The Importance of the Car Cover
There are two classes of homelessness, with car and without car. Without car is hard, very hard. I don't recommend it to anyone. If you are homeless and without a car, my best advice to you is couch surf. Stay with your friends until you can get a car. Sell anything you have to get a car. It is best if the car runs, but running is not essential as long as it is small enough to push. The car can be in any condition, damaged, new, old, used, stinky, cruddy, rusty. Who cares? It is a car. I don't even care if you can drive. Get a car.
If you can't drive, you're going to want to fix that. That's for another time, though.
A car is shelter. A car is a place to sleep. A car is a mobile storage unit. There is no other device that will do as much for you, short of ending your homelessness. But a car, on its own, is not enough. If you sleep in your car in a city, you will meet with local law enforcement. There is nothing quite so unpleasant to wake up to as the sound of a baton hitting a window beside your head. Take it from one who knows by experience.
To provide for concealment, get yourself a car cover. Cover the car and while no one is looking slip up under the edge, open the door as far as you are able, slip into the car, close the door and go to sleep. Whack, whack, whack. What the hell? Meet your local sheriff.
It isn't quite enough to have the car and to use the car cover. Car covers have a nasty habit of being blown about by wind, and you can easily be uncovered as you sleep. An even bigger complicating problem is that car covers attract car thieves. Your car will be an even bigger target for thieves because of your necessary choice of parking locations. To deal with this problem you will need to tie the cover down at four points, front and rear bumper, and both sides. I usually send a line underneath the car (by attaching a weight to the line and tossing it under) and tie the sides of the car cover to itself. This procedure makes it more difficult to get into the car, but if thieves or police come, you will have warning and time to compose yourself before you have to face the problem.
Car Thieves
There is a combat element to homelessness, but as every martial artist you ask will tell you, the best way to win a fight is not to be in the fight. Car thieves are easy to deal with, if you understand the psychology of thievery. Thieves will be attracted to a covered car, because they will believe that it is more valuable than the average vehicle. After all, the owner is taking good care of it. The thief will approach, leery of police, and to a lesser extent worried about being observed by citizens. He will begin trying to remove the cover, and you will hear the commotion. Adrenaline will course through your body, and you may be tempted to yell. Don't.
Be patient. Be sure it is not a cop. Look through the cover, to the extent you can. Search for glints that would reveal a badge. Look for the beam of a flashlight. Look for the red and blue strobes that reveal a police vehicle. Look for these things, because police require different tactics.
Now, when you are sure it is a thief, lean on the horn. The thief, terrified by the unfamiliar will retreat. In all my years in a car, I only had one thief return for a second try. They all ran away, and only one came back. That one did not return after a second blast of the horn. This plan works for several reasons. One is that the loudness of a car horn attracts unwanted (for the thief) attention that a car alarm never brings. People are looking out their windows, getting angry. The thief imagines that soon they will be coming out of their houses, calling the police, making noise complaints. His imagination isn't even focused. He just knows that he didn't plan this, and for a criminal any unplanned event is frightening. If you had yelled instead, he might have continued to attack. A thief may be well prepared for a fight. He may even welcome the chance to mug you. He never considered the possibility that a horn would sound though, and that scares him, because he has no plan. He runs.
Police
Now the police are another matter entirely. One thing you definitely do not want to do is present a police officer with an unfamiliar and frightening situation. Police are dangerous, and they are trained to press the attack forward when confronted with novel problems. Novel equals criminal in the mind of a police officer. Don't scare them.
Once you are certain it is a police officer, you need to establish communications. Ask them to identify themselves. Who's out there? They'll tell you it's the cops. Placate them. Let them know they have nothing to fear. Tell them what you are doing. Okay. Give me a minute. I need to put some shoes on. Okay, I'm opening the door now. Okay, I'm coming out. This is going to be a bit unpleasant for awhile. They're going to ask you what you were doing. They're going to tell you that you can't do that. They're going to require you to move on. Be submissive. Don't argue. Don't tell them much. Tell them your girlfriend, or boyfriend, kicked you out and you haven't figured out where to go yet. If it doesn't fly, don't worry too much about it.
They're going to want to search your car. My advice is not to consent to the search. If you have anything even vaguely illegal, weapons, drugs, whatever, do not consent to a search, but I advise you not to consent on general principles. Remember, too, that it is not unknown for a police officer to plant evidence. It's harder for them to do that if you don't consent to the search. The fourth amendment states:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Trust me, they do not have a warrant. You may worry that they could charge you with sleeping in your car. Tell them you weren't sleeping, they came along and made that impossible. You were meditating. In any case, it is a law used to give the police power. I have spoken with city attorneys in several cities and emailed several more around the country. Every one said that they do not prosecute people on the basis of that law. For awhile I asked police to charge me because I wanted to challenge the law on human rights grounds, and each time the police said they preferred to let me off with a warning. The danger of these municipal ordinances is that they empower the police to threaten the homeless. They do not empower them to prosecute the homeless. Know that and you take their power away.
posted by Mobile Homemaker @ 2:10 PM
79 Comments:
This looks interesting...
Keep posting!
A car cover seems like a lot of trouble to me. The desired result is concealment, right? I have a van, and I'm considering blacking out/covering all the windows in the back so that the van cannot be looked into. A curtain or covering of some sort could then be installed between the cab and the cargo area. Voila. Complete concealment. Or am I missing part of your point about the car cover?
