Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century

by Jessica Bruder

One of the liveliest seminars taught the art of stealth parking. Aimed at urban vandwellers, who often dodged anti-camping laws, the lessons were about blending into one’s surroundings to avoid getting the dreaded “knock” of a police officer tapping on the door, a drunk pounding the walls, or passersby squinting through the windows, asking “Is someone living in there?” Everyone knew about “the knock.” It was a common enemy. Swankie even had nightmares about it. “I have this strange surreal dream of someone knocking on the van,” she once wrote. “Usually happens if I am not 100% comfortable with where I am parking or boondocking. It’s annoying as heck. Never anyone there. Well, sometimes someone is there, but if it is police or security, they usually SPEAK.”