a safe place to take along when I have to go

[VanFan]

Morgana, I agree that basing an opinion on a single source is not good science. Nor did I. Every single source I could find where a scientific study was done that excluded a possible placebo effect came up empty. There was simply no evidence that this condition actually exists. I only posted one link to provide a something other than my own "feelings". I could have as easily posted a number of sources.

It is also true that later studies could provide a different result. This is true of everything.

I knew when I posted that I would sound insensitive. I am sorry for that. My suggestion still stands.

I don't view your input as particularly insensitive, and agree that empirical data is invaluable. As you have indicated, our knowledge evolves, and, IMO, there are many ways of "knowing." Science and intuition have always been great companions!

 

[RonDean]

I don't view your input as particularly insensitive, and agree that empirical data is invaluable. As you have indicated, our knowledge evolves, and, IMO, there are many ways of "knowing." Science and intuition have always been great companions!

On this, as well as many other subjects, I will hold to provable, repeatable, and empirical evidence. You know - the scientific method or courtroom rules of evidence. I think we already have far too many people running around claiming things without proof or evidence and all semi-reasonable people need to push back against that.

I'll give way to intuition for things like...
If I fish this lake will I be wasting my time?
Will my sister "like" this present?
Just how sure am I that I will be alive to see the sun rise tomorrow?

IE: for things we really can't KNOW or research adequately.

 

[RonDean]

Please excuse me for an additional post on this thread.

Something I SHOULD have said or added is that when we do not demand better evidence or we accept the first thing someone tells us, we can end up making an incorrect assumption. That can lead to us not addressing the correct problem. And that can result in never being able to solve the issue. In this case, IF (and I certainly do not know for sure) the OP has some other problem that doesn't get addressed, this could go on for a lifetime when it may not have to.

 

[VanFan]

...we do not demand better evidence or we accept the first thing someone tells us, we can end up making an incorrect assumption. That can lead to us not addressing the correct problem. And that can result in never being able to solve the issue. In this case, IF (and I certainly do not know for sure) the OP has some other problem that doesn't get addressed, this could go on for a lifetime when it may not have to.

I concur (LOL). I will add that intuition (as I define it) often provides the impetus to research scientifically. (I define intuition as observation at the subconscious level being presented to the conscious mind in a tidy package, which may lead to further awareness or inquiry.) There.

 

[rvwandering]

I removed all of the off-topic posts. Please keep comments on the topic of the original post. Thanks!

 

[VillaFaraday]

Wow, thank you all so much for spending time thinking about my situation. I'm sorry I'm not quoting and referencing everyone's contributions individually. It's challenging interacting with this forum on dial-up. But there are some real gems among the resources posted here. Will have to track down a copy of Sara Riley Mattson's book, and peruse the teardrop trailer forum more extensively. Elkins' Burning Man designs are probably not secure enough where I would need to set up, but they are inspiring and might spark some more ideas.

One of the options I've been thinking about, is seeing if I can put a small temporary tent-like structure made out of Reflectix in my friend's place once I'm there, big enough for my bed, air filter and laptop. But I may need something more solid, to park/set up outside, before I get there, and all the better if it's portable in which case I don't have to impose a big silver cube on my friend's interior design scheme.

It's not something I would attempt to do while there's renovations going on here though. There's no sustainable workarounds for me to stay here. The extreme behavior of this new landlord is really the last straw in an already extraordinarily toxic environment. There's no scenario in which I can remain here long term, without losing anything resembling quality of life.

I do understand that 'stealth' is an illusion, and I don't have the unreasonable expectation of actually being invisible, but I would like the option of being as stealth as possible for various reasons, including feeling safer not calling too much attention to myself. Maybe stealth is not the best way to describe it, but I would rather not have a big neon-arrow pointing at my location. I really just want options, if worse comes to worse and I need to park in public places for short periods. I do have friends and community, not just some generic kind soul, who would try to help me with transportation as needed and possible, as well as get me to food and other necessities.

I'm not completely new to building, though building with sticks on wheels is a whole new mindset for me (I gather Bullfrog is the one to keep in mind for this project....good to know!). I come from the natural building perspective, and for many years I wanted to build a cob house somewhere, but with antennas and other industrial installations closing in on many communities, I've come to the conclusion that setting down deep roots may not be advisable for me. Sadly it's just not possible to haul a little hobbit mud hut around on a trailer....

