Quote :

"Being homeless and a working professional are no longer mutually exclusive. A recent census by the Coalition for the Homeless reveals that among the current national homeless population, approximately 44 percent have jobs. Although the U.S. Census Bureau doesn’t keep records of the so-called vehicular homeless, there are informal estimates that up to 59.2% of homeless are living in cars or vans, the biggest percentage since the Great Depression’s “Ford families.” The difference is, not all of them are victims of circumstance. For many gainfully employed Americans, a bed on wheels is a lifestyle choice."

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-02/living-in-your-car-no-longer-just-for-bums

Have any of you done this before?

I lived in my car for a couple of weeks my junior year of college due to a bizarre series of events. On the plus side I saved a lot of money but it wasn't comfortable at all sleeping in a beat up Mazda. I can't imagine doing this as a long-term choice. How does one deal with eating? Do they just eat out all the time or do they use a camper stove for basic cooking? Having to deal with taking all my showers at the gym was bad enough

11/2/2012 3:09:16 PM

before i bought a house and got married, i thought seriously about buying something like a cargo van and living in it with my dog

11/2/2012 3:11:47 PM

Quote :

"How does one deal with eating? Do they just eat out all the time or do they use a camper stove for basic cooking?"

For those who do it as a choice, I bet many are into this as well:

message_topic.aspx?topic=622518

11/2/2012 3:26:24 PM

http://clotheslinetinyhomes.com/

11/2/2012 3:27:31 PM

^ That's not really the same thing though. At least with those homes you still have access to a kitchen, bathroom, etc. I kind of see those as being the same as living in an RV.

11/2/2012 3:29:22 PM

in my case, i would have used my camp stove...and every place i've worked (until now) had showers easily accessible...as does my gym

would it have been perfect? no

would it have been doable? absolutely

11/2/2012 3:31:29 PM

You're right, but if I downgraded from a house to a car/trailer I'd do something like a tiny home. Not sure I could live without a place to have company over.

11/2/2012 3:32:56 PM

I think I'd rather live in a tent then a car. I could live for a long time in my own campground.

11/2/2012 4:13:17 PM

Quote :

"i thought seriously about buying something like a cargo van and living in it with my dog "

A buddy of mine in berlin lives in a small box truck. Apparently there is a whole truck living movement there. He lives in a community of people doing the same thing. On one level, it seems odd but on another it seems pretty cool.

11/2/2012 4:25:01 PM

These people are called gypsies, and there are good reasons why everyone hates them.

11/2/2012 4:51:48 PM

Must really suck to be homeless if you get into a wreck or the car has to go to the shop for a couple days.

11/2/2012 4:53:30 PM

Doing this in an RV or camper would not be that bad. I have a good time when we go camping somewhere in the camper. But just doing it in my car would be quite uncomfortable and not even possible with two kids. I have thought seriously about doing this later in life when the kids are grown up and I have retired. Pull the camper around and see the country. Who knows, but I might not be against it for a year or two. Not a permanent solution though.

[Edited on November 2, 2012 at 5:17 PM. Reason : ]

11/2/2012 4:55:40 PM

Walmart has so far been very accepting to people living in their parking lots.

...as long as you don't say you're homeless. You're not "homeless". You're on a great adventure. You're seeing the world. You're on the vacation of a lifetime.

[Edited on November 2, 2012 at 5:02 PM. Reason : .]

11/2/2012 5:01:34 PM

still just for bums imo

11/2/2012 5:26:42 PM

i would definitely consider someone living in a car a bum.

11/2/2012 5:51:28 PM

I don't think "bum" accurately describes someone who supports themselves and doesn't accept help from others.

11/2/2012 6:53:00 PM

Quote :

"bum 1 (bm) n. 1. A tramp; a vagrant."

Quote :

"va·grant (vgrnt) n. 1. One who wanders from place to place without a permanent home or a means of livelihood. 2. A wanderer; a rover. 3. One who lives on the streets and constitutes a public nuisance."

