25 Best Places to Sleep When Living in Your Car!

The ultimate list of 25 places where you can safely sleep when living in your car. No other video on Youtube has as many spots for vandwellers, car dwellers, RVers, and road trippers to pull into when on the road and get a good night's sleep - without being bothered!

If you live in your car you know what a hassle it is to find a new places to park every night. My hope is that this video can help take away some of that strain by giving you some fresh ideas about where you can stealthily park overnight.

Check out the Ultimate How to Sleep/Live in Your Car Playlist:

Timothy J. Ward
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0:00 Introduction
0:12 Hotel Parking Lots
0:48 Emergency Room Parking Lots
1:17 Campgrounds
1:55 Rest Stops
2:26 Wal-Mart Parking Lots
3:19 Cracker Barrel
3:37 Industrial & Business Parks
4:20 Welcome Centers
4:49 Auto Repair & Mechanic Shops
5:37 Car Dealerships
6:20 Parking Garages
6:36 Casino Parking Lots
7:18 BLM Land
8:09 Grocery Store & Mall Parking Lots
8:40 Police Stations
9:19 Churches
9:39 City Street Parking
10:30 Residential Street Parking
11:21 Rent a Driveway/Parking Spot
12:08 Apartment Complexes
13:16 Truck Stops
14:19 Employee Parking Areas
14:50 Safe Parking Programs
15:42 24 Hour Gyms
16:18 Driveway of Friend/Family

[zabeth]

You know what you are talking about. I was homeless with kids in a car (several years ago) I used Hotel parking lots, Walmart, 24 hour grocery stores, and the mall. We always looked clean, my children were fed, and we had bed times, etc. Washed clothes in 24 hour laundromat. A very humbling experience. My children are now young productive adults with amazing jobs. I thank the Lord for having places for us to eat & sleep safely.

[JohnDoe-fuzt]

My brother was living in his van in Dallas back around 1975. He'd often have to move once or twice a night after getting rousted by the cops. One night he met a girl at a party and was talking to her about his problems finding a good place to park for the night. "You can park in front of my house!" she said. So that night, he he parked in front of her house. In the morning, she brought him coffee. The next night she invited him inside. The next year, they got married, and they're still married 47 years later.

[debbiedugay]

I work graveyards in a 24 hour convenience store. I am 63 and have been robbed three times on the job. I began letting a couple of homeless in car guys use our parking lot because anyone scoping us out never know if I am alone in the store or not. After watching security video's we saw that prior to 2 of the robberies, the same vehicles drove by a few times before they did the deed. Now I have 2 new aquaintances, they have a safe place to stay with access to bathroom facilities etc. One of the original gentleman that I let stay is no longer homeless but he still stops on his way home from works out nicely.

[mattski]

Love how you wasted no time and just went into it. Thumbsed up and subscribed

[MrHitman]

Great suggestion for police parking lot. While in Boston a few years ago, my family had a rental rv and was looking for a spot to park. If anyone knows about Boston, you know that parking is premium. As we settled at a location we thought was safe, a police officer pulled up around 2am and told us that things “happen” in the area. He told us to follow him to have a better parking spot. Low and behold he took us to the police station parking lot, told us we can stay until we are ready to leave, and wished us a good night. Hats off to Boston PD. By the way, we were a black family traveling through on our way to Nova Scotia.
Thanks for your list.

[keving]

An old geezer and his wife in an old camper stopped at my cottage and asked "is there a place around here to park for the night"? I said right over there my empty parking spot across the street with a view of the water. They never got out of the camper or made a sound. The next day he waved and drove off. It made me feel good helping a fellow geezer.I

[sprtn]

To all staying in their cars. Stay strong, keep going, don’t give up, don’t lose hope; things can get better.

[joshmanwaring]

Randomly pops up in my feed again. I'm in a way better place now but when I was homeless living out of my car your video helped immensely. Thank you

[brandon]

This is why I always keep my planet fitness membership. I would sleep in the parking lot and wake up in the morning, workout and shower. I’ve done this in plenty of cities . So it’s definitely worth getting the membership that allows you to go to any location.

