# Where do you like to sleep?



## superphoenix

Obviously it's best to be housed up, but where else do y'all prefer if that's not possible? I'm partial to rooftops since I can climb better than most people and no one will fuck with me or find me there. Otherwise, a little bit out in the woods or anywhere off the side of the road is usually a good spot. To memory, I haven't ever been bothered while stealth camping. Under a loading dock overpass on a lonely moonlit night has been good as well. Mostly, I don't want to deal with other people.

If you're out in the fields of the Midwest, though, where do y'all camp?


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## Deleted member 13433

That's actually a good question, and I wonder if under the stars is one of the answers, because that must be an incredible feeling to experience.


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## Deleted member 24782

I love sleeping on rooftops. Slept on the roof of this large vacant warehouse in Bloomington, IL, when I was traveling through on my way to Champaign. All the real bums and BS stay on the street while your higher up on a roof. Good for summer, catch a light breeze nobody fucks with you.


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## Deleted member 13433

The thing about rooftops, maybe this is a NYC thing.... I know my father used to tell me that when he was in the F.D.N.Y during the 1960s and 1970s, predominantly in the Lower East Side, he told me his biggest fear about going up on roof tops of tenements was coming across angry dogs !!

But that being said, yes... up high I would think is always better, and safer then dealing with what's down below.

*lots of edits, this is a pre-coffee comment


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## Matt Derrick

when i was homeless in los angeles, rooftops were by far the best places to sleep and you'd be surprised how many buildings leave their rooftop access ladders unlocked...


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## Johny

I always looked for some place hiding in plain sight somewhere that took some sort of effort to get to and away from anyone else who might be doing the same thing .
Roof tops are cool when you find the right one in the right place though.


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## nivoldoog

Generally I find all the patches of wood, bushes or tall grass and sleep there. My camo blankets and gear make it very easy to remain unseen. 

Or I just try to find NOT to sleep. Find the farthest spot away from social security offices, liquor stores and food banks and you should be far enough away from the home bums.


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## WanderLost

Ya rooftops are great in good weather. I also like construction sites and anywhere that doesn't have alot of foot traffic.
I climb over fences and walls sometimes just to be out of reach from passing homebums. Bridges are nice but it depends on the bridge.


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## r3yn

- Rooftops, rooftops, rooftops.
- And sometimes, if roof not possible, fire-escapes (borrow some extra cardboard from a recycling dumpster to cover the uncomfortableness)
- Top of Hotel Stairwell (by roof maintenance door) (perfect for winter / inclement weather (will require you blending in enough to get through parking garage / by front desk without drawing attention) 
- University (college) campuses (especially on the periphery, or even right in the middle of campus in a thicket of bushes) (top of stairwell also applies, here)
- If outside of downtown or in smaller town, church parking lots along fence/tree-lines
- Under an overpass on the outside of town / near the highway (good for early hitching, too)
- Business district, on warm exhaust grates (not ideal because cops and home-bums will likely accost you)
- Depending on the neighborhood, edge of rich people's back-yards (assuming no doggos or lighting / alarm systems) or golf courses in the trees
- If in Asia, 24 hour bath-houses or all-night KTV (karaoke) joints


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## Deleted member 25988

superphoenix said:


> Obviously it's best to be housed up, but where else do y'all prefer if that's not possible? I'm partial to rooftops since I can climb better than most people and no one will fuck with me or find me there. Otherwise, a little bit out in the woods or anywhere off the side of the road is usually a good spot. To memory, I haven't ever been bothered while stealth camping. Under a loading dock overpass on a lonely moonlit night has been good as well. Mostly, I don't want to deal with other people.
> 
> If you're out in the fields of the Midwest, though, where do y'all camp?


Honestly? Behind Walmart if you're in the midwest. NOBODY fucks with you there. 24 hour bathroom, cheap food for sale (canned shit, deli meats, granola bars) and there's usually security. The absolute best one I found was the north end walmart in Cheyenne, Wyoming. If anyone goes looking for it, there's a sweet concrete pad to the left of the walmart, it's actually behind Sams Club next door. But it's behind a huge growth of trees and it's fucking sweet. Just grab some cardboard to lay down & you're good to go.