I too, have been awakened be the police while sleeping in my van. I was in such a deep sleep at the time! And it was cold outside! It made me so mad. Who was I hurting? I was next to a city park!
A question. You mentioned having talked to a number of attorneys about the rights of the homeless and those living in their cars. How does one go about asking for that type of information? I mean, do you say, "Look, I'm living in my car and I want to know what legal rights I have in this city?" Or are you a bit more concealed about the matter?
Hi Marke,
On your first question, you've already got a van so your methods are most appropriate. I will be writing a post on the advantages of one kind of vehicle over another. The downside of blacking or curtaining windows is that people will suspect that the vehicle is occupied. The car cover succeeds as a more complete deception.
On your second question, I was pretty bold about it. I went down to city hall, said I wanted to see the prosecutor, told him I was a long term resident of his city, and demanded to know why living in my car was a criminal act in the city. (It was in the code as a misdemeanor, which is a crime, as opposed to an infraction like a parking ticket.) He said all muni codes were misdemeanors, they just were, but that unless there were extraordinary circumstances he would never prosecute the code. Having received that answer I asked elsewhere and found that the similar codes across the country are rarely, if ever, brought to prosecution.
What about sleeping in your car during the daytime? I see people do that all the time in their cars at the park, and no one ever seems to bother them.
Would it be feasible sleep 4 hours at one park in the morning, have lunch, follow leads, sleep another 4 hours at a different park in the late afternoon, then go to a library until 11pm, followed by coffee at a 24 hour diner until the next morning?
Road Warrior,
Not to put too fine a point on it but that sounds bad to me. Broken sleep is almost as bad as no sleep, and cops are perfectly happy to harrass the homeless during the day. Sleeping exposed to view simply sucks. Don't believe me? Just try it.
I read your book this evening; it's quite entertaining and articulate. I'm pleased your readers are generous enough to share their comments. It's gratifying that people admit they're surprised -- perhaps as much by you as anything else.
Those who partially break with society are not necessarily partially crazy, partially high, partially stupid, or partially destructive. They may just be exploring a part of themselves or society that is underlooked.
You define invisibility, or perhaps dignity, as a precondition for sustainable homelessness. Some people might be intrigued by this, others by thinking about where the line lies for them, or how to expand that line.
Others may want to know if someone is crossing it, and maybe even what to do. Unfortunately, most of us lack the courage to know the homeless: as members, friends, missionaries, or even observers. So I'd anticipate your thoughts on this.
Have you considered a publisher? One approach might to decide if you want to make money or do outreach. Then again, maybe such things don't matter until you're ready to get the book to print.
On a personal note, I beat you to the punch by living in my car for about a month or so while at school, but didn't pull it off as well. What I remember was cramped knees (they still seem to hurt), fear of my windows fogging up, fear of robbers, and of course fear of the cops.
It's interesting that after rapping away up one cop suggested driving to the marina, where he said his buddies didn't care if you slept. The problem is that I later suggested this to somebody who ended robbed at gunpoint. Funny the cops weren't worried too much about that.
The other detestable thing was caseing neighborhoods, and sleeping late enough and getting up early enough to try to avoid suspicion. Catching up later on the lawn at during the day was mixed. It felt good (warmth, free) and bad (exposed, paranoid).
You are of course, totally correct about needing access to a gym. Aside from physical discomfort and sleep deprivation, being homeless and not having access to a gym seems like the royal road to hell.
Eventually, I can't say if it was visibility or not -- but the paranoia, knees, cops, and squealing rubber at the marina at 2am wore me out. I ended sleeping at night in the laundry room at my grandparents run down house for a few months.
I didn't want questions or support, just the ability to sleep under a roof for while. They were generous enough to provide this. I think they were able to create space in a way that would be contradictory to the high expectations of most family members.
As you've pointed out, it's not easy to sleep on somebody else's couch. Maybe it's sort of like the rich man's version of the shelter -- any imbalance of power is difficult to endure without enlightenment.
Unfortunately, the closest I've ever gotten to the latter is a righteous desire for our president not to end up with another "four more years".
Hey, where's the damn cops when you need 'em? (sigh)
I can definitely see how having a car would make homelessness much more bearable. Do you know of any organizations that might take a car to give to a homeless person? I have an old Buick that isn't much to look at, but it's watertight, so it would be adequate shelter, and the engine is good enough to at least get around town in. I'd love for someone in need to be able to make use of it, rather than just sending it to the scrapyard.
I'm not an expert on organized charities. All the charity I offer is direct, person to person. In this way I am assured that the people I intend to help get the assistance I offer, and I avoid having those people humiliated or insulted by the institutions administrating the charity. It may be more difficult to give this way, but I can practice the credo suggested by Hippocrates, "First, do no harm."
After read this one about a car cover, I decide to purchase one from Wal-Mart for 20 bucks.
I thought it would be difficult to try get in my car with the cover. How fortunately, it's bit loose and I mange to get in as practice.
I have thought of park at the fancy apartment with gate. I had to drive and pretend to be one of guests as I drive around to look for good spot where nobody would bother me. It works.
For more than a week since I have done that, I went to several different apartment with gates. It seems lot less risk than the apartment without gate.
An idea...
I'd suggest that you attatch two long cords to the edges of the cover where they pass the doors. These can then be thrown under to the other side of the car and, once entry achieved, pulled in through the oppersite door or window and pulled taught. Doing so should provide entry or exit from either side.
