Been woken up by Jordanian security forces...

The first night of my first ever tour I decided to stealth camp (following inspiration received from this forum), in rural China. I was a bit overwhelmed with thoughts of the bike, the terrain, my clothes, cooking, what time to finish riding, what time to start in the morning, how the stuff was sitting on my bike etc etc. Grossly inexperienced.

I found myself in a lightly mountainous region. After a hot day, to my surprise it started to get cold and dark quickly. I found a recessed spot among tall grass a little back from the road, in front of a run-down looking shed which formed an outbuilding for a nearby factory. I didn't know that at the time. All went as well as could be expected until the next morning at 8am. In hindsight I should have been up and out of that area two hours earlier. I had already packed my bike and was attending to a call of nature when a security guard from the factory spotted me, started yelling and came over. I turned to face the irate guy with just a t-shirt on and piece of paper in hand.

Being a foreigner in rural China on a bicycle is enough to all but the most insurrmountable problems. The security guard actually apologised for disturbing me. I in turn apologised and said I couldn't find a hotel and was tired, plus that I was just leaving (the last part was true). I was out of there five minutes later and vividly remember thinking how ironic it was that so many people on bikeforums stealth camp for years and here am I getting caught on my first ever attempt!

Just follow stealth camping rules: no fires, no litter (including human waste), no noise, out of sight, never on posted land, stop near dark, leave early.

so what do you do when you have to drop a deuce?

The last night of my last tour I wasn't as careful as I had been and I got caught. I was camped out behind a baptist church in rural Mississippi. I thought I had followed all the rules cmcanulty just mentioned but it turned out that, though it was quite dark on this late November evening, it was not yet 6pm! And the church had an evening service!

Headlights illuminated my campsite and I looked up to see the preacher and his whole family staring at me wide eyed from their minivan. With my black balaclava I must have looked pretty threatening. I pulled the balaclava off and tried to look innocent as I approached the vehicle. The preacher looked really nervous but eventually he seemed to believe me and allowed me to stay put. He even offered to keep the singing down so I could get my rest!

You generally just get told to git, end up having a long talk with the bloke, who then ends up letting you stay.

Other times we have been watched while we pack up, then followed for long periods making sure we leave.

Having said that Australia is likely to be very, very different to other countries. The above refers to experiences with farmer joe on his property, and indigenous persons on traditional land in the middle of nowhere.

I have ridden my motorcycle around the world twice, always with camping gear. In the second and third world stealth camp with caution. Don't leave your camp or your gear could be stolen.
Drunks are usually *******s.
Use common sense if you are alone.
It's always better to pay small money for protection at a roadside inn.
If you pay to eat camping is always free.
Do it that way.
Safety first.
bill

We've been caught once. It was a particularly bad location, it was late and we were tired. It was no big deal: https://journal.goingslowly.com/2009/...o-di-como.html

We've camped in some very public places too!

https://journal.goingslowly.com/2009/10/stealthy.html

It is only scary until you've done it a few times. Go for it, you'll be a-ok!

I haven't read that book, but had a mild version of this happen as well. This was the first day riding from Kazan out towards the Urals. This was a farming region with not a lot of cover. I'd put my (bright orange) tent behind a row of trees, ~100m from the road. I wasn't trying to be extremely stealthy and I wanted to watch the road to see if I could see my touring partner since we'd gotten separated from each other that day (in what turned out to be 10 days of riding separately). What I hadn't realised as well, was that there were folks living over the hill and behind the fields. Some of the local kids out to play were definitely intrigued by me and my tent. They decided to come up and stalk me and see how close they could get. I saw them for a while, but eventually worked to shoo them away. A little later they were back but they also didn't have much cover and so I was also able to keep track of them. Eventually they tired and went home.

My brother and I were illegally camping in a city park in Louisiana. There were signs stating that it was closed at dark etc. A cop came driving through that night and shined his lights on us. We walked up to the car and I explaned that we were touring cyclists and were caught at dark with no campgrounds. He asked us where we were from and where we were going. He called his Watch Commander and then told us that he was locking the gate to the park and that if we had any trouble to call 911 and that he would be there in a matter of minutes. (It must have been a rough neighborhood).
I was impressed with his professionalism and understanding of our circumstances. He could have told us to move on, go to a hotel, but didn't. I'm sure it was the bicycles.......

