The Unofficial List of 39+ Accommodations for the Completely Committed Scooterist
Some people collect stamps. I collect sleeping locations that would make a travel insurance agent weep.
After 150,000 km across 45 countries, I have slept in places that don't appear on any booking platform. Not because they're exclusive. Because nobody in their right mind would list them.
This is not a complaint. Every single one of these locations taught me something — about the road, about people, about the remarkable human ability to fall asleep anywhere when tired enough. Consider this the accommodation guide I wish someone had written before I left.
Nature & Wilderness
1. Italian Mountain Peak I rode upward until the world's lights simply vanished. Eventually I rolled out my mat above the clouds, under a canopy of stars that felt close enough to touch. The ultimate room with a view — provided you don't mind waking up damp with dew and the faint scent of distant wind turbines. Breakfast: a protein bar and existential clarity.
2. Death Valley, USA Pitching a tent under the vast, silent desert sky felt profoundly spiritual. Until I woke up the next morning to discover I had camped in a literal minefield of scorpion holes. The universe doesn't care about your world records. It just wants to know if you're a midnight snack.
3. A Ditch, Central Europe Sometimes the road wins and the light fails. You end up in a roadside ditch, essentially becoming one with the soil and the silence. Low-impact travel at its most literal. The local worms are poor conversationalists but they don't snore.
4. Siberian Tundra Wild camping in the Russian wilderness meant placing a small flag next to my tent in a hopeful attempt to discourage wandering bears. In the tundra, you are merely a speck of DNA in a vast, indifferent universe, praying that your two-stroke engine starts at dawn. It didn't. Not immediately.
5. Snowfields at -14°C — Elefantentreffen, Bavaria Camping at -14°C means your own frozen breath condenses and snows inside the tent throughout the night. It is the ultimate test of survival gear and personal tolerance for becoming a human ice cube. I passed. Barely. I went back the following year.
6. Arctic Circle, Norway I slept right in front of the Arctic Circle Centre, the polar air biting at everything that wasn't inside a sleeping bag. A milestone bed. The kind that reminds you exactly how far you've pushed your little machine against the elements.
7. City Park, Austin, Nevada — The Loneliest Road in America The self-proclaimed friendliest town on the loneliest road in America. I set up in the city park as the sun went down and woke up surrounded by deer who had clearly not read the "no camping" sign either. We observed each other with mutual respect and went about our mornings.
8. Galveston Beach, Texas Sand, Gulf of Mexico, warm night air. One of the rare occasions where sleeping rough actually felt like a lifestyle choice rather than a last resort. The evening took an unexpected turn when a drunk German expat decided to demonstrate his gun collection in my direction. Apparently you can find idiots in the most beautiful places on earth. The Gulf of Mexico was not impressed either.
Transport & Industrial
9. Siberian Gas Station Floor I often sought refuge at the entrance of Siberian petrol stations, sometimes skipping the tent entirely to ensure a quick getaway at dawn. It's remarkable how comforting the neon glow of a fuel pump becomes when you're fifty kilometres from the nearest civilisation.
10. Behind a Rubbish Container, Los Monegros, Spain After losing my wallet, I spent a night amongst bin bags and rats. Local rodents are rarely impressed by your Instagram following. When you have 1.50€ to your name, a pile of rubbish starts to look like a budget luxury suite.
11. Behind a Glass Recycling Container, Croatia Desperate for a windbreak, I tucked myself behind a glass recycling bin at a Croatian petrol station. A seized piston — liberated with sandpaper and determination — meant the highway at night was not an option. I had to wait until dawn before I could risk moving again. The rhythmic clinking of empty bottles kept me company. Three stars. Would not book again.
12. Vespa Workshop Hydraulic Lift, Salerno, Italy When Madalina needed emergency electronic surgery, I spent the night on the workshop's mechanical lift. There is something oddly reassuring about sleeping at eye level with your own piston rings while they recover from the day's abuse.
