Overnight Park Ups Closing | VANLIFE UK

Overnight Park Ups Closing | VANLIFE UK
With more and more overnight park ups closing in the UK. What do we do as vanlife uk could be jeopardised. How do we save these wild park ups and overnight apots and keep them open for one and all.
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Who are Trist and Kez
We’re Trist and Kez, a couple in their 40’s. We’ve sold everything for a life on the road. Come and join us as we show you our Van life UK Travel Series. We show the best spots for van camping, hiking and exploring, from the countryside to the coastline of our home island.
👫🐶 Our aim as (another) van life couple (and our dog and cat) is to document each UK road trip we take, sharing tips and tricks for van camping in the UK. In summary, we want everyone to be able to access the magic that van life UK opens to us all. Adventures in the great outdoors. We also appreciate that travelling in a van with a dog isn't always the easiest, therefore everywhere we share is 100% dog-friendly.

[@TristandKez]

If you would like to support the Trist & Kez channel you can buy us a coffee. www.buymeacoffee.com/tristandkez Thanks, folks and see you in the next episode…

[@bikerbuddy3166]

Respect your environment leave no trace unfortunately will always be ignored by the stupid and unfortunately they walk amongst us 😎☝️in turn spoiling the beautiful environment we have to enjoy .

[@TristandKez]

Definitely leave no trace 🤙🏽 Think this should be a motto for life… ‘they walk amongst us’ 🤣😂

[@zafiracamper]

It’s more than just selfish vanfolk, the problem is actually society itself 😅

[@TristandKez]

Too true matey 🤪

[@liamsteele2322]

What a Great find your channel is. Very good content. 👌👍

[@TristandKez]

Hey Liam 👋. Welcome to our channel. Awesome you like the content we’re putting out. If there’s any information you’d like us to share in a video just let us know. Hope you’re having an awesome Monday 😎🤙

[@user-yt6bv2bf5u]

Hi both, I love your slow travel approach. Thanks for the mention 👍 Mark

[@TristandKez]

Thanks, Mark, really appreciate the Buy Me a Coffee mate! Yeah slow travel is where we're at, it definitely feels like we get to enjoy more of the days and not move so much. Still learning lol...

[@MollyTMakes]

Love this new video ❤ This is very helpful

[@TristandKez]

Thank you 🙏 🤙🏽😎

[@junehall2177]

Just a couple of points from a non van owner/lifer but as a rural dweller. I have noticed a huge increase in van travel over recent years & this does put a strain on the area where I live, the sheer number means the area is at saturation point. Please note when travelling in Scotland, wild camping does not extend to motorised vehicles, these are specifically excluded from the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. This widespread misconception has lead to huge environmental damage especially around the so called "NC500" route. If parked off road, you need the landowner's permission. A private company markets this "route" by the way & with no consultation or input to the local communities. Safe travels.

[@davidhall8745]

Nothing stopping you parking in a lay-by if you are tired. Just don’t park in the middle if it is empty. In my experience people who hire motorhomes sometimes struggle with the ethics of van life. Remember van life is not new and my first van was in the 80s and the movement dates back to the early 60s. Just respect the environment and people who live there. You can’t legislate for idiots

[@TristandKez]

Hi June, we've seen Van Life increase since 2020. We think it's really about finding a balance with everything. We've seen Scotland has a great attitude to van life etc. if it's all treated fairly. That's then where we've seen the issues. We've seen people 'wild park' in the most insane places and we've read some news articles on people putting tents up and parking in places which are not meant to be. Hoping an open discussion with people can be a positive thing. Safe travels to you too.