A bounus in using a car cover is if the authourities do insist on moving you on you can take the cover with you and it can be erected elswhere as a normal tarp/basha shelter.
Other neat uses of the tarp type cover, tie one end to vehicle the other to nearby post/tree/roadsign providing a nice shelter where one can cook hot food over a soda can alcohol stove or similar.
Thank you, very interesting!
The van solution is the best. You just get tinting for side and rear windows. You can see out. They can't see in. A tension curtain rod and a couple pieces of fabric strecth across behind the front seats. You can close them with velcro. Open them when driving. Works great. Complete privacy!
You seem to be on the right track, surviving on the edge between secure existence and dismal angst. Really is appreciated when you have a place to squat, a pot to piss in, warm sleep, and your own place in the sun.
Projecting lines of described perameters seem to converge on a somewhat upscale version of a mere car to live in. You do need to keep the car legal and pay for cell phone and TV batteries, right? Next step would possibly be:
1) arrangement with someone, maybe with some payment, for you to park your car off the street and have access to a toilet; maybe even 2) getting paid by someone to park your car someplace and do security for them.
Hey, you could start a business of renting car parking space in a lot at the edge of town, maybe 30'X 20', and include a key to a shower and toilet. From there, you could start renting storage spaces. I assume there would be safety in a community of bums, even druggies and winoes.
bookburn
This is so excellent.In trying to figure out how to live homeless, I've not solved the question of getting a driver's license when you don't have an address. Virginia, where I live, for example, requires licenses be sent to a real address. No PO boxes allowed. How do you handle this?
It takes a $50 membership and an additional $60, but Costco sells a car cover that's incredibly durable in the wind, very water resistant and lets in absolutely no light.
I'm considering going homeless in my Honda Element. The back seats can be folded up on the inside so that they cover the side windows. Someone could still see in through the back window, but it seems like this might work almost as well as a car cover (it won't attract as much attention, that's for sure). What do you think? Also, what about putting a tint on the side and back windows so they're harder to see through?
Camouflage solutions are never perfect. Whatever works for you is good enough for me. One thing I dislike about living in an uncovered vehicle is that you do not have the advantage of time against the police. If you get rousted, you will have to deal with them immediately, from a cold start. The same is true for dealing with criminals. When your vehicle is covered and the cover is tightly secured, you have the luxury to compose yourself while they fuss and futz with the covering.
Tint and blacking out are tried and true strategies. You should do what works for you. What worked best for me was a cover.
I am thankful that I have my VW Bus and not a car! I have made it into a virtual camper. There are no seats in it beside the driver and passenger side seats which leaves ample room in the back for living space. I have a futon pad in the back and am fortunate enough to have a friend that made me a frame for it, so there is a good foot of space to store things underneath my bed. I have also mounted cute curtains on the back windows that I made out of material from the thrift store. I have tons of little touches that make it look like a real room. The best invention ever is hanging locker pockets that you will see at department stores around “back to school” time. I was fortunate enough to pick up nearly a dozen of them out of the trash when all the seniors were graduating my junior year. They are great for storage purposes and come in so many vibrant colors. (I know – not necessary, but I take pride in the appearance of my home)
This comment is a little late but the post has got me wondering about the law here in Ontario. I am extremely cheap and don't like paying for hotels. Whenever we have gone on trips we always roll out the sleeping bag in the back of our hatchback and sleep in the car. We've only been bothered by the cops once when in a parking lot off a highway. When we told them we were sleeping because we couldn't drive anymore they had no problem and went on their way. It probably helps that we have tinted windows.
I know this was written a few years ago but in Washington state they can search your car with probable cause which can be anything. Times are tough, and if you get nasty police they will arrest you, and I am not being paranoid, for any little thing. Because you did not consent to the search. Homeland security you know...
As for Washington's probable cause thing, it's not completely true that they can always get away with it. Especially if you have nothing illegal.
Just about any state has many ways for cops to get around a warrant, and the easiest way is to impound your car--they have to inventory everything, then.
If you refuse to consent to a search, the best way is to recite the 4th amendment. This tactic scares them, and they don't want to search someone who knows their rights.
I was told by my traveling grandparents that you can park your mobile homes in walmarts, and they even provide you with water and electricity for free. If you can pass a van a mobile home, you have a perfectly legal and convenient place to park.
Wish I'd read this before ditching the car. Considered sleeping in the trunk; could access it through the back seat, but just slept (somewhat) covered up so to passerby's it might look like a sloppy backseat. I had read that sleeping in vehicles was illegal. Never understood why, better in a car, than on the streets. Having a different state's plates, registered in daughters name, too much stress. Car cover might have helped.
Great site, the best yet.
Car covers work great, if you buy a slightly over-sized one, you can close the doors on it to keep it in place. Also painting a number on the rear of the cover makes it less desirable to thieves.
Great website, brilliant. Society is brutal and thoughtless. We live in draconian times and many people are fooled believing that being a slave to a consumer society is a life. Fortunately, my wife and I have been able to live independently from the "machine" for years now. I will never EVER go back to working for a company. Those of you who have the courage to say no to RENT and no to the robotic consumer society are true heroes. The key to survival in ANY situation is THINKING. Analyze your problem, plan a solution. Know your resources and limitations. Use your intelligence. Be patient and clever. I believe a clever, thinking person can prosper in just about any situation. This website is clever and a tool and I think it is absolutely brilliant and inspiring. Maybe when this hollow, fake society of greedy jerks collapses, only the independent souls will be left standing???
