Is The World Closing in on Us?

I was messaging with an "occasional friend" this morning, and he was dealing with a very difficult time in his life.

I call Ben an "occasional friend" because he's always on the move, traveling around the country and beyond... what is sometimes called a "van lifer." So he ends up out of the loop for a few months, and then occasionally pops up.

Just to clarify, Ben is not some impoverished homeless person. He has a very nice, modern and well equipped van that is mostly like a small RV, and he lives in his van because he loves to travel and see new places. He's also a "digital nomad" whose job as a contract website security specialist can be done from pretty anywhere with good wifi.

He was not his usual excited self, however.

Seems there are more and more laws being passed here in the USA making it illegal to sleep in a vehicle many different places.

These are mostly state and city laws — not federal — but they are definitely having an adverse effect on the freedom of van life.

Sure, you can still stay at a campground, but those tend to have their own limitations... here in our state, for example, you can only stay 10 consecutive days in a state park campground, and no more than a total of 90 days, spread across all our state parks. Besides, many van lifers choose their lifestyle because they can usually manage to not pay nightly camping fees, which can add up to a lot of money, pretty quickly. Our state parks mostly charge $30-$45 per night.

Some commentators insist this is actually a "war on poor people," because it adversely affect those who are homeless and living in their cars/vans because they have no other place to go, and they can't afford to rent housing, at the current outlandish rates.

The official justification is that municipalities want to get people out of their cars and into housing... but that entirely misses the point that most van dwellers are living in their vans because they can't afford housing. For those reading this from outside the USA, a reminder that there's no "social support" system in this country.

We talked for a while, and it sounded most likely that Ben was likely to end up trying to find places with lots of property where the landowner might allow him to park his van in a remote corner of the land where he would not disturb.

Without getting into the whole "conspiracy theory" angle, it sometimes does feel like the world is increasingly closing in on those who try to live independently, according to their own terms. And if you don't have a lot of money (possibly by choice) you end up as a 2nd class citizen.

Ben is on his way to New Mexico next, where he gets to spend a few months parked in a friend's side yard, away from prying eyes and able to use the house wifi and a power cord plugged into the garage.

He's better off than most, because he is very resourceful and spent many years living on farms in developing nations.

When I'll next hear from him, I don't know.

Thanks for stopping by, and have great rest of your week!

How about YOU? Have you ever lived in an RV or van? How was the experience for you? Have you ever been homeless? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2025.08.05 22:51 PDT
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