My ~30 day trial: no house

[openeyes]

After visiting the homeless shelter last semester for poverty awareness week, I decided to try living out of my car for a while. Initially it was going to be for all summer, but instead it's just for a few weeks, as I'll be getting paid to house sit starting starting June 6th. It's just been a few days so far, but it's already been educational. Of course I have more of a cushion than most guys I see on the streets, by having a car and money in the bank, but it's still a change. I go to bed by 10 or 11 because most everything closes by then.

My only internet access is the libraries. Initially I wasn't even sure I'd have a place to shower, but I found I can make use of the showers in the men's locker room, and do so every couple days now (compared to twice a day when I had my own place). I'm considering eating at the soup kitchen more often as well, but for now I have coffee and a small meal at McDonald's at about 6 in the morning, where many of the guys that later show up at the soup kitchen can be found, and a later meal at night so I can sleep. I leave my car about as the sun rises, so no one will see me. I find it quite ironic how it's only in doing all this that I've become an early riser

A couple nights ago as I arrived at the spot I'd be sleeping I heard a rustling sound. An older white man was going through recycleables looking for cans. He went on for at least 30 minutes, and I fell asleep before he stopped. I felt a lot of empathy for him, while at the same time knowing we're in very different stations of life. My current situation is a temporary one of choice, almost a luxury. I'm not sure I want to know what it's truly like to live without hope.

Well, now I have class to head off to ...

[Freelancer]

hmmm and I thought MY 30 day challenge was tough haha.

[Nathan]

sounds like fun!

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by Nathan

sounds like fun!

It can be good for socializing, as it definitely "gets me out of the house"

[Jes]

Hey, man. That sounds like a great experiment. Can you give me more details on the legal/safety issues? I'm going on an extended road trip later this year, and I don't plan on booking any hotels. I've got no problem with the comfort aspect, but I am a little worried about either getting arrested or car-jacked/robbed/assaulted. Thanks!

[openeyes]

If you're going on a roadtrip, I recommend checking out CouchSurfing

Sleeping in one's car CAN be a little sketchy. Enforcement and danger varies by the area. Over the summer doing door to door sales in California I became skilled at taking naps most anywhere. One may be better off finding a place to park and then go off somewhere less visible. If there are many trees with few people around at night, a tent hammock could be lovely (and more comfortable than a car seat anyhow). You can use them in areas that may be too rocky or wet for tents, and they can be set up or taken down in a couple minutes. I haven't yet tried this myself, but it looks promising.

HENNESSY HAMMOCKS: ultra-light line of jungle hammocks, ultra-comfortable camping hammock /chair/ tent combo

[openeyes]

Just for a quick update, it's been a week now and things have gone suprisingly well. For the first time in a while I'm following a very active, early riser schedule. I get up around 6 and go to bed by 11 (sleeping quite well) with a brief nap or two in between, usually on a bench somewhere, with the day starting and ending with an hour or two of simply reading for fun. Spending less time online now, I'm actually driven to study a bit For some reason I actually find myself wanting to do a bit of work.

So far this has been a test to reset and see what I really need in order to enjoy my life, trimming away whatever is costing me in time or money without adding much to my quality of life. For the moment, my expenses have effectively been cut in half, while my enjoyment has actually increased I find myself even contemplating the idea of switching over to moving around mostly by foot and/or bicycle, with a tent hammock instead of a car. This will likely wait until after I've finished house sitting.

After I graduate in about 7 months, I'll be able to fit all my essentials except perhaps a quilt into carry on luggage (on a plane, train, bus, or maybe my bike or back), making it feasible to simply move around to wherever the weather and mood fits me at the time. Right now I could amply support my expenses working 20 hours per week for minimum wage if necessary. Drop the car and it's closer to 12 hours per week. And that's when I'm eating at restaurants most of the time instead of going by the grocery store or soup kitchen.

I don't plan on simply lazing about though. Not always at least. I find myself more full energy to actually be doing something than before, for profit or otherwise. Also, I'm not committing to this long term yet. I'm simply overjoyed at knowing this can work for me, at least as a young, single white guy in a nice walkable college town (one of my favorite environments) with currently great weather.