I have a third shift job, and a third shift life, luckily, that plays in my sleeping favour BIG time, as I can sleep near any public place and not draw attention to my vehicle.
Afterall, there's nothing unusual about a vehicle amoung many during normal bisnuss hours eh?
i just became homeless and have a car! i have a job, so that has nothing to do with it! friday nov. 24 my fianee and i are going to texas to got a better life! my family has disowened me for what reason i don't know! i was staying at my brothers house until a week ago! but he was being abusive to his wife so we left! my whole family does drugs and i dont want any part of that! so i am going to texas where my fiancee's family lives so we can have a better life. so please pray for us thanks
I'm not homeless, in fact, I make quite a bit of money. Nonetheless, being a very frugal person, I've discovered the massive benefits of sleeping in the car when I'm away from home. Recently I've become sort of a homeless-on-the-weekend kind of guy. Even in my same metro region, I sometimes will be partying 40 miles from home, and then have an activity in the same area the next day.
Since learning to sleep in the car, my life is so much more free. One of my major worries: "where will I sleep if I go to xxx", or, "how much driving back and forth to my house will I have to do if I go to xxx", is now a non-issue.
I figured out that a $30 camping cot fits in my economy car hatchback, smooths out all the odd angles, and creates a nice flat bed. A camping towel, a little shampo, and a sink works great for swabbing down (you don't need to wash with soap except once every week or two unless you get real dirty in your activities). Just last week I partied it up, slept in the car, cleaned up at whole foods, put on a suit and tie, and went to a formal ball. My friends thought I was nuts when I told them where I slept, but it saved me 2 hours and 60 miles of driving.
The main problem so far has been the sunlight comming in at 10am. It gets so bright, and so hot that it is difficult to sleep, and once it wakes you, its hard to get back to sleep. I definatly am going to get a thick car cover.
Thanks so much for this site and it's content. I am a traveling artist, though, not homeless. The tips you have here are going to help me save a ton of money on hotels. Also, due to tensions in my marriage, and me being close to bankruptcy, i may end up living in a car in the near future. It is comforting to me at a time like this, that this information is out there. After a 20 year relationship, i would not have the first idea of how to be homeless. I am intelligent, sober, and good hearted, so it alarms me to learn that sleeping in a car is illegal in many states. Cripes! I know this much, if I do end up staying in my home and marriage, I will be looking into advocating for the homeless in our area. God bless all who have to live this way.
This site is excellent. I have never had to use the strategies here - but they are very freeing to know about. In regards to sleeping in a vehicle, I do know that state run rest areas will legally allow you to "rest" in your vehicle for up to 8 hours (in many states) - and they often have websites which say that this is permitted. You can usually find rest area regulations on the Dept. of Transportation website for your state. This wouldn't be practical, obviously, unless you happened to be traveling from one location to another, but I thought I would mention it.
Costco Car Covers Revisited - June, 2007
Indeed Costco Car Covers are quite good and can be had for $30. That's right, $30.
True, you need a membership which is $50, but perhaps you can talk someone in to helping you out by asking them to buy the cover for you. Obviously you would have have a good judge of character to entrust your $30 bucks to someone, but it's an option. You can get a cheap hot dog at most Costco's too -- some of which are outside and they don't ask to see you card to buy a dog.
A good mini-teardrop trailor is something to invest in if you have a few bucks when you hit the road. They are very small, but efficient and your shelter problems are solved if you have one.
http://www.teardrops.net/
I have a medical condition called sleep apnea. It means I need electrical power to run my apnea machine at night while I sleep. I shopped around and found that the POWERPACK-400 PLUS XANTREX 400 WATT – 120 VAC / 60 Hz EMERGENCY POWER PACK WITH DUAL AC OUTLETS AND AIR COMPRESSOR works great. I slept in my mini-van and the power supply provided all the power I needed. Then I recharged it via my mini-van's cigarette lighter. Since I drive almost daily, the van charges the power supply. It also runs my wireless laptop, small tv, and radio. I can thus be virtually "off the grid".
Hello, I've just started reading your blog, and i'm in AWE! I've always wanted to escape from "the system," but didn't know that one can not only survive, but thrive on homelessness!
I'm 18 and still living at home, but I would love to just escape the constraints of society for a year or two.
I was wondering if you could possibly give a list of, I don't know, the "Top 10 Cities to be Homeless In!" or something? I want to travel out of my element, and would like a place that isn't so hard against the homeless.
There ain't no such place. You're asking how to get to Emerald City, and I wish there was a Yellow Brick Road, but there isn't. Even Seattle, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz persecute visible homeless people mercilessly. The only way to avoid persecution is to avoid being identified as homeless. Hence, my advice in this blog is intended to teach you how to be homeless without looking homeless.
As I've said before, this is not a lifestyle for the lazy. It takes a lot of work to be homeless in a reasonably comfortable way. You also need certain resources. You need a car, a car cover, a gym membership, a cell phone, a storage unit, and a mailbox. You need to look good, even better than you need to look as just an average person living in an average way. You need a source of income. If you fail to meet any of these requirements, you will pay a heavy toll for it. I know. I've paid the toll.
Regarding a car cover vs. tinting/blacking out windows, I have been living in my Subaru Wagon and used limo tint (make sure it says 2% on it) to conceal my living space. I then took some picture hanging hardware and safety pinned it to a blanket. The picture hanging hardware fits nicely between the molding and roof of the interior of my car which creates a drape across the driver and passenger seat. Also, I have found parking about half way from the entrance of 24 hour groceries stores has not been a problem, especially at Wal-Marts. Great information. Thanks!
