Porterville, California Police Nab Illicit Park Photographer

Porterville, California, April 27, 2013. The photo above that I took in a city park earned me a visit and lengthy interview from the local police department. In the course of the encounter, the officer took a photo of me and even asked me for my shoe size! Here is the full story:

I was on a week-long "working vacation" in California, doing some sightseeing but also working on a book. I had just visited Sequoia National Forest and I was now in this small Central Valley city just below the mountains. I was sitting in my rental car in a city park (Murry Park) working on my computer when this couple appeared directly in front of me. I couldn't resist the free photo op! I picked up my camera from the car seat beside me and took six frames while still sitting in the drivers seat of the car. (The best photo is above.) I was using a telephoto lens (on my Canon 60D), so the couple was actually quite far away. The "bride" said, "Hey, he's taking pictures!" at which point I stopped shooting, put down the camera, smiled and waved. I didn't want to make them uncomfortable. My whole photo shoot lasted 20 seconds at most. The group got back into the car next to mine. Although my windows were open and they were just a few feet away, they didn't say anything to me.

(I assumed at the time that it was a wedding couple, but a friend points out that these are probably prom outfits. Not elaborate enough for a wedding, and the "groom" is wearing sneakers.)

About an hour after they left, an officer of the Porterville Police Department arrived in a cruiser. He said that someone has reported me for taking photos. (It could only have been the prom party, and I assume it was the girl, since she was the only one who seemed to notice me.) The officer was very friendly and agreed that I was doing nothing illegal, but we had a very long interview anyway (with him standing outside my vehicle and me inside with a computer on my lap). I was asked about who I was, where I had been, where I was going. I was happy to answer, because I had nothing to hide. The officer took my licence back to his cruiser where he said he was filling out a written report. Then he came back to the car and asked if he could take my photo (with a small camera he brought from his cruiser). I laughed at that! I said that since I was taking photos of the wedding party without their permission, I couldn't object to him taking a photo of me! He asked me to step out of the car for the photo, which I did. I gave him a big smile as he took a photo of me standing in front of my rental car.

After that, he asked me more information for his report. He asked for my height, and I pointed out that it was on my driver's licence which he held in his hand. He also asked for my social security number (which was not on my license) and my phone number. He then asked for my shoe size. I drew the line at this. I laughed and told him I was asserting my "Miranda rights" and I refused to give him my shoe size. He guessed that my shoe size was 10, but I refused to confirm or deny this information. The officer completed his report; we chatted a bit, and he left.

My actual photography of the couple lasted no more than 20 seconds. Six quick photos. The interview with the officer lasted about 20 minutes. The officer never asked to see the photos I had taken, and I did not offer to show them to him. Although the encounter was cordial, the incident struck me as petty and a senseless waste of police resources. Can you imagine the LAPD responding to a complaint like this and spending so much time on it? (I'm sure the first question of LAPD dispatchers would be, "What law has allegedly been violated here?") What was the bigger personal intrusion: my photography or the police interview?

After the officer left, I decided it was time to depart the park. I moved to the parking lot of the local Walmart, where I knew I wouldn't be hassled, and I continued working on my computer for a few hours. (I was publishing a new ebook, "Kilroy Cafe".) After nightfall, I decided to leave Porterville forever.

But leaving Porterville wasn't so easy. Rather like a Stephen King novel where a character tries to get out of a small rural town but can't. The story continues...

During this week-long visit to California, I was sleeping in my rental car at night. I usually have no problem with this. The weather was nice, and I usually choose my overnight parking locations well, so people don't notice me. Sometimes I sleep in Walmart parking lots, but it was too warm for that. I needed a remote place to park where I could open the car windows.

After dark, I headed out of Porterville toward the west, until I thought I was beyond the city limits. I didn't want another encounter with the Porterville police! I found what I thought was an empty desert area near an aquaduct. It was dark, but I saw no habitation around, so I pulled into the desert, well away from the road.

I went to sleep in the back seat, only be wakened about an hour later by... another police officer! He was in a different uniform and a different style of car, so I assume he was a county officer. He said that a neighbor had reported me. I was surprised, because I looked around me and could see no neighbors, just dark desert. The officer agreed that I wasn't doing anything wrong, but he took my license back to his cruiser.

When he returned to my car, he commented on my camera on the passenger seat, which suggested to me that he now knew about the earlier photography incident.

"You weren't out here taking pictures of people were you?" he asked.

I assured him that I was here only to sleep. (I did not bother to point out to him that, in this location, there was no one to take pictures of!)

The officer did not tell me that sleeping in a car was illegal, and he did not ask me to move, but I offered to move anyway. He agreed that this was probably a good idea because the current situation we "just a little creepy." He suggested the I go back to town and sleep in the Walmart parking lot.

At this point, there was NO WAY I was returning to Porterville! I could imagine this thing growing bigger and bigger, with vague suspicions about this outsider continuing to grow until they found something to charge me with.

After the county officer left, I got back on the road and continued west. Although it was late, I was now determined to get out of this county as quickly as possible! I drove for a hour until I was sure I was beyond Tulare County. I found a safe parking place near the main freeway, and I got at least a few hours sleep without further interruption.

Nice town, Porterville. I can tell people are concerned about safety. When you urge people, "If you see something, say something," they apparently take it seriously. And without much crime, police apparently have a LOT of time to investigate suspicious activities. Still, for a guy like me, engaged in "unusual" activities or lifestyle, this small town Utopia can get tired really fast.

