Camping πŸ“

Camping. Spending time in the woods. Having a fire. What can go wrong?

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AirBNB, Travel and Staying in Random People’s Homes. 🏑

Camping In The Allegheny Wilds

Lately they’re has been a lot of promotion of an article about how to find secret cameras in AirBNB homes. I get it, you own a house and your renting it out, you might want to make sure nobody is destroying your property while your gone. But I think it’s generally just creepy to be staying in some random person’s home or even a hotel. While I sometimes stay in hotels or other people’s houses for work, it certainly would not be my choice if I could avoid it during travel.

I just much prefer to be camping in the wilderness then in any urban area. I like to be able to have fires, make as much noise as I want, stay up late. Chances are except for walking back in the woods and getting caught on some random hunters’ game camera, no one is going to be watching me, and I won’t be sitting on some person’s sofa with bed bugs or who know what ever else you might find in someone’s house. If I spill something in the wilderness, and I can’t fully clean it up, it doesn’t matter, as it will either rot or get eaten by the wildlife.

Map: Dry Run State Forest

Wisdom of a quarter mile between campsites

As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that beauty of the state’s policy of keeping dispersed and wilderness campsites at least a 1/4 mile apart.

While that leads to fewer camping opportunities in popular locations, it also means a truer wilderness experience where other campers will not be disturbed by talking, music, chopping wood or other human noise, smoke from other fires or other privacy issues.

Afternoon

I enjoy having my space while camping and having nobody else in sight or sound while in the wilderness.

Thematic Map: Percentage of Green Cars

NYS Leantos

Interactive map showing all of the lean-tos in New York State as of May 2026.

Map: Mountain House Trail and North Mountain