Downsizing to Prius

[impr3]

Hi folks,

I'm a longtime small dweller (tiny house, RV, even rented a closet for a while in NCY) but my current project is a big leap down from even that, so I'm turning to the expertise of strangers on the internet for guidance. I've found some really helpful info from reading around on here and am looking forward to jumping in and participating. Thanks everyone for sharing your wisdom!

Long story short, I am currently downsizing to a Prius for nearly full-time living. My basecamp is a tiny house perched on a mountainside in the middle of nowhere (pic below), but sadly there is no work option for me near there at the moment. I am currently working 60-80 hour weeks over an hour away down an extremely windy, steep, and dangerous road which I have no desire to drive sleep deprived, at 3am, after a 14 hour ICU shift... As a result, I've spent the last year and a half living out of a "vintage" (read "trash bucket", but I love her) RV in a field near the hospital. Sadly, that location is no longer going to be an option as of next month and I'm scrambling for a replacement for the remaining 18 months of my work contract. Due to multiple recent fires destroying large swathes of our local real estate, plus proximity to San Francisco bringing up the price even further, the cheapest RV parking that I've been able to find is $900 per month! There is no way that I can swing that with my budget, so I started looking at stealth van camping and wondering if I could purchase and retrofit a van with the money I'd be saving on rent. That's when I stumbled across Prius living which seems to be something several folks actually manage to pull off full time. Not sure why this hadn't occurred to me already as I've lived out of a car for shorter periods before (up to a few months at a time), but I guess it wasn't an experience that I wanted to replicate (I was a teenager who'd made some poor life decisions and ended up either sleeping rough or upright in the driver's seat since the rest of the car was stuffed full of everything I owned). I've decided to make another run at car living, but this time doing it in a more organized and prepared fashion.

Nice to meet y'all!

Impr

 

[Sofisintown]

Desert_Sailing a member here is selling his converted van because he bought another, with high top. I suggest you send him a private message, because he's relatively close to you.

 

[landyachtman]

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[bullfrog]

Looks cold in your cabin hope nothing freezes. Something to consider is a Prius doesn’t have much ground clearance if you plan to drive it to your cabin. There is a 2” lift kit after market for them though.

 

[treesprite]

Welcome to the forum.

I can see why the drive is an issue, but the view up there is wonderful.

 

[crofter]

Welcome to the forum!

I would also prefer a van, but if you are going with the prius here is a link for you.
-crofter

 

[impr3]

Desert_Sailing a member here is selling his converted van because he bought another, with high top. I suggest you send him a private message, because he's relatively close to you.

Thanks for letting me know. I've dropped him a message. I won't lie, the idea of some headroom and space to move around is really nice. However, I'm starting to really see the potential benefits of the Prius too in terms of ease of parking, climate control, etc. Plus, I already have the Prius and any money saved gets to go towards restoring our land which was thoroughly burned 5 years ago.

 

[impr3]

Looks cold in your cabin hope nothing freezes. Something to consider is a Prius doesn’t have much ground clearance if you plan to drive it to your cabin. There is a 2” lift kit after market for them though.

Ha. We generally only get one snow that sticks each year. That said, it can be pretty chilly up there (for California  ). The tiny house is insulated as heck though, so it warms up fast and, once it's warm, body heat is generally enough to keep it comfortable.

As to the clearance, I've gotten very familiar with that over the past year or so since I got it... It's so low that I scrape the underside of the front coming out of most gas stations! When I drive it up to the mountain, I park it at the end of the drive and walk in .

 

[impr3]

Welcome to the forum.

I can see why the drive is an issue, but the view up there is wonderful.

Thanks! We feel pretty darn lucky  . It's right at the top of an east facing valley so the sunrise view is breathtaking :heart: . Looking forward to when I can be there full time after this work contract is up and we have a little more money saved for homesteading it.

 

[impr3]

Welcome to the forum!

I would also prefer a van, but if you are going with the prius here is a link for you.
-crofter

Thanks for the link, I hadn't managed to stumble across anything about her yet so it was great to come across a new source of inspiration. Her blog is pretty helpful too.