Infiniti Camping

[kindersir]

Camping (living) In My Infiniti​

I have been living in my car in an urban setting (Atlanta in the city, but mostly northwest and northeast of the city).  I lost my eyesight due to cataracts and then lost my job.  My job requires the use of my eyes.  I was not prepared for a turn of fortune and had to move in with family.  That only lasted a while and I ended up on the street.  Good thing is I was able to get the surgery done.  What a great blessing!  I am back working but I have a long haul to repair my financial situation.  


I have been living in my car for 3 months and may be at it well into the winter.  Good thing is I am an old backpacker and so I can adapt much of what I know about living outdoors to my situation.  Also, I would like to thank Bob Wells and those who contribute to this forum and his videos for a lot of great help.


I have an old Infiniti I-30.  Everyone says, “Oh...you drive an Infiniti”!  I paid $700.00 dollars for it.  It is a “beater” with a ton of miles and transmission issues, but it keeps getting me down the road.  I found I could take the headrest off of the passenger seat and then the seat will tilt all the way back flat.  The bed I create when I lower the seat is not however flat and is rather narrow.  I put various things in the low spots like blankets and such and then cover it all with a backpacking pad.  Some nights are more comfortable than others depending on how the “stuffing” in my bed shifts.  I thought about putting a board on the seats to make it more flat, but then I would have to put a thick pad on top.  I try to be stealth as possible camping in Wally World parking lots and such, so I like to lay below the plain of the windows so the car appears empty.  The windows have a pretty dark tint that helps conceal me a bit, but I want to be as unnoticed as possible.  Every Walmart inside “The Perimeter” (I-285) in Atlanta is NOT 24 hours and some outside the perimeter have security that I like the avoid.  No one has yet asked me to leave a Walmart and I have stayed at 4 different ones.  I try not to stay at the same one too many nights in a row.


I really like to camp in the WMA’s (Wildlife Management Areas).  The WMA’s are all a long drive north of Atlanta but I find them very peaceful and I feel safer there.  I have a tent that I put up so I can stretch out a little better but I only use it on a rare occasion.  Bob has often stated that the national parks he has stayed in are safe and I agree.  You can find troublesome people anywhere, but I have had only one negative encounter near park land, and that was 40 years ago when I was backpacking on the AT with my buds.  We were not actually on federal land but just outside of it.  (Mild incident, turned out to be nothing).  


I can’t say that I am enjoying the experience overall.  It has been a necessity.  I have thought that, if I had a van or “schooly”, I might enjoy living this way.  One reason I am not enjoying it is a very important detail I did not mention.  I am married and my wife is staying with friends.  She would not survive “the streets”.  We will have to find a “sticks and bricks” home soon.  Maybe we will buy a camper later on and see if we can do this together.  We will see.


Just wanted to share my experience with any who might be interested.  If you have any Questions about my experience, places I have stayed or Atlanta, please ask.  I have lived in and around Atlanta and Georgia for many years.


                                               kindersir