13. Vespa Parts Warehouse Floor, USA Hard floor, the smell of vintage rubber and gear oil, one very territorial warehouse dog who eventually decided I was harmless. Two-stroke aromatherapy. Slept surprisingly well.
14. Ape 50 Cargo Bed — The Slow Way Home, 2020 On a few nights during the 23-day journey from Faro to Kempten, Anita's cargo bed became the bedroom. It's a tight fit. The suspension is non-existent. The views through the rear flap at dawn were worth every vertebra.
15. Truck Loading Platform — Winnie ze Wanne My Mercedes police van served as a mobile bedroom more times than I can count. Tight, but the floor doesn't crawl away in the middle of the night. Usually.
16. Unimog Military Truck Sleeping in the back of a Unimog provides a sense of rugged security that no nylon tent can match. You feel ready to conquer a continent, even if you're just trying to survive until morning without falling off the tailgate.
17. Next to a Toll Booth, Highway Unknown A patch of compacted dirt directly beside a highway toll station. The rhythmic sound of cars paying their way became an industrial lullaby — right up until the 4:30 AM wind nearly ripped my tent apart.
18. Shipping Container, Vespa Parts Depot Floor-to-ceiling Vespa parts, the smell of old metal and rubber, and one dog who had clearly done this before and knew which corner was his. He was right. I took the other corner. We had an understanding.
Unusual Infrastructure
19. Siberian Bus Stop — Naked, Feverish, in a Typhoon The low point. Shivering in a bus stop, battling typhoon rains and the side effects of high-dose painkillers after a collarbone injury. The only luxury: the rain wasn't falling directly on me. I have never felt more alive. I have never felt more finished.
20. Bus Stop, Swedish National Road — Near the Arctic Circle I had almost drifted off when the peace was shattered by the arrival of a heavily lowered car, bass turned up to structural-damage levels, driven by someone who had clearly watched too many music videos and not enough nature documentaries. He seemed as surprised to find me there as I was to see him. We stared at each other. He drove off. I went back to sleep. The Arctic Circle does not care about your street credibility.
21. Rugby Field Bus Stop, France I woke up to a group of school children heading to morning classes. I brushed my teeth with the dregs of a can of Desperados. The local mothers looked at me like a refugee from a failed circus. They were not wrong.
22. Transport Plane — Transall Cargo Aircraft In my younger years as a paratrooper sergeant, I knew the inside of a Transall the way most people know their living room. Cold metallic belly, the smell of hydraulic fluid and military-issue everything, the kind of echoing silence that only exists when a giant machine is waiting to roar. Later in life, when the road ran out of options, that familiarity came in useful. Some skills transfer.
23. Museum Car Park, Italy In a moment of high-class irony, I slept in an Italian museum car park that doubled as the local headquarters for street prostitutes. Lively. Interrupted. Historically significant, in its own way.
24. Abandoned Winery Car Park, Camargue, France A holed piston brought progress to a grinding halt. Three nights in a deserted winery car park. Once the frustration fades, these places become beautiful memories — the road demanding a mandatory time-out.
25. Hunting Hut, France — Bats Included An old hunting or birdwatching shelter that looked abandoned. It wasn't — not entirely. The bats had strong opinions about sharing. I had stronger opinions about not sleeping in a ditch. The bats won on points but I got the floor.
26. Old Village Train Station, France A local car enthusiast invited me inside a converted station building. The perfect place to wait for a train that is never coming, while you tinker with your own unreliable mode of transport.
27. Shed in Telemba, Siberia Two local women offered me a one-room shed with two couches. After a dangerous night ride through the Siberian dark, it felt like a five-star hotel. I shared vodka with the husband and a very drunk Russian colleague. Hospitality is the true currency of the road. The bathroom was a 50-metre walk across a wooden plank in complete darkness to an outhouse. I made the journey twice. I did not look down either time.
28. Brotherhood of the East Clubhouse, Vladivostok Reaching this place required riding through water deep enough to cover the Vespa's floorboards during a closing typhoon. A wet, wild sanctuary guarded by one of the toughest motorcycle brotherhoods in the East.
