Hoopty Life: One homeless woman's guide to van dwelling, car living and urban camping

Change of plans

April — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:12:28 +0000

After no consideration at all I’m thinking of leaving the Midwest and becoming a bum in New York City.

Congratulations Osama bin Laden, oil hit your price!

April — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:19:16 +0000

In an October 14, 2001 article in the New York Times it is said that Osama bin Laden wanted oil to be $144 a barrel. Taking a look at current prices we’ve just surpassed that mark.

How not to be stealth while van dwelling.

April — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:22:00 +0000

See anything in the above photo that might draw someone’s attention? Nah, me neither.

And for those of you not at work, here’s both sides of the Pig Sex van of Australia. Unfortunately the URL along the roof line is not readable even at high magnification.

Highway rest areas for a good night’s sleep?

April — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:59:38 +0000

Do you ever stay a highway rest areas? Why or why not?
–josh

Simply, I stay long enough only to rest with my eyes open. Why? Well safety and legality are both big issues.

Being that I live in a doctored up conversion van I doubt that anyone would bat a single eyelash at my being there for extended periods. But then, I also like to sleep at night when the rest stops are least populated, and where there is isolation there is also danger.

At the least someone could assume that my van is abandoned and ripe for thievery. At the worst someone might assume someone is inside and have far more nefarious plans than a simple smash and grab.

From a legal standpoint, I don’t want cops messing with me. They are annoying when not desired and tickets are expensive. Generally speaking rest stops are legally set aside for people to stop, pee and stretch their legs a bit so there are–varied state by state–limits as to how long you can stay there.

As an alternative what I’d do if traveling on a long trip, or just slowly meandering, is to head to the next town and find a hotel parking lot. Some chain place that doesn’t look too crowded where one more vehicle will fit in nicely. Wal-Marts and other 24 hour stores make a decent stop for me in a pinch as my passenger van fits in nicely with all the other late night shoppers and workers. And specifically in the case of Wal-Mart they have an unofficial policy of, where allowed, to let RVers stay overnight in their parking lots.

Hotels though are my favorite, especially as there’s often some free wi-fi floating out of them. This though is speaking of my personal experience. I’ll imagine there’s areas of the country where chain hotels aren’t spaced quite so conveniently and I wouldn’t trust my luck pulling into a little mom and pop motel. Even as stealthy as I am if I’m the 15th vehicle that night I’m going to stand out.
There has been a couple of times where I’ve just pulled all-nighters and drove until dawn. Then pretty much any parking is fair game early the next morning as all the businesses are open or opening and a long-term parked vehicle, sufficient for a little catch-up sleep, is of no special notice.

Ford Transit Van XXL

April — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:48:27 +0000

The Ford Transit Van XXL is a concept vehicle that would make for some roomy van dwelling. More at Motor Authority.

Shocking! Getting a charge out of free electricity!

April — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:57:15 +0000

How do you charge your computer?

While in the van I have a secondary battery system that is charged off the alternator while I drive. So I plug my laptop into a car power source that’ll run off the 12 volts the secondary batteries provide. I’ll also charge smaller things like my cell phone this way, things that I have a 12 volt adapter for.

Otherwise what I’ll do is put all my rechargeable devices into my backpack and have them plugged into a ten foot extension cord. My computer will also be plugged in too. That way when I use free wifi somewhere I also get a charge on things like my flashlight while I’m there and no one is the wiser. I leave everything in my backpack and just run out the extension cord and the line to the laptop. Of course, all this is moot if I’m visiting friends or family. Then I charge away right in the open.

I have yet to use or even really need an inverter for the van. One of the downsides of using one for a laptop is you’re putting yet another conversion device in the power chain and each one is turning valuable amp hours into heat and waste.

Redneck Mansion

April — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:40:04 +0000

This is someplace that I think I’d seriously enjoy living in if it was populated with friends. Think of the bbq parties you could have!

The inside dirt on getting clean.

April — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:38:56 +0000

How do you do showers?