Like others said, you should be a bit more specific on which foreign countries you refer to. Sometimes stealth is not even needed, in several Nordic countries there's a legal concept called "Everyman's rights" that includes the right to set up camp (camp stoves are OK as well, but open fire not). Conditions apply, and vary from place to place. And regardless of the level of "stealth" needed, Leave No Trace is always a good principle to live by.

Here's a Wikipedia article on the subject. I can verify that the information regarding Finland is spot on, and the part about Sweden seems solid too (don't know the Swedish rules to the letter though). The rest, cross-check from other sources if possible.

--J

one time me and a buddy got caught stealth camping at dawn by the automatic sprinklers in the lawn we camped on. oh, and that one time by park rangers near the road in the Teton National Park.

Drab tarps, keep a low profile, cover the bikes, and you can hide a lot of places.

international travel would require knowledge of local laws AND customs. Some countries it would be best not to hide at all but inculcate yourself or look for a roadhouse. Adding rebels or lawless maruaders into the mix would surely up the ante in safe planning.

Very important that your tent be a color that will blend reasonably well. Dark grey or brown is always good. Even these will sometimes come with brightly colored markings. Not good for stealth. Lay your bike down and cover it to prevent reflections from headlights. Beware of reflective markings on the panniers. Light in the tent will make it stand out at night. I carefully use a book light to read with.

I avoid stealth camping when ever possible because because it's harder to relax. Never been caught, but have been seen a few times. 99.5% of people passing could care less. Cops are interested because they are usually bored and catching a camper gives them something to do.

I've never had a problem since I get to choose where I tour. If I did something like a tour around the world, then I would be in all kinds of places that were new to me. Stealth doesn't mean illegal, and if it is actually stealthy nobody should find you. I ride till it's pretty much dark and then settle in un-observed. I'm not comfortable camping in plain view on private property as many people do.

A PDF map of St-Jean bike paths: https://www.ville.saint-jean-sur-rich...0097993823.pdf

Other maps:
https://www.ville.saint-jean-sur-rich...0843131054.pdf (North is sideways!)
https://www.ville.saint-jean-sur-rich...0084313632.pdf (North is sideways!)
https://www.ville.saint-jean-sur-rich...0084313827.pdf

I wouldn't worry about being caught.

after reading the title of this thread, i was originally going to say something flippant like "if you've been caught, then you haven't been camping stealthily", but i guss i won't.

i've been stealth camping since before there was a term for it. it's possible to catch a few hours sleep even in cities, in say the foot or so of space between a hedge and a wall. as per peterpan1, in late & out early, unobserved.

however, i`d like to share one approach to "stealth camping(?)" that has worked well for me many times here in japan. i do a lot of 36-hour rides where i ride through the first night and try to get home by the evening of the second day. here in japan, convenience stores are seldom far, and at one or three in the morning, it's nice to stop for a coffee and some pastry.

one night when i was tending to "fall asleep at the wheel" as it were, i hadn't been having any luck coming across a good location to camp. i stopped at a convenience store for a coffee & snack, and noticed that most of the cars parked around the outer parts of the parking lot had people snoozing in them. i thought, "what the hey!", went over to an out of the way spot behind a large truck, rolled out my sleeping pad and bag, set my watch alarm, and grabbed a couple of hours sleep, got up around 3 am or so, had a pastry and some hot coffee and continued on my way.

since then, i' availed myself many times. food, coffee, alcohol & restroom available at all times, and no one has ever bothered me, employees included.

well, japan is a pretty safe country and i don't think i would recommend it in most other places, but it definitely has its advantages here.

In a few decades of occasional stealth camping, only been caught a few times. Once caught by Greek soldiers, once caught by Turkish soldiers. All OK after a little explaining and joking. Scariest ever was being "befriended" by odd hyper-religious fellow. I just left and hid again several miles away and very far from the road. In general, the rules of "settle in just after dark, stay far from the road, be quiet and respectful of the land and people, leave early" seem to have worked well.

First and only time two days into my first big trip out of high school where I started a small cooking fire in a very dry grove of eucalyptus trees, at dusk, in summer, outside Vandenburg AFB. All I can say is I could ride a straight line near the edge of the road and the universe was very kind to me. The base police put my bike in the trunk and delivered me a few miles down the road where I pretended to ride into the night, then went over a civilian fence hoping there were no rattle snakes in the dirt.

Is it still stealth camping if you are caught?

No. It's I didn't do that quite right camping.

Doesn't count if you don't get run off.