[Ree]

Openeyes, my husband and I use Hennessey Hammocks when we backpack. They are much lighter than traditional tents, with all the stakes and the footprint and the fly and MUCH more comfortable! The hammock can double as a chair, which is comfy for relaxing before it's time to crawl in and drift off to sleep. And much easier to sleep on than the cold hard lumpy ground.

Besides sleeping, sitting while backpacking can be quite uncomfortable. It's hard to find a position that supports your back really well, but is also easy on the bottom. Sitting in a hammock is like sitting in a nicely cushioned porch swing

The only drawback is that in the cold weather, it's difficult to stay warm without the added insulation of a Therma rest or some other insulating object, which adds weight.

[Interpreneur]

I'm sorry to play devil's advocate, but I just don't get these type of experiments. There's a lot more to being homeless than just not sleeping inside of a house.

Homeless people usually don't have a roof period. If it rains they get wet. If it snows they freeze. If they get harrassed by the cops or someone else they have to walk away. They can't drive to the other side of town and stop for a cappuccino on the way there.

They can't go to McDonalds at 6:00 am for hot cup of coffee and a McMuffin. You might see them going through the dumpster behind McDonalds, but not inside.

Plus, you're going to soup kitchens when you have money in the bank? I hope no actual homeless people end up not getting a meal because you got there first.

I know you understand all of this, but I think if you really want to help homeless people, why not volunteer at the soup kitchen instead of eating their food? Or gather up some blankets and take them to the park at night. By having a car, a house, and money in the bank, you can do a lot more for the homeless than by pretending to be like them.

This is just like when Deborah Norville spent a night in jail for a television report, or when Tyra Banks donned a fat suit to see what it would be like to be fat. They got in front of the cameras and cried because of their "horrible experiences", but then went back to the lap of luxury, while all the prisoners stayed in jail, and all the fat people got fatter.

Unless you're actually in jail, fat, or homeless, you will really never know what it's like -- so by playing this role you're only feeding your own ego thinking that you're doing something great for humanity, when nothing could be further from the truth.

I hope you never get the urge to jump from a bridge just to see what attempting suicide feels like!

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by Interpreneur

Plus, you're going to soup kitchens when you have money in the bank?

Actually no. As I mentioned in the last post, I've been eating at restaurants. I've volunteered at the soup kitchen before, and did eat there at that point to see what the food was like. It's not just homeless people that eat there. Construction workers come for lunch. They serve ~300 meals per day even though they only get about 5 grand in donations. Luckily they get plenty of food and it's normal for people to get seconds. Were I to start eating there regularly I'd want to give a small cash donation, enough to help each of us.

Also, sorry if it wasn't clear in my first post that I realize my situation is radically different from that of homeless people. As the end of my first post said, "I felt a lot of empathy for him, while at the same time knowing we're in very different stations of life. My current situation is a temporary one of choice, almost a luxury. I'm not sure I want to know what it's truly like to live without hope."

For me, visiting the local homeless shelters during poverty awareness week woke me up to the fact that I didn't need nearly as many material trappings as I had. It made me want to see how I'd do not living in an apartment with a place nearby to store a ton of stuff. What I'm doing now is more like camping than living a life of quiet desparation. If you saw me you likely wouldn't even suspect anything. Still, for me it's shown me new possibilities, which is a good deal of what I was going for.

[JohnPlace]

Originally Posted by openeyes

So far this has been a test to reset and see what I really need in order to enjoy my life, trimming away whatever is costing me in time or money without adding much to my quality of life. For the moment, my expenses have effectively been cut in half, while my enjoyment has actually increased I find myself even contemplating the idea of switching over to moving around mostly by foot and/or bicycle, with a tent hammock instead of a car. This will likely wait until after I've finished house sitting.

Great thread, openeyes. I appreciate you sharing this experiment with us. It appears to be an experiment of deprivation -- a material fast, if you will. I have often been surprised at how much of modern life appears trivial and expendable once we learn to live without it.

