What are the positives and the negatives?
In a car, no not really, that is going to make everything in your life a lot harder and less comfortable. I feel like a car would be a last resort, I have no other options, kind of thing.
I lived in a van for just over 2 years though and honestly I miss it. I don’t just miss the extra money I had from not paying rent but I also miss being able to stay where ever I wanted and waking up next to the beach or in a forest.
No. I’ve done it, and it is dangerous, uncomfortable, unhealthy, and often unsanitary. Plus it is illegal most places.
Beats the shit out of a shelter or the street though.
Slept in a car half of my adult life. I wouldn’t “recommend” it to someone, but I absolutely do it even though I could pay rent if I wanted to live paycheck to paycheck.
If you are going to, do some prep beforehand.
- Get a gym membership to shower.
- Look into co-op office spaces.
- Look for places other people are sleeping. In my small car I slept in the trunk with the seats down. So my head was in the trunk anf feet were in the back seat. i put laundry over my feet so if you didn’t see me get into the car it would look empty.
- Get reflectix and cut out the shape of your windows to create some privacy and insulation. They make bugnets that go over your door so you can roll the windows down and keep bugs out.
- Get a PO box. Most stuff that will make your life easier will have to be ordered online
- Have a job first. Work nights in the winter and day time in the summer.
- Buy nice things, buy it for life.
- A Jetboil for cooking. I built a little cozy out of a few layers of reflectix thats basically a tall cup (wider at the base and narrow at the top). Freezer ziplock bags don’t melt when you pour boiling water into it. So I can boil water in the pot and cook my food in the cozy so I don’t have to do dishes. Or just backpacking dehydrated meals to supliment eating out garbage food all the time.
- Another food option is Huel. It’s a powdered meal substitute.
- Look into a backpacking inflatable mattress if you can get any kind of level sleep surface.
- Get some oder killing shoe spray and use it every night on your shoes.
- get a cooler or two. Even without ice it in, it will keep the temperatures more steady. So put your electionics in that.
I had a friend who did it for 2 years, he rented a storage unit that was big enough for his car after a few sketchy nights. Put the car in and pull the door down, set up the cot, unroll the sleeping bag and settle in for the night. It had the added advantage of not having to keep all his stuff in the car at all times so he could maintain some semblance of a normal appearing life.
We had no idea he was doing it.
Yes, but at least where I’ve stayed, sleeping in your car isn’t illegal as long as it moves about regularly. Staying in a storage unit is illegal, and if caught you will also get charged with trespassing. Once you get something on your record, cops become real assholes no matter how minor the infraction.
Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night sounds like a negative
I would do it if it were legal.
As a libertarian who tends to get along really well with socialists, it boils my blood that living in one’s car is illegal. There is absolutely no reason reason for that law other than “fuck poor people”.
Poor people are an inconvenience. They often don’t produce anything of value, and they aren’t consumers on a large enough scale to be worthwhile. So they should be banned.
I’m sure some 1% type has said this at sometime.
I live in my car rn, and have been for over 300 days. And not because I wanted to.
AMA
What’s your day to day like? Pros? Cons? What’s something you didn’t realize until you were living in your car?
Its better than being on the streets or back in texas with all the transphobia there. I hate not having a bathroom that’s mine, and I really hate all the eco-sinks every bathroom has.
Since living in my car, my sense of white guilt has skyrocketed. I have so many interactions with police because they just wanna check on me, but I haven’t had a single “bad” experience yet and I know thats because I’m white.
Its not going to be forever, but it was the best way to start living as my true self and despite all the struggles I don’t think I’d do it any differently.
If you are in a position to do so, I have more of my story on my gofundme that I recently set up.
Just as an aside, I’ve really only had 1 negative experience with a cop and have met many great cops as of late. I’m a Texan, and I’m definitely not white. I wanted to mention this because even though police forces as institutions have huge issues, the people in them are just as varied as everybody else. I doubt it’s just your race - your area probably has plenty of good apples.
Anyway, I hope stuff gets better! Hopefully you’ll get the treatment(s) you need and can find a stable living situation soon.
I’m sure. I am in the twin cities though, so its pretty verified that they aren’t awesome here.
Thanks! You should leave texas, its slowly chewing its own foot off.