[stephenriggs]

I lived in my car for three months, and I spent every night at the same rest stop in Washington State. I moved the car each day, so I wasn't "camped" there, but I returned, every night, often parking in the same spot. No one ever questioned me about it. Fortunately, summers in western Washington or usually very mild, so sleeping in a car isn't uncomfortable. There were restrooms at the rest stop, and I could shower for 25 cents at a nearby truck stop. The local library kept me stocked with books, and I used computers there to look for work and check email. (After about 3 months, I landed a job in Seattle and moved in with a friend, until I could save enough to get my own apartment.)

[tannhauser]

For a few years, I had a dog that allowed me to park and sleep anywhere. She slept while we were driving, and stayed awake while I was parked and sleeping. If anyone approached our car, she would give a quiet "woof" in my ear to wake me. We went on a three week, 4000 mile road trip and I never felt unsafe.

[llianneolivoreyesmusic]

I’ve been thinking about this so I can pay off debt, save money, and eat less, work out more, be outdoors.

[BrandyTexas]

I’ve worked in hotels most my life and I’m always amazed that people don’t think of hotels.. you can come in and use the lobby bathroom, drink coffee/tea and even grab the free breakfast if the hotel is busy enough. Remember, we don’t know who you’re staying with, we don’t know who checked you in or not before we arrived. Smaller hotels are more difficult cause we usually did know who we checked in and who they have staying with them but people check in alone, we don’t know whether or not they have a relative also.. bigger, busier hotels would be your best option. If anyone asks who you’re staying with just be vauge. Say my aunt is either staying here or on her way to check in, something like that.. nobody is gonna be rude about it cause we don’t want to get a bad review if we offend a guest or their relative.. lots of people walk around in pajamas in a hotel. Also, I’ve seen people respond that the hotels check license tags, not any hotel I’ve ever worked at. Sometimes we asked but it was only for instances like someone got blocked in and we need to know who to call to move their vehicle. Unless it’s a ritzy place nobody is gonna notice you. Also, come in through the lobby but exit through another door away from the lobby, that’ll make it look like you come in, then went to your room, plus we don’t get paid much, we prob don’t care even if we know you didn’t stay there as long as you’re respectful and not scary p

[prepperjonpnw]

I almost forgot to mention that some churches actually prepare for people who need a place to park overnight. My church has a huge parking lot with one end that butts up against a wooded area. So we pay for a porta potty that’s placed out there and we let the local police know that if they come across someone sleeping in their car in a place that they aren’t supposed to that they can send them to our parking lot so they don’t get in trouble. Plus in the winter months we operate several warming stations that are usually for the homeless that don’t have a vehicle but we don’t turn anyone away. We provide food and separate bathrooms and showers for men and women and have security people to help out in case there’s trouble.

[limeykl]

I pray that everyone has a safe warm place to sleep

[nn]

I have one to add, car rental places, most people leave their vehicle at that facility while renting a car.

[jmurry]

This man is professional and personable, easy to listen to, follow and understand. I like him.
He has great ideas 💡

[davidhunter]

The 24 hour gym is definitely one of the best places to sleep in your car overnight for 2 reasons. One, like you said they'll be gym members going in and out of the parking lot all night and 2, if you're a member of the gym, you have free access to not only the lockers and restroom areas, but you can workout and keep fit as well. Also, most gym have wifi/internet access for members and guests so yeah, fantastic option👍

[teeks]

The most important part of any of these places is ... Do your pre bedtime routine before you get to where you're going. Meaning, stop some place before one of these places and do all the things you need to do to be ready for bed, brush your teeth, get your bed ready, whatever it is do it somewhere else, then leave there and go to one of these places. That way, when you arrive, you just get into your sleeping bag and that's it.

[alexandergadomski]

As a single dad that raised three daughters, I used to park overnight in police station parking lot. That works excellent for me and we were never bothered by anyone.