Your observations are appreciated, openeyes. Keep them coming.

[openeyes]

Thanks John. Things have continued to go well. I'm eating better than I have in years, and spending more time around people than ever before, while still having a healthy amount of solitude. A couple weeks ago I saw a bumper sticker that resonated with me: The more you know, the less you need.

There's an excellent sense of freedom that comes from knowing that I have all that I need (if not more), and that even if I lost everything I own, I could easily replace it. I likely wouldn't bother getting another car, as it seems superfluous now. My health is one of my greatest assets and I plan to take good care of it, as the body isn't nearly as replaceable as a bike.

Until recently, I'd never ridden my bike more than a few miles, mostly using it to go to class or pick up a few groceries. On Wednesday I went 10 miles and it was surprisingly easy and fun. Suddenly I was interested in doing much longer bicycle trips, and I realized that with my current ultralight way of living, about all I'd need is a couple quarts of water, maybe one change of clothes that can easily be hand washed and air dried, and a tent hammock I can set up most anywhere (will likely be ordering one in the next few days, as now I have a fun use for it).

This morning I took a 40 mile bicycle trip, and it too was surprisingly easy. I set out at 7:45 am and was back before the restaurant at the local grocery coop was done serving breakfast I'll likely focus on riding early mornings (~5:30 to 10/11 am) and evenings when the weather is cool and the sun is fine. The rest of the time I can simply relax wherever I end up and get to know the area a bit. I'm not in any rush, and riding a bike seems like a wonderfully leisurely way of travelling. In comparison, if I were to drive 100 miles I'd spend about as much on gas as I do on food in a day, and on a bike with a tent in the back, food would be my only significant regular expense.

Now I'm saving up and getting experience so that when I graduate in 7 months I can take at least a couple months to ride around. Europe would be great for it, as so many of the major cities are within a few hundred miles of each other, less than a week's bike ride with good scenery along the way. Soon I plan on volunteering at the local nonprofit bike shop so I'll be more prepared to maintain/fix my own bike as I use it more.

[Sunnybayes]

Dude! That sounds like an awesome plan, i think I'll give this a try also, when the opportunity comes. I might consider just working for a year or so, save up all my money... seems like quite a nice way to get out of the rat race and live a healthy fun life, and escape the isolated materialistic hell, you know... enjoy life now instead of when you're old.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by Sunnybayes

Dude! That sounds like an awesome plan, i think I'll give this a try also, when the opportunity comes. I might consider just working for a year or so, save up all my money... seems like quite a nice way to get out of the rat race and live a healthy fun life, and escape the isolated materialistic hell, you know... enjoy life now instead of when you're old.

Excellent. For other ideas, here are a couple sites I'd come across a few years ago that are along the same line of thought:

Escaping the Job Trap: An Article by Thomas J. Elpel

Lifelong Semi-retirement

[Michelle]

I think this is one of the greatest experiments ever. Oh to be unburdened from possessions and a fixed domicile!

[Peter S C]

A very interesting experiment openeyes. I'm not about to rush out and try it, but I'm happy to learn from your observations.

From your comments I can see some comparisons with my experience of travelling around the world with only a backpack and the vaguest of plans. There was such a sense of freedom having only the essential material possessions and being able to go wherever the wind took me without worrying about such things as a mortgage.

[yougetajob]

Great thread openeyes. I did something similar last fall. I lived in my car at a wal-mart parking lot for a month. You can read about it here:

Why Work? :: View topic - becoming a hobo
(a summary of my experiences is on page two of the thread)

Also, here is a fantastic blog by a guy who's lived in his truck for a year and a half!

Andy's Truck Adventure!

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by yougetajob

I lived in my car at a wal-mart parking lot for a month.

Nice. I'm curious what made you stop. Were the savings/benefits not worth the tradeoffs to you? Was living out of your car making it more difficult to have a significantly higher paying job (perhaps due to reduced access to showers and a place to store suits)?

