Yup. I'm definitely in danger.

[Flowrydabae]

Before I begin, I just wanna say that I'm not playing the role of the victim. I totally understand, and I'm not interested in playing the victim. I'm just venting. This is how I get support for my anxiety.

Long story as short as I can make it, I was camping in the woods.

EDIT: I'm gonna try to make it shorter.
I was camping in the woods. Some crazy lady saw my tent and called cops on me even though I wasn't on private property. The cop was acting super mean and then I guess when I got out and he saw how beautiful I was, he calmed down (Just kidding. Trying to make the story funny. But for real though, he changed his demeanor real quick when he saw me). He said I looked young and asked how old I was, but I pleaded the fifth. The crazy lady came back trying to virtue signal or w/e the hell she was doing and pretended she cared about me and said she had tons of outreach programs that she created and then she was like "can I have your name so I can pray for you?" LOL?! Um, no. If you really cared about me, you would have f***d right off and kept it moving instead of getting in my business when I'm clearly not a threat. So yeah. Now I'm in Starbucks charging my phone so I'm mad because I have to move my tent and it's like 9pm and it's cold and it's gonna snow

 

[Lou]

I'm pretty sure you can camp for free in the parking lot of any Walmart.

 

[Flowrydabae]

I'm pretty sure you can camp for free in the parking lot of any Walmart.

Oh no, there is no way. I'm not about to buy an RV. Edit: Actually wait, actually, that wouldn't be a bad idea. I can be like Jenelle Alania (or whatever her name is) and just dress up my van super cute. But like....I like tents. Tents are the cutest things. Especially when you put canopys and blow up mattress in them.

They end up looking like daydreams. Plus, where am I going to shower in a van? I need a tent bad. Plus, I like bird watching. It's kind of a big deal that I get to see birds every morning.

 

[Lou]

you don't have to have an RV to camp in the parking lot. try it.

 

[Flowrydabae]

you don't have to have an RV to camp in the parking lot. try it.

Lol and then get the cops called on me again, and then I'm gonna have to sway them with my beauty and grace once more. (Again, a joke. I'm not self centered). For real though, that's obviously private property. You can't do that. Even with RV, you shouldn't be doing that. They're more lenient with RVs, but that's because they can be nice about it. Not all the time though.

 

[Andy_T]

Technical point - how would you fix your tent on tarmac?
Good luck to you and I hope you don't get many more problems with other well-meaning or otherwise people!!!

 

[Flowrydabae]

Technical point - how would you fix your tent on tarmac?
Good luck to you and I hope you don't get many more problems with other well-meaning or otherwise people!!!

Thank you! Yeah, most of the time, people who put tents on hard surfaces just put the corner pins into the ends of the fiberglass poles like they would normally do, but they don't stake anything down because they don't have anywhere to do that which means if there isn't heavy things weighing down the tent, it's gonna fly away. I have no problem giving up my luxury tent for a stealthy tent like a pop up tent or something. It's just that I am concerned about where I'm going to shower, because I shower in the tent. I'm also worried about where I'm gonna hide my things, because obviously I can't keep my things inside the tent if I have to collapse it every single morning and then pitch it back up again. That's gonna be so tiring when it comes to reinflating my mattress. I have a bad back, and I need to sleep on a mattress. I also have thick hair, so I need a place to shower. I can't give up my luxuries. If I do, I'm gonna end up looking like a homeless person when I'm technically not homeless.

This is so unfair. I really wish people would mind their own business sometimes, and stop trying to treat people like charity cases. If I wanted "help", I would have gotten it myself. The woman really tried to push her "help" on me to be honest. She couldn't even keep her story straight. She was like "this is my property" and when I asked why she didn't have fencing around HER property, she was like "this is the town's property" and then she was like "you don't have to leave" and then when I asked her why she called police, she was like "Oh my neighbor did" (even though I know she did. And if she didn't, she's still the reason why this happened) then she was like "I wanna help you, and give you my card. I'll leave it out here" and then when I finally got out of the tent after she finally left, there was no card anywhere. She went on and on about giving me money, food, and some clothes and not one single thing was given! It wasn't about being a good person. It was about putting on the appearance of a good person. Lol! She was actually crazy! Instead of tryna lock me up, go lock HER up! I think that's another reason why the cop backed down!

 

[Second Summer]

Hi there CV!

Sorry to be so nosey, but if you don't mind explaining, why are you living/camping in a tent in the middle of January? Feel free to ignore or answer that with as little or as much detail as you prefer. Are you an ornithologist?

 

[Flowrydabae]

Hi there CV!

Sorry to be so nosey, but if you don't mind explaining, why are you living/camping in a tent in the middle of January? Feel free to ignore or answer that with as little or as much detail as you prefer. Are you an ornithologist?

No it's okay. When I moved out of my parent's place because of serious marital problems my parents were facing, I realized it was no longer physically safe to live with them. I ended up selling most of my closet, took what I could carry on my back, bought a train ticket, and took a 2 hour ride to another town. At this time, I was still in school, so I had a plan to just transfer my credits to another school, get a small cashier job to work on the weekends, and just sleep in a tent. As time progressed, I got really attached to living like this, and got into tent interior design so that my tent wouldn't feel like a tent. I upgraded to a slightly bigger tent, installed a soft fake wood floor, purchased an inflatable mattress, decorated the mattress with a white bed set including three king pillows, and a comforter. Then finally, I added a white opague canopy. Showering had to happen, so I got a wide bucket to stand in inside the tent, purchased a large spray bottle that I would spray on myself and lather myself in soap, then spray the spray bottle on myself again to rinse the soap off. It takes a while to wash my hair like that specifically, but I liked it that way because I like saving resources. Before the spray bottle, I had a portable camping shower that would heat up on its own when you leave it in the sun, but it was too heavy when water was inside it and it also kept leaking anyway.


