You're looking to travel/road trip/car camping affordably. And you're in the right place.
Over 90% of people plan to travel in 2025. With prices rising higher and higher, travel is becoming more difficult for many people.
The average hotel in the US cost, as of May 2024, was $160.40. The average Air BnB price at the same time was $163. For many folks, it’s hard to swing more than the occasional weekend trip because of cost. Lodging alone for a week-long trip at an average hotel would cost $1,122.8. If you’re going to set foot outside of the hotel, or eat any food, you’re going to be spending more than that. With accommodations being the biggest expense when traveling, removing that cost makes travel more accessible.
Here’s how I remove most, or all, costs associated with lodging and use my Car Camp kit to sleep on the cheap:
Stealth Camping. One of the most motivating parts of sleeping in my car is the ability to stealth camp. That means that whenever I'm feeling tired, it's easy to stop and find a place to sleep. I don't have to make it to the next KOA or state park campground.
I have black covers for my already tinted windows. With those on, no one can see inside my vehicle. For safety and to prepare, I’ll stop at a well-lit, gas station or fast food parking lot to get my bed set up, brush my teeth, pee, cover my back windows and get ready for bed. Then I’ll drive into a residential neighborhood, find a street with lots of trees or high retaining walls (so that folks in the houses, or the neighborhood watch people, don’t notice me). Lastly, I just park, and climb into bed. I’ve never had an issue parking my 2010 Subaru Forester on the street to sleep when following this plan. In the morning, I crawl into the front seat and drive to a parking lot to put my bed away and get ready for the day.
Cracker Barrel. Most Cracker Barrels not only allow, but encourage, vehicle camping in their parking lots. In fact, they have a designated RV parking area. When you’re sleeping in your car you’re not an RV, but I roll in after close and haven’t had any issues. There have been numerous times where the employees are already parked around me when I wake up in the morning. It's sometimes a strange feeling, but it's outweighed by the short walk to get a coffee or some pancakes.
Allstays. This is a site and app where you can look up truck stops, rest stops, box stores and more by state to see if other folks have had issues trying to park there overnight. It's a bit outdated and it a little cumbersome to use, but I'll take a free spot to park over a user-friendly website.
Walmart. Walmarts have historically allowed overnight parking. Post-pandemic with fewer Walmarts operating 24/7, fewer are allowing overnight parking. In fact, many now have security patrols to make sure you don’t sleep in their under-utilized parking lot at night. Allstays has an option for looking up Walmarts where you can check by store number which locations allow overnight parking. The most difficult part of this is determining the ID number of the Walmart closest to you.
Planet Fitness. With many locations still being open 24/7, Planet Fitness parking lots can be a good option for overnight parking – especially if you have a membership. Then you have your showers, bathroom, gym, and sleeping spot all in one place.
Hotels. I just explained how expensive hotels are to stay in, so why are hotels on the list for affordable accommodations? Because parking lots. Following the procedure for stealth camping (prepping my vehicle elsewhere and driving to my sleeping spot) I’ve slept in many hotel parking lots. The trick here is to make sure the hotel doesn’t require parking passes (which you can easily tell by looking at rearview mirrors) or a busy parking lot. My tips: I opt for hotels that are located in clusters. If guests, and yourself, have many hotels to choose from there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to find one that isn’t either too crowded where you might be noticed by guests coming and going or woken up repeatedly, or too empty where you’ll be conspicuous.
Rest stops & park n’ rides. If you’re a heavy sleeper, or in a pinch, these spaces can be a great option. Not all rest stops allow overnight parking though, so check to see if there are signs posted or a security patrol on duty. Many of these stops are for “resting” not a full night of sleep. Park n’ rides are another easy spot, though often noisy. With other cars parked overnight in a well-lit location, you can blend in easily.
HipCamp. This is not a completely free option, but compared to hotels it is much more affordable. HipCamp is like Air Bnb for camping and RV spots and also includes listings for glamping and lodging. If you’re just looking to park your car, I search for a tent spot knowing that it will have space for my Subaru. You can also message hosts to ask if they have other spots or rates available for just parking your car. This is a great option in more densely populated areas where I want to make sure that I’m not going to be disturbed.
National Forest. Many national forests offer dispersed camping areas that are free for 14 consecutive days in a 30-day period. These are on a first-come-first served basis. They are also more prolific in the west than on the east coast. The NFS within your state will have a list of available dispersed camping areas with linked maps.
Bureau of Land Management Areas. BLM land allows camping, similar to the NFS for 14 consecutive days in a 28 day period. These sites can be found via interactive map on the BLM website.
Casinos. I haven't personally tried this one yet, but with them being open 24/7, the parking lots seem fair game to me.
Friends and friends of friends. This might seem like an obvious one, but most folks just think of their network of personal friends. Most of those, because of the places that we met the friends, will be clustered together geographically. Where this comes in handy is your friends' friends and your friends' family. Before my 8-month stint on the road in 2021, I made marks on a map of the US where my friends and family were located. Then, I let my friends – close to me and elsewhere – know my plan and they connected me with their networks. I ended up having a parking spot with friends or friends-by-proxy in seven of the 10 states I visited – some states with many contacts.
Wherever you sleep in your car – paid or free – just remember to be respectful and as covert as possible. Many towns, cities and businesses have been cracking down on car camping and sleeping and van life over the last few years. Finding free places to sleep and travel is becoming harder and harder. Going unnoticed as car campers helps preserve this low cost way of travel and living, and preserves this option for car camping for recreation and necessity.