I have been inspired by cheaprvliving for a long time and I have always wanted to tackle nomad life. Well, I finally went and did it through self imposed homelessness. I apologize in advance for my lengthy post. I keep journals and write all the time. Keeping it short is difficult for me....
So it all started a few weeks ago. I was living in an apartment and dealing with a difficult roommate situation. I was the guest in this situation so when the pot finally boiled over, I found myself stubborn and angry enough to pack what I needed and leave in my four door sedan without a plan or destination. Not smart. Pigheaded and inflexible, actually. But it was already done.
At the time, my blustering, knee jerk reaction seemed totally worthwhile...until the frost started forming on my windshield and the night temp dropped some 20 degrees with an insane wind chill. I started shivering uncontrollably and I had no idea what to do.
Okay, I need to insulate these windows somehow. Glass is molecular swiss cheese. Right? I read that somewhere...anyway, what can I use? Blankets are expensive. Walmart is down the road. Thick sunscreens, five bucks a pop. Bought one for each side and rigged them up to cover the windows.
Blankets? I didn't have any. I was using guest blankets and pillows at the apartment. This is going to sound stupid, but I noticed a clothing rack full of adult sized sleep suits at the same Walmart. One of them was a bear suit that had a fake wool like shag to it. Bought it a size larger than I needed. Had a thick hood on it too. Like a goofball snuggie. 11 bucks clearance. Bought it hoping it would make a nice full body insulation under my clothes. Works like a charm for me. Makes me look a bit like the kid from Christmas Story tho, lol.
Food is simple enough. I budget well to buy fresh as needed. I am living in my car now. Everything keeps when you buy it meal to meal and I feel like leaving the house is no longer an excuse to order out and slop it. l am embracing my inner herbivore. Discovering that I like to make my own salad combinations. Still, I make it a point to stow emergency ration packs away just in case. It has almost become a fun little side mission. Big ziplock bag, let's fit a no cooking required, long shelf life, healthy meal into it! Making my own MRE's
Healthy as I can. Just because I am a car dweller with no electric or fridge, doesn't mean I need to eat garbage and destroy my health. At this point, it is all I have.
Entertainment? Easy as well. I have come to know and love my local library. Pro tip. Shave and shower, make sure you are wearing clean clothes. I live in a small town going through a heroine epidemic. So much so that my local library had to shut down for one day a week to hire dedicated security to profile anyone shaggy as a potential library squatter and kick them out. Seriously, I forget to shave and I show up in dirty clothes right after work and he follows me around like I am going to kick his puppy if he turns his back. Sound advice for any outing, I guess.
Device charging! If you do not want to spring for fancy inverters, marine batteries, solar, etc. If you are diving in blind....find your open wifi and power outlets. Mcdonalds is a good spot. But the library rule seemed to hold there as well. I went to McDonalds after work and without shaving that day to charge my laptop and tablet in the warmth. I bought some dollar menu that I did not eat and later gave to a fellow homeless guy down the road. ...overheard an employee joke around that I looked creepy with a laptop and they should make sure their WiFi is secure...everyone profiles. Everyone. It is a sad fact. An almost inescapable survival instinct. Blend....
How? I have a couple of Sunday shirts on hand, as my granny called them, and I sprung for two pairs of nice pants when I got paid. Also, Planet Fitness is not the best gym but it offers a full range of shower, shave and hygiene privacy at 11 bucks a month. You won't turn into an Arnoldesque killing machine working out there, but you can certainly hit the treadmill for 20 minutes and hygiene up after. Blend, people. Make like you have a four bedroom house to get back to. In my area, PF is 24 hours. Make it your first stop. Clean up or be looked at sideways. Sad but true and learned the hard way in a short period of time.
Facts. I am a homeless man with a car and a job. I freeze my nuts off some nights but I tweak it every day to make it an enviable rent and drama free lifestyle. It is all about perspective and priority to me and I honestly feel that it has helped me. This even brought me closer to my son's who are teenagers. This is not the life I want for them, but it is where I currently dwell and I will tackle it with purpose and better my situation each day. I am current on my child support and always have been, I see my kids every day, I work like dog and I am embracing all of it as an adventure. A trial and error mission with unlimited repeats. And my boys light up when they see me every day because I dropped my home life and dedicated my all to this and them. It's been a ride...