Behind other strip malls are good too, you can grab pallets and make a little fort. Home Depot/Lowes etc are good to squat in those little garden sheds they have for sale. Just make sure to be out suuuuper early, because the staff start on shift at 5am and they might notice you coming out of them.

Light industrial areas are always great on weekends, because most small businesses are only open Monday-Friday. If you find a quiet area you could theoretically camp on a loading dock Friday night-Monday morning. Uhaul is a good one too, camp out in the back of the trailers or trucks in the yard. Just be careful; One buddy of mine got caught in the back of the truck box. The worker found him in there, slammed the back rolling door shut, fire up the truck and then started doing crazy donuts to fuck him up in the back. Opened it up, grabbed him and tossed him to the ground. Kicked him a few times, spat on him and told him to get the fuck off the property and never come back. So watch your ass and make sure you get out before sunrise.


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## WyldLyfe




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## superphoenix

WyldLyfe said:


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Sleeping behind a hill on a golf course? I don't get it


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## Bushpig

I posted this in another thread, but you can sleep in the drivers lounges in truck stops. TA was my personal hotel chain on my first hitching trip.


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## Grimy Poe

Preferably near two trees where I won't be bothered. That meant near nature trails or somewhere right outside of town. Once I posted up for the night underneath a bridge where the posts were just far enough away to set my hammock up, it was pretty solid spot but my pack was pretty exposed and that left me a bit paranoid. When the weather was bad I was working. If I didn't have a hammock, there were no trees, or I was too tired to look. I would just rough-it-out somewhere in plain sight with my bindle and sleep with my head on the soft side of my pack.


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## WanderLost

Grimy Poe said:


> Preferably near two trees where I won't be bothered. That meant near nature trails or somewhere right outside of town. Once I posted up for the night underneath a bridge where the posts were just far enough away to set my hammock up, it was pretty solid spot but my pack was pretty exposed and that left me a bit paranoid. When the weather was bad I was working. If I didn't have a hammock, there were no trees, or I was too tired to look. I would just rough-it-out somewhere in plain sight with my bindle and sleep with my head on the soft side of my pack.


Do you really use a bindle?


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## Grimy Poe

WanderLost said:


> Do you really use a bindle?


Yes, it normally consists of my sleeping bag, a small Winnie the Pooh blanket (featuring Pooh Bear, Tigger, and Piglet playing Icehocky), and a tarp all rolled up, sinched down to my pack. Bindles are great and leave me with more room in my pack.


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## WanderLost

Grimy Poe said:


> Yes, it normally consists of my sleeping bag, a small Winnie the Pooh blanket (featuring Pooh Bear, Tigger, and Piglet playing Icehocky), and a tarp all rolled up, sinched down to my pack. Bindles are great and leave me with more room in my pack.


Ok i was thinkin more of the bindle stick situation, and ive never seen anyone use that lol. I didn't know tying something to your pack was also considered a bindle..
Whatever works for you!


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## Grimy Poe

WanderLost said:


> Ok i was thinkin more of the bindle stick situation, and ive never seen anyone use that lol. I didn't know tying something to your pack was also considered a bindle..
> Whatever works for you!


Try catching up on some lingo. _Speaking Train_ is a good resource it was composed by Brakeshoe. A Common day bindle is merely your bedroll. Not a bindle stick. lol.


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## WanderLost

Grimy Poe said:


> Try catching up on some lingo. _Speaking Train_ is a good resource it was composed by Brakeshoe. A Common day bindle is merely your bedroll. Not a bindle stick. lol.


Ya i have Speaking of Trains and i still dont see the need to call my bedroll a bindle... tomato tomahto i guess?


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## Koala

Not to keep on derailing this thread, but I bedroll my sleeping pad and sleeping bag in my bivy and strap onto the outside of the pack and I just call it my bedroll. Who cares what it's called , it keeps me warm n cozy n dry <3

I sleep by train yardz a lot obvi. Otherwise in trees by bike paths or walking trails, random patches of trees that don't have evidence of other recent bums. I usually try to get far away from the downtown of cities at night if possible. But yeah in smaller places, I just end up wherever under the stars! So easy to find quiet, chill places to camp in smaller towns. And in Australia, I sleep on the beach a lot.

