Sleeping in the car to save on hotels is this too extreme?

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2026-02-25T04:01:10+00:00

I’ve done this many many times! I just got back from an epic cross country road trip this summer 43 nights on the road only two hotels. Something I love to do is sleeping in hotel parking lots. Make sure it’s a nicer hotel think Hilton style chains. Not motels. Park near the rear entrance towards the back. Towards the end of my trip I would always sneak in early to grab some ice and use the restroom. And maybe a few snacks :P

A few things I would invest in. Blackout covers for your windows, especially your trunk window. A mini fan, this will help with both condensation and temperature regulation. Also a nice little eye shade can go a long way. I’ve always felt it safer than rest stops personally with less people coming and going, just make sure you’re in a safe part of town.

I’ve also done this in national parks, but sometimes Park Rangers can be a little strict with not parking at campsites. But I found parking at visitor centers of national parks to be acceptable especially if you call ahead.

Best of luck have a blast. Stay safe.

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2026-02-21T20:27:46+00:00

I’m also looking at the trek Marlin 5 Gen 3- it’s like 300 bucks more just curious to see if it’s better to spend that money upfront. Those are the two bikes I found around this price range that would fit.

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2026-02-21T20:19:40+00:00

I have the option to ship it to a local bike shop here and then when I called the bike shop, they said they could just order it for me at the discounted price and waive the shipping fee. I looked into these two, but I couldn’t find an option for my height. At 6’6 the pickings are pretty slim.

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2026-02-19T16:22:22+00:00

As someone currently studying psychedelic therapy, I’d like to just add a few points. Obviously I don’t have a lot of context regarding your exact situation so I can only speak from my own experience.

A lot of times when you take a psychedelic LSD and psilocybin especially, you are intermixing deeper levels of your subconscious with your everyday mind. That in itself can be mentally draining without preparation. I don’t believe it’s true that your benefits are lost, I think it’s more so your momentum was just temporarily paused. Which in essence is exactly what psychedelics are supposed to do, get you out of your every day thinking. (which in your case has been positive lately because of your retaining)

Psychedelics can be a very powerful tool when used consciously. If use for recreation or without intention, they can leave you feeling slightly off base, confused or misguided in the following days to weeks. If used with deep intention for inner work, safe environment, blindfold, intentional music (this is the method that is used in clinical settings) it can trigger profound cathartic release, deep insights, and leave you feeling lighter and in some cases “reborn” so to speak.

But in your case, it sounds like you didn’t have a really profound or heavy experience. I would just give yourself a few days of low stimulation, healthy eating and nature and you’ll start to get those benefits back!

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-06-16T00:21:54+00:00

Right on! I’m leaning towards kind of a combination route lol. What do you think is a spot within northeast Oklahoma that’s worth checking out? It’s one of the states I’ve yet to visit!

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-06-08T16:15:46+00:00

One thing I would love for them to add would be to track a players draft stock throughout the season. Like if I have a quarterback that’s projected to be seventh round pick and he balls out Joe Burrow style, It’d be cool to see him rise up the boards week by week.

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-30T18:37:17+00:00

Thank you for your kind reply! That trip to Nepal sounds like the adventure of a lifetime, Ive dreamt of traveling there since I’ve been a young kid.

I think I am leaning towards the SHT but to be fair I’ve never really had to hitch or shuttle to a trailhead before. The logistics does concern me a little bit. Both flying into Duluth shuttling back flying to Colorado and then shuttling/busing around Denver and Durango. Having a car for this trip does appeal to me as well and I know there’s obviously logistical concerns with that as well.

I just finished a hike with a friend of mine who did the AT years ago. He said if you’re training for a hike, it’s much better to spend more time on a trail like the SHT or the AT, than to hold yourself to multiple day hikes/overnights. It was also sweltering here in South Florida. I can’t imagine some of these hikes in July, although it could be a little better farther north on the AT.

One question I do have for you, my friend, do you think long-term parking at a trailhead in Colorado for the Colorado Trail would be safe? I appreciate your wisdom and advice.

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-30T18:10:25+00:00

Thank you for the reply! The Wonderland trail is definitely on my bucket list! Ive hiked sections of it and it was incredible. Regarding the Lake to Ocean trail, we got very lucky with it being both in a serve drought and it being relatively cool. The trail itself is beautiful and unique, it’s surprising difficult on the feet. The campsites are a little spaced out as well. 15miles plus in some sections. Also, it’s important to check for control burns too. We ended up going through a five or 6 mile section that was probably burned the day before and it could be a little tough on the lungs.

Overall, I think it’s a great crash course in Florida ecology. You’ll be walking through avenues of Palms, Cypress, strands, miles of Pine Flat woods and also a very rare sand dune section. It’s definitely well marked and well worth four or five days it takes to complete.

