When we hit the road, we dreamed of spending every night falling asleep under the stars, with an epic view out the back windows to awake to. But more times than not, we spent our nights urban camping.

Usually that meant Walmart parking lots, street parking and rest areas—a far cry from waking up in the bosom of Mother Nature as we had intended. We found that many state and national parks only offer paid camping, and even with resources like freecampsites.net, dispersed camping was sparse. Finding safe, free parking had to be addressed in the daylight, so usually by the end of lunch, we were already plotting where to spend the night. It took the spontaneity out of “the freedom of the road” and fueled my anxiety.