[@DobermanVsTPonTour]

Yes preach, love how your dog is listening intently and trying to add his response in too ❤5:46

[@TristandKez]

Haha thank you 🙏. We would love to say he was listening intently. It was probably more like ‘why are you not paying me attention’ 🤣

[@mistyeyes6710]

I go to campsites & I often have to pick up rubbish & dog mess before I settle 😢 it's so disrespectful, I understand why they want to stop the park ups but seriously it's not always motorhomes, I've seen a car full of people throwing MacDonald rubbish out the window 😢 maybe a sign with a camera at park ups that can take car registration & send fines through the post, awesome talk, hopefully we can make people appreciate the things that's offered for free or a small fee, clean up behind yourself & your pets🙏🏼

[@TristandKez]

Yeah we completely agree. It’s seems rubbish etc. is such a wider topic outside of vanlife and Motorhomes. Hoping our videos and some of the great responses we’ve had will help highlight some of the issues. It’s crazy some of the mess at campsites we’ve found. Also a few park ups we found actual empty bottles of sauce, car mats and much more. There was also a bin right next to the mess 🤪. Thanks for dropping a comment.

[@JamesWilliam70]

I live up near the peak district. I also recently acquired a T6.1 adventure van, as I have always loved getting out in nature with the partner. I have trouble parking up there these days as it's way too popular since 2020 happened. Before 2020 it felt like I had the whole place to myself. I do feel that the UK countryside is way more congested these days. Always nice to see other van people and I'll have to research those park ups a little more in the New forest as I have been down that way before I had a van. Thanks for sharing!

[@TristandKez]

Thanks for the comment, James. Congratulations on getting the T6. We loved our T5. Yeah, we wonder whether the people being housebound in 2020 means places are more busy now. The New Forest is a new favourite of ours. I don’t think we’ve found anywhere else that has so many animals just wandering around near you. We just saw 20-plus ponies galloping across the front of the van today. Not something we’ve experienced before 😍

[@gsnmeyer]

"Wild"motorhome parking in Scotland Scottish access rights AKA the right to roam, is for people on foot with tents, it does not cover motor vehicles. They're covered under the The Road Traffic Act 1988 which states that you can't park your vehicle overnight without landowners permission either verbal or by signage.

[@TristandKez]

Yes it seems the understanding of this isn’t clear for some. This is why we show the Stay The Night park ups in Scotland as they are great as pretty close to wild parking 😎🤙🏽

[@branchsnapper2228]

Leave only footprints. First thing I do at these spots is litter pick, especially beaches. I think its a good ethic and wish more would do it.

[@TristandKez]

Couldn’t agree more with that. Every little helps and there is an insane amount of rubbish we see travelling.

[@davidhall8745]

Brilliant guys and good to reinforce the ethics we all should follow.

[@TristandKez]

Thanks 🤙🏼, we really wanted to open a positive conversation about this subject. We're seeing park-ups disappear and a lot of the time we can see why. But other councils and communities are opening car parks, community campsites and facility points. So what are the plus points for them that can be shared with other communities and councils?

[@davidhall8745]

@@TristandKez absolutely and good to educate rather than isolate! Dave

[@TristandKez]

That’s what we hope from the video. There’s too much blame and anger in the world. Here’s to people working together 🙏😎

[@Dan-Electrical]

Good shout dude's If we all do our bit .......👍🤠

[@TristandKez]

Cheers Dan 🤙🏽. Hoping that this opens a positive conversation with everyone 😎

[@aaroncarter3457]

I live in newforest and a campervan owner unfortunately park for night has killed off most overnight stops like milford on sea . Last year 40 vans were park there on one occasion seen people parked on road with chairs out taking up parking spaces.barton on sea is another locals have had enough and i dont blame them😢. Van lifers cant think out of box and Google earth and find a quite spot. Last year i stopped at kennet and avon canel 2 women pulled up at 11pm next to us with screaming baby jumpped straight out and put a toilet tent up where my driver door was and opened and slammed sliding door to 1pm unfortunately most van lifers dont care can see what their attitudes are like on the van life uk Facebook group. We stayed near fairy pools on isle of skye and was shocked by the signs needed saying dont dump your chemical toilet in this carpark unfortunately cant teach stupid it comes naturally 😅

[@TristandKez]

Hey Aaron, thanks for commenting. Yes park4night most likely hasn’t helped. This is why we have a few basic rules we try and follow to try and not be part of the problem. It’s funny you mention that story. We had something similar down in the West Country. 3 vans pulled in. Not properly parked. Dogs let out of each van running around… then the chairs go up. I’m surprised that one hasn’t been shut down in all honesty. Also our Scotland story sounds similar to yours. It is crazy that there even needs to be signs not to dump your toilets waste 🤪. But again as we reference, we’ve seen people do it in lots of places you shouldn’t. Hopefully by us all discussing it we can help move forward in a positive way. Here’s to hoping 🤗

[@LB-W]

Waste water into the sea by one person is stamped all over and yet our water companies are dumping raw sewage into our water in bulk whilst their share holder get stinking rich. It grinds my gears. Neither is right but how it is policed is unfair

[@TristandKez]

I know, it’s crazy. As a surfer it’s criminal. We wanted to focus on the subject matter in the video. But way more needs to be done about the water companies.

