VAN LIFE | PARKING + SOLO FEMALE SAFETY

[Music] hey okay so a lot of you have asked about safety uh is it safe to live on the road in a vehicle in a van um is it safe as a female to travel what about traveling solo as a female these are all great questions maybe you're interested in trying out this lifestyle maybe you know someone who is or maybe you think this is absolutely crazy um maybe you've watched way too many horror movies today i want to share my perspective on safety as a solo female traveler and also share some tips and tricks that have helped me and will hopefully be helpful for you alright so i just want to start off by saying that i live on the road in a van by myself by choice i want that to be clear because there are people who live in a vehicle out of necessity and not by choice when i was growing up i lived in a car with my mom for a time we didn't live in a car because we wanted to but because we had to and you know i'm sure that was really hard on her because when things felt unsafe or it was maybe a bad situation she didn't necessarily have the resources to remove us from those situations ideally if you are going to pursue this lifestyle you have a little bit of money tucked away so that if things get hard or you find yourself in a bad situation you can rent a hotel or an airbnb or maybe even scrap the whole plan and go rent an apartment i choose this lifestyle because it allows me to travel and be in the places that i love and do what i love and it actually really benefits my career because i'm an outdoor adventure photographer and being able to spend the night not too far from a trailhead or you know like a new location uh really helps me create new content in an easier way rather than commuting back and forth from an apartment all the time you know i tried that it was not very efficient or fun to do so i just want to put that out there that those are two very different things choosing this lifestyle on your own terms or choosing it out of necessity now the big question is it safe i want to ask you something do you feel safe right now like in this moment wherever you are with the people you're with completely entirely safe i have experienced one break-in and i've been living in my vehicle for two plus years and that break-in happened when i was living in a house 10 years ago i've had two vehicles stolen once from right outside my apartment where it's parked and another time in a gated community with 24-hour surveillance like an actual guard safety is never really guaranteed we all come into this world the same way we all leave it the same way we die that's that's how it goes whether or not you choose to limit yourself based on fear and where that line is is entirely up to you so what are some things you can do to minimize risk i'm going to start with the most controversial topic uh which could be a whole nother episode and probably will be but parking some of the resources i use are freecampsites.net and the app i overlander i'm typically spending the night on blm land bureau of land management national forest land and campsites i also stay in walmart parking lots when it's allowed or a rest area or sometimes residential neighborhoods though i really try to avoid that um there are a lot of other options out there some are very gray some are arguably not okay so like i said controversial but it's really important that if you do park and you're set up for the night and then you get like a funny feeling that you act on that you leave like don't take chances okay this is super basic but i'm gonna say it anyway lock your doors uh sometimes it's easy enough to forget when you're on the inside of the van and put up privacy curtains if you have them i have magnetic covers that go on all my windows and i also have a blackout curtain that i shut completely so unless someone has been paying really close attention to me and i've been getting in and out of my van it's hard for them to know who's in this van and how many people are in this van don't draw attention to yourself so this kind of plays off of what i just said but you don't want to be going in and out of the van unnecessarily and like setting up lawn chairs and just being very visible in a place where you are potentially unsafe you know if you're out in the middle of nowhere and there aren't people around you or you can generally get a feel for what's going on around you like of course live your life but if you're in an urban area and it's not your space to be spreading out and like running around like you own the place you're like in some walmart parking lots people just put out their awning they put out their chairs they put out their coolers they cook dinner and you know you can do whatever you want i guess it's a free country but at the same time if you're a solo female traveler you might want to think twice unfortunately change the wi-fi hotspot on your phone so try to make it sound like something intimidating or at the very least a party of two i can't tell you how many times i've rolled up to blm and there's maybe one van near me and i can immediately see their wi-fi when i go to sign on and it's something just really uh obvious you know like what's a good example um cat mom i don't know just like maybe change it to something that isn't too obvious that it's like a female in there anyway that's just my two cents don't let your phone die this is your lifeline to the outside world let someone know where you are at all times so in this case uh i do google location sharing with my mom and she knows where i am all the time and if for some reason i'm not moving for a good amount of time she's super rad she checks in and that leads me to my next point which is share a password with that person so let's say my mom sees that i've been in the same place for a little while and she asks why and if i'm okay well worst case scenario here but if i've been taken hostage they take my phone sign in with my password and they're trying to reply to make it seem like everything's okay my mom is going to ask for a password she wants to confirm that it's me so we have a password between the two of us that she'll ask for and if said kidnapper is asking or is trying to act on my behalf he or she is not gonna know that password so uh that tips my mom off right away that something is not right self defense this one is super obvious um i'm not gonna tell you what methods i have or use because the element of surprise is honestly one of your biggest assets in a threatening situation there are a lot of possibilities here firearms bear spray pepper spray bow and arrow baseball bat bb gun machete hatchet taser taekwondo booby traps ninja stars brass knuckles unhinged lagoon mount basically a baseball bat empty wine bottle like smash it use it seriously don't take this lightly keep weapons peppered throughout your vehicle and know how to use them so imagine different scenarios what if an attacker gets into your van and ties you up throws you in the back and drives away like you want to make sure you have a knife stored in the