I was thinking the teardrop trailer would be good for camping or hunting in wilderness type of areas, but assuming we are dealing with cities, it seems that would be too conspicuous and you wouldn't be able to blend in diverse locations which would make it very difficult to spread out your locations each night to some place new...
I suggest sleeping at colleges during the day, ive done it as a student many times waiting in between clases and no one ever bothers you even with constant police cameras and drive-bys.
First and foremost I vary much enjoy this blog and find it educational and witty. Also what if instead of a car cover, you get a car with the capability to access the trunk from both the inside of the car and the trunk- that way(in theory) you can sleep in your trunk and not be disturbed. I was thinking of becoming a homeless savent so the topic interests me. What are your thoughts on this matter?
,sean
Hey thanks for this site, it's really helpful.
I'm fifteen and have my learners permit, and am homeless half the time. I've sold a lot of stuff and have money for a car. Do you think it's worth the risk to buy one and live in it without a license or risk the streets until I'm sixteen?
There is no question about it. If you are homeless and you can get a car, get one. If you have a choice not to be homeless, and you are 15 years old, then you should live indoors, but if the cost is too high then you must have that car.
what about the window fog? nobody has made mention of it and it's the most obvious sign of someone sleeping in a car! the hell with the car cover, way to much trouble. i got a job but i'm breaking up with my girlfriend and moving, quickly, out of our apartment. i just need some breathing room for a month so i can get the hell out of dodge. got plenty of spaces to crash in mind, just concerned how you can avoid the fog?
I've lived for years in an RV, two different ones actually. The first was large, the second smallish, and if there's a #3 it'll be a box van (like a U Haul van) or a cargo van.
In any car living situation, one of the simplest and best things you can do to improve your standard of living is to have decent blackout. If it's not obvious it's blackout, so much the better.
Many people who aren't sleeping in their vehicles have some sort of blackout of the cargo area because theives won't break into a vehicle unless they can see something worth stealing.
Additionally, the police are supposed to have more than just a vague suspicion before they come rap on your door. I know some car campers who don't answer the door for the cops. Me, I do - if your registrations in order, you appear not to be drugged out, etc you can
usually get away with just saying 'yes sir officer, I'll move right along'
Some things I've found will help improve your interactions with the cops:
1. Be neat, which is a pain in a small vehicle, but is good in lots of ways, including that it tells the police you're probably not somebody who'se going to be a problem. And really all the cop wants to do is move the problem people out of their own area into somebody elses.
2. Demonstrate that you're a person. The 'boyfriend/girlfriend threw me out' story, told with a little self irony if your acting is up to it, is good. Having a positive looking possession visible from wherever you get out ( a piece of hobby/craft work, a guitar, a neatly arranged bookshelf) will make you a human in the cop's eyes.
This really works - I had a piece of a model RR in my RV at one point. Cop came by, and actually ended up talking to me about model RR's for a while. At the end of the exchange I said to him 'look, I don't want to cause problems, I don't want to be parking where the neighbors call in complaints (he'd told me this was why I was getting rousted), I want to live in this long enough to get my life back together' - and he responded by telling me aobut 4-5 bomber parking spots.
Ironicly the first one he told me about was totally off, though, and that's the one I tried - next morning I got rousted by same cop.
Never seen an apologetic cop before - but the second parking spot he pointed out turned out to be great, I was there for months.
I disagree with your comments about car cover vs. other blackout - car covers are more conspicuous.
If you have some resources, anything you can do to make your vehicle look like anything but a homeless person's car is good. I was lucky, I'd bought my van from a plumber and it still had the guy's name on it.
Check your blackout - turn whatever lights you have on, then get out of the vehicle and close the blackout back up. I originally used a blanket, thinking that'd be good and opaque - nope, car lit up like a xmas tree. I ended up using that insulation that looks like bubble wrap, sandwiched between two pieces of cloth. And even that the spots I'd sewed it showed through until I dabbed paint on them.
Re sleeping in daytime -
while you're not likely to get roistered in daytime in car, you definitely can't sleep in the park.
Which is usually too bad. I had a nighttime cabbie job, I discovered sleeping outside in the daytime is really delightful. I did eventually find a spot I could go to, in a park but not the normal public use part.
But you can go to any mall parking lot and sleep all day if you have a decent looking car and decent blackout.
The part that sucks about car living on the night shift is just that if you do get busted by cops you get to deal with it when they're not set up for it, the 'services' for homeless aren't going to be any use, etc.
If you DO get some money, consider very carefully creating a safety cushion.
If your car gets towed, it's a pain in the neck. If your home gets towed, it's a disaster. So the vehicle MUST keep going.
Having the money for a car repair, towing bill, etc. IS the difference between having a fun, funky bohemian lifestyle and a humiliating, stressful, debilitating situation.
Being homeless is not a single experience, it's a spectrum.
At one extreme is the newly homeless (hence unskilled) person who is suddenly penniless
At the other extreme are grandad and gramma fulltimers in their 150,000$ RV.
As a rent or mortgage paying person you are caught in a system that WILL keep you in a fixed economic place. Right now I'm temporarily caught in that, renting a $420 a month crappy room while I get the RV back going.
Right now the RV is stored on some land, I'm paying a farmer a little to park it. That's FAR better than losing it.