But before I get to the complexities of building my long term abode, I first have to deal with the more immediate practical need to figure out an interim shelter to keep me safe on the way there.

 

[VillaFaraday]

I wanted to respond a bit separately to the issues around my disability, and leave the more structural discussion on its own.

I'm familiar with some of the housing sites for people with EI (Environmental Illness, which also includes toxic mold injury), and appreciate seeing them posted here. They usually have long waiting lists, and are often not accessible for both MCS/ES. The one close to me, a HUD housing site specifically built for people with MCS, has overhead power lines immediately behind the building, and nearby antennas, not to mention the apartment building next door is frequently spewing heavily fragranced dryer exhaust fumes.

I'm relieved that these places exist, because they do work for some who would be without shelter otherwise, but fundamentally, people with MCS and/or ES are as different as, well, everybody else. We have a lot of common experiences, but we also each react differently to different things.

That's because the 'sensitivity' label really obscures the cause. For the most part it's not about something inherently 'sensitive' inside us, but about exposures to things that are inherently toxic to everyone to varying degrees, and each person's sensitization depends on the toxic mix that injured them.

MCS looks like it's a wide range of vague symptoms only when the cause is obscured. People's symptoms clearly match the established effects of various commonly used chemicals, but medical schools teach very little about chemical poisoning (which is what MCS really is), and doctors are not trained to look up effects of individual chemicals, let alone the vast mixtures that have become ubiquitous in our environment.

I don't have time or energy to defend or validate the existence of people like me, and I would question why anyone would feel the need to 'push back' about someone's medical condition if they are not that person's medical provider, especially on the basis of very little detail I shared. I did share that I'm in my 50s and have been ill for more than a quarter century, and as such a more likely assumption, than that I'm making false claims, is that I probably have a pretty good understanding of my own physical reality. Maybe instead of trying to diagnose strangers, ask some questions about how they got sick, if you're really curious.

Perhaps when I'm not in an existential housing crisis I'll find the part of the forum where this issue can be debated, and I'll post lots of evidence of chemical and electromagnetic harm, but this is not the time for me to do that. I will however point anyone who would like to know a little more about the history of the difficult relationship between the medical establishment and people with chemical injuries to Dr. Anne McCampbell's article, MCS Under Siege. It was written a couple of decades ago, but the socio-political effects on the injured remains much the same: https://annmccampbellmd.com/publicationswritings/publication-1/

I would like to acknowledge that the way I finally found this forum is because one of Bob Wells' videos from a few years ago was making the rounds again, an interview with a woman with MCS who was living in her vehicle: A large number of people in the EI community end up living in their cars at some point in their lives, and the discussion of tiny houses on wheels and van life is one becoming more frequent among us. In fact the site with the EI housing resources, also has a page about living in a van (which links to some of Bob's work): https://www.eiwellspring.org/saferh/LivingInVan.htm

When it comes right down to it, disability is self-defined. Everyone defines their own functional impairments, regardless of how others may perceive them. The challenge to provide evidence is only relevant when dealing with bureaucracies, like applying for services specific to the disability, or going to court like I may have to.

I do have help from a lawyer, and I am aware of a lot of the social services, and am defending myself as best as I can, but considering my environmental reality here, I will have to move sooner than later, and there is no way that I'm going to be able to pull off everything that needs to happen for me to move into a long term shelter in the time frame available to me, so I need to figure out a temporary situation that will keep me safe in the meantime. That's why I'm here.

 

[Syfyinsanebabies]

I wasn't aware that there is housing available for people with MCS. No idea how long the waiting lists are, though. Here are a couple links:

https://www.eiwellspring.org/multiunit.html
http://www.safehousingdallas.com/details.html

Always so helpful

 

[Syfyinsanebabies]

I wanted to respond a bit separately to the issues around my disability, and leave the more structural discussion on its own.