[@simonpe3trie102]

Fully agree . But also if everyone had the mindset, I’ve just one person, he wouldn’t just be one 100% companies need to be held responsible

[@TatyanaValdaBelindaHill]

I think if there was a national, yearly license that was affordable it would benefit everyone. The local councils would get a glut of money and people would feel more confident parking in places. (Maybe £50 + a £50-£100 deposit like the deposit when you rent a flat). The people who do ignorant and selfish things could be reported and lose their deposit, plus be fined or risk losing their right to a license, for the more serious infractions... A lot of people have that bizarre mentality where they don't even understand throwing their trash on the ground, dumping a chemical toilet in nature or parking across someone's driveway is a serious thing. Even stealing isn't a big deal to some of them. If people are going to park anyway, putting the money from license fees into local areas and infrastructure for better parking sites would be a win on both sides. Even if they charged a nominal, daily fee like £3-£5 on top for some of the better sites -could be a low-tech pay and display, or even an honour system in out-of-the-way places- I am sure it would be worth it to most normal people to have peace of mind and the result of more and better legitimate places to park. 🌻

[@TristandKez]

We had a similar idea of people being able to join a membership, which could allow you to stay at designated places for free or a small charge. Same with facilities. We're BritStops members and this has helped us out with overnight parking. But something more needs to be done. We don't have the answers, so hoping an open discussion with like-minded people can lead to positive change. Certain councils and communities in the UK do a great job at attracting and catering for motorhomers and vanlifers. How are they doing it, what are the benefits and how can this be shared with other areas of the UK to spread the advantages.

[@TatyanaValdaBelindaHill]

@@TristandKez Thanks for replying 🌻xx. I really believe a scheme like that would contribute to the wellbeing (mental/emotional/financial) of citizens on both sides, as well as the environment. There is such a weird stigma in the UK against tiny houses and van-lifers. It is like you are set up to fail... I have been so interested for about 15 years making a little house on wheels. Not for fulltime - but maybe 1/3 time. I travel long distance relatively frequently and it would be like a little cacoon for me. As a single woman, it would also give me a huge sense of security - that I would always have a home if something happened to my house. HOWEVER...The possibility of encountering aggressive people (or even polite police) while wildcamping has put me off. Security is already a concern, but parking out of the way only increases safety risks. Fear of people automatically judging me with prejudice (no matter that I haven't done anything offensive) is also a big worry. 💐

[@TristandKez]

Thanks for the added comment Tatyana. These are great for people to see. We’re a couple but there are a lot of single travellers in vans and motorhomes. So security is number one. Yes we have a funny way of looking at things, especially in England. One thing we always think is there are a lot more people in a smaller space than other countries. This isn’t a solution and not really wild camping but BritStops is a good option to have for overnight parking. You are welcome and safe at these places. Thanks for taking the time to comment. A lot of the comments on this video have been super helpful and positive. I hope anyone reading these can find them useful for better, safer vanlife and help open this conversation up to more people. There are solutions we just need to work together to find them and implement them. If you ever have a question you think we can help with, you know where we are. Have a great Monday and week ahead 😎🤙🏽

[@user-mr6st1ms6x]

If there's a sign saying no camping just unscrew the sign and throw it away

[@michaelbegen4326]

I think a lot of people are naive to the problems caused by van life. I live in Scotland and worked in ft William for a while and the locals had a serious gripe with campervans. Nothing to do with people abusing the surroundings but purely the amount of them that were around. When travelling home to Central Scotland from ft William one Friday i could see what the problem was. Without exaggeration there was a near constant procession of campervans and mohos from ft William to Stirling. Also during a trip to mull the local postman told me they had to book a ferry 2 weeks in advance just to go to tesco in oban for shopping. This is a bigger problem than people dumping water or peeing in a carpark. Also you have to remember that just like anything else that becomes popular people will want to make money from it. Thats why a lot of park ups are closing, so campsites can make a quick buck from the campervan craze.