29. Bank Foyer — Sparkasse, Germany In my younger years, Sparkasse bank foyers were a reliable go-to. Warm. Marble floors. Remarkably well-heated. The security cameras never appreciated the minimalist traveller aesthetic.
30. Alhambra Car Park Bench, Granada, Spain A public bench in the Alhambra's car park. I woke before the tourists to appreciate the history in silence. The view at sunrise costs absolutely nothing.
31. Vespa Club Workshop Lift — Five Floors of Consequences The club offered me their workshop lift for the night. Generous. Thoughtful. What nobody mentioned until morning was that the main sewage exit pipe for all five floors of the building ran directly through the garage at head height. Five storeys of collective human experience, expressed in cast iron, approximately thirty centimetres from my face. I slept. Somehow.
High-Security & Specialised
32. Fenced Russian Truck Stop — Barbed Wire, Kalashnikovs Surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by armed men. Easily my most secure sleeping arrangement. You sleep surprisingly soundly when the local thieves are too scared to climb the fence.
33. Russian Construction Site Sometimes the best hiding place is in plain sight, among the steel and concrete of a rising building. Dusty. Loud. Nobody questions a man with a scooter and a determined look in his eye.
34. Love Hotel, South Korea Crossing the country solo, I found myself in a South Korean love hotel. I was the only guest without a date. The kitschy decor was spectacular. The silence was eerie. Breakfast was a Korean interpretation of a chocolate bar and a Red Bull, delivered with complete seriousness on a small tray. I have had worse. I have paid more.
35. Sailing Yacht "Good Enough", Copenhagen Hosted in Copenhagen harbour, barbecue on the upper deck, opera house in the background. A moment of feeling like a millionaire — despite having spent the morning cleaning a holed piston on a campsite lawn.
36. Steamship Hotel The gentle rocking of an old steamship. A wonderful way to feel like you're still moving even while sound asleep.
37. 4€ Truck Stop Motel, Kazakhstan I was the only guest. The wind howled through the desert outside. For the price of a cheap coffee: a roof and a bed. All a tired Vespista really needs.
38. 7€ Desert Hotel, Morocco Four walls. No running water. A lesson in minimalism. Using the toilet required a flexibility I had not previously associated with plumbing. The wet wipe became a holy relic of hygiene. What the place lacked in infrastructure it more than compensated for in hospitality — the host generously parked Madalina next to his television in the living room for the night, under his personal protection. I paid double. It was absolutely worth it.
39. Post-Rally Room, Location Classified I woke up to the unmistakable scent of a very relaxed evening. One dog in each arm, both cuddling with the commitment of animals who had made a life decision. I have woken up in worse situations. I have rarely woken up feeling more accepted.
This list is not complete. There are locations I have forgotten, locations I am choosing to forget, and at least three that I cannot legally discuss in certain jurisdictions.
The "+" in the title is intentional. If you have hosted me and your barn, floor, couch, shipping container or military vehicle doesn't appear here — write to me. You belong on this list.
More to follow. The road is long and my memory is slowly returning.
— Markus
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do you usually sleep on long Vespa tours? Wherever the day ends. After 150,000 km across 45 countries, I have slept in tents, vans, workshops, containers, bus stops, bank foyers and at least one sailing yacht. The full list is above.
Is wild camping on a Vespa tour safe? Safer than it sounds. After thousands of nights on the road, the most dangerous moment was a drunk German expat with a gun on a Texas beach. The scorpions in Death Valley were a close second.
What do you recommend for sleeping equipment on a long tour? A good sleeping bag rated for -5°C minimum, a lightweight mat, and a rain suit that actually keeps you dry. Everything else is negotiable. The wet wipe is non-negotiable.
How do you find places to sleep on tour? You stop when you're tired. You look for shelter when it rains. You accept hospitality when it's offered. The rest takes care of itself.