In rain... on top of sheltered picnic tables in parks, in doorways of community center type buildings, overhangs behind late-opening industry or businesses (check google maps for hours lol), in abandoned rail cars, etc etc just get creative with whatevers around


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## Deleted member 23824

Grimy Poe said:


> Try catching up on some lingo. _Speaking Train_ is a good resource it was composed by Brakeshoe. A Common day bindle is merely your bedroll. Not a bindle stick. lol.



Not many people in this decade , or even this century, refer to their bedroll as a bindle. Much more common to refer to it as a bedroll. While on the other hand, a bindle stick is commonly shortened to “bindle”. I can’t believe you really bought that book. There are classes at some local colleges on how to talk like a Genuine depression-era hobo. I just stick to talking like the idiot I am, so I don’t get accused of being a poser. Oh wait, I’m that too.


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## WanderLost

Faceplant said:


> Not many people in this decade , or even this century, refer to their bedroll as a bindle. Much more common to refer to it as a bedroll. While on the other hand, a bindle stick is commonly shortened to “bindle”. I can’t believe you really bought that book. There are classes at some local colleges on how to talk like a Genuine depression-era hobo. I just stick to talking like the idiot I am, so I don’t get accused of being a poser. Oh wait, I’m that too.


I agree there's no need to use dated terms, but I kinda like that zine. Its got alot of modern terms too and if its a dated term like bindle it will say its dated. I probably wouldnt actually use most of the terms in it though. Id rather just talk normal lmao.


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## TheManInBlack1984

Bushpig said:


> I posted this in another thread, but you can sleep in the drivers lounges in truck stops. TA was my personal hotel chain on my first hitching trip.


Plus showers and food


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## Groundscore

I mostly rubber tramp now, but rooftops during good weather have always been a favorite of mine. During windy weather or rain look at the storage sheds outside any Home Depot or Lowe's. It's almost like getting your own home for the night. Just be gone before any employee gets there in the morning.


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## Bushpig

I'm currently at a Flying J. I was excited to sleep indoors in the truckers lounge since things didn't work out in Cincinnati. I forgot about the fucking virus. No lounge. No decent hammock trees either. Another sleep on the ground. Hopefully no ticks this time! I found one on my arm this afternoon, then one inside my jacket. Fucking monsters. I need to camp with an oppossum.

Update: There were no ticks.


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## dprogram

I loved a particular overpass of two streets in Midtown Memphis. You had to take a short walk over 4 or 5 RR tracks but when it rained you stayed dry. There was a water spigot you could access about 400 feet away. Strangely enough it was one of the best times in my life. Minus the scabies mattress.


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## dprogram

Bushpig said:


> I'm currently at a Flying J. I was excited to sleep indoors in the truckers lounge since things didn't work out in Cincinnati. I forgot about the fucking virus. No lounge. No decent hammock trees either. Another sleep on the ground. Hopefully no ticks this time! I found one on my arm this afternoon, then one inside my jacket. Fucking monsters. I need to camp with an oppossum.
> 
> Update: There were no ticks.


Yay for no ticks!. Buy DEET


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## Lamentations

This is kind of a last resort, but sometimes in small towns there's no overhangs, and I've slept in used car lots. If they were still in business, they always just let me sleep if they found out I was there (especially if it had rained,) but I'd be careful.
Late at night, if you're cold, you can check all the trunks for blankets and clothes. It isn't really stealing, since if the car is for sale, they'll probably just throw whatever's in it away. It's trash.


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## Chaseur

Honestly surprised nobody mentioned trees for inside cities.

If I couldn't find an abandoned building or spot away from the street id often climb into one of the trees that line the sidewalks of city streets. 

Use my pack to strap myself onto a branch, wedge my legs, and pass out.

If there are leaves nobody looks up, I swear.


