In this video four things happen:

– I stealth camp in a hotel parking lot
– I review a backpack
– I review a flashlight
– I sneak into the hotel and eat a free banana

So, let’s talk about them.

I’m in between road trips at the moment and while going through YouTube I can’t believe how many people say it’s impossible to sleep in a hotel parking lot. One of the things I’ve learned through all of this is that every place is different. Different countries are different. Different states are different. Different cities are different. Different hotels in the same city are different. Almost everything I’ve seen done, read about, or successfully pulled off depends on circumstances. Every single thing that has to do with vanlife might as well end with “YMMV” (“your mileage may vary”). There are many more variables — the color of a person’s skin or the type of vehicle they’re in can also affect a situation. So to say “you can sleep in a hotel parking lot” probably isn’t fair. All I can say is, on this particular day, I slept in the parking lot of this particular hotel chain.

I’ve previously mentioned that for every product I review, I turn down 20. I used to think reviewing products felt like a full time job and now, turning down reviewing products feels like a full time job. Both of the items I reviewed in this video, the Wurkkos HD02mini flashlight and the R10 rolltop backpack from Tolaceea, were well worth the effort. I’ll be writing separate reviews for them over the next day or two but, yeah, I enjoy them both.

Before we talk about that banana, let me tell you what the role of a “heel” is in wrestling. A heel has three major purposes: break the rules, act like an antagonist, and anger the crowd.

I have a full time job and don’t need to steal bananas for a living. That being said, I’ve always wondered how hard (or easy) it would be for someone down on their luck to sneak in and “sample” the breakfast. It took me a long time to build up the courage to even enter the hotel. I had a pile of pre-generated questions and excuses ready in case anyone questioned me. And the reality was… essentially, I never saw any employees. There wasn’t anyone behind the front desk when I walked in, or when I walked out.

There also wasn’t anyone in the dining area, except one woman — a Hispanic woman, older than me, bussing tables and bringing fresh food out occasionally. Now, I could have piled on a big breakfast and frankly I probably could have sat in there for hours, but really I was just seeing if I could get away with it and prove a point.

Also, as the video states, I did leave a tip which covers the cost of a banana and 6oz of orange juice about 20x over, and also went to someone working their butt off at 6:30 in the morning, probably for minimum wage.

I’m not recommending anyone else try this, or try anything they see someone else do on YouTube.