I'm still in the desert as I write this (near Palmdale on April 30), but the Big City is looking really attractive right now! There, they have something called "crime", which is good in a way. At least it keeps the police occupied and off the backs of people whose only crime is being "unusual".

If you happen to know the couple in the photo, perhaps you can forward the photo to them. (Shot April 27, 2013 around 4pm in Murry Park in Porterville, California, and photographed in Murry Park.) Here is the hi-res photo on Facebook.

My USA travel advice - in 4 tweets!

See original tweet to retweet or share.

Also see How to Sleep in a Car.

Moscow Dreams: How to Apply for a Russian Visa (In Theory)

I just arrived back in the beautiful WSA (Walmart States of America) from a two-week trip to Iceland and the Baltic (photos), and I'm already plotting imaginary overseas journeys again. It's a big world out there, but I often find myself returning to familiar territory to push the limits a little more.

I now have broad experience with Eastern Europe—the former Soviet Bloc—and I find it a wonderful place to travel. I find it generally modern, safe and, most importantly, cheap. In general, you can travel in "new" Eastern Europe for roughly half the cost of "old" Western Europe. A €30/night hostel bed in Paris or Rome would be more like €15/night in most of the East. Most countries require no prearranged visa and many are parties to the Schengen Agreement, where you can waltz in from any other Schengen country with no border checks at all. English is widely spoken, at least along the tourist trails, so you don't need to know even a word of the local language. (Knowing the difference between the men's and women's rooms is a plus, though.)

Another thing I like about Eastern Europe is its relative freedom. There seem to be fewer rules than in the West and apparently far fewer personal injury lawyers. You can go places in, say, a castle that would be blocked off for "safety" reasons in the U.S. It almost seems like the Wild West of Europe. You are responsible for your own safety, and no one is going to tell you what to do. It's hard to describe, but I find this refreshing. I also love the general optimism here. All the border wars have been resolved (or at least stabilized) and people are still relishing their 20-year-old freedom.

Yet Eastern Europe is becoming routine to me. A touch of ennui perhaps. I've been to about 16 former Communist countries and I understand how they work. I have yet to visit Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Moldova or Belarus, I'm not expecting any big surprises. There is only one former Soviet country that remains intimidating to me: the motherland itself—Russia.

Until now, I haven't even considered visiting Russia because of (a) the presumed high expense of going there, and (b) the labyrinthine hoops you supposedly have to jump through to get a visa. On my Baltic trip, though, I was within an hour's drive of Russia and starting thinking about it. In Lithuania, Russia was both to the East AND West of me. (Look at a map and you'll see.) In Vilnius, I could have caught a fast train to Moscow. (See photo.) The main thing that prevented me was the visa issue.

I ran into a Canadian backpacker in Riga, just back from Moscow, who had successfully navigated the visa maze and had a wonderful time. I peppered him with questions, and his answers made me think I could do it too. I asked about safety in Moscow, whether I would feel comfortable with an expensive-looking camera around my neck, and he said that city was so thick with police that it's no more a concern than elsewhere. The main spiritual message I received from him on the visa was that it's doable.

On paper, it looks like nothing has changed since the Communist era. To get a tourist visa for Russia, you need a "sponsor", someone who will officially "invite" you to the country, register you once you get there and take a certain amount of legal responsibility for you. If you get in trouble in Russia, the sponsor is supposed to intercede on your behalf. A sponsor might be a tour company or a hotel you are staying at. How do I go about finding a sponsor without breaking my miniscule budget, which usually affords me neither a hotel or a tour?

It turns out that while the regulations are still Communist, Capitalism has greatly streamlined the process. How do you find a sponsor? You do it the American way: You pay for one! And competition makes the price quite reasonable.

I'm still researching this, but here is what I have found so far, starting with the practical matter of airfare and lodging. Everything here is theoretical so far, untested by reality, so don't trust that I know what I am talking about. (If you happen to know more about these subjects than I do, please tell me.) Much of what appears below is just "thinking out loud" as I try to figure out this process on my own. Also note that this information applies to U.S. citizens and may not apply to your nationality.

1. A check of airfares on Expedia, finds that a round-trip flight from New York to Moscow in November would run about $600. That's about $100 LESS then the lowest roundtrip from New York to London. (I kid you not. Check it out for yourself.) You can get a nonstop flight for about the same price or even an "open jaw", flying into Moscow and out of St. Petersburg. (Tack on another $100 for a connecting flight between the two.)
2. November or December would be very "atmospheric" for Moscow (don't you think?) but hopefully not as harsh as January or February. International flights include free checked luggage, so I could obtain secondhand winter clothing before the trip, haul it there and abandon it. I'm also counting on Global Warming to take the bite out of winter, as it seems to be doing everywhere else on the planet.
3. Lodging is easy. HostelWorld lists dozens of hostels (See map above.) at prices ranging from $15 to $30 for a dorm bunk.
4. My target budget is $50 a day on the ground. That's $50 for everything — lodging, food, admission to tourist sites and public transportation. You'd be hard-pressed to vacation in the U.S. for that, but judging from the hostel bed rates, Russia has similar overall prices as Eastern Europe.
5. So how do you get a sponsor? Your first hostel can do it! It's not in imposition at all, because they're going to charge you for the service: about $35. That's mostly profit for them, so why not?
6. I checked out the website for Moscow's largest hostel, Godzilla's. In addition to giving you lodging as low as $16 in the off-season, they will help you with two steps in the visa process: getting you sponsorship voucher and registering your presence with the government once you arrive (about $40).
7. To prove you have a sponsor, you need a printed voucher which you will submit to the Russian Consulate with your visa application. As best I can determine, the voucher looks like this (click to expand)...