I ended up falling in love. The rustling of the tree branches in the wind, the leaves on the ground during fall, the squirrels that would come to you if you stand still enough with peanuts in your hand, the occassional cats, and lovely song birds. The day I fully got attached to the woods was when I encountered an owl and it started hooting, so I hooted back and it flew closer to my tent and just stared at me for a little. As soon as I got up to see it closer, it flew away. Most would probably be scared of that since owls are considered omens, but you can't really tell if an owl is telling you something good or bad unless you study your day and watch for your surroundings. That was when it was a done deal. I officially trust animals outside our species more than I do humans. Humans kill. They slaughter, they hurt, they cause pain and suffering. Worst of all, they are deceitful. They hurt the ones who are trying to save us. Animals outside our species only seek to protect us and warn us of serious situations.

I have everything I need out here. I don't need to be around society all the time.

 

[Second Summer]

Thank you for sharing your story, @Courtneyvictoria ! That sounds like a fascinating way to live

Stay safe out there - and I don't mean from the animals, but people! Though, if it's a good spot, perhaps you're not so likely to see too many of that species anyway, or at least not many of the really troublesome sort.

Maybe if you want people to stay out of your business, you can pretend to be an ornithologist? Get yourself a pair of binoculars!

 

[Lou]

Lol and then get the cops called on me again, and then I'm gonna have to sway them with my beauty and grace once more. (Again, a joke. I'm not self centered). For real though, that's obviously private property. You can't do that. Even with RV, you shouldn't be doing that. They're more lenient with RVs, but that's because they can be nice about it. Not all the time though.

Actually, many Walmarts allow camping in the lot.

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[Lou]

A couple more thoughts. I realize you don't want to ask for help but maybe just a little bit of help would be ok.

One idea might be to find a local Hostel and see if they could let you stay there. They are pretty cheap anyway but maybe they could let you stay there for free if you did some work for them.

how about a Church? Sometimes they will let people stay in the church overnight. and sometimes for longer. Again maybe you could do some work for them.

There is Social Services. They might help you with any number of things. If there is a local Samaritan House you could stop by there and ask if they know a place you can camp out. and also they might let you use their shower.

One more thing to check up on is if someone will rent you a space in their backyard. I'm not sure if they put ads in craigslist, but you could.
WANTED: a place to set up my tent in your backyard. Can do house cleaning or gardening.

 

[Flowrydabae]

A couple more thoughts. I realize you don't want to ask for help but maybe just a little bit of help would be ok.

One idea might be to find a local Hostel and see if they could let you stay there. They are pretty cheap anyway but maybe they could let you stay there for free if you did some work for them.

how about a Church? Sometimes they will let people stay in the church overnight. and sometimes for longer. Again maybe you could do some work for them.

There is Social Services. They might help you with any number of things. If there is a local Samaritan House you could stop by there and ask if they know a place you can camp out. and also they might let you use their shower.

One more thing to check up on is if someone will rent you a space in their backyard. I'm not sure if they put ads in craigslist, but you could.
WANTED: a place to set up my tent in your backyard. Can do house cleaning or gardening.

I'm a camper-kid. Not a homeless pregnant teen. I can pay for a place if I wanted to. Trust that. I just don't feel like paying for a place where I will probably have roommates and live paycheck to paycheck. It's not happening. I love this lifestyle too much, and when it starts to depend on other humans, it defeats the entire purpose of me living like this in the first place. If you really wanna help me, I appreciate it. However, if the help you offer is help you know I wouldn't take, it's not worth speaking on. Find me a deep forest where humans aren't hunting animals who are innocently minding their own business.

 

[rogerjolly]

Hi CV,

I believe that life should be one great long education. And I admire what you are doing and am convinced that your experiences will equip you well for your future.

I am reminded of Chris McCandless who was a young man who had a much more extreme attitude than yours. He not only rejected conformity but in an act of symbolism ditched his car and ritually burned his money before heading to the great outdoors.

I used to love admittedly short trips camping in the snow with my mountain tent even before space blankets were invented. Sadly I am far too old for all that now. I’m afraid my poor cold feet need a hot water bottle in the winter even in a heated house.

I am extremely jealous of your youth and your determination. Good luck to you in an endeavour that the unadventurous will simply not understand.

Roger.

 

[The Master Of Design]

Hi and wow! I can't believe you are doing all this on your own... God damn you are so brave! It's not easy what you are doing but I understand that you must feel proud of yourself living on your own terms and you actually appreciate those small moments in nature. In fact you are so happy to be living that kind of life right now. I believe you should be more proud then people who achieved big houses or any financial goal.

I could help you set up a blog or something similar! If you have any idea for the website or any online business let me know!
If I lived in New York I would definitely visit you! Stay safe and it's actually good advice that you pretend to be an ornithologist!
For some reason I get a picture of Wes Anderson's movie right now...