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## CouchPunx

fhertfuier5ty345b34hj said:


> Honestly? Behind Walmart if you're in the midwest. NOBODY fucks with you there. 24 hour bathroom, cheap food for sale (canned shit, deli meats, granola bars) and there's usually security. The absolute best one I found was the north end walmart in Cheyenne, Wyoming. If anyone goes looking for it, there's a sweet concrete pad to the left of the walmart, it's actually behind Sams Club next door. But it's behind a huge growth of trees and it's fucking sweet. Just grab some cardboard to lay down & you're good to go.
> 
> Behind other strip malls are good too, you can grab pallets and make a little fort. Home Depot/Lowes etc are good to squat in those little garden sheds they have for sale. Just make sure to be out suuuuper early, because the staff start on shift at 5am and they might notice you coming out of them.
> 
> Light industrial areas are always great on weekends, because most small businesses are only open Monday-Friday. If you find a quiet area you could theoretically camp on a loading dock Friday night-Monday morning. Uhaul is a good one too, camp out in the back of the trailers or trucks in the yard. Just be careful; One buddy of mine got caught in the back of the truck box. The worker found him in there, slammed the back rolling door shut, fire up the truck and then started doing crazy donuts to fuck him up in the back. Opened it up, grabbed him and tossed him to the ground. Kicked him a few times, spat on him and told him to get the fuck off the property and never come back. So watch your ass and make sure you get out before sunrise.



I was sleeping in a uhaul in el centro , got there right at closing time so i could get a full night sleep, over the course of the next few hours i heard maybe four other uhauls open up, like a little fucking motel...

As far as sleeping spots, i like grassy areas near walmart, rooftops, abandos with difficult access (cats paw is a useful tool). In big cities especially if i show up at night ill often just find a train that aint goin anywhere and sleep on it. 

In rainy times with no bridges or cover ive been known to sleep under a tractor trailer that looks inactive, but this of course has some dangers attached to it.


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## Comedy

Oh yes... The marvelous feeling of sleeping high above!

I try to find anywhere that's high. I look for water towers, bridges, museums. Anything beyond a fence with a ladder and any scalable walls if I'm in the middle of a city. 

The way I see it is that... The tougher the place is to get to... The lower the probability of me running into some nefarious organism.


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## Matt Derrick

Comedy said:


> I try to find anywhere that's high. I look for water towers, bridges, museums. Anything beyond a fence with a ladder and any scalable walls if I'm in the middle of a city.



reminds me of squatting in Los Angeles when I was like 20, I would just keep an eye out for rooftop ladders; wait till nightfall, then scale up them and sleep on the roof of some business. most of the ladders had a lock on them, but about 1 in 5 wouldn't, so i slowly built up a list of businesses i would rotate through each night.

that mostly only works in california though, they just don't have the kind of flat architecture on the east coast for the most part.


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## dprogram

Any place that has the "Safe Place" sign is good. Libraries.


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## Deleted member 29173

-overpasses

-behind trash compactors of NON grocery stores. Electronic stores or clothing stores. Grocery stores are gross

-cemetaries are great. Lots of company but they are normally a quiet bunch

-train yards. Find a ride out of sight and not connected with the air hoses. You might get worked in the night and obviously theres the risk of your train departing. Normal train safety rules apply here.

-university baseball stadium dugouts. In Tallahassee once the womens softball dugout bathroom was unlocked. Locked myself in and had a wonderful mosquito free night of sleep. Softball players are incredibly clean by the way, thanks yall!

-construction sites but you gotta wake up early. Once one of the workers woke me up and gave me breakfast and told me i coukd keep sleeping if I didnt mind a hydraulic drill. I left!

-but the best place to sleep is on a freight train blasting through the landscape at 70mph


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## Tengu91

Ive been using abandoned vehicles tucked away in nondescript places. Ive slept in a junked van in some high weeds next to a church, and last night it was in an old truck trailer that had bags of aluminum cans strewn about but was otherwise pretty cozy once I cleared a patch of floor (the flimsy door even locked from the inside haha). Once I get to better weather Ill try rooftops! I know I CAN sleep in the woods with just a sleeping bag and a poncho, but that reminds me of miserable field experiences in the army so I try to avoid it lol.


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## Pixelhopper

I’ve been trying to get used to sleeping in my hammock or sleeping bag more but it’s hard unless I’m super tired.. usually have to find somewhere inside to crash unless it’s been a few days. Insomnia sucks.


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## eyeballstoentrails

I don't have any personal experience to add, but from people I've talked to, either online or people I've seen, parks are a decent way to go, too.