7. BTW: Do not be intimidated by the Cyrillic alphabet. Its letters correspond roughly to letters or sounds in the Roman alphabet. For example: "telephone" in English is "телефон" in Russian. Spend an hour learning the letters and you'll at least know the sounds of words. I learned in Greece that you can pick up a fair amount of information just by knowing the sound of a word, since a lot of modern technology words like "telephone" are nearly universal across all languages.
8. A link from the Godzilla's website leads you to what appears to be a 3rd party site that fulfills the tourist voucher. You just fill in the online form, type in your credit card information for the $34.99, and they email you back a printable copy of your voucher within 24 hours.
9. I just love that price "$34.99" not $35. How Capitalist can you get? I assume that Godzilla's is still your sponsor, even though the third party is supplying the voucher. 
10. Godzilla's doesn't seem to particularly care whether you actually stay with them or not. I suspect that you probably have to stay with your sponsor for at least a short time so they can register you with the authorities (a future step, below). According to the Canadian, once you are in the country, you're pretty much free to stay wherever you want, but I would probably stick with one the one hostel while in Moscow.
11. Now that your have the "invitation" from your sponsor, you can apply for the visa. Here is the official visa information from the Russian consulate, in clunky Russian English of course. Based on information  I saw on non-official sites, I was expecting to pay $50 for a 30-day tourist visa. Now it seems that, effective this month, they want you to pay $180 for a 3-year multiple-entry visa. No point in crying about it, because I believe the U.S. government charges even more in the other direction. This visa costs more, but I it also includes the freedom to return again and again (up to 90 days each time). I understand Russia is a rather large country, so this feature might indeed be useful.
12. They also seem to want you to use a third-party agency, Invisa Logistic Services, to process the application. This adds another $30 to the fee. That's $180 plus $30 processing fee plus the $35 voucher plus $40 to register once you arrive = $285.
13. But wait, there's more! After consulting Invisa's clunky website and their price list, I find that if you want to apply for a visa by MAIL, they'll sock you for another $65. That's $30 mail processing fee plus $35 certified mail fee. (Certified mail costs something like $3 at the post office. Makes you wonder who is profiting from the Invisa monopoly.). Submitting the application in person apparently means visiting an Invisa office in one of five U.S. cities,giving them the application, money for both them and the Ruskies (cash appears to okay for the whole amount, but I wouldn't sweat by it) and your passport. Then you have to presumably come back to the same office in two weeks when your passport and visa are ready. Otherwise, if you do it by mail, you're now shelling out $35 to the sponsor for the voucher, $275 to Invisa and $40 more to the sponsor to register you after you land. Total: $350. That $600 airfare now looks like closer to $1000 to just get you into Russia your first time. (After that, it is probably $40 for each trip, just to have your sponsor register you once you arrive.)
14. You can save the $65 by applying for the visa at one of Invisa's five US offices: New York, Washington, Houston, Seattle or San Francisco. You are expected make an appointment for the time you want to appear. One possible advantage of submitting the application in person, apart from the $65 saved, is they should tell you right away if something essential is missing. Based on my past experience with other countries, they'll tell you the date when you need to come back for your passport and visa, and you shouldn't need an appointment for that (right?).
15. There also seem to be visa agencies willing to submit the forms for you (plenty are offering this service online, and two are listed on the Russian Embassy's page), but I am skeptical. You might save $65, but the agency itself must have some kind of fee, and you are adding one more layer of bureaucracy to the process.
16. Invisa provides a clunky but functional online system for generating the paper form that you will submit to them. You have to "register" online to use the form, but it appears that your registration isn't used for anything but generating the form. (You can try it right now if you want, pretending you're applying for a visa.) Apparently, they only care about the paper at the other end, which I assume is a PDF that you will print out.
17. On the visa application form (and the voucher request), you are supposed to specify all the cities you want to visit in Russia and all the lodging establishments you will be staying at, but how can you realistically do this for a 3-year, multiple entry visa? Beats me! I guess you just fill it out for your first visit then maybe add a few major cities you could conceivably visit in the future. This is where bureaucracy runs into pragmatism. If your visa says Moscow and you are found in Vladivostok, will you get in trouble? In the Communist era, you would, but who knows how things work in the current environment. I suspect that once you are inside Russia, you can go wherever you want, like the Canadian says, but you can't really know until you visit the first time and gather intelligence.
18. You're also supposed to write a letter with your itinerary, which again makes little sense with a multiple-entry visa. I guess you just do it to reflect your first intended trip.
19. According to the Embassy's webpage, they "may request" a bank account statement, proof of your employment, proof of property, etc., but I seriously doubt they ever do this for American citizens. (Not a lot of us are racing to Russia for the employment opportunities.) I'm also not seeing any direct request for proof of an air ticket, so it seems that you don't need to buy it until you actually have the visa in hand. That's good. It means you can apply for a visa with no real risk except the $245+ you're shelling out immediately. If Russia doesn't want you or throws too many obstacles in your path, you just walk away. If the visa is granted, you can use it any time in the next three years.
20. BTW: Here is the US State Department's info on visiting Russia. Useful, but doesn't mention the new multiple-entry tourist visa (even though it is supposed to be by agreement with the USA).
21. After you arrive, your sponsor is supposed to "register" you with the authorities. They only thing I really know about this process is that it costs more money (about $40 at Godzilla's). 
22. Whew! It's generally an absurd process, but doable. Based on the information I have so far, I would be inclined to apply in person at Invisa in Washington (since I often pass through there). I would do the process in two steps: first get the visa based on a theoretical trip, then make concrete plans at my convenience only after the visa arrives. Maybe I go this winter or summer two years from now. Shouldn't matter if I have a multiple entry visa.

