Voyeurism & Van Dwelling and Car Living 30 Jul 2006 04:50 pm
Brotherhood of Van
Seems I’m not the only van dweller who spends their days at this library as I’ve been noticing another van with some tell tale signs. Tons of papers and junk on the dash, a sun screen in the front window, dark tinted windows, shades drawn and there’s likely a drape behind the front seats as there’s no seeing in. Plus, it always has a killer parking spot as if the van was there from the moment the library opened and it’s always there. Sure it could be an employee, but in a town of 100,000 people I can’t be the only person living in their car.
These recent days it’s been necessary to find day time air conditioning as the weather outside is oven like. The library of course has the benefit of free electricity to charge with and free internet. And apparently at least one other person who lives in their vehicle is in a similar boat, er, van and capitalizing on the resource.
One aspect of fun I’ve been having while sitting at my table is trying to figure out who’s homeless and who’s not. It’s a “nice” town so there aren’t obvious signs to catch like weeks past due on showers and unnaturally large backpacks. I have a couple guesses but they are just that–pure speculation. I suspect though that today my disheveled appearance was apt to give me away, not to mention the dazed look I must have had as my blood sugar was low and I was beat from my night as an insomniac.
So perhaps my mysterious brethren will make themselves know. I wonder how that’d play off. Is there a secret handshake? It would seem reckless to say, “Hey, I live in my van too, you have the other darkened conversion van, right?” No. I don’t think I’d risk such a disclosure and I don’t think the other person would either. A wrong guess would easily lead to an awkward situation in the upper middle class town we’re both bumming around in currently.
on 30 Jul 2006 at 5:44 pm 1.mary said …
If you’re ever tempted to check it out, please do it on the Canadaian border. Have read too much about the jails on Mexican borders, you do not want to go there!
on 01 Aug 2006 at 1:33 pm 2.April said …
I like the idea of visiting Mexico but the border crossing and general lawlessness in the border towns does scare me. Though if I had opportunity I’d probably willingly fly into someplace more central or south in Mexico and have quite a comfortable time with it mentally.
Canada would be great but I’m still worried about crossing the borders. All the news I read about enforcements just seem so irrational and invasive–and it’s happen on both the North and South border of the US.