wine pairings, of course) and calling it a "stealth picnic."

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[ChargeSetGo]

I'm pretty sure that my Whole Foods has resident "stealth campers" who are parked in their lot every night, connected to the free EV chargers. Same cars night after night.

I'll be the first to admit, that I've NEVER really enjoyed camping and I'm guessing that's not a particularly popular opinion in these forums. In fact, the last time I went out with my boys on an overnight Boy Scouts excursion, I was laying there on my deflated mattress, sweating in the heat, staring at the roof of the tent and counting my blessings that it was only one night before I could go back to the comfort of my home and bed. While I still appreciate nature, enjoy visiting new places, making new friends, and having experiences - camping has only served to reinforce my appreciation for the comforts, amenities, and technology that I have worked so hard to provide for myself and my family. Perhaps I've gone soft with all of the modern conveniences I enjoy, but I feel that it's even stranger for people to spend tons of money on lightweight, waterproof, outdoor "tech" clothing and equipment, only to drive a few miles "off-the-grid" and devote a weekend to living like time traveling cyber-frontiersman visiting the American West of the 1800s.
I hate camping.
There, I said it.

Years ago, as a young, struggling student and musician, I'd spent more nights than I wanted to sleeping in cars and vans throughout the Midwest. While it wasn't always a first choice, a van or car with room to lay flat or decent, reclining seats certainly beat sleeping outside. I guess where we differ is that I don't understand where the "adventure" would be in leaving behind my comfortable home and parking my $90k+ SUV next to the displaced and homeless folks living out of their cars at Whole Foods. Those folks are "stealth camping" because if the police catch on, they might not have another place to charge in this town and it's 90+ degrees every day. This whole "let's go car camping for fun" thing leaves a bit of a bourgeois, privileged residue in my mouth. It's kind of like showing up at a soup kitchen and having DoorDash serve you a lavish 8-course spread from Ruth's Chris (with wine pairings, of course) and calling it a "stealth picnic."

I'm not trying to invalidate your opinions and preferences, but I think anyone can easily just reply back and say: "To each their own". Also I try not to engage with content that I am not interested in...

People like different things and it's okay to agree/disagree, or not understand why at all. It was definitely an interesting read.

 

[HaveBlue]

The irony of parking your car in a city over night but not being able to remain in the vehicle. Many people pass through towns on their travels but don't have hotel reservations. Many like to camp out in the wild and sleeping in their truck is part of the adventure.

 

[docwhiz]

The irony of parking your car in a city over night but not being able to remain in the vehicle. Many people pass through towns on their travels but don't have hotel reservations. Many like to camp out in the wild and sleeping in their truck is part of the adventure.

Stealth city camping is much different than rural stealth.
Different rules, norms, etc.
Part of having the Rivian is the off road adventure and wild camping (boondocking).
I've never considered city camping

 

[Robin]

Hi all,

Back with some information on stealth camping this time!

We drove up the West Coast from SF to Bodega Bay and needed a place to spend the night. Found a spot frequented by RVs and vans, so I thought we would fit right in. We were parked next to 5-6 RVs, a couple of vans, and a few SUVs clearly stealth camping as well.

It was Memorial Day weekend so it was a bit rowdy at times but things were quiet after 11pm. Overall a great experience and loved waking up to the crisp air and the views. Barely used any energy overnight as we only used AC at 65F half the night. We relied more on the sleeping bag this time and it worked out fine. The ground was not flat at all so leveling feature came to the rescue as usual.

The Hipcamp spot we found near Bodega Bay was awesome because we were the only one there at the time (2 other spots near us) and it was just beautiful! We joined up with my sister, brother-in-law, and their dog, Deckard. I think Deckard had the most fun out of all of us. ?

I was able to finish the whole trip with a single charge, which was a nice plus. I did charge once before the trip at the Rivian fast charger in San Rafael. That's when I learned that the Rivian slow chargers are free! It was completely full, being used by Chevy Bolts and some hybrids.

Let me know if you have any questions! Love to help fellow campers go adventuring. 2 and a half months in with the R1S and doing something new every weekend has been a blast. Can't wait for more!