I've done some work (suprise! I'm a computer engineer, not a bum!) and as soon as that check comes I'll have enough 'cushion' to feel confident going back on the road.
At that point the $420 I spend on rent becomes the roughtly $200 I spend on gas and supplies. The other money becomes mine, to create a safety net. Once I have enough safety net, I can decide to work or not.
I did live in a car at one stage when my marriage broke up. Instead of staying in the city I found a free camp site with incredible views of the ocean. But even then it was hard for that time.
For a bit I tried sleeping in a tent, but found the wildlife in Australia and midwinter a bit much to cope with (wombats attacked and the tent in the end!) so I slept in the car.
>>>ventilation?<<<
What concerns me with the advice is ventilation. We should all know that children and pets can die and be cooked alive if locked in a hot car for only a short while. Even at night a car will retain heat or there is only so much air inside and soon a secured car will fog up.
Have you advice on this important aspect of car living! Potentially, a car cover might make it worse!
>>>alternate cover tip<<<
On blacking out windows. I recently came up with an idea of cutting thin budget EVA sleeping mats to the exact size of my back windows. These press fit on the inside and completely cover and help insulate the windows form the inside. Easy to take down and roll up or use as pillows!
Unfortunately, the ones I have are blue, but if you could find a black or grey material, the car would look as if it simply had a very dark tint. At night it would look a lot more stealthy than a cover and cheaper too!
>>>fake security tip<<<
You can get or make a fake alarm indicator...a flashing LED with a battery will last a long time, mounted on your dash, the car will look as if it has some protection...just a thought...thieves may pick an easier target.
>>>homeless philosophy<<<
This is an interesting blog but I am not sure that 'homelessness' should be romanticized. It can be hard and the rewards slim if any and difficult to come back from.
However, there are times, often unexpectedly where the ability to move and simply live is vital.
>>>change of scene<<<
If you have a working car and maybe you are not working, I would suggest that getting out of urban environments may offer some rewards. According to the real estate agents, my beach front view was worth $2M, so why not try a change of scene. At least it is an appropriate place to be more self reliant, just watch out for wildlife and go out of season!
I am building my box truck now. I had a school bus in San Francisco for 8 years but times were different then. I got a Pensky rental truck and it's almost invisible, only 3 years old. Stealthy as all hell, and way more roomy than a car or van. Yea, you got to have vents- I am starting with 4 on the roof and one on the floor. email me at unclelen43@yahoo.com
Intersting. I'm presently homeless (looking into a monthly room, though) and live in a city ~10 mi from a state forest.
This leads me to wonder when 2 wheels are better than 4. For the state forest thing, it's WAY easier to conceal the presence of a bike/motorcycle than a car. Also, it's cheaper to get a motorcycle to and from where you need to be in the daytime.
Also, it's not technically illegal to sleep in the forest unless you do it more than so many times in a row (just vary your campsite.)
I remembered someone was concerned about the car windows fogging up while you sleep.
I havent tried it, but I recieved a formula for keeping the windshield clean and prevents steam and frost.
Mix 3 parts glycerine, 1 part alcohol, 2 parts water.
Shake and clean your windows as normal.
Hope this works!
I still don't see a need for the cover, I only tinted my glasses with mirror/chrome type and can sleep anywhere without being noticed.
Hi, i am not sure when this was posted, but i too have a few tips. i was forced out in my car because of job loss, and hot having steady (or much) income for a while. plus i got into debt and couldnt pay the bills, so for a second time, i decided to live in my car (did this 3 years ago, almost to the date.) it took me a few days to finda good place to be, but i have found that grocery stores that DONT have private security are the best way to go....24 hour if you can find it. park kinda in the back, but not too far that you park it to go somewhere else with friends for a few days. my 4 door sedan isnt too flashy (so it doesnt spark attention), nor beat up (as an old non-op would look like). my car has tinted windows, and i dotn use a car cover. what i use is a sun visor for the dash. that will block in the light from lamps in the front, tinted windows for the back, and i am usually concealed in darkness that way.
save your water bottles at night, because you dont want to have to get up in the cold and find a urinal at 2 in the morning. and leave a window just barely cracked, this will eliminate moisture (from breath) and hence fogginess. and heat is always a key turn away.
if you listen to the radio, just dont leave it on when you fall asleep. it will drain the battery and you will have to ask for a jump in the morning (i plan on getting a small jumpbox to prevent this).
i usually have cereal for breakfast. just get an icebox and fill it with ice, and you can have cold foods available for a few days. milk, juice, lunchmeats, etc. and then i have non-perishables in a small storage bin. my trunk is my kitchen. that leaves room in the back seat for bedding, and my gym bag, which brings me to my next point.
get a gym membership, if you have access to it. yeah, there are incredibly attractive people there, and you look like the crumb at the bottom of the chips bag. but to keep good hygiene, and shave and etc. you need a gym membership. most are open early and late, so you can shower before work and/or after. if you couldnt shower, who would want to hire you?
have a storage unit, smallest you can to minimize cost. this is where youwill put tools (for the car), clothes, maybe some extra food, hobby stuff (i have golf clubs and fishin poles in mine), adn maybe some furniture and dishes you want to save for when you do get into a place. and just be honest with the keeper (he will figure it out soon enough) and he is usually easy about access via payment.
sell everything you dont need or want to save to make money. when i moved in with my gf for 6 months, i ended up selling all my appliances. that was just to pay rent. when i still didnt have a good job, and couldnt pay the rent to her for the start of the month, thats whhen i had to move out.
for communication, have a p.o. box (just put any previous address for residence...tehy wont check), a phone, and a library card for internet access.
and the last things i can reccomend, dont reveal your status as way of passersby. this is a time when you find out who your friends are. as of right now, i dont have many. but it just makes you more of a man, or woman. my father doesnt even know. but dont take my advice, my father is hundreds of miles away, so what could he do had he known? and the last thing i can reccomend, is dont place bets, dont date (really, its not a priority), and invest in thermal socks and sweaters. it gets cold in the winter. good luck, and good health!
talking about fog, if you tint your windows as chrome/mirror, nobody will see the fog on them. For the front doors and windshield, covering them with sun shades should be good enough, imo.
