Guerilla Urban Camping

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Written by Michael Betthauser, Owner, May 2008 Camping. I've always loved camping. I joined the Boy Scouts when I was 12 and our scout troop would go camping at least once a month in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. I learned during this time that if you have the right equipment, a camping experience can be just as comfortable as being at home. With an air mattress and pump, the right temperature sleeping bag, comfortable clothing, a good camp stove and tent, life in the wilderness is both relaxing and rewarding. The actual amount of work involved in setting up and breaking down camp is no more than any other list of house chores, and the thrill of seeing and experiencing things I would never otherwise see at home or on the TV more than makes up for any other hardship I might endure. Guerilla Urban Camping. I found a good spot to pitch my tent near a creek, but high up on a hill, away from housing and other people. I also found several other people who let me stay in their backyards. Some of them I found on a website called CouchSurfing.com (you can see my personal CS profile here), others were just cool people I knew. CouchSurfing.com is actually a very cool site and I plan on using it extensively to find other grassy areas to pitch my tent while travelling abroad. However, at least in Austin, if there isn't a backyard for me to use, there are plenty of spots where a well camouflaged tent will not be bothered through the night. It wasn't until just recently, however, that I found out that there was a name for camping like this. A friend sent me a link to this article on weburbanist.com about "Urban Camping", and how many people throughout the U.S. (and probabaly even more so in Europe) are finding the nomadic, tent-form of travel to be an exciting alternative to flying and staying in hotels or hostels. The article goes on to mention new forms of tents and other nomadic, urban camping equipment being created by savvy, modern inventors. There are a lot of other websites on urban camping, guerilla urban camping and also refered to as stealth camping. You can check out some of them here: http://www.urbanscout.org http://guerrillacamping.blogspot.com http://urbancamp.blogspot.com "Micro Villages and Urban Camping" by the Buckminster Fuller Institute Cosmo Girl Magazine article "Go Urban Camping Tonight!" It makes sense. First, it's thrifty. Everyone I've met on CouchSurfing.com so far has been very nice and not asked me for a dime to use their backyard. I think this can be attributed to the fact that CS'ers can lend a couch or use a couch, so it all goes around like couch-karma. I pay back my karma by taking my hosts out for a night or two of pizza and beer. Not to mention I have most certainly done my share of couch lending. Second, it's exciting. I'm constantly meeting new people, seeing new things, and living in new places. The people who graciously host my tent are always friendly and social, introducing me to all kinds of new things. I wake up in the morning hearing the birds sing, and I like feeling close to nature. I like having the freedom to go where I want while not having to worry about what I'm leaving behind; because I have it all with me. Home-full. "Urban camping" isn't exactly new to me. Around the age of 18 I became homeless in Berkeley California. Due to unfortunate circumstances, a friend and I had a falling out and I found myself sleeping in a park, unable to get home to Colorado. There was definitely a moment when I broke down and cried because of the stress, and when I lost my job shortly after that I thought I was going to lose it. I found myself one morning sitting on the sidewalk with no money, nowhere to go, and hungry. It was terrible. My dignity was in shambles and I was very depressed. I had grown up in the suburbs, and had only lived in a city once before, so I wasn't mentally prepared for this. But I sucked it up and started asking people walking by for money. I barely made five dollars in three hours and I cried for two more after that, just because I couldn't believe what I was doing. But I ate. I cannot consider my current lifestyle to be "homeless" (or as George Carlin says "houseless") as urban camping in this context is very different from being homeless. First of all, I'm not asking people walking by on the sidewalk for money. There's nothing wrong with asking for money, non-profits do it all the time. But I'm not "spare changing" to get by. I'm also a lot more confident in what I'm doing. I feel there is a greater sense of legitimacy and purpose, and I am living a lot healthier. Whereas in Berkeley I had no choice, today I could easily get another programming job and a house, but instead I choose to live a simpler, more humble life. And I'm much better prepared. I have a lot of camping gear with me (and plan on getting more) all of which enables me to enjoy the same comforts any "housed" individual might enjoy; like taking a shower or cooking a meal. Really, the only difference between living in a tent and living in a house is that I cannot lay on a couch and watch TV (darn). Austin. Before I start my journey throwing art festivals, roving on a bicycle and urban camping through Europe, I have decided to prepare and "train" in Austin, Texas. I have already lived in Austin for a while, and contrary to popular belief I have not always lived in a tent. I moved to Austin because it is a large art and music town, has a large bike community, temperate weather, and is otherwise a simply perfect place for starting Artopium's Roving Festival. It's a big concept. The idea of living like this is a hard pill for some to swallow. A basic reaction I get from some people is pity. These people are constantly offering me food, shelter, and their apologies. Another reaction is resentment. Or I've even been insulted with words such as "loser" or "bum". There is a lot of positive reaction too. There are some people that I know that are very fascinated and intrigued with my lifestyle, and some have even said they admire me for my daring-ness and social courage. It is a definite social stigma in this country to be an individual that lives in a portable structure, or to live a nomadic lifestyle. By this society's definitions, these people are somehow desperate, ineffectual, or incapable of taking care of themselves. Just taking a look at the laws of most states you will find in there an anti-homless law or two. I guess I can understand why. There are definitely some people who are desperate and incapable of fending for themselves. And quite frankly, I, too, am also perturbed by an invidual that smells like their own urine; that's mumbling some drunken excuse at me for money. However, I think it's important to note that there are actually many different subclasses and subcultures within the nomadic "homeless" class. I would even go so far as to say that one of these subclasses provides a much needed spiritual role for society at large. The Shamanic Class. "And what shamans are, I believe, are people who have been able to decondition themselves from the community's instinctual distrust of the mystery, and to go into it..." "What shamans have to do is act as exemplars, by making this cosmic journey to the domain of the Gaian ideas, and then bringing them back in the form of art [for] the struggle to save the world." - Terence McKenna Please don't misinterpret these quotes in that I'm trying to say I'm a Shaman. Nor am I a guru or a spiritual leader. But I will say I'm definitely spiritual, and it is for that reason that I agree with Terence. I think there is a sorely needed and unfulfilled role in this country (and in a large part of the "civilized" world) for the shamanic class. It is for this very reason that there is a sort of anti-structure / anti-civilization rebellious-ness that is rising, as witnessed by the many pictures on this page of "ordinary" people taking to the sidewalks with their tents, raves being thrown in the streets, human rewilding projects, etc. I also agree with Terence in that the goal of this "uprising" isn't to overthrow the government, but to bring art and enlightment to the world. The real revolution refered to in Artopium's "Come be the revolution", is a revolution of the mind, of the ability to decondition society's standards and walk into the mystery. To let go of your prior paradigm, see the new one, and come back to the world and share your new insights through art and music. Find out how you can join the Artopium Art Troupe. Sponsor Mike. Your camping equipment company will receive a lot of attention as Mike and his Artopium Art Troupe rove through Europe and the U.S. throwing festivals. Could Mike be using your company's tents and sleeping bags, talking about your company, putting your logo on a large banner at the festivals, and placing your logo on all of the Artopium related websites? Could the story on this page be about your brand equipment or camping equipment store? Let us know what you think!  Make a donation. Don't have a logo but want to help anyway? Make a donation to the Artopium Art Troupe to help fund their next festival and travels. Your money goes to a good cause and helps under-funded art and music to have a new and unique place to be expressed and enjoyed by local communities around the world.