My First Night On A City Street

[carryon_bird]

First of all, this thread is epic because Kabar posted in it.

I've camped plenty outside of towns on unused lands while travelling, and my first time technically sleeping on a city street, was in Berkeley, CA.

I started out by trying to sleep in the People's Park. Mistake. Cops found me about 2am and rousted me, ran my ID, let me go with a warning, said "suggest you find an alcove downtown". So I found an alcove downtown. It took a while because most of the good alcoves were already taken by that point.

The alcove I eventually found near Shattuck led to a barred gate to a courtyard. A vine had grown up all around it. I thought, "Great, some greenery, I'll sleep well here." Nope, the wind kept roaring through the alcove and some kind of compressor kept going off in the alcove every 15 minutes or so. I didn't sleep very well there.

By 4am or so I ended up packing my bedroll up and headed out to find another place to nap for an hour or two. Found an alcove on University and it was 1000% better just due to the lack of wind. No pissy smell either, unlike a lot of the other alcoves. Slept like a log, out by 6, no hassles.

Side note: A lot of the alcoves in Berkeley have "No Trespassing" signs, the ones that aren't are apparently fair game for sleepers. I'm not sure what would happen if you slept in one with the sign but there were plenty of cruisers that might take it upon themselves to enforce it. None bothered me after I left the park.

[sofaraway]

I was homless in fresno for a night. I slept behind the bushes in front of a auto parts store. I didnt sleep at all almost chopped a bush down with my knife though from being so scared I guess. Then around three i said screw it I'm just gonna walk until i get out of town.There was this homless dude that I really thought was gonna rob me turns out he was very friendly I gave him my last smoke just to have some one to talk to for a a little while. My nerves were so frayed by this time just having company made a whole world of difference to me anyway.He told me his friend built him a tree house and thats where he lived.We talked for about an hour then he left. I made my way to a gas station near the highway.All the good sleepin spots where already taken i ended up sleeping behind a tiny little bush.I as so exausted i guess from the heat from that day then I made my way to Madera and slept at the shelter for a few days.

[Arshile]

I cut the dome part off of a dome tent and use the tarp part as a cushion/covering while sleeping on mostly park benches. Park benches long enough to stretch out your entire body are a major plus. Im fortunate enough to have a down comforter which I keep dry at all cost. By lying on part of my tarp and draping the rest of it over me like a clamshell I can stay warm enough to sleep barefoot even in winter weather. An additional plus is that the color of the tarp is dark and somewhat hard to see at night which keeps me from being disturbed during sleep. My first night out it was 30 some degrees and poured down rain all night. Everything was soaking wet except my blanket and my clothes- good enough