I'm familiar with some of the housing sites for people with EI (Environmental Illness, which also includes toxic mold injury), and appreciate seeing them posted here. They usually have long waiting lists, and are often not accessible for both MCS/ES. The one close to me, a HUD housing site specifically built for people with MCS, has overhead power lines immediately behind the building, and nearby antennas, not to mention the apartment building next door is frequently spewing heavily fragranced dryer exhaust fumes.

I'm relieved that these places exist, because they do work for some who would be without shelter otherwise, but fundamentally, people with MCS and/or ES are as different as, well, everybody else. We have a lot of common experiences, but we also each react differently to different things.

That's because the 'sensitivity' label really obscures the cause. For the most part it's not about something inherently 'sensitive' inside us, but about exposures to things that are inherently toxic to everyone to varying degrees, and each person's sensitization depends on the toxic mix that injured them.

MCS looks like it's a wide range of vague symptoms only when the cause is obscured. People's symptoms clearly match the established effects of various commonly used chemicals, but medical schools teach very little about chemical poisoning (which is what MCS really is), and doctors are not trained to look up effects of individual chemicals, let alone the vast mixtures that have become ubiquitous in our environment.

I don't have time or energy to defend or validate the existence of people like me, and I would question why anyone would feel the need to 'push back' about someone's medical condition if they are not that person's medical provider, especially on the basis of very little detail I shared. I did share that I'm in my 50s and have been ill for more than a quarter century, and as such a more likely assumption, than that I'm making false claims, is that I probably have a pretty good understanding of my own physical reality. Maybe instead of trying to diagnose strangers, ask some questions about how they got sick, if you're really curious.

Perhaps when I'm not in an existential housing crisis I'll find the part of the forum where this issue can be debated, and I'll post lots of evidence of chemical and electromagnetic harm, but this is not the time for me to do that. I will however point anyone who would like to know a little more about the history of the difficult relationship between the medical establishment and people with chemical injuries to Dr. Anne McCampbell's article, MCS Under Siege. It was written a couple of decades ago, but the socio-political effects on the injured remains much the same: https://annmccampbellmd.com/publicationswritings/publication-1/

I would like to acknowledge that the way I finally found this forum is because one of Bob Wells' videos from a few years ago was making the rounds again, an interview with a woman with MCS who was living in her vehicle: A large number of people in the EI community end up living in their cars at some point in their lives, and the discussion of tiny houses on wheels and van life is one becoming more frequent among us. In fact the site with the EI housing resources, also has a page about living in a van (which links to some of Bob's work): https://www.eiwellspring.org/saferh/LivingInVan.htm

When it comes right down to it, disability is self-defined. Everyone defines their own functional impairments, regardless of how others may perceive them. The challenge to provide evidence is only relevant when dealing with bureaucracies, like applying for services specific to the disability, or going to court like I may have to.

I do have help from a lawyer, and I am aware of a lot of the social services, and am defending myself as best as I can, but considering my environmental reality here, I will have to move sooner than later, and there is no way that I'm going to be able to pull off everything that needs to happen for me to move into a long term shelter in the time frame available to me, so I need to figure out a temporary situation that will keep me safe in the meantime. That's why I'm here.

Amen

 

[camperdan]

Hello everyone!

I'm excited to finally have found this forum. I've been looking for you all for a while!

I'm a disabled woman in my mid-50s, facing eviction from a 300 square foot inner city studio apartment that I've lived in for over three decades. Over the last year a new building owner has been terrorizing residents with sudden, unannounced demolition around our living spaces and the gas lines. My health is being severely affected, and now he wants to force his way into my home to do remodeling that would make me deathly ill, because I suffer from Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS). I'm on a fixed SSI disability income, living from check to check, so I have been trying to negotiate a buyout, to get some money to move, but he's refusing, so I'm simultaneously trapped here, and threatened with the streets.

Apartments that are both affordable and accessible to someone with MCS are about as common as unicorns, and I know many people who have lived in their cars as a result. If I had a car, I would have moved into it a quarter of a century ago, when I first got sick, because I've struggled to keep this place safe from chemical intrusions ever since, and have had to evacuate and find shelter elsewhere a number of times when I didn't succeed. Trouble is....I don't drive! And I shouldn't try to, because of neurological impairments.