11/2/2012 7:03:51 PM

But it sounds like these car dwellers are not wandering from place to place or living on the streets/causing a nuisance. So...?

11/2/2012 8:56:04 PM

The conversion van gonna come back in style?

11/2/2012 9:06:01 PM

i slept in the back of a suburban at the beach one night with the engine running

wouldnt try that in a car with a small gas tank though

ps: there was a chick in the back with me

11/2/2012 9:12:48 PM

Why'd you leave the engine running?

11/2/2012 9:14:25 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLxReBOIJbA

11/2/2012 9:59:58 PM

^^it was really hot and humid out (late july/early august) and i wanted some air conditioning

11/2/2012 10:19:52 PM

paging 1985

I lived out of a tent/car for about a year while maintaining a job. Showering at work really helps.

11/3/2012 10:55:22 AM

Trying to sleep in the heat is the primary thing that prevents me from attempting car living. Other stuff about it is appealing: getting back to nature, enjoying the seasons, "unplugging" from modern conveniences (distractions), eating a more raw diet, reading, etc... I suppose this would be more doable if I moved to an even more temperate climate or moved around (summers in Maine, winters in Florida).

Also, the last time I slept in a car, someone tried to break in while I was in it. I think I scared them more than they scared me, but still...LOL.

11/3/2012 4:16:05 PM

There was some warehouse in brooklyn that abunch of guys parked vans in and lived out of the vans.

The landlord found out and killed it.

11/3/2012 4:58:52 PM

Quote :

"i slept in the back of a suburban at the beach one night with the engine running"

When I went tent camping with the family this summer at Oregon Inlet, our neighbors were a young kinda hipster couple in this tiny ass little tent. It was quite hot and humid, and around midnight storms blew up around us with lightning and stuff, but we never got anything from it. Next morning we woke up and the neighbors had ended up spending the night sleeping in their little Subaru with the engine running to have the A/C. They were totally roughing it.

[Edited on November 3, 2012 at 5:39 PM. Reason : ]

11/3/2012 5:39:13 PM

^
Whatever dude! I don't fuck with lightning either.

11/3/2012 5:45:46 PM

Whatever, lightning can show from miles around at the beach. Just because you see lightning from 30 miles away doesn't mean you need to wuss out and run to the car. If it had started storming bad then I am not too proud to run to the truck with the kids, but this stuff was so far off you couldn't even hear the lightning.

11/3/2012 6:02:30 PM

i didnt even have camping equipment, we drove to the beach that day and didnt have any place to stay

11/3/2012 6:07:40 PM

Yea I was commenting more on your part about "I wouldn't want to do that in a car with a small gas tank". Suburban you could at least stretch out in and has a monster fuel tank. They just dropped the front seats down. Dunno what their fuel situation was like the following morning.

11/3/2012 6:19:21 PM

Camping snobs are the worst.

11/3/2012 9:31:23 PM

Dude, I tried to sleep in my car on a roadtrip once instead of getting a hotel - I gave up after about 15 minutes of that uncomfortable shit

11/3/2012 9:38:38 PM

^^Are they another shitty band that nobody else has heard of but you?

Music snobs are the worst.

11/3/2012 9:42:17 PM

you're both right

Quote :

"Dude, I tried to sleep in my car on a roadtrip once instead of getting a hotel - I gave up after about 15 minutes of that uncomfortable shit"

you need an suv son! i sleep in my escape pretty often on climbing trips.

[Edited on November 3, 2012 at 9:57 PM. Reason : .]

11/3/2012 9:56:00 PM

I lived out of my car for my solo week and a half road trip to california... I did bring a tent and camped a couple of nights. other times I slept in the back seat at rest stops (mostly during daytime though)

11/3/2012 10:57:33 PM

you guys sleeping out of your cars talking about just reclining back in the driver's seat? because i absolutely cannot fall asleep in that position at all

11/3/2012 11:54:34 PM

Search the internet for "boondocking". There is a lot of information how to live out of your vehicle without staying in designated campsites (which is illegal or at least not welcomed in most states)

11/4/2012 1:44:29 AM

I lived in ditches and on couches for like a few months one time. Being homeless isn't that bad if you can shower places most people would never know

Im krallum and i have slept in my car many times. The last was august 31th

11/4/2012 2:08:39 AM

A friend of mine did this for a couple of years in a big van... which was odd since he owned a house and had a couple of degrees. He did it while writing a book, which I suspect had something to do with it. He didn't really have any issues, he showered at the YMCA, usually parked in one of a couple of different parking lots.