More so the ones that are larger and with heavily wooded areas, but playground equipment in pocket parks was really popular in my area in Arizona. The cops left you alone and residents didn't care.

I'd also like to second sleeping behind Walmarts and other large chains. As long as you aren't in the way or being disruptive, most employed wont care and will leave you be.


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## Tekamthi

Rooftops are great under perfect conditions, but I have trouble setting up good rain and wind cover on them sometimes -- waking up to my stuff getting soaked is a real deal breaker, and wind in my face all night gives me the sniffles the next day. I'm also not a great climber, especially with my pack, so I tend to look for ground level accommodation

I can't say the experience is really something I "like", but vacant commercial units in otherwise still-active strip malls tend to be my staple. Too many property managers don't bother to properly secure these empty units, providing easy non-destructive access to a safe place to sleep. I guess this is more a squat then a camp, but I still use my camping gear and tend not to stay more than a night or two. I'm a strict adherent to the leave-no-trace philosophy of urban camping -- I sometimes even clean these spaces while I'm there if they've left a mop behind, or shovel the walk outside when it snows if there's a shovel, so its never really resulted in any problems, even the odd time I've been caught in one. Ideally there should be a back door to escape through in case they drop by before you wake up in the morning (oversleeping is my worst enemy in these), but otherwise I get the best sleep possible in these locations.

If these can't be found nearby wherever I am, I tend to find some shrub or ground cover that just barely covers the critical sight lines in a low-traffic, hard-to-walk-to spot that, if you looked at it, you'd think no one would ever attempt to camp right there in the almost-open. A little improvised camouflage hung in the right spot, a discrete-colored bivvy, arrive and leave while its still dark, and grab a nap later mid-day and everything seems to work out fine. Maybe I've been lucky, but these tend to be my favorite experiences -- one day i wanna sneak into disneyland and crash under a roller coaster or something.


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## Tengu91

I found an abandoned motel during my latest trip and the utility closet was unlocked and full of clean linens (I actually stole one of the towels). I threw them on the floor and it was a nice mattress for my sleeping bag...I also found an abandoned, junked out semi cab sitting at the back of a vacant lot that still had a mattress in it...My FAVORITE place was a shed in front of a used car lot! It was completely empty and meant to be a "show model" for the company who sold them. I liked that one a lot because it locked from the inside and the windows had shutters that were already closed. Total privacy!


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## Tengu91

@Tekamthi If you pull off Disneyland you deserve some sort of medal. I never knew "urban camping goals" were a thing until now haha


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## CelticWanderer

Deleted member 29173 said:


> -overpasses
> 
> -behind trash compactors of NON grocery stores. Electronic stores or clothing stores. Grocery stores are gross
> 
> -cemetaries are great. Lots of company but they are normally a quiet bunch
> 
> -train yards. Find a ride out of sight and not connected with the air hoses. You might get worked in the night and obviously theres the risk of your train departing. Normal train safety rules apply here.
> 
> -university baseball stadium dugouts. In Tallahassee once the womens softball dugout bathroom was unlocked. Locked myself in and had a wonderful mosquito free night of sleep. Softball players are incredibly clean by the way, thanks yall!
> 
> -construction sites but you gotta wake up early. Once one of the workers woke me up and gave me breakfast and told me i coukd keep sleeping if I didnt mind a hydraulic drill. I left!
> 
> -but the best place to sleep is on a freight train blasting through the landscape at 70mph


What's the risk of catching a trespassing charge in places like this? I love to travel but finding a place where I feel safe is the hardest thing about it for me. I'm basically a ball of nerves and over worry.


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## IanIam

CelticWanderer said:


> What's the risk of catching a trespassing charge in places like this? I love to travel but finding a place where I feel safe is the hardest thing about it for me. I'm basically a ball of nerves and over worry.


Overpasses,behind grocery stores and dugouts have little to no risk of trespassing charges or at least I've never been charged only asked to leave a bunch of times, I'd be more worried about other people walking by and fucking with you, train yards and construction sites on the other hand carry an increased risk and if you get caught it's pretty much 50/50. I personally love sleeping in cemeteries though and have never once been hassled there, you may even find a big tiddy goth gf hanging around.


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