Looking at campervans I need to consider safety elements as well.

[gina@fosstodon.org]

Looking at campervans I need to consider safety elements as well. Do I go with a bigger one that has more comfort, but is more visible and annoying to park? Or do I go with a smaller Citroën Jumper that is more convenient for stealth camping? What sensors am I getting? How can I make the setup as secure and invisible as possible?

I've got years of experience travelling alone as a woman, so I know I will get harassed by men at some point. It's a when, not an if.

[rachel@norfolk.social]

@Gina @neil Id be asking myself if I can get from where I sleep to where I drive without needing to go outside, where the weirdos are.
Stealth? Not plastering it with loads of “adventure” stickers helps. Throw a red top newspaper on the dash.

[gina@fosstodon.org]

@rachel @neil I was thinking of putting gardening centre stickers on there, making it look like a work van (not a construction work van though, tools are def worth breaking in for).

[rachel@norfolk.social]

@Gina @neil does your local boxing club have stickers? 😆

Much as I joke, I’ve found that, contrary to popular opinion, the world is actually full of lovely people. Ones who look out for each other. Problems are the exception, not the rule.

[gina@fosstodon.org]

@rachel @neil oh that's certainly true, for every unpleasant experience with men I've had at least 6 neutral and 2 pleasant ones. I've hitch hiked from Amsterdam to Finland, couch surfed through Morocco, and solo travelled a bunch of places, and that all went fine. But always by taking precautions. The few encounters with exceptions, that coincidentally are always -always- *always* men, do have an impact on every trip.

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

@Gina @rachel

This kind of (depressing, but realistic) discussion is exactly why I get irked when I see "#NotAllMen"-type narratives.

Sure, it may not be all men, and there are, undoubtedly, lovely, kind, wonderful men out there, but how does one tell which is which without putting oneself at risk, especially when one just wants to be left alone.

I'm sorry :(

[gina@fosstodon.org]

@neil @rachel thank you, just understanding the "not all men, but somehow always a man" nuance is already very helpful. 🫶

[futureisfoss@fosstodon.org]

@Gina

I'm tagging @tio and @bigworldsmallsasha, you might wanna check their Peertube channel at @ridewithless and the website here - https://ridewithless.com/

Sasha had been traveling around the world for more than a decade by now, mostly alone by herself. She even wrote a book about it explaining how she did it without much money - https://www.bigworldsmallsasha.com/book/

[gina@fosstodon.org]

@futureisfoss @tio @bigworldsmallsasha @ridewithless thank you!!