Stealth camping. That’s something I’ve read about a lot lately and I’d like to share my thoughts. For those who don’t know the term, it’s about having a campervan which does not look like a camper from the outside, but just a normal van. So basically not having windows or any other signs outside. I’m not so sure why people would prefer this, but I have a few things to consider why it’s not such a good idea.

1. A thief would most likely try to rob a normal van during the night than one where people are sleeping. I’ve had my (normal looking) van broken into two times in Helsinki during night, but I have never ever felt that someone might broke into a van when it’s clear I’m sleeping inside. There is just too big chance that the people inside will outnumber the thief, and most likely be sober.
 

2. A stealth van only works in a city. If you would park your normal looking van on a distant place, at night, away from any houses or business, it’s pretty obvious it’s a camper even if it doesn’t look like one. I’ve heard the horror stories where thieves spray some sleeping gas into a camper over night, wait for it to work, and then rob the camper while people inside are sleeping. This is quite rare, and it usually happens on a distant location and not in a city, so again it doesn’t help to have a stealth camper.
 

3. I don’t know about rest of the world, but I’ve never had a problem with police about me camping wherever. In most European countries, in Russia or in Morocco. I’ve got the experience since 2012. Actually many times police drives by to see that everything is all right. So it wouldn’t have made any difference if my van would have looked like a normal commercial van.
I would never skip on having a window because of being unnoticeable, but I make sure to have the window theftproof so that it’s not a easy access to the van while I’m out during the day.