So I'm obviously not likely to go full nomad, but after years of housing insecurity, I would feel a lot safer if I could have an accessible sanctuary that I can take with me whenever the toxic world catches up with me and I have to move again, so I do want some wheels that some kind person could tow somewhere else for me as needed. And I may at times need to park somewhere in an urban setting, so I need to be able to be a bit more stealth than I could be in one of those fancy tiny houses I can't afford.

I've been thinking about getting a cargo trailer and building it out to my specific disability needs. Since in addition to chemical sensitivity I'm also electrosensitive, an aluminum structure makes a lot of sense to me, because it would essentially serve as a Faraday cage. I think that I could live out my life comfortably in 16 x 8 feet, preferably with a little extra in a V-nose, and some extra height.

I have a friend in another state who is willing to let me stay a while and do a build there, but with my disabilities, and my need for someone to drive me, and my limited income, I need more time to organize my move than I'm likely going to have. So I think I need to first find some temporary shelter, preferably something small I can haul along when I finally make the long distance trek, that can fit in a small driveway or parking spot on the street. I anticipate that whatever I might be able to find with my limited resources, I will have to cover completely with foil inside to seal any chemical residues from previous users, and figure out how to hook into someone's internet with a long ethernet cable, because I can't use any sort of wireless technology (I'm on a dial-up connection now, so please bear with me as my response time may be a bit sluggish).

Any creative ideas for how to find what I need to get out of here safely, or how to make the best use of this forum with my slow internet connection, would be very much appreciated.

Try Googling "free legal aid" for your area. This and shelters. It may come down to older van and learning to drive.

 

[maki2]

Try Googling "free legal aid" for your area. This and shelters. It may come down to older van and learning to drive.

Read her last message, she says she has a lawyer.

 

[overlandsiberia]

I wanted to respond a bit separately to the issues around my disability, and leave the more structural discussion on its own.

I'm familiar with some of the housing sites for people with EI (Environmental Illness, which also includes toxic mold injury), and appreciate seeing them posted here. They usually have long waiting lists, and are often not accessible for both MCS/ES. The one close to me, a HUD housing site specifically built for people with MCS, has overhead power lines immediately behind the building, and nearby antennas, not to mention the apartment building next door is frequently spewing heavily fragranced dryer exhaust fumes.

I'm relieved that these places exist, because they do work for some who would be without shelter otherwise, but fundamentally, people with MCS and/or ES are as different as, well, everybody else. We have a lot of common experiences, but we also each react differently to different things.

That's because the 'sensitivity' label really obscures the cause. For the most part it's not about something inherently 'sensitive' inside us, but about exposures to things that are inherently toxic to everyone to varying degrees, and each person's sensitization depends on the toxic mix that injured them.

MCS looks like it's a wide range of vague symptoms only when the cause is obscured. People's symptoms clearly match the established effects of various commonly used chemicals, but medical schools teach very little about chemical poisoning (which is what MCS really is), and doctors are not trained to look up effects of individual chemicals, let alone the vast mixtures that have become ubiquitous in our environment.

I don't have time or energy to defend or validate the existence of people like me, and I would question why anyone would feel the need to 'push back' about someone's medical condition if they are not that person's medical provider, especially on the basis of very little detail I shared. I did share that I'm in my 50s and have been ill for more than a quarter century, and as such a more likely assumption, than that I'm making false claims, is that I probably have a pretty good understanding of my own physical reality. Maybe instead of trying to diagnose strangers, ask some questions about how they got sick, if you're really curious.

Perhaps when I'm not in an existential housing crisis I'll find the part of the forum where this issue can be debated, and I'll post lots of evidence of chemical and electromagnetic harm, but this is not the time for me to do that. I will however point anyone who would like to know a little more about the history of the difficult relationship between the medical establishment and people with chemical injuries to Dr. Anne McCampbell's article, MCS Under Siege. It was written a couple of decades ago, but the socio-political effects on the injured remains much the same: https://annmccampbellmd.com/publicationswritings/publication-1/

I would like to acknowledge that the way I finally found this forum is because one of Bob Wells' videos from a few years ago was making the rounds again, an interview with a woman with MCS who was living in her vehicle: A large number of people in the EI community end up living in their cars at some point in their lives, and the discussion of tiny houses on wheels and van life is one becoming more frequent among us. In fact the site with the EI housing resources, also has a page about living in a van (which links to some of Bob's work): https://www.eiwellspring.org/saferh/LivingInVan.htm

When it comes right down to it, disability is self-defined. Everyone defines their own functional impairments, regardless of how others may perceive them. The challenge to provide evidence is only relevant when dealing with bureaucracies, like applying for services specific to the disability, or going to court like I may have to.