back so that you can cut yourself loose hopefully um what if a meth head breaks into your van when you're sleeping and climbs on top of you in the middle of the night make sure that you have a weapon right there accessible and one that's going to do some damage another thing to keep in mind is it's a good idea to have your phone within arm's reach that's your lifeline to call emergency services or someone who can come help you and also you might want to keep something near you that can make a lot of noise so a whistle a foghorn let's say someone is loitering outside of your vehicle and you just have like a really weird feeling about it what i would do in that situation is i would put on a hoodie i would hide my hair just so it's not super obvious that i'm a girl by myself climb up into the front seat i would start the car turn on the headlights if the person doesn't go away and i feel threatened i would maybe even lay on the horn um just something to send the very clear message that you're aware that they're out there and then of course just drive away don't take chances there are so so many things you can do to protect yourself um there's no reason why just because you're a female or solo traveler that you can't level the playing field in a bad situation um i highly recommend having a arsenal of weapons at your disposal honestly i'm not joking like i have a lot you gotta decide what you are comfortable with and and be mindful of how you approach different situations and i just want to say probably the best best method of defense is just to avoid bad situations altogether what can really make a difference is your awareness level and how you're presenting yourself in a potentially vulnerable situation so for example when you're walking down the street are you staring down at your phone are you fully engaged in a phone conversation when you leave the store and it's late at night and you're going to your vehicle are you fumbling around for half a minute looking for your keys in your purse in the dark or are you already ready to get in the car and go if i'm passing through an unfamiliar town and i'm say at a gas station or a grocery store and i feel this honestly i can't even think of an example where this has happened but it's just so rare but if someone were to be taking a little too much interest in me or kind of i feel like i'm being followed a little bit um i would just hang back and wait you know like i wouldn't walk out to my vehicle because i don't want to associate myself with my vehicle and that really just comes down to being aware of what's going on around you another thing to consider is when you're getting into your van or your vehicle it's helpful to get into the front driver's side rather than if you have a converted van or whatever opening the big sliding door just kind of advertises like hey world i leave live in my car or i'm traveling in my car and i have a lot of things in here so i whenever possible try to get into the driver's side another small thing just when you park it's a good idea to always face your exit so that if you do have to peel out of there you can easily and also like before you go to sleep putting stuff away so that if you have to hop in the front seat stuff's not flying all over the place you don't have your your vehicle or your van fairly secure and just ready to go if a stranger walks up to me and i'm alone and i'm potentially distracted like i have arms full of groceries or something i am already going to have my guard up as a solo female if that person starts asking me questions like oh do you live in your van do you sleep in your van like where are you going where do you stay i don't understand like what kind of places allow you to sleep in your van um they could be put they could be completely harmless but i am already going to be very like guarded in replying to those con those questions because i don't want a stranger knowing where i'm going to sleep or whether or not i live in a van by myself because i could potentially make myself into a target especially as a photographer i have a lot of gear in here so i'm just super mindful of that and honestly like the only people that need to know where you're going to spend the night specifically are like your person that knows where you are at all times unless you're traveling with friends and you're trying to coordinate with them um otherwise it's just not information that you should be sharing broadly in my opinion so the same logic extends to dms emails instagram stories any kind of social media really um i generally share to my social media a day two days sometimes a week or even later after i've left just to protect my privacy and my actual location so unless you're a really good friend i've met you in person or you can be vouched for through friends of friends like i'm neither confirming nor denying my location if you ask and i just think that's a good rule of thumb for anyone regardless of whether or not you live in a car i realize that that can come across as super unfriendly at times but you know for me personally i'd much rather be unfriendly than potentially put myself in a bad situation with a stranger trust your gut trust your intuition don't take chances um do your research there are challenges and risks associated with this lifestyle absolutely um just like any other kind of living you know like if you let fear live your life you're gonna miss out on some really beautiful experiences but if you aren't mindful of what you're doing you're gonna end up in some really bad situations so i just think like anything in life it requires a little bit of balance and for me personally this has been an overwhelmingly positive experience i've been on the road for two plus years i've traveled quite a bit by myself and i just i can't recommend it enough there's so much personal growth you really push your limitations you find out what you're capable of and where your weaknesses and strengths lie and it's just it's a really beautiful way to grow as a person and to open your mind to other cultures and ways of life and perspectives a lot of you might disagree with this and that's totally okay this is just my opinion i personally have traveled through 36 countries and i've lived in five and at least half of that time i was completely alone as a solo female traveler if you found this video helpful please like and subscribe i'll be working on another video for you guys soon i'm thinking about covering how i make money on the road um just working remotely and what i do for a living if you think that's a good topic if you would find that useful let me know in the comments below um as well as other potential topics until then i'll be practicing my high kicks and ninja star throwing skills stay safe out there

Channel: Christian Schaffer

Views: 667,854

Keywords: vanlife, van, safety, solo female, travel, social media, tiny home, campervan, overnight parking, how to, nomad, digitalnomad, parking

Id: 4UhwtNtXTLI

Length: 14min 45sec (885 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 09 2020