How to Live in a Car

Find a safe and discreet parking spot. First, you need to check to see if there is an organization or business in the area (or nearby area) that designates a private parking space for people in similar circumstances; For example, Walmart allows overnight tents in their parking lots. Not only is this legal, but the organization can also track who uses the parking lot, or even has a women-only parking lot. ^[1] If such parking is not available and you live in an urban area, look for roads with no sidewalks, surrounding houses with no windows to look out, and located near forests; residential area in a relatively deserted area to avoid prying eyes, but not so desolate that your vehicle stands out. ^[2] The parking lots of the big supermarkets (especially those that are open 24 hours and have restrooms like Walmart) are great to use and the security is good, as long as you’re willing to spend a little money to buy things and don’t park in one place too often. However, the parking lot is often noisy, especially in the morning when trucks arrive to deliver and deliver food. ^[3]

• The church car park is usually quiet on weekdays. If you look hard enough, you can find a church that is quieter than other places. This is a good place to park, and you can get help from the church. You should even go to church to build rapport with people, but don’t tell others about your situation, but only those who are trustworthy and willing to help. ^[4]
• Industrial areas are often noisy during the day but very quiet at night. Small industrial areas located near residential areas are most suitable, and should be quiet at night. You can meet security guards in these places, but if you’re honest and say you’re just spending the night in your car, they won’t bother. Their main task is to protect property.
• University parking lot. If you are a student this is the place to be, but the situation will not be very good if you have no connection to the university. They may ask you for a parking permit. ^[5]
• Campgrounds are another option, although they are often time-limited, and some are as expensive as renting a hotel. Some campsites rent out bathrooms for a very cheap fee. National Forests has a 14-day free campground.
• The marina is known as the ‘free zone’ – due to the nature of fishermen and boats, the marina offers a variety of services such as hot showers and short-term vehicle storage. During high season, large boats dock from elsewhere and stay for months with their crew, all of which are ‘temporary residents’ providing a safe cover for you and your vehicle. They don’t know and don’t care about you, and if they find out, they still don’t care, because they themselves are ‘wild’. You should hang around on the weekends to meet boat owners looking for someone to clean and polish their boats – this will be beneficial as you’ll have the door/bathroom keys and access to the service. valid.
• If you don’t have a toilet, find a small stream to bathe in. Learn how to defecate outdoors safely and make a stool collection tube. You can also use a 20 liter container with a lid and deodorant.
• Free hospital parking is another option. If the security guard approaches, you say you are waiting to visit a sick relative. ^[6] However, if you live in Australia you should be aware, because there have been cases of nurse murders, you are likely to attract the attention of the police if you park your car at the hospital . Maybe the security staff will ask you to leave. ^[4]
• If you build a good relationship with the retail or restaurant manager, they probably won’t mind your overnight stay, especially if they see your presence as a form of security. night security.
• Use the hotel car park. Hotels and motels along the interstate allow parking until 11 a.m. the next morning (check-out time). As long as you fold the chair down, no one will notice you. However, you will have to keep moving.
• After finding a spot, you try to get there late at night and leave before 7am. This will help you to be less noticed by others.

Buy earplugs. Because of background noise, you may need to wear earplugs while you sleep. Earplugs help reduce ambient noise to a tolerable level. Earplugs work well for vehicle sounds, bird and animal calls, human voices, and music. They won’t block out loud or almost human knocks on the car door.

Find what you need. Essential items for living in the car are blankets, pillows, mattresses or other cushions. Due to the seating arrangement in the car, you may experience dull back pain caused by tight spaces. If this happens, you need to prepare pain medication. Once you have enough bedding, you need a blanket to cover the back seats and drape over the front two. It will block light and make it impossible for outsiders to see in.

• An inexpensive refrigerator will make life easier. The main requirement of the refrigerator is to be waterproof. Cold food will cause steam to condense, while the ice will melt, and you certainly don’t want water to drain into your car. The refrigerator helps keep perishable foods cool. It works best when it’s full, so it’s a good idea to add a cold water bottle when taking out food. If you decide to buy an electric refrigerator, you need to ventilate the car well. For this reason, the refrigerator will not be able to function properly in the luggage compartment. It’s best to put it in the car when running. Make sure the refrigerator operates only when the vehicle engine is running, or use a low voltage circuit breaker, as explained below. Do not let the grille touch anything, as that is where hot air is released, which can cause nearby objects to catch fire.
• If you have money, you need to buy another essential item, which is a chemical toilet. This device really makes life in the car more comfortable. Today they cost less than $100. If you don’t have the money to buy a chemical toilet or your car doesn’t have a place to put it, you can pee in a wide-mouthed bottle like a Gatorade water bottle, or make your own toilet out of a barrel. ^[10]

Buy a set of air compressors/backup batteries to start the car yourself. Prepare a spare tire and at least one box of tire glue. Be sure to purchase a removable tire patch glue.

Find more ways to generate electricity. Car cigarette lighter sockets are an option. It’s useful for low power devices (100 watts), but if you plan to cook on your car’s power source, find a way to draw power from the battery more directly, or the fuse will blow. break. However, it is not very practical to run the cooking equipment on the vehicle’s power source, if the car does not have a double battery system and an expensive inverter. There are 12-volt electric kettles and pots, but they are not very efficient. You still have to buy a much more expensive inverter if you plan to run equipment that uses mains voltage. You may have to stop the vehicle to get power if it doesn’t have a dual battery system, but even then you probably won’t be able to generate the desired current, as your vehicle’s alternator is not designed for this usage.

• The must-buy for anyone who wants to live in a car is a device that shuts off power when the voltage is low. ^[11] This device protects the vehicle’s battery by disconnecting the power when the battery has only enough power to start the vehicle but cannot actually continue to run other equipment. Their selling price is around 25-40 dollars. This is a reasonable investment for people living in the car, because using up the battery will cause it to fail and cost you a lot of money to replace, and cause trouble when the car cannot start.
• Instead of using an electric stove, you can use a gas stove, but don’t cook in the car for safety reasons. There are many hazards associated with cooking in a car: shaking surfaces, fire hazards, burns from hot metal or boiling water, build-up of carbon monoxide, food odors. In general, you should cook outside the car. If you live in a pickup truck that’s solidly built for cooking, then you can cook in it as long as it’s well ventilated.

Keep utensils tidy. You can store soap, clothes, cell phone etc. in the bag. Keeping things organized will save you time searching. The space in the car seems to be small, but things are easy to lose. In addition, the neat arrangement of the vehicle will reduce the attention of passersby when they accidentally look in the window. You should hide your bedding (consider using a chest). If the space in the car does not contain enough necessities and clothes for a week, you should leave it at a friend’s house for safety, and you will have a reason to stop by to ask for a shower, and also an opportunity to Friend meeting. When washing clothes, be sure to dry them completely, because you certainly don’t want damp clothes to cause dew or musty odors in the car. When you’re not in the car, you should leave the windows ajar and place scented papers scattered throughout the car to keep the smell in the car pleasant. Wash your bedding once a month to avoid smelling homeless, or you’ll lose your cover and be treated like homeless.

Keep dirty clothes in a separate plastic bag so they don’t foul clean clothes.

Buy a good quality flashlight. Maglite A3 or A4 flashlights can serve two purposes: lighting and self-defense. It’s big enough to be a self-defense stick when you need it.