What have I missed. Feel free to do your own research and tell me.

Washington, D.C.—Best Transportation Hub in USA!

Sometimes even a homeless travelling dude has to lay back and chill for a while, so where does he do it without a home? It has to be someplace with mild weather where he can get by cheaply. It also has to be someplace well-connected with transportation options, especially if he doesn't know where he is going next. So where is the best place in North America to conduct such a-chill'n?

Transportation-wise, you might think that someplace in the center of the country would be best, like St. Louis or Kansas City, where you are equidistant from the coasts and where the cost of living is low. Turns out, however, that airfares to and from these places aren't cheap. Due to competitive pressures, it is usually cheaper to fly from, say, New York to L.A. than from St. Louis to L.A. Furthermore, although the cost of living may be low in the Heartland for people who live there, there aren't many options for the traveler, like hostels or cheap intercity buses.

You might think that New York City would be a good transportation hub, and it is, but transportation is just about all that New York offers. It's a jungle, painful to get in and out of and not the sort of place you can comfortably chill homelessly. Even the New York suburbs are dense and hard to navigate.

So where is the best hang-out for the homeless traveler? Suburban Washington, D.C.! I'm there right now, typing in the back seat of my cheap rental car in Alexandria, Virginia. Due to the vagaries of my business (gun for hire), I don't know exactly where I will be going next, and given that fact, this is the best place in the world to be.

I'm not interested in downtown Washington. I've already seen every tourist attraction. The suburbs are the "in" place for me, usually Virginia not far from Dulles or National airport. I rent a big full-size car and sleep in it. National airport is often a surprisingly cheap place to rent a car. This one, a spacious Impala, set me back $136/week, which is pretty cheap housing.

In D.C., I am blessed with the nation's best selection of transportation options. There are three airports: DCA, IAD and BWI, all accessible by public transit. Wherever I need to fly to, chances are one of those airports will offer a low fare.

D.C. is also a hub for Megabus, the new bus line the offering fares between major cities far less than Greyhound or Amtrak. I can get to New York or Philadelphia for $25 any day, which puts even more airports within my reach (PHL, EWR, JFK, LGA, RIC). Long haul routes are only about $45 to Boston, Toronto, Knoxville, Pittsburgh and Charlotte, and with connecting routes I can get as far as Florida, Minnesota or Texas. (See their system map.) Megabus can be cramped if every seat is booked, but one huge advantage is power sockets at every seat (more valuable to me than the wifi). Now, I can compute continuously from the moment I sit down.

Amtrak is an option if you can plan ahead, but their last-minute fares are way too high. If I wanted to go to New York today, I'd be paying $153 on Amtrak but still only $25-33 on Megabus. Megabus is really what made D.C. a hub for me. If I were a foreign backpacker touring the U.S., I would fly into whatever Eastern city had the best airfares than using Megabus to tour the East Coast. Cheaper than any sort of bus or rail pass.

The ambiance is nice in the D.C. suburbs. Here I have access to one of the two health club chains I belong to (Anytime Fitness), so showers and exercise are near at hand. Plenty of food options and other services. I can park almost anywhere to work or sleep; these suburbs are spacious enough that no one cares. I certainly have no concern for my safety in the Virginia suburbs. Demographics protect me from the rif-raff of the inner city.

Of course, there are plenty of Walmarts in Virginia for all my supply needs (clothing, camping supplies, etc.). These would be hard to come by in the dense suburbs of New York or Boston.

Only the summer sucks, when the humidity can be oppressive and sleeping in the car is a challenge. Cold is almost never a problem when sleeping in a car: You just close the windows and add more clothing and Walmart sleeping bags. Heat is the problem. To sleep in the car in the summer in Virginia, I would have to open all the windows for ventilation, and that means I have to be in a remote location with few mosquitoes. Good luck finding that! I would probably drive far out of D.C. in that case, perhaps to the shore where I can find some sea breeze.

D.C. also has hostels if I need them. (See the selection on Hostelworld.) If a rental car is prohibitively expensive or I need to catch an early morning bus, I may use a hostel for the night, generally for $25 to $40. Several are within walking distance of Union Station.

There is sightseeing here if I care to do it. While I have been to all the major D.C. attractions (my photos) there are always more obscure museums to explore. It seems that every organization wants to put some sort of museum or monument in Washington, and it would take years to visit them all.

Did I mention that it's our nation's capital? I may be jaded from overexposure, but Washington is a city that everyone should visit. Most of the government attractions are free. "Washington" looms so large in the news, that I think every human should have some direct experience with it.

But best to sleep in a rental car in the suburbs if you want an easy visit.

