Date:         Sat, 27 Jan 2007 17:26:20 -0500
Reply-To:     Joy Hecht <hecht.joy@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joy Hecht <hecht.joy@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Re was Alarm system,
              was Bus story - using a gun??? Now this gun stuff worries me; VC,
              honest
In-Reply-To:  <C1E1075A.371E%npoole@telus.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Nathaniel,

I'd say the simple answer is "way too many cop shows."

I traveled around the US in my van for two and a half years, all over the
country.  I would not dream of carrying a weapon of any kind.  I camped in
all kinds of places - truck stops, rest stops, campgrounds, city streets,
friends' driveways, you name it.

I had no trouble whatsoever.  None.  Nada.  Zilch.  No one ever bothered me.
The only time I ever felt a tad nervous was camping one night in the parking
lot of a local park somewhere in Pennsylvania when a few kids started drag
racing in the lot in the middle of the night.

I don't do any drugs.  I don't go to bars.  I don't go to night clubs or to
any kind of night life.  I drink very rarely.  Maybe any of those activities
might have attracted more trouble - but that has nothing to do with
traveling in your van.  Don't park your van in neighborhoods filled with
places where folks may be getting rowdy and out of control.

If you want to go to major cities in the US, you will have to plan things,
particularly New York.  There are no campgrounds anywhere near, driving into
the city is a nightmare, and parking pretty much impossible.  Garages are
very expensive and often won't have the clearance for a vanagon.  There are
no outdoor parking lots.  You would do better to seek a friendly vanagonaut
in the region who can let you camp at their place, and take public transit
into the city.  (In the DC area, you're more than welcome to my driveway -
I'm in very close suburbs, four miles from the White House.  Anyone else is
welcome too, BTW.  I've got showers and laundry and stuff like that, too.)

And obviously you'll want to have some street smarts wherever you go - if
you don't know how to tell, visually, between a good urban neighborhood and
a potentially unsafe one, you might want to practice.  Obviously don't leave
your loaded van parked in a neighborhood that might look a bit dicey.  Don't
drive through strange neighborhoods in the middle of the night.  Figure out
where you're sleeping while it's still daylight, if you plan to stealth
camp, so you're comfortable with the area, then return later to park and
spend the night.

But don't worry about random gun violence.  It is not a concern.  A motor
accident is a much more likely risk.

And do avoid the south any time between pretty much late April and October -
it's hot!

And have a wonderful trip!  It sounds like a great itinerary.  Make sure to
fit some vanagon events in on the way, and meet folks from this list - it's
one of the best part of traveling in a van.



Joy

:::-----Original Message-----
:::From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
:::Of Nathaniel Poole
:::Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2007 4:43 PM
:::To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
:::Subject: Re was Alarm system, was Bus story - using a gun??? Now this gun
:::stuff worries me; VC, honest
:::
:::I have to admit that this is the kind of thing I hear about relatively
:::frequently, and it gives me pause. Our plans are to leave Vancouver, head
:::off to the maritimes, go south as far as we can, go across the southern
:::US
:::and back up the west coast. I have spent a fair bit of time in Washington
:::state and Oregon, but that's about it. But we have a story up here, no
:::doubt
:::partially myth, about Americans and their handguns, and frankly it has me
:::worried. I'm not gun-shy; I've hunted myself and grew up with several
:::hunting weapons around me. It's the apparent prevalence of people
:::carrying
:::around weapons to maim/kill other people that makes me wonder if this
:::trip
:::is such a good idea.
:::
:::Now I'll be clear, I'm not dissing America; I've yet to meet an American
:::I
:::didn't like and I love many aspects of the culture; it's just this gun
:::thing
:::that has me concerned. I read something the other day that said more
:::Americans die by guns in DC in a year than all the soldiers that have
:::died
:::in Iraq. Don't know if it's true.
:::
:::Of course we have our own problems with violence in Canada, and guns are
:::becoming more of an issue, but it tends to involve immigrants rather than
:::privileged white mainstream folks like my family. Should this really be a
:::concern or is this just selective reporting in the media and too many cop
:::shows? Anyone else run into problems with folks waving guns in their
:::faces
:::while traveling in the US? I've never run into it in any of my trips to
:::the
:::US so far.
:::
:::Nathaniel
:::