[Erki]

I think would be rather uncomfortable to sleep in a car. Poper bed is much better for the body, especially the back.

[carenkh]

I really enjoyed reading this! Thanks for posting.

If you get to a place where you *would* like to settle down, you can look into Tiny Houses -- we can do with so much less than we originally think we need!

[llong]

Thanks for reporting back to us from the field Openeyes.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by carenkh

I really enjoyed reading this! Thanks for posting.

If you get to a place where you *would* like to settle down, you can look into Tiny Houses -- we can do with so much less than we originally think we need!

Thank you. I'd come across the <100 sq foot tumbleweed house a month or so ago, and it was likely one of the things that helped me realize how little space was really needed. If/when I do settle into a free-standing house of my own, it'll likely either be very small and cheap, or something small that I build myself (my father and his father both built their own houses, and I'm not sure how far that tradition goes back) with little to no mortgage. For now, I'm quite happy having a place to keep a change of clothes, clean up a bit, and sleep, which could be as simple as a backpack, public restroom/locker room, and bench, seat, or hammock. Rather than being homeless, the whole town has become my home.

[Dan.Linehan]

Wow, awesome thread!

I would have never guessed that anyone else had tried this. I did the same thing for ten days when I moved to a new city a few years ago.

My favorite tagline back then was, "What some people call a four-door, for me, is a four bedroom."

[Ree]

Openeyes, I enjoyed reading about your experience very much. If you like this, you might think about a hike on the Appalachian Trail. The fact that you have to carry everything you have on your back for 2200 miles will make you a minimalist very quickly.

Along the trail, there are many trail towns which are hiker friendly and you will find a lot of support. You can drop off your hike and work for a couple weeks. Lots of churches and private groups operate hostels where you can stay cheaply and get a hot meal and a hot shower for chopping wood. I have only done sections of the trail, but I love it.

What struck me the most is, with no TV and no newspaper, no connection with the outside world, one really gets a chance to connect with oneself, which few of us do these days.

Again, thanks for sharing with us.

[Love]

wow, really interesting. courageous.

[yougetajob]

Originally Posted by openeyes

Nice. I'm curious what made you stop. Were the savings/benefits not worth the tradeoffs to you? Was living out of your car making it more difficult to have a significantly higher paying job (perhaps due to reduced access to showers and a place to store suits)?

Well there were many reasons now that I think back on it. For one it was getting rather cold at night (around the 0 degree Celsius mark). Also it wasn't something that I put a great deal of thought into before I started. I didn't really have a plan going in, so when I stopped it wasn't really like I was 'quitting'

When I did it, I had been willfully unemployed for about 6 months. I was (though I wasn't conscious of it at the time) going through a fairly intense depression, and I couldn't bear the thought of full time work. Once all my money ran out, and I do mean ALL my money (I think I had 10 dollars) I eventually got evicted from the place I was staying. Not wanting to impose on anyone, and still in denial about the state that I was in, I moved into my car.

It was quite an enlightening experience. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again should the need arise. Though, I would much rather have a truck next time.


I had the option, the whole time I was doing this, to not be living in my car (well, maybe not the first few days when I didn't even have enough gas money to drive anywhere). What's really sad is the people who do similar things out of pure necessity.

If you move into your car with no job and no money, it is next to impossible to get out. Getting a job is one thing. But saving up the money required for even a shitty apartment is a really tough task in most cities. If you live paycheck to paycheck I think you can see where I'm going with this.

Anyway, in that post that I linked to in my earlier post on this thread, I give a pretty good summation of my experiences, so feel free to check it out.

So ya, to answer your question directly openeyes...well I can't cuz I did it for different reasons than I think you are/did.

keep it smart
YGAJ

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by yougetajob

Anyway, in that post that I linked to in my earlier post on this thread, I give a pretty good summation of my experiences, so feel free to check it out.