Travel Notes on Iceland

I am just coming to the end of a three-day visit to Iceland. (I am writing from my hostel in Reykjavik.) I feel very comfortable here and hope to come back someday. Here are my notes—things you might not figure out with Google alone. Also see my Facebook photos: Iceland and Reykjavik and here is a Google Map of my drive. 

1. Iceland is very green. (Don't believe the "ice" part. It's Greenland that's the icy one.) It seems about equivalent in terrain and climate to the north of Scotland. Supposedly, winter temperatures are as mild as New York or Toronto, but it's probably much more gray and rainy. Bring an umbrella!


2. Iceland is basically one giant volcano. 100% of the landscape is volcanic, primarily endless lava fields covered with moss.


3. There is hardly a tree anywhere! I found this especially surprising, because even Siberia has trees. Apparently Iceland was once forested but got pillaged of trees by the Vikings. Most of the landscape is mosses, grasses and low shrubs. At least there's nothing to obscure your view!


4. I was surprises by the lack of obvious history. There are museums but hardly any old buildings. Almost all the buildings in Iceland look new, as though the island was settled only in the past 50 years. It is hard to find any old buildings apart from a few stone foundations. The only "history" is what you read on information signs. Although the Vikings were here for centuries, they apparently built with wood and sod, which has rotted away. What's left looks like generic modern Scandinavia.


5. Iceland is expensive, but once you take care of food and lodging, there's not much opportunity to spend money. This is a good place to use hostels and camp to avoid outrageous lodging charges.


6. The only hostels are in Reykjavik. I was very happy with the Kex Hostel. For a short stay or for the first couple of days of a longer one, this is a pretty good base of operations, since the main tourist sites can be done in day trips from there.


7. You really need a rental car to do Iceland justice. You can take tours to see the sights, but it is very confining and may not be much cheaper than having your own car and stopping where you wish.


8. The one thing I would bring next time is a sleeping bag to allow me to sleep in the car. (Even a throw-away one.) Camping supplies are available here but don't come cheap.


9. You have to work hard to meet an actual Icelander, and there's no obvious "culture" on the surface. You come here mainly for the natural scenery not the human environment.


10. Assuming you can find one, it seems that nearly every Icelander along the tourist tracks speaks English. You'll have no trouble getting along without knowing a word of Icelandic.


11. Icelandic towns are spotless, sanitary and bland. Hardly worth stopping in them.


12. There is virtually nothing in Iceland to hurt you. No significant crime and nothing poisonous. (No snakes, lizards or even frogs.) The only danger is your own stupidity walking on rocks or too close to a cliff. Iceland won't protect you from that! Even at their national parks, you can walk right up to the edge of a waterfall if you choose.


13. In Iceland, you'll soon suffer from Waterfall Fatigue. There are so many spectacular ones that after a while stopping at every one you pass seems like a burden.


14. "Big City" Reykjavik is only a small city in global terms (140k in the city and 200k in the area). Not a lot to see. You can do it all in a day. Add another day if you want to do the museums.


15. Two-thirds of Iceland's tiny population is concentrated around Reykjavik. They rest of Iceland is wild and woolly (literally). You'll meet only sheep and other tourists.


16. Easiest and cheapest way to visit Iceland is to stopover on an Icelandair flight to Europe. Stopovers of up to 7 days at no additional charge!


17. Gas seems to be the same fixed price everywhere in the country. In Sept. 2012, it was ISK 260 per liter. That's US$8.12 per gallon! A major part of your travel budget will be gas. (I drove a small automatic getting 7 km/liter. My total cost was about IKR 21000 (US$175) for 1250 km of driving.)


18. Most gas stations are unmanned and automated. YOU MUST HAVE A PIN NUMBER for your credit card in order to use them! (Also, be sure to inform your card issuer of your overseas travel to avoid having your card disabled for unusual charges.)


19. My three days in Iceland were quite satisfying. I stayed at the Kex Hostel in Reykjavik all three nights. On the first full day, I visited the most popular tourist sites in the "Golden Circle". On the second full day, I took a long day trip to the big Vatnajokull Glacier and the sights along the way. On the half days on either side, I explored Reykjavik itself. There is a lot of Iceland I haven't yet explored, but I feel I got the gist and that staying longer wouldn't give me much more to remember. If I had 7 days, I would have driven the full Ring Road. (Beyond 7 days, I probably would have gone mad in Iceland!)


20. Kex Hostel: Close to downtown. Good kitchen facilities with lots of food left behind by past guests (pasta, condiments). Free lower linen. Use your own sleeping bag or rent top linen/duvet for ISK 1000 per stay. Free parking in front of the hostel overnight, but you have to pay between 10:00 and 16:00.


21. There are steaming volcanic springs everywhere in Iceland, but I never found any natural hot pools where you can soak. There are, however, lots of commercial and municipal hot pools where you will pay money to swim. (Not my cup o' tea, since I would rather keep moving.)


22. The most famous commercial hot spring is the Blue Lagoon, about 10 km off the main road to the airport. To actually use the swimming facilities costs €35, but it costs nothing to visit adjoining pools or look through the glass at the fools willing to shell out the money to swim. It's not really natural, having being created as a side-effect of the nearby geothermal plant, but it's quite interesting and worth the 20km diversion to see.


23. There is a nice municipal pool complex in Reykjavik (near the City Hostel). It's only ISK 500 (under $5), but there's nothing natural about it except the water itself. (It's modern swimming complex like you might find in Canadian cities.) It looks like other big towns have similar developed hot pools.