11/4/2012 2:08:52 AM

ppl living in cars is because your police state won't let you build an affordable home or pitch a MASH style tent.

11/4/2012 3:37:53 AM

this thread actually reinforces that sleeping in a car is definitely just for bums

11/4/2012 8:59:31 AM

Quote :

"you guys sleeping out of your cars talking about just reclining back in the driver's seat? because i absolutely cannot fall asleep in that position at all"

That's what I had to do. But the seat went down almost completely which made it okay. In my current car there's no way I could do it.

11/5/2012 8:40:32 AM

Quote :

"you guys sleeping out of your cars talking about just reclining back in the driver's seat? because i absolutely cannot fall asleep in that position at all"

Depends on the car. In my current car, that's a no go because of the angle of the headrests (which is non-adjustable). In some other cars I've owned, it was quite comfortable. My Marauder was big enough that I could sleep in the back seat and only have to draw my knees up slightly.

Really though I've only ever overnighted in a car once, on a camping trip when it was so windy that our tent collapsed three times in 90 minutes. The third time we said the hell with it and slept in the car. I've *napped* in my car many times though.

11/5/2012 9:28:08 AM

Quote :

"i slept in the back of a suburban at the beach one night with the engine running wouldnt try that in a car with a small gas tank though"

I would imagine the small car would be just fine. Regardless of tank size, a big thirsty V8 is going to go through several times more fuel idling overnight than a small I4 less than half the size.

11/5/2012 10:48:09 AM

I lived out of my 4runner for 14 months. most of that time I had a full time job. luckily I could get showers at work. I had a foam mattress I unfolded in the back, and all my gear in a big box. mostly stuck to eating food that didn't need to be cooked. I did have a camp stove, but unless I was camped in the woods, I didn't use it, trying to maintain a low profile and stuff. overall I much prefer my tipi in a semi-permanent camp site, but wouldn't mind being in a truck again. IMO creature comforts are over rated. Not everybody can pull it off, but its worked ok for me.

when I got out of jail last time I was homeless for over 6 months, just living out of my backpack, Alot cheaper than a vehicle, but also less safe.

and yes I'm a bum.

[Edited on November 7, 2012 at 3:16 AM. Reason : ..]

11/7/2012 3:11:01 AM

There will be lots more people living in cars and on the streets the next 4 years

11/7/2012 5:30:42 AM

Quote :

"Other stuff about it is appealing: getting back to nature, enjoying the seasons, "unplugging" from modern conveniences (distractions), eating a more raw diet, reading, etc... "

Pretty sure this is all stuff you can do while living in a house like a normal person.

Also

Quote :

"There will be lots more people living in cars and on the streets the next 4 years"

11/7/2012 7:11:28 AM

^Yes, but if you're going to do all those things, what's the point of a house?

The reason we have homes is so we don't have to be outside all day with no electricity or TV or blah, blah, blah. If your goal is to be outside all day with no electricity or TV or blah, blah, blah, then you don't need a house.

And, once you have a house or apartment, you're less inclined to do all those simple things because you're paying for the house. I'm not going to spend all Saturday at the park with my public library books when I have my own place place. But, if I didn't have a place, then I would, and I'm saying, that's appealing...until, again, it comes time to get to sleep in 90 degree heat. If I was manual laborer, then perhaps I could make that kind of sleep happen, but working myself to physical exhaustion obviously isn't part of the fantasy.

Do you follow?

11/7/2012 10:27:41 PM

it would be awesome to be too poor to afford food too... man that would make dieting easy!

11/7/2012 11:27:53 PM