I do have help from a lawyer, and I am aware of a lot of the social services, and am defending myself as best as I can, but considering my environmental reality here, I will have to move sooner than later, and there is no way that I'm going to be able to pull off everything that needs to happen for me to move into a long term shelter in the time frame available to me, so I need to figure out a temporary situation that will keep me safe in the meantime. That's why I'm here.

I have MCS too, it's no joke. I'm moving back to overseas soon because of that.
There're no "safe apartments" or homes in the US. They're all poisoned. Toxic materials everywhere, in every single inch inside and out. Plywood, OSB, particleboard, coatings, furniture, insulation, glues. Industry controls all politicians, they control everything here. May be old log cabins is the only safe place. Where I'm moving to I will be living in one. Also, adobe, strawbale and earthbag buildings. I also stayed in the metal cabin with concrete floors once, air quality was pretty good inside, despite it being newly built.

One thing I want to mention is a vapor barrier called Tu-Tuff. I had great results in it.
It's a flexible strong white vapor barrier that truly has 0, none smell and blocks vapors very well.
I travel with a roll of it, if you staple in on the floors, walls, ceiling it will block fumes really well.
The only thing one can not use it in places like kitchens because spilled water will eventually makes it under it and one would have to lift it and dry it all out. I was able to stay in my RV solely thanks to Tu-tuff that blocked all the atrocious toxic fumes and smells from everything in RV.

Tu-Tuff is stronger than foil, so it can be used on floors as well and one can walk over it. It can be folded multiple times for additional effect and heavily overallaped, that's how I used it, often. Can even lay it without stapling but it got to be weighted down with something like natural jute rags or pieces of tile. Unlike foil, staples will easily hold it in any position like vertical, no need for glue or tape.

You definitely want a cargo trailer without plywood or OSB board sheathing inside otherwise fumes will be bad most likely.
Cargo trailer is better than a van, with the van your living quarters will be right over the chassis and mechanical stuff, so all the fumes from oils and fuel will go up there. Another thing is fumes from tires, I found it very helpful to cover the tires up with reflective coverings, this really drastically reduces tires offgassing. If the trailer is going to sit stationary for long periods of time tires can be wrapped in vapor barrier before putting covers on them, but got to leave place for things to breath to avoid wheel rusting.

You do not want to deal with gasoline generators ever. They will smell like gas fumes, even when not operational. I have dual fuel propane-gas generator of cheap brand and I can walk around when I run it outside with no issue, also since I never used gasoline part of it, I can keep this genny inside when not running and be around, there's no fumes. Propane itself/smell is pretty forgiving on the lungs, but you don't want to ever live with open burning propane for heat inside, it's sickening.
These are some tips from living on the road with MCS.

 

[camperdan]

Read her last message, she says she has a lawyer.

Thanks, I will.

 

[eDJ_]

Just a suggestion based on my own experience. Get yourself a simple camera and take lots of photos of your living area. Then the areas your land lord is claiming he is intending to make modifications to.

These may be invaluable if you have to present your case to social workers or if you would ever have to go before a court.

Secondly, if you use a digital camera with SD memory card.....go to a photo kiosk and have two sets of prints made. if you have to meet with a lawyer and discuss pertinent details of the photos with him/her. Then write on the back what is important in the photo. Where the photo was taken, date and time of day etc. If the court uses any of it, it will be kept by the court. But that second set will still be yours to keep and I advise writing on the back of them the same info that was on the first set. (then keep them somewhere that's safe)

Then keep a diary of who said what, the date & time, what the weather was like that day, and any significant events in your area that day.

If nothing else, those you have to present your situation to will realize that this is real and has been going on and you've taken measures to document it while keeping a level head. This may give you the outcome you need.

