I've been living in my van for 6 years - your description may be accurate for city life (or maybe on the East coast?) but there's a lot of public land where you can park for 2 weeks at a time without fear.

Just please, any aspiring vanlifers, pick up litter and trash if you see it! I invested in one of those 3-foot long picker upper thingies, and picking up trash is actually somewhat enjoyable with it. It's so important to respect and care for our public lands.