To increase space of your car(home), get a cargo box attaching on the roof rack. Very handy. I use it as my closet to keep stuffs away from my bed.
im not sure if its mentioned in here but im in a hurry and wanted people to know. some walmarts that are open 24 hours a day allow you to park overnight in the back of the parking lot. im homeless at the moment in spokane, wa and ive had no troubles with car thieves or police.
man, washington. thats a hard place to be living in a car. im in southern cali, so it is so-so at night. but i lived in seattle for 3 years, and winters are terrible. i feel ya on that one. as for walmarts, it depends on which ones you go to, what city you are in. a lot of the older walmarts have lower class of people roaming around. and i dont like foot traffic, and i dont like a security officer in a little white prius going by my car every 15 minutes. i was disturbed by one and made it the last time. and i always park where i know there will not be cars around me. so in case anything were to happen, i can drive away forward quickly. but we all have our spots. it needs to be what works out for each. i am in my third month, and expect it to be a cold winter this year (we didnt really have a hot summer). chances are, it will be spring before i get debt free and back into a place. or later winter. not everyone can do this. it takes a lot out of you mentally, and it really tests you. but if you fight thru it and do what you obligated yourself to do, there will be dawn on the horizon.
btw, this is a great forum. keep it going.----j. in so cal
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Its illegal to sleep in a vehicle if thats true how come them don't bother motorhomes or truckers.
I was using my ford excursion to haul autos, I put a mattress in it so i could sleep. Hotels are just to expensive for one night.
I was never bothered once.
I lived in Washington State about 8 yrs ago and I got kicked out of my place and had to live in my car for 2 months. I tried the park and rides first and didnt have a problem until one day security knocked on my window but I told them I was waiting for a bus to go to work. I did find a place later at the Ramada Inn and just park in their parking lot. nobody bothered me. There was a gas station with and outside side restroom that I could sponge bath and change clothes before going to work. I also parked in a plaza and dir some cooking on my coleman stove. In Seattle you can go to the food bank once a week. Also had an inverter to charge things. Not having a place to call home is really stressful. If you have to live in your car keep it clean and orderly. Maybe some totes to keep prying eyes from seeing your business. I would have stayed in my car longer but it broke down and that is not good. Ended up moving out of state to visit a friend. I wonder about a space heater if its a small one to keep warm. Good luck
Bravo, thank you, and keep it up. We are out there!
One comment, if I had tinting I would prefer that to a car cover, then again I don't have too much experience (just a few months).
One advantage S.U.V.'s have, they are roomier (you can stretch out in the non-driver area), and higher up (less visability to people passing. Makes up for the poor mileage.
If you don't have tinting or a car cover, you can make a "fort" using your bags and whatever covering you might have, a sheet, sleeping pads, cardboard boxes. You can't sit up while you sleep, but looks even more "normal". This might draw attention from theives though. Coupled with parking in a residential area though it's ok.
well i really like this blog. i have been wokin up before to the tap of the glass.it still scares me to this day. i think it is WRONG for the police to harass you like that. what if u don't have a car cover? do u have to use one? tinted windows helps and u could use a cover to cover you up right?
Dec.20, 2008 -If your vehicle looks like it could belong to a business, invest in a decal for the side. Business vans are naturally there for legitimate reasons, right? Especially ones that provide 24hr sevices, like emergency plumbers. Staples makes custom signage for small businesses, including vehicle decals.
Also, if you're in a position to choose what type of vehicle you own, aim for something naturally windowless like a cube van.
Has anyone living in a car had issues with moisture?
I lived in the back of a pick-up truck with a cab for a long time. One of my biggest issues was with condensation building up on the windows and roof of the cap while I slept. Everything got soggy, so I started sleeping with the cap windows open which was louder and colder.
I looked into portable dehumidifiers, but they all took way too much electricity to run regularly.
a gym membership, great idea for taking showers.
and make a little box with a flashing red led lit, excellent.
also getting busienss decals on side of vehicle.....great idea
I am presently living out of my 1989 VW van, fold out bed and fold out table. I rent park spot at a friends rural land for $100 a month, dirt cheap! plus access to wireless internet and inside shower.
A good idea to find a cheap place to park, is find a batchelor pad looking for roomates and tell em they can save some money on rent by renting you a spot to park becasue you don't need a bed room, just house privileges. This way, you save on rent.
Believe me, I am 41 and single. With years of batchelor pad experience, they all want to save some dollars and renting to you cheap will lower their monthly bills. They'll take whatever they can get to shave a little off the bills here and there. Craigslist is a good place to find batchelor pads needing some extra money.
I'm an internet fiend anyways, so all I need is internet access and my van and I am happy.