[@TristandKez]

Hi Michael, Thanks for the comment and this is really interesting to highlight. We’ve only been in Scotland out of season and there are still quite a few campervans and motorhomes. The chap we referenced in the video at his car park gave us a heads up for the NC500 in the summer. Pretty much said what you did. We can imagine that Fort William is very congested in busier months. Again there were still a few vans around in January this year. We’ve heard that some supermarkets can even suffer with the amount of people buying produce and that cannot be helpful to locals. This we’ve seen all around the UK in certain places. We try to split ours shopping with supermarkets and local shops and farm shops. It’s key to buy local when we can to keep money in those communities. I hope by people sharing stories like this and opening up discussions there can be a positive solution moving forward. Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙏

[@michaelbegen4326]

@@TristandKez same to you thanks for taking the time to reply. I have a vested interest in this for a few reasons 1st I own a van. 2nd I've experienced problems in my work as a lorry driver because of the amount of vans in the Highlands in summer and 3rd because I live in an area that has been affected by dirty vanners (I live near the kelpies in falkirk) totally agree that it's great to read people's points of view and see people like yourselfs spreading awareness of problems. Good luck and safe travels.

[@TristandKez]

Hey Michael, wow you really do see it from all angles. We can only imagine with a procession of van and motorhomes being a lorry driver must be challenging in the summer. Especially if vanners/motorhomers aren’t courteous and helpful drivers. Not all are from what we’ve seen. Not been to the Kelpies but can relate with the dirty vanners and motorhomers. We actually saw someone open their motorhome door and throw a jug of wee out into the car park and then drove off. This was in England. We’ve seen so many crazy things we felt we had to start a conversation. I hope we can keep the conversation going. We’ve been racking our minds on possible positive solutions, looking at what certain areas in the UK and worldwide do. Don’t have an answer yet but there’s more that can be done. We love travelling in our van. We all live on a beautiful island and hope to travel it more for a lot longer. So for now it’s keeping the convo alive and speaking with people like yourself to better understand the wider situation. Safe travels to you to mate 😎🤙🏽

[@DesmondsDonders]

As you say abuse. We have a video out next week as part of a collaboration on etiquette at park ups.

[@TristandKez]

Yeah, that's what we've seen on our travels. I'm sure everyone has seen something different. But when we see and speak with people who couldn't be fairer about parking in their area and then we see examples of what they don't want to see, in front of our eyes... Another one bites the dust... Be really interested to see the video. Hope more people can discuss the subject in a positive way and people can move forward together. As a few people have noted in the comments... Leave no trace should be a motto we all follow in life.

[@angpac4835]

I’m not a van lifer but out of interest why can’t you drop your toilet waste in public toilets? People put loads of chemicals down toilets when they clean them. What am I missing ?

[@junehall2177]

Me neither but as a rural resident, I do know that the volume of waste from a toilet cassette can & does (often) block rural toilets with resulting closures of toilets & expensive solutions to unblock. Also, many rural toilets are connected to septic tanks which cannot handle the volume/chemicals.

[@angpac4835]

@@junehall2177 ah thank you for replying makes sense what your saying

[@TristandKez]

I guess it’s a two part thing. The chemicals can be harsher. But that point could be argued. But it’s more the strain on the local facilities. In the example we discussed, it was blocking the toilets from the volume of waste be poured in. Also some toilets in Scotland we have found to be septic tanks and they can’t take this kind of waste. Sadly this is one of the reasons places could get shut down.

[@junehall2177]

@@TristandKez Agreed, the advice from SEPA is to never empty black waste anywhere other than an official disposal point, the same goes for grey waste.

[@Ieatfridays]

Surely having a pee in a bush is not a problem? Wild animals/dogs pee all the time?

