Sleeping in your car...safe? Yay or nay?

[maddadkeith]

Next Saturday I leave for a road trip (spring break), from Arkansas to Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Boston. I am staying with a friend in Boston and for one night in Hartford, have a motel room booked in Rhode Island, but a night or two I have nowhere to stay and honestly, no extra $$$. Soooo...

What do you think? Is it safe to sleep in your car? If so, where would you recommend parking and sleeping? It makes me a bit uneasy but I've got to sleep somehow, and in my car seems like the only way.

ADVICE???

Don't expect to get much sleep when you are trying to sleep in your car. Comfort is not there. But, use a truck stop (Love's, Pilot, Flyin' J, T/A, Petro, or any large one) and park in a comfortable spot that does have occasional to heavy foot-traffic nearby. You can trust the truckers. It is the other nut cases you will have to worry about. Just be courteous.

In the old days you could park at a small truck stop and leave a wake-up call at the fuel island. Try that anywhere today and they will call the Nut Farm to come and get you.

[Lifemagician]

Do you have, or could you borrow, a small tent and sleeping bag? If so, check out this site, which I saw someone post recently. You may even be able to save yourself the motel fee.

All the reasons for not sleeping in your car, have already been mentioned, and I would concur with them.

Lifey

[Mike and Mandy]

Check out:

National Geographic Road Atlas - Adventure Edition [Spiral-bound]


and:


Road Atlas - RV & Camping Edition [Spiral-bound]



I have the Adventure Edition and it is wonderful. It will save our butt on our trip, I am sure! It came HIGHLY recommended to me from a experienced Road Tripper that works at R.E.I.

It shows all of the campgrounds in the state. INVALUABLE!

[alehar]

Hi, have been interested in this thread as we are planning a trip from Portland Maine to Florida. I'd like to sleep
in our SUV at some of the truck stops as its about a day trip and 5 hr naps will do us just fine. Is this safety
precaution mostly aimed at cars/SUV's? what about tag-a-long trailers or Class A motorhomes? Do they
provide enough of a barrier for safety concerns.? thanks for your observations. alehar

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I'd say the advice above would apply in pretty much any situation. Rest areas are not good spots for overnight sleeping, because of safety issues, regardless of your vehicle, and overnight stopping is often illegal there too.

Just remember in a camper, you should not be using slide outs/generators, etc when you are stopped at a truck stop or similar parking facilities that are not campgrounds.

[Lifemagician]

Only in Florida, where you will find armed guards at most rest areas, is it safe to stop overnight. In those exceptional cases, you are actually made welcome. But as mentioned above, just any rest area is often not legal and probably never safe. (FL has provided armed guards ever since a family of four was murdered at a rest stop... some time ago.)

Lifey

[ejdixon]

Next Saturday I leave for a road trip (spring break), from Arkansas to Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Boston. I am staying with a friend in Boston and for one night in Hartford, have a motel room booked in Rhode Island, but a night or two I have nowhere to stay and honestly, no extra $$$. Soooo...

What do you think? Is it safe to sleep in your car? If so, where would you recommend parking and sleeping? It makes me a bit uneasy but I've got to sleep somehow, and in my car seems like the only way.

ADVICE???

Personally, I wouldn't recommend you sleeping in your car. Like what everyone else here said, you're not only running the risk of getting caught by the police. You're also exposing yourself to unnecessary danger. I'd recommend to try to bring some extra cash and go to a tent camping ground. It's going to be cheaper than spending a night in a motel. Not to mention it'll be so much safer.

[glc]

Posting a reply to the original poster probably won't help them - it looks like this trip was taken 6 years ago!

[DuckInTheLake]

Hi, I'm a newbie here. I really enjoyed reading all the input about sleeping in your vehicle. I've been wanting to travel the road for a few years now and I'm finally getting my chance, only problem is, I won't really be working except for the occasional job along the way, so I need to keep my expenses to a minimum, and sleeping in my vehicle will be necessary. I suppose there's another thread on here about what to expect in the way of budgeting when you're driving the road and sleeping in your car, but I will have to look for that later. I am encouraged by lifemagician since I'm a female in my 50's and plan to travel with my 16 yr old daughter.

[DuckInTheLake]

I have yet to buy my vehicle to travel and I'm wondering if it would be better to buy a van to sleep in, or if a small car that's good on gas would be just as safe and provide as much privacy as a van could. I don't think my current vehicle is that reliable, not that it's given me any trouble, it just has too many miles on it, and I'd feel safer with a newer vehicle. Any input would be helpful. I need to buy a vehicle in the next couple of weeks and I've been very undecided about which would be best if I plan to sleep in my vehicle while on an extended road trip.