If the other party is trying to bully you or use fear tactics get rid of you, it's likely they won't be taking these measures. (so don't let yourself be seen taking photos etc and keep all of this to yourself)

 

[RonDean]

Just a suggestion based on my own experience. Get yourself a simple camera and take lots of photos of your living area. Then the areas your land lord is claiming he is intending to make modifications to.

These may be invaluable if you have to present your case to social workers or if you would ever have to go before a court.

Secondly, if you use a digital camera with SD memory card.....go to a photo kiosk and have two sets of prints made. if you have to meet with a lawyer and discuss pertinent details of the photos with him/her. Then write on the back what is important in the photo. Where the photo was taken, date and time of day etc. If the court uses any of it, it will be kept by the court. But that second set will still be yours to keep and I advise writing on the back of them the same info that was on the first set. (then keep them somewhere that's safe)

Then keep a diary of who said what, the date & time, what the weather was like that day, and any significant events in your area that day.

If nothing else, those you have to present your situation to will realize that this is real and has been going on and you've taken measures to document it while keeping a level head. This may give you the outcome you need.

If the other party is trying to bully you or use fear tactics get rid of you, it's likely they won't be taking these measures. (so don't let yourself be seen taking photos etc and keep all of this to yourself)

All good advice, but does anyone still use cameras? I would just remind anyone needing this advice to use the mobile phone most of us carry these days. You don't even need a sim card.

 

[overlandsiberia]

By the way Tu-Tuff underlayment can be used on houses just fine, on top of floors/walls,, blocks chemicals and smell right there, but best to use mutliple lawyers of the stuff. And tape the seams edges for long term installation to prevent water getting under. I can put my nose right to Tu-Tuff and smell nothing, while I'm bothered by the slightest chemical smelss.

 

[overlandsiberia]

Long time ago I worked helping someone in over 65 apartments of the kind where people were usually disabled. One day they replaced part of the floor to make it easier for the wheelchair in the apartment to move. The smell of toxic chemicals was extremely bad, it' like they wanted to kill everyone, I had to quit. Using certified non-toxic materials should be considered accomodation under ADA. But in the US almost everything more or less standard is poisoned and toxic now, including what they claim to be safe and healthy, short of remote log cabins. Tile is probably the best floor remodeling option but I've seen prolonged fumes from grout too. Some sell pre-finished oak floors for prices that aren't too crazy, supposedly no offgassing and very hard solid finish.

 

[overlandsiberia]

I wanted to respond a bit separately to the issues around my disability, and leave the more structural discussion on its own.

I'm familiar with some of the housing sites for people with EI (Environmental Illness, which also includes toxic mold injury), and appreciate seeing them posted here. They usually have long waiting lists, and are often not accessible for both MCS/ES. The one close to me, a HUD housing site specifically built for people with MCS, has overhead power lines immediately behind the building, and nearby antennas, not to mention the apartment building next door is frequently spewing heavily fragranced dryer exhaust fumes.

I'm relieved that these places exist, because they do work for some who would be without shelter otherwise, but fundamentally, people with MCS and/or ES are as different as, well, everybody else. We have a lot of common experiences, but we also each react differently to different things.

That's because the 'sensitivity' label really obscures the cause. For the most part it's not about something inherently 'sensitive' inside us, but about exposures to things that are inherently toxic to everyone to varying degrees, and each person's sensitization depends on the toxic mix that injured them.

MCS looks like it's a wide range of vague symptoms only when the cause is obscured. People's symptoms clearly match the established effects of various commonly used chemicals, but medical schools teach very little about chemical poisoning (which is what MCS really is), and doctors are not trained to look up effects of individual chemicals, let alone the vast mixtures that have become ubiquitous in our environment.

I don't have time or energy to defend or validate the existence of people like me, and I would question why anyone would feel the need to 'push back' about someone's medical condition if they are not that person's medical provider, especially on the basis of very little detail I shared. I did share that I'm in my 50s and have been ill for more than a quarter century, and as such a more likely assumption, than that I'm making false claims, is that I probably have a pretty good understanding of my own physical reality. Maybe instead of trying to diagnose strangers, ask some questions about how they got sick, if you're really curious.

