Guerrilla Camping Basics

I get questioned almost daily about where i sleep and before i left people wondered how i was going to camp everyday. This is my primer on "guerrilla camping basics." Camping can be cheap, however campgrounds in the United States can easily cost $20 or more, the price of a good hotel in Mexico. In Mexico campgrounds are few and far between, good for destinations, impractical for daily travel. Where i end up at the end of the day depends on weather, wind, road conditions, personal whim, therefore around 4pm i start considering where i am and anything i may need - water, additional food, a beer. By 5:30pm i want to get earnest about looking because o'dark is 7pm.
Primary concerns are 1. safety 2. comfort 3. convenience 4. aesthetics.
Safety generally means i don't want to be harassed or have anything stolen. To this end i don't camp in towns and generally like to be out of sight. However, if a problem does arise i want to be able to run for help . . . so not too remote (depends on how fast and far you can run). Field edges, orange groves and light woods work well - i love orange groves because they include breakfast! People may be working in these areas but not at night and if they show up at 6am, they are not the owner and will not care.
This is the last campsite at the edge of a field, off the side of a dirt road, and below the road grade. No one can see me.


Comfort is a two trees to sling my hammock, shade, and a block for the wind. If i must pitch a tent then i need level ground but not so low that it collects water. oh yeah, watch out for cacti! I prefer the hammock for comfort and it requires little space.


Convenience typically means i don't want to push/carry my 100 lb rig up or down steep slopes or through heavy brush, and a place to set up my kitchen. The hammock make a comfortable seat to prep and cook a good meal.








Aesthetics, nobody wants to camp somewhere ugly. Facing west is nice because I like to watch the sun set and it provides the long light to work by.
Again, my last camp site. The moon was full that night and passed over a break in the tree canopy bright enough to wake me. I am going to sleep by 8pm so i usually wake in the early morning around 3 or 4am for 45 minutes. I listened to a raucous party on the far side of the fields and wondered what's the occasion as i drifted off with the foggy realization of roosters and sheep. I woke with first light to watch an extremely small hummingbird feed on the pink flowers of the tree i was tethered to 'til coffee called.