24. A full drive of the "Ring Road" around Iceland would take 4 full days ( I estimate, based on my tour of 1/4 of it) stopping at all the roadside sights along the way. I might do this someday. I would be camping or sleeping in the rental car.


25. In Reykjavik, there is a tenting campground next to the City Hostel. Outside Reykjavik, it is easy to sleep in a car or find a discreet tenting spot after dark. (You need a tent mainly because of rain.) Many tourists rent small campers, but I don't see the need for them.


26. Fast food is limited and expensive. KFC, Taco Bell and Dominoes are in the few big town. McDonalds, Burger King and all the others are nowhere to be seen.


27. Grocery shopping is done at chain supermarkets. (You rarely see a "mom and pop" store, even in small towns.) Iceland seems to have been Walmartted by the Bonus grocery store chain, but don't expect low prices. Prices range from 100-300% of U.S. prices. All your basic foodstuffs are available, but not much variety.


28. When driving, the usual European rules and signage applies. No left turn on a red light. Iceland stoplights do you the courtesy of showing red and yellow just before the green, but I don't understand why. Expect lots of roundabouts!


29. The airport is a good place to change money, both coming and going. There's no commission, and the spread is reasonable. This is especially handy when you have excess cash you need to get rid of at the end of your trip. (You change dollars/euros into Kroners outside security, but you change money in the other direction inside security.)


30. There are signs in the airport terminal saying you can't sleep there. The airport is in a lonely location 45km from the city. You'll have to either take a pricey bus or rent a car.

Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands on the Cheap

New information page on cheap travel to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, posted today as a Facebook Note.

Camping near Charleston Amtrak

My secret campsite near the Charleston Amtrak station, preparing for the southbound 5:06am Silver Meteor to Florida. I slept in a $19 Walmart sleeping bag on a $5 tarp in the bushes just to the right of the blue dot. I scouted out the location and cached my sleeping bag there while I still had a vehicle during the day. Then I came back by local bus at night to sleep. Woke up at 4:30am and walked across the parking lot to catch the train.

Although the residential neighborhood just to the north of this photo is distinctively low-rent, I felt very safe in this industrial location. The pattern of trash in the woods told me that people rarely came here, even during the day. My location in the bushes was visible during the day but completely invisible at night. The forest debris under my mattress provided all the padding I needed and I slept soundly. Fortunately, there was no rain in the forecast and it was still cool enough at night (60° in March) that there were no mosquitoes. (It would have been much more difficult in the summer.) When I broke camp, I left my sleeping bag and tarp in an obvious place where someone would probably from the low-rent neighborhood would probably see them and take them home.

Car-Camping Guide to Key West

[Wow! I didn't make any posts at all to this blog in 2011! I didn't really intend to abandon it. I am still happily homeless and wandering the highways of America. In Sept. 2011, I finally lost my free-flight benefits with US Airways (3 years free flight after being laid off), so I can no longer pop over to Europe at will. Otherwise my life is pretty much the same.

For Christmas 2011, I rented a car in mainland Florida and drove down to Key West—a favorite vacation of mine. Below is my car-camping guide to the Florida Keys, originally posted on Google Plus, where is it impossible to find.]

THE FLORIDA KEYS - Best cheap winter vacation in America! It's easy: Fly to Miami or FLL (usually cheap), rent a car (cheap on weekends). Stay at the Everglades International Hostel in Florida City or sleep in car. (Since it is warm, the only bedding you need is an airline blanket.) Drive the Overseas Highway to Key West -- America's drive-to Caribbean Island. There's no cheap lodging on the Keys and overnight parking is hard to pull off on Key West itself, but you can get away with it easier on other Keys. (There's a state campground at Bahia Honda, but it's always heavily booked.) Once you figure out how to sleep, there's little cost. Fast food and groceries in Key West and several towns along the way. Perfect bath-water swimming year round. All the environmental ambiance of a Caribbean island at a fraction of the cost. Go now! [Nov. 2011]

My photos: http://Glenn-Campbell.com/album?keywest

UPDATE Christmas 2011: Just visited Key West again for Christmas. Arrived on Christmas Eve and left on Christmas Day. I swam at dawn on Christmas morning on Smather's Beach! On this brief trip, I discovered two new overnight camping spots...

In Key West, you can PARK OVERNIGHT IN THE TRUMAN ANNEX, just outside the entrance for Ft. Zackary Taylor State Park. Map: http://g.co/maps/knb4g - Follow the signs toward the park and you'll see what I mean. There were several RVs parked in this vicinity when I visited, and I spent the night in a rental car unmolested. (Unlike the rest of Key West where they are very rigorous about enforcing no-overnight-parking.) I'm not sure you can get away with tent camping here, but you might. Check out the overgrown area in the far corner, under a pedestrian bridge. Even if you don't spend the night at the Truman Annex, you can park here during the day for free and walk to Duval Street.