Signing off for the night. Hopefully in a few weeks the chill will ebb and I will find even more of a flow. Maybe a van instead of this janky old car. Safe travels, my fellow dwellers. Whatever your flavor of transport, we are all rucking through some murk. Square your shoulders. Toughen your perspective. Improvise! Have fun
So it all started a few weeks ago. I was living in an apartment and dealing with a difficult roommate situation. I was the guest in this situation so when the pot finally boiled over, I found myself stubborn and angry enough to pack what I needed and leave in my four door sedan without a plan or destination. Not smart. Pigheaded and inflexible, actually. But it was already done.
At the time, my blustering, knee jerk reaction seemed totally worthwhile...until the frost started forming on my windshield and the night temp dropped some 20 degrees with an insane wind chill. I started shivering uncontrollably and I had no idea what to do.
Okay, I need to insulate these windows somehow. Glass is molecular swiss cheese. Right? I read that somewhere...anyway, what can I use? Blankets are expensive. Walmart is down the road. Thick sunscreens, five bucks a pop. Bought one for each side and rigged them up to cover the windows.
Blankets? I didn't have any. I was using guest blankets and pillows at the apartment. This is going to sound stupid, but I noticed a clothing rack full of adult sized sleep suits at the same Walmart. One of them was a bear suit that had a fake wool like shag to it. Bought it a size larger than I needed. Had a thick hood on it too. Like a goofball snuggie. 11 bucks clearance. Bought it hoping it would make a nice full body insulation under my clothes. Works like a charm for me. Makes me look a bit like the kid from Christmas Story tho, lol.
Food is simple enough. I budget well to buy fresh as needed. I am living in my car now. Everything keeps when you buy it meal to meal and I feel like leaving the house is no longer an excuse to order out and slop it. l am embracing my inner herbivore. Discovering that I like to make my own salad combinations. Still, I make it a point to stow emergency ration packs away just in case. It has almost become a fun little side mission. Big ziplock bag, let's fit a no cooking required, long shelf life, healthy meal into it! Making my own MRE's
Healthy as I can. Just because I am a car dweller with no electric or fridge, doesn't mean I need to eat garbage and destroy my health. At this point, it is all I have.Entertainment? Easy as well. I have come to know and love my local library. Pro tip. Shave and shower, make sure you are wearing clean clothes. I live in a small town going through a heroine epidemic. So much so that my local library had to shut down for one day a week to hire dedicated security to profile anyone shaggy as a potential library squatter and kick them out. Seriously, I forget to shave and I show up in dirty clothes right after work and he follows me around like I am going to kick his puppy if he turns his back. Sound advice for any outing, I guess.
Device charging! If you do not want to spring for fancy inverters, marine batteries, solar, etc. If you are diving in blind....find your open wifi and power outlets. Mcdonalds is a good spot. But the library rule seemed to hold there as well. I went to McDonalds after work and without shaving that day to charge my laptop and tablet in the warmth. I bought some dollar menu that I did not eat and later gave to a fellow homeless guy down the road. ...overheard an employee joke around that I looked creepy with a laptop and they should make sure their WiFi is secure...everyone profiles. Everyone. It is a sad fact. An almost inescapable survival instinct. Blend....
How? I have a couple of Sunday shirts on hand, as my granny called them, and I sprung for two pairs of nice pants when I got paid. Also, Planet Fitness is not the best gym but it offers a full range of shower, shave and hygiene privacy at 11 bucks a month. You won't turn into an Arnoldesque killing machine working out there, but you can certainly hit the treadmill for 20 minutes and hygiene up after. Blend, people. Make like you have a four bedroom house to get back to. In my area, PF is 24 hours. Make it your first stop. Clean up or be looked at sideways. Sad but true and learned the hard way in a short period of time.
Facts. I am a homeless man with a car and a job. I freeze my nuts off some nights but I tweak it every day to make it an enviable rent and drama free lifestyle. It is all about perspective and priority to me and I honestly feel that it has helped me. This even brought me closer to my son's who are teenagers. This is not the life I want for them, but it is where I currently dwell and I will tackle it with purpose and better my situation each day. I am current on my child support and always have been, I see my kids every day, I work like dog and I am embracing all of it as an adventure. A trial and error mission with unlimited repeats. And my boys light up when they see me every day because I dropped my home life and dedicated my all to this and them. It's been a ride...
Signing off for the night. Hopefully in a few weeks the chill will ebb and I will find even more of a flow. Maybe a van instead of this janky old car. Safe travels, my fellow dwellers. Whatever your flavor of transport, we are all rucking through some murk. Square your shoulders. Toughen your perspective. Improvise! Have fun
