Hello all from new cardweller

[BluffRat]

Hello Folks! I just started living in my car the 18th (of last month not this one, the dolorians in the shop still) You see i wanted to move closer to school (just started 2 weeks ago) But i procrastinated about school and let everything wazit till the last minute. so i wasn't sure everything would go through and if i'd even make it in this semester. I didn't want to move tll i was sure i got in and what whith my lease ending before i found out, well. I figured i stay it out in the car for a bit till everything cleared up.

So i loaded all my crap in to a storage unit along with the seats from my car. Built a sleeping platform over where the rear and pass. seats where and loaded the car up with the bare essentails (much less of those than i figured there be)

Surprisingly... I actually kinda like it! Definately much less of a hard ship than i thought it would be In fact i only have to real problems with the whole affair. One, i can't fit my little piece of heaven(mattress) in the car. Two, i don't feel it's a good idea to shove my cat in here, specaily with them big everyone-can-see-in window (people get crazy with animalls in vehicles) I feel at least the first one could be solved by a bigger vehicle (minivan or fullsize) and wiith some effort that would likly be the solution to the second as well.

I do feel a bit conflicted about actually doing that though. It's so far from societys view of the norm (and yet i didn't think twice at the idea of shacking in my car for a few weeks. Makes me feel a bit stupid XD)

also, please excuse my spelling. I'm doing this on my phone and it's spellcheck... Well lets just say it's up a certaint creak without a padle, shall we

 

[Wild_E]

Welcome, good luck

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

<b>Welcome.&nbsp; There are a few car dwellers here.&nbsp; Check out Butternut's site </b><A href="http://thetuckerbag.blogspot.com/" target=_blank><b>http://thetuckerbag.blogspot.com/</b></A><b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</b><br><b>Dragonfly</b><br>

 

[stude53]

Welcome, bluffrat<br><br>A tip:<br>If you want a comfortable car bed, you can buy a 2" thick memory foam full size bed topper, then cut it in half lengthwise, wrap in a standard size sheet to make a narrow 25 1/2"x4" thick bed for the passenger side.&nbsp; Overstock.com has them for 40.99 plus 2.95 shipping.<br><br>Bob (aka stude53)<br>

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

Welcome, bluffrat<BR><BR>A tip:<BR>If you want a comfortable car bed, you can buy a 2" thick memory foam full size bed topper, then cut it in half lengthwise, wrap in a standard size sheet to make a narrow 25 1/2"x4" thick bed for the passenger side.&nbsp; Overstock.com has them for 40.99 plus 2.95 shipping.<BR><BR>Bob (aka stude53)<BR>

<b>Any tricks on how to cut the foam?</b>&nbsp;<b> Diane</b>

 

[stude53]

<P><FONT size=3 face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Diane, it's easy.&nbsp;A serrated bread knife works good, and I have personally used an electric carving knife for cutting foam easily to size and shape for projects.</FONT></P>

 

[4x4tour]

Ditto on the electric carving knife, but for only 2" foam, a large pair of sharp scissors will work. <br><br>I use the 2" memory foam as well....&nbsp; ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz&nbsp; <img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"><br><br>

 

[bobbert]

Glad you're liking the new lifestyle so far. I noticed you mentioned "hardship". Hopefully it won't be as hard as it may seem to be. Hope all goes well with the cat.&nbsp;<div>One question: Would you share with us just what all you brought along in your car thus far, along with, the make &amp; model of car you're dwelling in?<br><div>Keep us all posted with yourself &amp; your ventures. We (especially myself) enjoy reading about what cardwellers are doing out there to succeed. Oh, &amp; one other thing... Welcome!</div></div>

 

[BluffRat]