About halfway down the keys is another rare overnight parking/camping spot: An ABANDONED MANSION near Layton. Map: http://g.co/maps/ecgn2 - (See my Key West album for photo.) When I visited, the gate was open, with occasional tourists driving in. There are No Trespassing signs around the mansion itself (so faded as to be almost unreadable), but none on the grounds or the gate. Place has obviously been abandoned for years, if not decades. I would have no problem pitching a tent here. (You could sleep in the open, without a tent, except for the likelihood of rain during the night.) You could even sleep inside the building (if you're willing to ignore the almost unreadable No Trespassing signs. (Hard concrete, but you'd be protected from the rain and wouldn't need a tent.) Here is a panorama of the mansion and its grounds: http://photosynth.net/view/d82217c3-3b63-4997-a0a8-79fcc8a2d7cb

A great attraction I discovered on this trip was the dock at Robbie's Marina (Sometimes called Tarpon Landing), where you can feed pelicans and huge fish for a couple of dollars. Another is the Wild Bird Sanctuary in Key Largo (free but $5 donation suggested): Get up close and personal with the pelicans. See photo album: http://Glenn-Campbell.com/album?pelicans

Other Key West notes: The main tourist drag is Duval Street. Walk here at night for lots of entertainment. Stores in town include Publix, Kmart, all the fast food joints and -- most important -- a big Dollar Tree store. Caribbean Swimming at Smathers Beach (bring quarters for the parking meters) or Fort Zackary Taylor ($4.50+ entry fee).

The Perfect Campsite in Kansas

Sept. 2 — The sun just went down in central Kansas, so it's time to pull off I-70 and find a safe harbor for the night.

Last night, in Wyoming, I stayed in the lap of luxury: Motel 6, Laramie. It was cold (40s) and very windy (sub-freezing chill factor), so it seemed worth the 40 bucks. In Kansas, though, the weather is a lot more mild, and every night I can spend outdoors is money saved (and more time I can spend in Europe, where hostels about $20/night). The car I am in is packed with luggage, so there is no space to achieve the critical element: bringing my legs to the same level as my head. (I can sleep sitting up, but it isn't comfortable.)

Tonight, I didn't have to look very far. Kansas has big, spacious rest areas where you can usually get away with camping under cover of night. (Camping on the ground wouldn't work at most rest areas in other states, where space is at a premium.) This rest area near Russell has a vast area of mowed grass behind the restrooms, big as a football field. There are about six 18-wheelers parked at this rest area for the night, but I'm the only car, so I've made myself at home. I have set up camp behind a big bush in the middle of the field, so it's impossible for anyone to detect me. (The car is obvious, but it's normal for it to be parked here.)

My "camp" consists of a sleeping bag, a camping mattress and a 6x8 tarp for a ground cover. The low temp tonight is expected to be in the 50s. Very little wind and a clear sky full of stars. Since it is only 9pm, I'll easily wake and break camp before down.

Here's my exact location if you care to join me.

Wal-Mart Motel: $20/night

When you’re driving in the USA and can’t afford local motels, Wal-Mart offers a secret “motel” for $20/night. You just have to know about it.

In an earlier posting I discussed the Supercenter Camping Method. If you’re driving across America, finding a discreet place to camp is difficult, not because America lacks open spaces but because it is difficult to hide your car. My solution is to hide the car in the open, in a place where cars would normally be parked at night—like the parking lot of a 24-hour Wal-Mart Supercenter! At least in rural areas, open land or woods are common around Supercenters, since these monstrosities are usually located in newly appropriated land on the outskirts of town.

Last night, I successful practiced The Method yet again, this time in Pennsylvania. I was driving Interstate 80, couldn't find a cheap motel and didn't have any camping equipment with me. What to do? The trouble with Pennsylvania and other Northeastern states is the lack of cheap motels. Motel 6 is relatively rare and often high-priced when available, and other chains aren’t cheap. (Hostels, of course, exist only in a few major cities.) I was prepared to spend $35 for a night’s lodging but not $65, which was the lowest rate I could expect in these parts. The alternative? Check into the nearest Wally World.

A Supercenter is distinguished from a traditional Wal-Mart in that it has a full-size grocery section and is open 24 hours. Supercenters are located along the interstate highway system throughout America, usually adjacent to an exit with some undeveloped land beside it. In America, Wal-Marts are far more frequent than official highway rest areas, and they are a lot easier to find on mapping programs like Google Maps. When I am driving (which I do for a living), I typically check in at Wal-Marts a couple of times a day—to use the reliably clean restrooms, stock up on basic supplies and just soak in the ambiance. Every Wal-Mart is the same, and, yes, it gives me a feeling of home in being there.

So my challenge is to spend a comfortable, safe night within a short walk of my car while spending as little money as possible. If I was going to spend $35 on a motel, then I can comfortably spend $20 on camping supplies that I may throw away the next day.

The weather last night was clear with no rain in the forecast. This is the tail end of summer and it gets a little chilly at night—which is good! Coolness is going to suppress my most significant adversary: the mosquito. For one thing, I can hide deep in my sleeping bag and expose less of my skin, but mosquitoes are also less active when it’s cool. They aren’t much of a problem below 65 degrees F and they are no issue at all below 55.

At dusk, I checked my BlackBerry for the next Wal-Mart along the highway. It was in Clarion, Pennsylvania, and it turned out to be perfect! There was a field of tall grass and brush on one side of the parking lot, so 50 feet from the car I could be completely invisible.

…Invisible at night, that is! Thanks to the power of darkness, you can camp in some amazingly obvious places. The only catch is that you have to be sure to wake up and break camp before dawn, because the landscape completely changes during the day. It's like the Invisible Man losing his superpowers.

(For sunrise times, see TimeAndDate.com.)

Here's my exact camping spot...