As always here's a vid if anyone is interested:

Awesome ?

 

[Robin]

I'm pretty sure that my Whole Foods has resident "stealth campers" who are parked in their lot every night, connected to the free EV chargers. Same cars night after night.

I'll be the first to admit, that I've NEVER really enjoyed camping and I'm guessing that's not a particularly popular opinion in these forums. In fact, the last time I went out with my boys on an overnight Boy Scouts excursion, I was laying there on my deflated mattress, sweating in the heat, staring at the roof of the tent and counting my blessings that it was only one night before I could go back to the comfort of my home and bed. While I still appreciate nature, enjoy visiting new places, making new friends, and having experiences - camping has only served to reinforce my appreciation for the comforts, amenities, and technology that I have worked so hard to provide for myself and my family. Perhaps I've gone soft with all of the modern conveniences I enjoy, but I feel that it's even stranger for people to spend tons of money on lightweight, waterproof, outdoor "tech" clothing and equipment, only to drive a few miles "off-the-grid" and devote a weekend to living like time traveling cyber-frontiersman visiting the American West of the 1800s.
I hate camping.
There, I said it.

Years ago, as a young, struggling student and musician, I'd spent more nights than I wanted to sleeping in cars and vans throughout the Midwest. While it wasn't always a first choice, a van or car with room to lay flat or decent, reclining seats certainly beat sleeping outside. I guess where we differ is that I don't understand where the "adventure" would be in leaving behind my comfortable home and parking my $90k+ SUV next to the displaced and homeless folks living out of their cars at Whole Foods. Those folks are "stealth camping" because if the police catch on, they might not have another place to charge in this town and it's 90+ degrees every day. This whole "let's go car camping for fun" thing leaves a bit of a bourgeois, privileged residue in my mouth. It's kind of like showing up at a soup kitchen and having DoorDash serve you a lavish 8-course spread from Ruth's Chris (with wine pairings, of course) and calling it a "stealth picnic."

??

 

[Ingo B]

Hi all,

Back with some information on stealth camping this time!

We drove up the West Coast from SF to Bodega Bay and needed a place to spend the night. Found a spot frequented by RVs and vans, so I thought we would fit right in. We were parked next to 5-6 RVs, a couple of vans, and a few SUVs clearly stealth camping as well.

It was Memorial Day weekend so it was a bit rowdy at times but things were quiet after 11pm. Overall a great experience and loved waking up to the crisp air and the views. Barely used any energy overnight as we only used AC at 65F half the night. We relied more on the sleeping bag this time and it worked out fine. The ground was not flat at all so leveling feature came to the rescue as usual.

The Hipcamp spot we found near Bodega Bay was awesome because we were the only one there at the time (2 other spots near us) and it was just beautiful! We joined up with my sister, brother-in-law, and their dog, Deckard. I think Deckard had the most fun out of all of us. ?

I was able to finish the whole trip with a single charge, which was a nice plus. I did charge once before the trip at the Rivian fast charger in San Rafael. That's when I learned that the Rivian slow chargers are free! It was completely full, being used by Chevy Bolts and some hybrids.

Let me know if you have any questions! Love to help fellow campers go adventuring. 2 and a half months in with the R1S and doing something new every weekend has been a blast. Can't wait for more!

As always here's a vid if anyone is interested:

That dog was SO excited to see you guys. Love it.

 

[HaveBlue]

Stealth city camping is much different than rural stealth.
Different rules, norms, etc.
Part of having the Rivian is the off road adventure and wild camping (boondocking).
I've never considered city camping

I never pictured rural camping as stealth. Seems like a car in the forest is just camping and sticks out like a sore thumb. In the City though where municipalities forbid overnighting in a vehicle, looking like just an ordinary parked car is the goal.

One time we wanted to go camping with our trailer in Pismo State Beach but it was overbooked. We went to a seedy motel that stank and had toilet paper between the sheets. Was so bad we were going to go sleep in the parking lot in our trailer but were too tired. Next morning we looked out the window and there was a Walmart across the freeway. Should have camped.

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