I bought light plastic drawers at wal mart for cheap to store my clothes and other things.
I don't need to cook on a raw food diet. Breakfast is whole wheat bread with sliced banana, honey and peanutbutter sandwiches with oats sticking to the bread from the peanutbutter....mmmm
Lunch is a cheeze sandwich. Cheeze usually stays good for some time.
Dinner might be a can of fresh tuna and mayo with sliced tomato or cucumber..... a raw food diet is way more excellent than the best food in greese infested food from a resturant, so you will feel healthier than with cooked food, so you won't need any cooking equipement.
Walmarts are excellent for sleeping at over night.
I boulder Co, I was awakened by the cops and they said there is a one night stay rule. I presented myself respectably and humbly and they saw I was not a druggie or a normal homeless dude and were quite polite. Politeness and charm can go a long way with cops. Be friendly and they will be friendly back almost always.
if you have a place to stay and can plug in, a heat blanket does wonders in the winter, snug as a bug in a rug!
Using a car cover would not allow any air flow into the car which would seem stifling to me. Probably it would be fine in the winter but if you're in a warmer climate it would make the interior a lot warmer and stuffier.
Small clip on fans that plug into a cars adapter are great when having to sleep in the car in warmer climates. Some models rotate and have a high or low setting.
I've had it blowing on me for a few hours at a time with no effect at all on my car battery. I've also used this same fan to help dry my hair while I'm in my car and it worked good for that too!
A friend of mine with a van says she bought a new car battery that she keeps in the back of her van for the sole purpose of running something electrical. She says there is a simple hookup that you buy to plug into and that device hooks up to the battery wires. She gets this battery recharged for free as needed at the auto parts store she purchased it at.
This is a great blog, keep it going!
A possible tip I wanted to share: I heard that you can build your own portable solar panel and take it around with you for camping, putting out on top of your van/car, etc., to have your own source of solar energy!
There are several sites on the internet that sell the directions on how to build it and you can read the reviews on which ones are considered better and easier to build.
for the purposes of a homeless person, how much a month would a car cost with registration & insurance?
can a person buy a car for $200 or $300 & with insurance & registrn pay $50 a mos.?
i would think u only need a car to get from point a to point b, right?
Registration fees are usually based on the cost of the vehicle. Insurance is based on where you live, your driving record, and how much coverage you buy. The importance of a car is not to get you from point A to point B, but to shelter you and a few critical possessions.
I spent five years in a minivan. To make a long story short, I own two homes now and have a place in my heart for everyone I see with that "look" I saw my rear view mirror.
Suppose a cop came across a van that looked empty and has only a long box (less than 6" high) in it that looked like a tool box and some tools lying around on the van floor. Obviously no one's in it right? He plays his torch around and leaves... BUT Mr. or Ms. Stealth is actually sleeping in comfort on a custom mattress inside the box, there is ventilation via a concealed pipe that goes to a roof vent that spins with the wind and there is a hole in the floor that has a filter on it. The rest of the floor of the van is actually a false floor and personal gear is stored under it. In the morning he or she gets out of the box and drives off, putting away the 9" LCD TV that s/he had been watching inside with his earphones. Oh and s/he knew the cop was there all the time because s/he watched him via CCD pinhole cameras that were hidden inside the van facing outwards. One was buried in the back of the van passenger seat, another was behind a false panel up near the roof. I suggest that this is true stealth. Empty but not empty. You would not be bothered or woken up because there is nothing there.
lol. Too elaborate for me, but I would admire the setup.
One poster referenced “romanticizing” being homeless, there has to be a sense of freedom should you choose or forced to do this. Getting off the grid & just saying no to the MAN. Everyone has their hand outreached for your money.
As far as parking for a night, how about the public’s parking lot of a police station itself? Why would a patrol car cruise that area? You should be able to be left alone for one night there right under their nose.
Parking in the police lot has to be a joke. The irony may be lost on some readers, so heads up.
In Hawaii it is illegal to sleep in the car period! The police harassed me about taking an hours nap in a public parking lot during the day before going to my destination. Basically if you close your eyes, in the car for more than a minute, they consider it illegal camping.
Leaning on the horn would be a problem for me since I would be living in a separate space in the back of my truck. Namely, this space would be the bed and shell cover. I suppose I could rig a remote for the horn, but that's another story.
how did u afford paying car insurance.. i pay 175 a month right now... thanks!
Good grief! Do you have a DUI, or are you insuring a diamond studded ferrari? Anyhow, even at that level, compare the cost to rent of an apartment. How did I pay? By gaining employment. How will you pay? Well, people all over the world employ all sorts of strategies. Take your pick. ;)
A lot of automotive stores carry kits which allow you to wire in a 2nd battery which will charge while the vehicle is running but will disconnect when the ignition is killed so you don't drain your cranking battery.
A cargo van works well. I have a beat up 93 Astro van and I just park on any street and have never been bothered. I don't park in the same place every night.
I blacked out the windows with a dark tint (bought from Walmart)and made some square black curtains out of black canvass (bought from Walmart) and then velcro them up when I want to sleep.I built a wooden platform in the back and attached it and a single air mattress fits there. I fit across the back also and I' a 5'7" woman. I have a portable toilet in there and I'm set.It does get cold, but I bundle up. I have a auto battery re-charger ($35 at Walmart) that I plug things into instead of using my cigarette lighter.A van is better than a car.Believe me.Cargo vans are pretty cheap.
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