View Larger Map

After selecting my camping spot in the last light of the day, I made first pass through Wal-Mart, picking up two essential items: A sleeping bag for $10, and a plastic tarp for $5. The sleeping bag is a summer model stocked year-round at all Wal-Marts. It is rated at 40-60 degrees (more realistic for 60 than 40) and currently sells for $9.88 (photo). In winter, I might buy TWO of these bags and stick them one inside the other, but for tonight one would do.

The tarp (6 x 8 feet) is found in the automotive section for $4.50, and I use it as a ground cloth. It is also big enough that I can fold it around me. In the lush East, the grass under the tarp serves as a mattress, providing (at least to me) enough padding for comfortable sleep. In the barren West, however, I would buy a camping air mattress instead (for about $13) or a swimming pool air mattress (about $6), since the desert ground is too hard to sleep on without it. (You need a pump to blow up the camping mattress: $10-15.)

In the humid East, you must be wary of rain, but there’s also another form of falling water that happens more often: dew. Dew is condensation that covers everything after dark—like having light rain every night. (photo) Dew rarely happen in the desert, but in the East (or near the ocean) where the relative humidity is close to 100%, it can be drenching. (In the winter, it manifests as frost.) When your sleeping bag is wet, it doesn’t keep you as warm, and once dew forms, it won’t evaporate until morning.

I address this problem by wrapping the tarp around me like a burrito. The tarp has grommet holes along the edges and I fasten these together with plastic cable ties ($1 from the hardware section). This "tortilla" can’t be too tight, however, because your body and breath are also generating moisture of their own, which forms dew on the INSIDE of the tarp. (That’s why sleeping bags have to be made of fabric, not plastic.) The aim of the tarp tortilla is to cut down most of the dew but not all of it. There have to be gaps to let your own moisture out.

The tarp can also protect you from light rain, but significant rain would preclude this kind of tentless camping, as would high temperatures that bring out the mosquitoes and force me to leave my sleeping bag. Low temperatures, however, are not a problem. In temperatures well below freezing, I can do just fine with two summer bags (one inside the other) wrapped in a tarp burrito--even in snow. (For added warmth, I might sleep in my winter clothes and jacket.)

Of course, I could also use a tent. I sometimes travel with one, but tents at Wal-Mart are expensive ($45+). (I buy tents on sale at sporting goods mega-stores for about $25.) For one or two nights in good weather, a tent is usually not worth the expense or even the bother to put up. I like the freedom of not having to carry anything with me, and I don't like how a tent cuts me off from my environment. With the burrito method, you check into Wal-Mart with $20 and walk out with everything you need.

What about a pillow? It’s free! The $10 sleeping bag comes in a zippered fabric pouch. Fill it full of clothing and—viola!—a pillow.

Safety? Not an issue. There aren’t people wandering around in places like this, on the outskirts of rural towns far from any residences. Your car is safe, because Wal-Mart usually has a night-time security patrol in the parking lot, but they aren’t concerned with the surrounding woods and grass. Their vehicle has a big flashing light on top, so you an easily evade them when coming and going.

Wild animals and insects? Apart from mosquitoes, there aren’t any to worry about. Civilization has killed off all the lions and tigers and bears. Snakes and rodents regard you as a danger and will give you a wide berth when they can (except maybe to steal you food). I have never had a creepy-crawly climb into my sleeping bag with me, and I wouldn’t regard it as a danger if they did. Your only potential threat is human, and these animals rarely leave their cars except to waddle into the Wal-Mart.

Weather? It happens, but at least you can look up the forecast and have a good idea of what is possible. Unlike living in a “home” or staying in motels, weather is the camper’s constant companion and you have to listen to it and understand it. If the forecast calls for a low of 40 degrees, experience should tell you what you need. Rain, of course, my require you to use a tent, and heavy rain may make even tenting impossible. You have to seek other accommodations, like a motel or sleeping in the car. (I can sleep sitting up in the driver’s seat. It’s easier than sleeping on a red-eye flight but rarely offers a sound night’s sleep.)

Is is legal? Of course not! Vacant land around a new Supercenter is probably owned by Wal-Mart itself, since they have a habit of buying up all the land where they know they are going to build one. (Clever, eh? They lease out the land to other stores and take advantage of their own halo effect.) Most rural Wal-Marts allows RVs to camp in their parking lots, but open-air camping is another thing and would probably attract an unsavory crowd if it were explicitly allowed. I camp there, however, under the principle that what Wal-Mart doesn't know won't hurt it. As in most things, discretion is the key. If I arrive after dark and leave before dawn, and no one ever knows I was there, I don't feel that I'm trampling on Wal-Mart's property rights. Besides, I'm a good customer!

Can’t sleep? Just pop into your neighborhood Wal-Mart for a snack. Remember, though, that your coach turns into a pumpkin in the morning. You must have some kind of alarm clock to wake you up before dawn, because as soon as the sun comes up, your cover may be blown.

Last night, however, I had no trouble sleeping, and because the location seemed secure, I chose to sleep until after dawn. I got a solid 7 hours of sleep, as good as any motel. There was no opportunity for a shower, but if I felt the need, I could pick that up at a truck stop. I kept the tarp and sleeping bag, but I could have thrown them away (or left them in the parking lot for other thrifty Wal-Mart patrons to snatch up). Either way, I was a winner, getting a good night's sleep while saving about $50.

Thanks again , Wal-Mart!