Thank you all<BR><BR>@dragon-thank you for the blog. i hadn't really found any car blogs <FONT size=1>(mostly vans)</FONT><BR><BR>@Bob- That's a good idea, though that's not to say my bedding is uncomfortable. It's made up of nearly 6-7in for blankets <FONT size=1>(my winter stash, mostly comforters and sleeping bags)</FONT> topped by a 1.5in foam topper, it's far from uncomfortable&nbsp;but i'm spoiled ^^ i'v been sleeping on my 14in memory foam mattress for a while now, there ain't anything so soft or warm as that. I had to put it in storage though.<BR><BR>@xj700-That's just it, it hasn't been a hardship at all really.&nbsp;...well, 102degrees and no ac was a hardship but by quickly vacating to the beach said hardship was solved XD Just what i need, yet another reason to spend time at the beach <FONT size=1>(like i didn't have enough already ^^<img src="/images/boards/smilies/wink.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></FONT> I keep waking up covered in sand even when i'm not spending the night out there, at least that means everything smells like ocean all the time. <BR><BR>As for what car and whats in it.&nbsp;I live in an '03 kia spectra<BR><BR><A href="http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l265/cant_stop_falling/Inside02.jpg" target=_blank target=_blank>http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l265/cant_stop_falling/Inside02.jpg</A><BR><BR><A href="http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l265/cant_stop_falling/Inside01.jpg" target=_blank target=_blank>http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l265/cant_stop_falling/Inside01.jpg</A><BR><BR>In the trunk:<BR>50 qt 5-day Cooler <FONT size=1>(with no ice, had it forever thought it might be useful but have ended up just using it as storage)</FONT><FONT size=2>-1 pot, 1 pan, 1 lid fits both, dish &amp; silver ware for 1, cup, salt, pepper, spices, bread, pb&amp;j, tuna, cereal.</FONT><BR>Blue ben next to the cooler- 2 sets of tools, jumper cables, car fluids, hammer, coping saw, saw<FONT size=1>(wood working tools from platform build)</FONT>, tire patch, fix'a'flat, random crap&nbsp;that was in my truck before i moved in. <BR>Milk crate behind cooler-Mostly cloths, 7 thin girl t's, 3 t-shirts,&nbsp;2 undershirts, 2 jeans, 1 sweats, 1 work pant. There's an empty space beside the crate where i put my 'delicates'.<BR>2 burner camp stove- in front of the cooler<BR>Running around loose- 1 polaroid camera<FONT size=1>(i keep hoping someone's gonna start making film for it again)</FONT>, 2 diving masks<FONT size=1>(my fave low volume and a wide angle snorkel type),</FONT> 2 snorkels, 1 set of fins, 2 wheel chalks.<BR><BR>Rear seat:<BR>On night stand<FONT size=1>(top of the platform, driver side)-</FONT> large school books, wasp spray, mosquito repellent, sketch book,&nbsp;STP device,&nbsp;tend to toss my pack here.<BR>Under nightstand<FONT size=1>(bout a 4in gap down there)-</FONT> small school books, school &amp; important papers, kindle, sometimes my laptop, box of qt. ziplocks, gallon ziplocks, Blackout curtains/reflectix panels <FONT size=1>(depends on whether the suns up or not)</FONT><BR>On floor behind driver- laundry detergent, fabric softener, 5 qt jug of oil<FONT size=1>(really need to get around to doing that!),</FONT> Bottle for midnight emergency's <FONT size=1>(cause finding an open gas station at 3am can be a pain in this town),</FONT> dirty cloths.<BR><BR>Under sleeping platform<FONT size=1>(passenger side, rear)- </FONT><BR>3 shoe box size locking lid crates<BR>Crate 1- shampoo/conditioner, face scrubbers.<BR>crate 2- alcohol, peroxide, bandages, feminine products, Cotton pads.<BR>crate 3- battery's, battery charger<FONT size=1>(works on both wall sockets and car sockets),</FONT> rarely used charging cords<FONT size=1>(such as for the kindle or the mp3 player)</FONT>, camera, calculator. <FONT size=1>(i'm forgetting some stuff in the boxs but that's the big stuff)</FONT><BR>Running loose<FONT size=1>(but need to get a box for)-</FONT> oatmeal, fruit cups, fruits, poptarts, tins of bungee cords.<BR><BR>Under sleeping platform<FONT size=1>(pass. side, front)-</FONT> 1 pair boots, small tin full of meds<FONT size=1>(aspirin, cough drops, ect..)</FONT>, bag of knitting and tatting supplies.<BR><BR>Driver side floor- skinny water container hold 1 gallon<FONT size=1>(fits right under my legs, don't even touch when driving)</FONT><BR><BR>Glove Box- inverter<FONT size=1>(200 watt, leads are under the dash on the driver side. they'v been hardwired to the battery through the firewall&nbsp;so i just plug the inverter in when i need it. did that 2 years ago),</FONT> flashlight, car related papers, random junk.<BR><BR>Pack- general hygienic supplies, regularly needed chargers <FONT size=1>(laptop, phone, etc..)</FONT>, sometimes laptop, other things rotate as needed.<BR><BR>Items with no specific home<FONT size=1>(floaters)</FONT>- 1 towel, 2 wash cloths, personal books, swin trunks, bikini top, lots of flashlights, bag'o'socks.<BR><BR>I think thats it<BR><BR>

 

[bobbert]

Thanks for the detailed description! Great photos too!<br>

 

[BluffRat]

<P>Your very welcome. I already had to edit it though XD forgot about the glove box entirely and a couple of floaters</P>

 

[Seraphim]

Good organization.<br><br>Where're the solar cells and wind turbine????<br>

 

[BluffRat]

Why they're in the lab of course! Ha! Believe it or not i'm actually going to school to be a wind turbine tech. I go to school at the TSTC renewable energy campus in Ingleside, tx. We do actually have solar cells and turbines. Ok, so the turbines are all models and simulators but hey! the solar cells are the real thing. ^^ The actual farm is about 5-10 miles out(the teach is supposed to be lookin in to gettin us out there sometime?)<br><br>And you gotta be organized in a car. Man, i'm always loosing crap only to find i'm sitting on it or it wiggled under a blanket &gt;.&lt; <br><br><br><br>

<br><br><br><br><br>

 

[Butternut]

<font size="3"><font face="Georgia">Yea, another car dweller!! We should chat and trade ideas! Everyone here has issues with space but we are among the most cramped and I'm always looking for new tricks. Good luck!<br><br>Ash<br><br></font></font>

 

[BluffRat]

Butternut, i agree we should do so. I see your also a "pour struggling college student" isn't it fun? XD<br><br>I'v been reading your blog ^^ I really liked your idea of extending the back shelf. I'm trying to figure out how i could do that without permanently modifying anything. Can't just set a sheet on it with some weight on the back, the speakers would make it completely unstable. And the rear window ledges are quite a bit lower than the back shelf. Think. Think. Think. Aw well can't worrry about it till my bro get his car fixed, having to give him rides to school and that would cut in to his sitting space(he's throwing enough fits about it as it is)<br><br>And bug screens(we have monster sized mosquito in texas but the drought was keeping the clouds down, and then it rained) and something to keep the rain out! It just started raining &gt;.&lt; i was so not ready for that. <br><br><br>Edit: AhhA! i finally decided what to name the car. I do here by christen thee The CarVee.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>.<br>..<br>...<br>Well that only took me three years XD Only vehicle i ever had without a name. I miss Astroglide, would have been nice in this situation if i still had that van.<br>