I’m a European who had the privilege of travelling California, Nevada, and Arizona for a couple of weeks last fall. It was my first visit to the US. I was travelling by car, hoping to be able to sleep in it (or in a tent next to it) as often as possible to save money. I’m a very quiet, respectful traveler with a “leave nothing behind” approach so I felt that was okay to do.

However, that wasn’t as easy as I had anticipated! I was virtually unable to find any space off the main roads that wasn’t closed off, and marked “private property.” I don’t feel comfortable sleeping somewhere I’m not supposed to be (even though the risk of getting caught was probably minimal) so I had to limit my free camping mainly to the desert.

This came as a big surprise to me, I had expected the exact opposite because the country is so vast. Germany is much more densely settled than the US, and much of its uninhabited area is private property, too. However, it’s way more accessible. You find a huge network of dirt roads everywhere, going through every small forest, taking you far off the main roads. Private property is rarely marked, and rarely impassable (I think it’s generally prohibited to block it off). Finding a secure place to stay for the night while traveling by car is really, really easy.

Why do you think this is?