Perhaps when I'm not in an existential housing crisis I'll find the part of the forum where this issue can be debated, and I'll post lots of evidence of chemical and electromagnetic harm, but this is not the time for me to do that. I will however point anyone who would like to know a little more about the history of the difficult relationship between the medical establishment and people with chemical injuries to Dr. Anne McCampbell's article, MCS Under Siege. It was written a couple of decades ago, but the socio-political effects on the injured remains much the same: https://annmccampbellmd.com/publicationswritings/publication-1/

I would like to acknowledge that the way I finally found this forum is because one of Bob Wells' videos from a few years ago was making the rounds again, an interview with a woman with MCS who was living in her vehicle: A large number of people in the EI community end up living in their cars at some point in their lives, and the discussion of tiny houses on wheels and van life is one becoming more frequent among us. In fact the site with the EI housing resources, also has a page about living in a van (which links to some of Bob's work): https://www.eiwellspring.org/saferh/LivingInVan.htm

When it comes right down to it, disability is self-defined. Everyone defines their own functional impairments, regardless of how others may perceive them. The challenge to provide evidence is only relevant when dealing with bureaucracies, like applying for services specific to the disability, or going to court like I may have to.

I do have help from a lawyer, and I am aware of a lot of the social services, and am defending myself as best as I can, but considering my environmental reality here, I will have to move sooner than later, and there is no way that I'm going to be able to pull off everything that needs to happen for me to move into a long term shelter in the time frame available to me, so I need to figure out a temporary situation that will keep me safe in the meantime. That's why I'm here.

You don't need to explain your disability to them.

It's like explaining your race, ethnic origin, gender or lgbt orientation to the normies and bigoted ones. Most of them don't even consider us to be humans (funny I never even collected a dime of disability, not a dime of their tax money, worked like crazy in engineering and live off my savings, going expat where my money will last longer, though all people with MCS by all means shoujld collect disability, because it's the society that sickened them by constant exposure to poinsons to enrich the few, the rest are just extremely brainwashed). I feel a lot of anger against this "society" and its people at this point, don't want to have anything to do with any of them and their nonsens, and soon will be living in place whree people still live like the Amish, after my big trip, want to forget this life among them like a nightmare.

I see they are judgemental here and caught disability-bigotry on here already because of disabling MCS, done with them.
Make sure you get all-metal trailer without ply/OSB or it will be a bother, there are very few out there, have to be custom made except larger ones like 7x14 from one compapny, might have to wait a bit to have them made so order in advance. They cost more but if you look a couple of makers don't charge that much more, nothing crazy. You can't rip OSB/ply out of regular trailer walls because it's structural in regular builds.

And if you get a van or truck made sure the bed/floor doesn't smell like chemicals, they spill at lot of stuff in those because these are used for work.

 

[Morgana]

I haven't seen a single example of anti-disability bigotry on this forum, ever. Granted, I haven't read every single post ever posted.

What I have seen, pretty regularly -- you could almost set your clock by it -- is people coming here with really high expectations that RV'ing will solve all their problems, sharing a particular goal, and then getting mad when people tell them they don't think the goal is practical. Then they share their anger a few times, tell everyone else what's wrong with them, and quit the forum.

I don't know whether you fit that category or not. I don't know what ticked you off. Now that you've gone on the attack, I'll be honest: I don't much care. That doesn't mean you don't deserve help and understanding; it just means that as far as /I'm/ concerned you've burnt that bridge. (No worries: there are lots of people here who are much nicer than me ; ) . Sometime you might try saying something like "Look, I know you probably didn't mean any harm, but when you said XYZ I felt bad." Most people here are generous and good-natured and while nobody likes to be lectured, many will go out of their way to make you comfortable if asked nicely. (And usually when people say "I don't think that will work" they're just trying to save you grief, not to rain on your parade.)

Life is hard. Lots of people hurt. For lots of reasons. Not all of them talk about it. This is a very diverse and tolerant group (God knows they put up with me lol . There are places in this world where people are so scared of being accused of bigotry that they'll fall into line the minute you say the b- word. This isn't one of them. People here tend to live their tolerance more than talking about it. Maybe leave your anger at the rest of the world at the door and give it a chance.

 

[Happy Camper]

The original poster was on this forum for two weeks, and that was quite a while ago. Just pointing that out for those giving advice to them.