I’ve been living and traveling alone in my van since the Fall of 2012. I’ve been through at least ten states and have stayed in cities and on public land. On only two occasions has anyone bothered me while I was sleeping. Once it was a cop harassing me and the other time–well, I’m still not entirely sure what that was all about.
I was staying at a free National Forest campground in Northern New Mexico. I’d stayed there before. It was basically primitive camping, but there were a couple of pit toilets there. I liked the place, mostly because there was no charge to stay, but also because it was next to a river, lots of tall trees grew there, and the temperature was cool.
I arrived late in the afternoon of the night in question. I’d been selling jewelry and shiny rocks all day. I was tired. I wanted to eat dinner, then crawl into my bed with a book, probably go to sleep early. I was scheduled to sell jewelry and shiny rocks the next day, so I planned to get moving early.
When I’d pulled into the campground, I’d found the most desirable spots close to the pit toilets had been claimed. I looked around until I found a spot to park the van farther out. There was a tent pitched in the general area, but I gave it plenty of space.
I went about my business of cooking and eating dinner. While I was outside, I saw at least one large dog and several young men around the other tent. A small pickup truck arrived, then left. I kept to myself, didn’t try to make conversation, but I noticed it wasn’t a family camping over there. I saw no children, no mother figure, just guys.
When the sky darkened, I got in the van, locked the doors, and closed the curtains. I read my book, then turned out my light. The night was going according to plan.
Suddenly I was jolted awake by knocking on the van’s exterior. It took me a moment to figure out where I was and what was happening. I’m in my van, I remembered. I’m parked next to the river.
The knocking came again.
Who is it? I yelled. Even to my own ears, my voice sounded grumpy and gruff.
The side windows were open to let in the cool night air, so apparently my voice was audible. I didn’t even move a curtain to peek outside, much less open the door.
A male voice outside the van identified itself as one of the neighbor campers. If their vehicle needed a jump start in the morning, would I help them out?
What the fuck? I was thinking. Who knocks on a stranger’s dark van in the middle of the night to ask for a jump start if the situation is not a full-blown emergency? Apparently this guy.
Sure, I told the guy, if you need a jump in the morning, I’ll help you out if I’m around.
I knew good and well that I planned to be out of there early. I’d likely be gone before the sun was up.
The guy seemed to wander away (I wasn’t trying to peep out the windows), but now I was wide awake. (If you’ve ever felt the burst of adrenaline that comes with waking from a deep sleep to the tune of someone knocking on your van, you know it’s not easy to drift off after.) I started wondering what was really going on. Why had the guy really knocked? He must have suspected I was asleep since it was the middle of the night (around 2am when I switched on my light to look at my watch), and there hadn’t been a single light on in the van.
As I lay there wondering if I were safe, wondering if the man would come back, I tried to remember the vehicle situation at the nearby camp. I didn’t remember seeing a vehicle parked near the tent when I arrived. I did remember the small pickup pulling in, but I was mostly sure it had left. I hadn’t heard another vehicle arrive after dark, but I could have conceivably slept through a car or small truck’s arrival. Could I have slept through the noise of someone discovering a dead battery, discussing the situation with others? Maybe. But I was almost certain the man had asked for my help if the battery were dead. Did he not even know the status of the battery when he asked for my help?
I finally slept again for a few hours more. I woke early, but didn’t get out of the van. When I looked out of the windows, no one seemed to be moving on the other campsite. As I maneuvered my van out of my spot, the van’s engine noise awakened the large dog who barked and barked and barked. I felt satisfaction that perhaps the dogs’ barking would awaken the guy who’d disturbed my slumber.
As I left the camping area, I looked around for a vehicle that belonged to the nearby campsite. I didn’t see any vehicles–not a car, not a truck, not a motorcycle or even a bike. Did a vehicle start and leave sometime after the man knocked on my van? Maybe. But I doubt I would have slept through any noise after the knocking interrupted my sleep and shot adrenaline through my body.
I’ve often wondered what was really going on that night. I don’t think those guys had a vehicle at all, much less one that maybe had a dead battery. As I said before, barring a complete emergency, good manners and common sense dictate that one does not knock on a stranger’s dark van in the middle of the night.
I think the man just wanted to know what I would do if he knocked on my van in the wee hours. Maybe he’d acted alone. Maybe the other man had dared him to knock. Maybe they were drunk. Maybe he was hoping I’d open the door or step of the van so he could what? Rob me? Rape me? Did he just want to know if I’d agree to help? Did the men not want a camping neighbor and were hoping to scare me off?
I suppose I’ll never know what the intentions were that night, but I’m glad there was nothing scarier that night than a knock in the dark.
Good thing u stayed in the van…
Yes, I absolutely feel I made the correct decision…
Thanks for reading and leaving a comment, Camilla.
What a jerk. My first (and only) night of public sleeping in the motor home (WalMart parking lot) included that nauseating shot of adrenaline too, when 4 young men decided it would be hilarious to bang on my door. Whether it was my dog’s ferocious barking, or the whole thing had been just a prank, they ran back to their car and drove away. I sure didn’t get much sleep that night.
Oh, Tammi, I’m sorry to hear that happened to you. What a bunch of creeps! It was probably just a prank, but I bet your good dog scared the shit out of them too. What a nice protector you have.
Don’t pranksters like that worry about getting shot? Maybe it’s because I’m from a state where courts have ruled it’s acceptable for a homeowner to shoot someone on his/her property, but even if I somehow thought it would be funny to mess around someone’s vehicle/motor home/whatever, I’d be afraid of ending up dead or with an ass full of lead. But maybe I’m giving pranksters too much credit for thinking things through before acting.
My suspicious mind is thinking he expected you to open the door, and when you didn’t, he made up the lame excuse about the battery. And I can’t think of any GOOD reason why he would have done that. You did everything right — I’m glad you’re one of the smart ones.
I was parked in a campground near Lowell, OR, for three nights. The noise, catcalls and howling went pretty late on Fri & Sat night. Most people left on Sunday. Sunday night, I was on the opposite side of the campground from the people who had remained. Just after midnight, my dog started growling very softly. I heard a branch snap under a foot near the van. Dixie’s growling got louder. Bear?
Then someone tried the slider door handle, and Dixie went berserk barking, and I heard feet running away as fast as they could go.
And he didn’t even ask if I could help him jumpstart his car in the morning….
I think you’re on to something about the guy spitting out the first stupid excuse that came to his mind when I didn’t open the door. That makes as much sense as anything else I’ve come up with.
In the end, this is one of those situations I will probably never know the reason for. I have a theory that if I live long enough, all mysteries will be explained, but I don’t know if I’ll live long enough to understand this one.