thinking about car dwelling...help?

[peripheralobserver]

Hey guys! I need a bit of advice. So due to some health problems I recently found myself out of work/career and in need of finding a new, more flexible way to make an income. I have an online job now as an independent contractor and I'm working on getting started in freelance web development.

I'm making enough to live, but not THAT much. rent for an apartment at this point is seriously a stretch with all my other debts, and any place that requires proof of employment is out until I have two years of self-employment tax returns.

So I've been looking at living out of my Subaru Outback. I could scrape together 3 grand for a runaway camper or something to make it a bit more comfy, but I'm not sure if that's actually a good idea. I need to be on the grid pretty much all the time. I'll always need to be able to find either free wi-fi or a cell signal in order to work. I'm thinking this means I'll probably end up stealth camping the vast majority of the time, and I'm not sure how possible that is going to be with a camper attached to my car.

But the reason I'm looking at the camper is honestly, it freaks me out being a smallish 30-year-old woman sleeping in my car alone with nothing between me and the outside world but some glass windows.  what do you guys think? is the camper trailer a good idea or would it stop me from being able to stay in places where I could get work done?

 

[DLTooley]

Hey guys! I need a bit of advice. So due to some health problems I recently found myself out of work/career and in need of finding a new, more flexible way to make an income. I have an online job now as an independent contractor and I'm working on getting started in freelance web development.

3k is a good number to do something basic, but there are a lot of factors.  Will you need to be stealthy in an urban area or are you near public land open to dispersed, free camping?

A Subaru will have limitations on what it can tow.  Tear drop trailers and smaller cargo trailers would be options.  I'd also consider a used cargo van.

Sleeping in a car gets old fast, unless you remove the passenger seat and make a functional bed.  I wouldn't worry so much about safety in a closed vehicle, but you do want ways to make it private.  That is a common subject of discussion.  Anything you can do to have living space outside of the vehicle is good, even if just during the day in a relatively secluded city park.

Hopefully you are also at least close enough to public land to get out for your weekends.  Hopefully you can be comfortable camping so long as it takes to save enough money to find the right next step.

 

[QinReno]

I'm new to this whole thing, but there are a bazillion youtube videos out there about solo women of every age group traveling on their own, and sleeping in cars, vans, and some sort of campers. Many of them address security, as well as living issues. Try: RVCarol, DebraJoy, RVJoey, CuriousKarli, CaravanCarolyn, on and on. Once you find a couple, there will be links to others. Some of them travel in "tribes" much of the time, for safety and companionship. 

In November, I ran into a 30s-something couple in Death Valley, who were traveling and living out of their small Kia hatchback with a pop-up tent on top. (I probably would not recommend a tent on top for you). However, the woman did web page development and had a service where she could log onto the cellular system for long periods of time from anywheres; they had Verizon but switched over to AT&T. So she was connecting from inside Death Valley, and didn't need to stealth camp in cities. And for that matter, every town has a library with free wifi anymore. 

In March, I was camping on free BLM land near Lake Havasu City, and there was a poor women living in her car with next to no possessions. She was pooping on the ground in the desert, and leaving piles everywheres. Not a pretty sight. A person needs to plan to live "at least" one level above that. Learn from what all those other women are doing.

 

[peripheralobserver]

Thanks guys! And thanks for the YouTube recommendations, I will go look those ladies up. I'm glad to hear about being able to camp outside of the cities and get a cell signal. I would much rather be out in nature somewhere than a Pilot Flying J.

Also, eww to the pooping everywhere....that's definitely not part of the plan!

 

[QinReno]

There are also many YouTube videos by RVers talking about how they stay connected while in the road. Soon as you find the first video, a dozen others will be linked.

 

[A Savage Adventure]

Welcome! I'm jealous of those who can sleep in their car, since I have never been able to do it. I get restless legs if I can't stretch out. There's a sub-forum on here for Car Dwellers: https://vanlivingforum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=5

 

[wmyers4u]

I think I would try getting a larger vehicle as opposed to pulling a trailer in this situation.

Trade in or trade online or something.... That's my initial thought.

 

[Suanne]

Welcome to the forum peripheralobserver.

I do a lot of online work while living full-time out of my Prius. The difference for me is that I tend to be in the backcountry, using a hotspot for Internet, rather than stealth in town. But, I will spend some time in towns as well ... like right now You may want to consider one of those $5/mo plans that jimindenver has posted about so you don't need to stay in town.

I have a blog where I have some How To articles that may be helpful for you, especially if your hatchback is long enough with the back seats down to put a cot-sized bed mattress. Those How To articles are in the right column at SuanneOnline.blogspot.com.

Keep asking questions here. There's lots of helpful folks.

 

[sephson]

You should definitely take some time to browse the Car thread here and see what other people have done with their smaller vehicles.

Here's a link:

https://vanlivingforum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=5

I travel in my Kia Soul, which is significantly smaller than your Subaru Outback and I'm an average size, slightly overweight man in my forties. However, I don't full time. I'm more of a road tripper. Still, you may find some inspiration for things you can do to convert your car for life on the road.

Here's my build thread:

https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=9848

Best of luck to you!

 

[mpruet]

Check out Suanne’s postings.  I was carcamping in my Prius all last year based on her suggestions.