Generally I don’t actually. I bathe about every three days or so and in between make liberal use of baby wipes to get the day’s labors off me then every third day or so take a bath in the van.

I have a big bowl that I use as a basin and use either a solar shower or a jug of water as my water source. For soap I make sure that it’s something that is biodegradable as I just dump it outside the van and also easy to rinse off. Something like Dr. Bronner’s works well. So basically it’s just washing up as if it’s 1850 and there’s no indoor plumbing.

When I can I do love a nice, proper shower. But for that I rely on friends and family rather than use things like truck stops or health clubs.

My way may not be the most convenient but I do keep clean and I’m not reliant on paying per cleansing.

American Standard of Living: Then and Now.

April — Wed, 28 May 2008 00:08:19 +0000

The economics and practicalities of van living

April — Wed, 28 May 2008 00:07:41 +0000

I was wondering if you have any tips on what kind of van to buy? I noticed you said somewhere that a mini-van would be better? Do you still feel that way?

Some people swear by pickup campers or old U-Haul trucks or white commercial vans for van dwelling but personally I think regular passenger vans are the best. They blend in just about anywhere. People need to park near hospitals, workplaces, schools, you name it. So it’ll blend in more than some scary looking old U-Haul truck–which might look okay in a commercial district but I’d hate to be the person caught sleeping in one near residential areas as every home owner will have their eyes on the scary looking oddity on their street. We do after all live in a society of fear being post Oklahoma city bombings and 9/11, not to mention the usual boogeymen that people have always been afraid of.

I’d suggest figuring out how much space you absolutely need then buying a vehicle to fit that. If you can get into a minivan then that’s great! You have wonderful mpgs! But if you want a palatial ballroom to dance in then a 27 foot U-Haul is going to be for you. Just don’t get upset when you have a seven mpg vehicle to move around instead of a minivan at seventeen.

Personally I just purchased a full-sized American classic van–the deep freezer on wheels edition. A big beautiful box. It’s the size that seems to fit my needs but to each their own. My last one was an extended body but I found myself not needing all the space so this time I bought a shorty, mostly because I found a great one at a really good price though I was actually looking more for a long one. But, I’ll make due with it and just have to design the interior to be more tidy and efficient.

How much do you spend each month on living? Like, how much money do you need to make each month to survive?

It varies by how much I get really. I don’t have the most stable of incomes. Sometimes it is two hundred, sometimes it is a thousand. But I’ve lived on as little as $300 a month for extended periods. It just meant that driving around casually wasn’t an option as gas was my biggest and most controllable expense. Food is easy to go cheap on especially if you’re willing to use food pantries though I hate cooking in my van so I usually just purchase things like granola in bulk and fruits and veggies that I eat raw. And for hot food I’ll buy from the dollar menus at fast food joints.

The real total will vary greatly from person to person as we all have different standards by which we wish to live. Some people have medical expenses, for example, to deal with while others don’t. The best thing to do would be track your own spending for a month, see what you spend, eliminate that which is fixed address based (like the cable tv bill) and see what you can do about minimizing the rest.

Someone suggested to me taking a guitar and playing on street corners. Have you done that? Do you think one could make enough to live and get around?

Joshua Bell the classical violinist who can play any venue in the world that he wants and people will drool for more tried busking in a subway as an experiment. The result was he was almost entirely ignored. So apparently being able to play well isn’t the trick. The buskers that I see that seem to make money have a hook and work it to death. You’ve got just a couple seconds to reach people. For years when I was in downtown Chicago everyday I’d hear, constantly, the same riff from Take Five by Dave Brubeck on sax. The guy was there as a fixture so I imagine he was making enough to make the rote repetition of the same handful of notes worth while.

I used to have a close friend who was an evangelist who’d play accordion on the streets as it was the loudest, most obnoxious sounding thing he could do and it got him the attention he wanted for his outreach. He specifically said that the guitar was too quiet and easy to ignore. Of course, your mileage may vary…

I’ve not busked but I’m sure there must be someone who has that can comment or other sites that deal with this more specifically and with greater authority.

Thanks to Jesse for the questions.