[@junehall2177]

Yes they do but they don't know any better.😆If only the occasional pee was the problem, unfortunately not, where I live, solid human waste/cassette is encountered in car parks, lay-bys, private property, etc all the time. Our grandchildren have stepped in it & our dog has rolled in it. The joys !!!

[@Ieatfridays]

@@junehall2177 totally agree solid waste is a huge problem, 👍, but I was always told human pee is good for the flowers, 😂

[@junehall2177]

@@Ieatfridays My dear old Gran swore it was good for chillblains & check out what folk used pee for, Isle of Harris/tweed.👍

[@TristandKez]

Hey Chris, we've all taken a cheeky wee in the bush (Trist saying this 😂). It was more the example we used in Scotland. The guy we chatted to was fair on people being there in their car park. He'd just explained that kids and families look into the car park. Seeing people do a number 1 and 2 in broad daylight doesn't sound like fun. Then we witnessed just that. So no surprise the car park was sadly closed for overnight stops.

[@LB-W]

Have you smelt the doorways of shops next to the kebab shop? Men think they can pee out their pipe anywhere. STOP IT

[@blah329]

I don’t do van life (though I do over the weekend), I don’t need to empty my toilet into a public toilets because I do it in my own toilet. The water companies dump raw sewage in rivers and sea. Why focus on van lifers? Why is it not acceptable to dump chemical toilet down the public toilet (as long as you do it in a sanitary way). We all know toilets are cleaned with the same chemicals anyway. So what is the problem?

[@TristandKez]

The example we shared is with a park up that had recently been reopened for overnight stays. But it sounded like the public toilets were being used as a chemical waste point. The person we chatted with had unblocked the toilets 3 times in one day, for it to only get blocked again. The sheer volume of waste that can be in a cassette can ruin toilets if too much is put down. Especially with some park-ups, we found to have septic toilets. This means that further costs are incurred by whoever runs the toilets and just like that, things can get shut down. Or people get annoyed and the same result happens.

[@blah329]

@@TristandKez ah ok. So it means people aren’t really cleaning up after themselves properly then. But like men pissing on the toilet seat.

[@simonpe3trie102]

But I’ve not even started my van life journey yet . I respect your views and opinions . however, I disagree. I think we should point the finger and hold them responsible majority of people must be adults otherwise it won’t be having a driving license On the flipside, I think local councils and areas Should have these facilities there for free so people don’t need or feel tempted to do the irresponsible thing in the first place .

[@simonpe3trie102]

Small side note, . Maybe this is lack of knowledge and I need educating. But what is the issue with emptying your cassette, toilet et cetera? In a public toilet. ? ?

[@TristandKez]

Yeah it’s a challenging one to see what the right direction to go is. It’s insane to see the actions people take that we’ve witnessed but I guess you could say that about life. It would be great for councils could offer facilities. I guess someone has to pay for it some how and with some councils not doing great it doesn’t look hopeful. That being said we have seen a lot of local areas and councils take initiatives for overnight stays etc. It would be awesome if councils and local areas could share success stories and others can see the advantages of implementing these types of overnight parking and facilities.

[@TristandKez]

Well there’s a few points, the example we gave of someone we know unblocking toilets to only be blocked again. This is usually due to the huge volume of waste people are disposing of. Not a little poop and pee. More like many litres of it. Then when several people do that it causes a strain on the system or blocks it. People get annoyed and a park up gets shut down. We also seen some park ups in Scotland have septic tanks for their public toilets and signs to explain and people still don’t care and proceed to dumb waste down there. I hope by us sharing this video and all the great comments it’s revived, it’ll bring more awareness to the situation and drive a positive outcome 😎🤙🏽

[@simonpe3trie102]

@@TristandKez Council expect people to put dogs poo in bins can’t they just use composting toilets and put it in the bins too. ?

[@TristandKez]

@simonpe3trie102 composting toilets are easier to dispose of I believe but you need the right setup in your van or the smells can get interesting inside 🤣😬. But yes we think composting over chemical toilets would be better all round.

[@chrissycanvasart]

Yep you will always have the idiots unfortunately 😒

[@TristandKez]

Sad but so true 🙈