Indeed. I'd read through it before asking for more info. The carliving.com site you linked to was interesting as well. Though it's no longer online, it can be accessed via web archive here: CarLiving.com - The Survival Guide to Living in a Vehicle

It's heartening to see so many people considering other possibilities. About the only time I'm in my car is when I'm driving somewhere or sleeping at night. Otherwise I'm off doing something I enjoy. It's made me much more active than before, as I can't just loaf around the house. Most mornings now I wake up by 5:30 without an alarm clock to the sound of birds chirping. When I was more shielded from nature by a home I was apt to sleep until 10. If it were freezing outside I'd likely consider other options, and luckily I DO have other options, whether it be getting a good sleeping bag, moving in somewhere, or heading for a warmer climate for a couple months. Warm weather works wonders for one's mood.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by Ree

Openeyes, I enjoyed reading about your experience very much. If you like this, you might think about a hike on the Appalachian Trail. The fact that you have to carry everything you have on your back for 2200 miles will make you a minimalist very quickly.

Agreed. For several years now I've mostly done barefoot day-hikes. Going barefoot, except on jagged rocks like some of the AT has, is heavenly. I've met at least a couple people that did the whole AT alone, one being Eustace Conway (Turtle Island Preserve). Extended periods of solitude can be very powerful, and I expect I will end up on a hiking trail again soon enough.

Ray Jardine's Beyond Backpacking was excellent for helping me see the benefits of carrying a minimal load. If I'm hiking for only 10-20 miles, I'm apt to carry just a bit of water and maybe a banana. Often I just go in with a pair of shorts and nothing else. Naturally if I were going farther I'd have to start carrying more, maybe ~5-10 pounds plus food/water and some type of foot protection. Though his book is out of print and increasingly expensive, he has a good website with kits and info on some of his voyages and equipment used: Ray Jardine's Adventure Page

Any extended human powered travel will help one see just how little is needed to carry around. It's often said that people will fill however much space they have. I find that by having minimal space, I have minimal requirements, and feel quite satisfied. It's much more empowering to be able to consciously limit what one has than to have to do so out of necessity.

[Ree]

Originally Posted by openeyes

Any extended human powered travel will help one see just how little is needed to carry around. It's often said that people will fill however much space they have. I find that by having minimal space, I have minimal requirements, and feel quite satisfied. It's much more empowering to be able to consciously limit what one has than to have to do so out of necessity.

Eggs zackly! We fell so in love with minimalism after hiking that we carried it over into our home. We moved a couple years ago and we gave away so much stuff! It was good stuff, but unnecessary stuff and we gave it to folks who really needed it and could use it. (I'm reminded of George Carlin's routine about "stuff".) Anyway, never again will I clutter up my life and/or my home. Less really is more!!

[openeyes]

My “no house” trial came to a successful conclusion yesterday as I began house sitting as planned. Throughout the few weeks that I lived out of my car, no one ever bothered me as I slept, and no one in my daily life seemed to suspect anything unusual. I remained clean, happy, and active, perhaps even more so than usual. If I were to live out of a car for an extended period of time again I’d feel more comfortable if my windows were tinted so I’d have even less chance of being noticed. I’d made a point of seeking out the darkest, least frequented parking areas to minimize the chance of being seen. Also, I ordered the tent hammock earlier this week, and will likely be experimenting with it over the next couple months for when I’m no longer house bound.

Having a house now, I’ve noticed myself immediately spending much less time in public places. This morning I still woke up at 5:30 (though I was up 'til 12:30), but rather than going out for coffee, I made myself a delicious breakfast and read for a while. After class I still went by the local organic grocery store/restaurant for a small lunch, but then came home for a glass of wine and relaxation. Now I have music playing. It’s a very peaceful area here, with no street lights, little traffic, and no cellular reception, even though it’s just a few minute drive from the center of town.. I’m also cat sitting, so I have a few affectionate cats keeping me company. The back yard is hedged with bamboo and there are a few bird feeders accompanied by everything that eats from them. When I got back today I was a little surprised to see a wild turkey on the porch

So … plenty of different living situations to try out. If/when I bother to have a regular sized house, I could be quite happy with a place like this. The ideal for me may be closer to a green house/orchard with a hammock though