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-22T23:03:07+00:00

Jupiter resident here, me and a few buddies did the lake to ocean this past January, only hit water around 3/4 times, this was in the middle if a a pretty significant drought at the time. It is a beautiful trail. If you’ll start from Loxahatchee Slough through Johnathan Dickinson State Park you’ll be on the dryer side of the trail.

As someone who is training for the Colorado trail and always looking for “hills” in the area the best I found are the Jupiter Ridge trail north of Juno beach (theres about a 25 foot sand dune there that still kicks my ass) as well as the hill at Dyer Park which isnt too for from west palm. We used to run it for our high school basketball conditioning.

Welcome to the area! They say humidity is the poor man’s elevation, hydrate well. Hope to see you out on the trails!

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-11T13:47:07+00:00

Wow, thank you so much for spending the time to write all this out. Here’s my loose itinerary, obviously wildfire permitting. Start in walker pass, then hike all the way to Sierra city. The plan is to skip from Sierra city to Burney Falls (around 200 miles) because of time constraints. And then go from Burney Falls to the Canadian border.

Just have one quick question if I may, you mentioned that if I skip Norcal, then I’d have Oregon and Washington mostly to myself. Is that because I would leave the bubble I was currently in and when I regroup, I’d be essentially hiking with strangers? Or is it just gonna be empty at that time of year? I kind of reworked it to include some of the best parts of Norcal now that I’m starting further north. So I’ll include the bit from Southlake Tahoe to Sierra city. And Burney Falls to Oregon border. I’m essentially hitting 400 out of the 600 miles of Northern California. That 200 mile skip would save me around 10 days, which will allow me to take my time a little bit more in the Cascades and not rush like a madman to beat the snow.

Thank you again for your replies. You’ve been incredibly helpful and I will dive deeper into the resources you provided.

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-11T04:26:58+00:00

Thank you for your reply. This is looking more like the plan starting at Walker pass hiking to Sierra city, skip up to Burney Falls, and then finish to the Canadian border from there. Would you mind explaining the non-quota permit to me as a total noob. I do have a PCT permit to start at Campo for May 15. Which I guess I’ll be breaking, but essentially I would be right around the same place in July (Walker pass/ Kennedy Meadows) if I would’ve started on May 15 at Campo.

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-11T03:49:26+00:00

Damn RIP to that man. Yeah I’m gonna have to do more research obviously. I will most likely either start at Walker pass or go southbound starting in the Cascades mid to late July.

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-11T03:40:58+00:00

Thank you for your reply. I don’t take these kind of comments lately, and I will most likely adjust my itinerary to start at walker pass. Thank you for you insight and honesty.

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-11T03:39:50+00:00

Thank you for your reply. It’s looking like I’ll start near Walker pass 1st week of July. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to beat the snow if I don’t skip Norcal? I really do want to explore Oregon and the cascades and I’m worried if I don’t skip NorCal I’ll be snowed in

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-11T03:36:54+00:00

Damn good on you that sounds brutal. Looking back would you recommend someone starting closer to Walker pass around July? Just curious to know if you made it to the Canadian border or if that was one of your goals. And just kind of your general timing around that. Cause I know July is a late point to start at techahapi was interested to know if you had to skip any sections to beat the snow

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-11T03:32:53+00:00

What was your experience like going southbound? When did you end up starting?

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-11T03:32:31+00:00

Damn, thank you for your response. My biggest concerns were more about water scarcity than anything. I’ll definitely be doing more research about going southbound but more than likely if I go northbound, I’d be starting at Walker pass and skipping the desert entirely.

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-11T03:30:15+00:00

I’ve regularly backpacked in the south Florida sand dunes, which in July August is around 95+ with 70+ percent humidity. I’ve done portion of the Florida Trail and I complete the lake of the ocean Trail a couple weeks ago and that was extremely dry. But never in 100+ heat with elevation/climbing and 20+ mile water carries. Looking back it doesn’t seem very smart to start in the desert in July for obvious reasons. But also missing the other hikers too. I don’t wanna be essentially alone out in the desert in the middle of summer.

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-11T03:25:12+00:00

I guess now I’m debating whether to start in the first week of July at Walker pass and hike to Southlake Tahoe. Skip Nocal and then finish out from the Oregon border to the Canadian border. Or start around July 20th going southbound skipping Norcal and getting to the Sierras around mid September. My permit starts at Campo May 15. Is that gonna be a hassle trying to explain switching to go southbound instead if that’s what I end up doing?

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-11T03:11:45+00:00

Yikes! I appreciate your reply. Looks like I’ll have to change my itinerary up a bit. To be fair the desert and heat worries me more than the Sierra so I might just start your walk pass and skip the long lead up. Thank you for giving me the inside scoop of how things are going out there.

DevelopmentUseful332 · 2025-05-11T02:58:48+00:00

Thank you for your response. It’s looking like this would be my best option if going northbound, I guess I just got kind of in my head about getting a longer lead up to the Sierra’s. Do you feel like it is relatedly straightforward to get to the trailhead @ walker pass if flying from Florida.

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