Nah, I’d rather make it better. Outside of what’s politicized, I think we have potential.
Maybe, but it just isn’t safe for women or us gays/trans, especially when it comes to healthcare.
More of a reason for me to stay and vote. I don’t plan on having children soon, and me leaving the state won’t make it any better for other Texans who can’t leave even if they need to.
Regardless, even if I can’t make the state better for women or LGBT+ people, there’s always a different group I can make it better for.
Nope. I don’t have a car and consider it a money pit in the first place. A car costs a driving license. It also costs insurance. And fuel to move it. And it will break down at some point. Plus, winters are pretty brutal where I live and heating this thing/myself would be a nightmare. To me, a car is an anchor; a heavy ball attached to your foot.
If I had a car, and it was for a few weeks in summer, I may consider it. But I prefer have a proper place instead, and save money by not having a car.
You can live in your car but you can’t drive your house
But I don’t need a car to go anywhere in my daily life. My bike can bring me where I need to, it doesn’t cost gas, and doesn’t require yearly fees for a license. Public transit for the rest. Groceries are hauled with a bike trailer or I make multiple trips on foot.
Seriously, I prefer to live with 3 roommates close to work, and have access to a toilet, shower kitchen… rather than pay for a car and gas to “live in it” and get to work.
If you have a car and drive, you may see it as some sort of tool, and have some value and utility over an apartment, but for people that already live without a car, they often just seem like a burden.
I don’t want to have a 1.5 ton block of metal and need to pay gas to move it. I can move by other means.
Well yeah it makes no sense if you don’t already have the vehicle.
Everyone needs somewhere to live, not everyone needs something to drive.
I lived in a small travel trailer for a year. That was bearable, because it had the semblance of a small domicile. It also has the benefit of blending in, if parked in areas where you’re assumed to be camping or just passing through. At the end of that year, I was definitely over it, though.
When I imagine living in a car for the same amount of time, I can only think of negatives.
Car, no. Camping trailer… only thing holding me back is convincing the wife.
I can attest it feels like being in a cage and that it’s one that’s prone to the elements.
Solution: don’t use it when you’re drunk as shit
What would that improve if the vehicle is stationary?
Well, ya wouldn’t be able to back it into a pond, that’s fer sure.
If there are floods, it can still be swept away.
Valid point!
Absolutely not. There are no upsides to it that would outweigh the negatives, and I have other options long before getting to that point.
A van, yes. It’s my retirement plan. A car, would be better than living on the street.
Retirement van.
I would already be living in a vehicle, but I can’t drive (low vision) so it’s never going to be an option for me.
About 10 years ago I was looking into bike towed campers as a security plan for an unstable housing situation, only to learn they are illegal to tow in my country. You can own one, sleep in one, and tow it on private property, but to move it from one property to another legally I’d need to pay someone with a car to put it in a car trailer, then unload my camper at the destination.
Without a legal mailing-address, you will be blocked from participating in much of the online-economy.
“no shipping address?” XOR “we won’t ever ship to rural people, P.O. boxes, or any other non-CITY bullshit.”
There’s a book which discusses this, named “The Addres Book”, by Deirdre Mask.
Some jurisdictions may require you to be treated as a valid citizen, even with a P.O. box “address”, but I don’t know of any jurisdiction that does that.
No address?
Your life will be stomped, & from what I’ve seen, you get deemed a vagrant/homeless by enforcement, too.
In the US you can get around this by renting a PO Box and using the post office street address + your box number as the “Unit” number. There’s a form you have to sign to give them permission to handle third party packages for you but I don’t think it costs anything extra.
This. Also there’s businesses that have PO boxes you can rent and do the same thing with. Then you don’t have to deal with the stupid people or long lines at the post office.
You can kind of get around this in my country by putting in a long term mail redirection at the post office. You can just keep updating your drivers licence and other paperwork at the old address. Its only a matter of time till it gets found out but it will probably work for a fairly long time.
I’d only consider it if it was tied to a nomadic lifestyle. At that point, you’re no longer tethered to a static location, so why not travel?
I imagine my van would likely be something like on Cheap RV Living: https://youtube.com/@CheapRVliving
He shows a lot of different set-ups, from elaborate to basic.
