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by Jessica Spaulding

“Home, Sweet Home” in one weekend or less.

November 26, 2008 in Van dwelling

Although living in a vehicle is fantastic, most aren’t equipped for living in. If you are willing to put a little bit of time and money into making your car or van a nice place to live while traveling then it’s surprisingly easy to do.

Of course, you don’t need to make any modifications to live in your car. I’ve lived in three vehicles, and I made no changes at all to the first one. It was a compact car that I only lived in for a couple of days a week and I slept in the front, with the driver’s seat reclined back, or “stretched out” in the back seat.

If you are willing to put a little bit of time and money into making your car or van a nice place to live while traveling then it’s surprisingly easy to do.

However, with my other vehicles, I decided a bit of modification was in order. I did my construction over one weekend (and it could have been a single day if I hadn’t kept getting distracted). It wasn’t expensive – I spent about $200 total outfitting my car for living in and that included the cost of getting the rear windows tinted.

If you’re inclined to spend more time or money there’s always more you can do, but if you want it done in a weekend, here’s what I suggest you need:

  • Tinted windows. This may be an expensive outlay, but it’s the most important thing to do if you’re planning urban (or stealth) camping — sleeping in city streets and in parking lots as opposed to campgrounds. It’s the number-one thing you can do to ensure your privacy. I’ve sat in the back of my car and watched people two feet away admiring their reflections in my windows and fixing their hair. Get them tinted as dark as you legally can. (In the US this depends on the state your car is registered in.) The cost will depend on the darkness of the tint and the size and number of your windows. With a local coupon, it cost me $80 for the back windows of my Prius.
  • Curtains for the back windows. Yes, the windows are tinted, but curtains will give you an extra measure of privacy. Even dark-tinted windows can be seen through if the light hits them right, and curtains keep that annoying light from shining right in your eyes as you’re trying to sleep. They close out the rest of the world while you’re in the back. Just because you know they can’t see in doesn’t make it annoying to have people walking by all the time. So, if you’re making curtains should you still bother with getting the windows tinted? Again, this is a matter of stealth. Without tinting, people can see that you have curtains in your windows. Velcro with the sticky back is a useful way to attach the curtains if you don’t feel like building some sort of a curtain rod. It should cost you about $15.
  • A curtain separating the front and back. Like the tinted windows this will give you more privacy. Instead of using one of those fold-up sunscreens for the windshield, take the time to make a curtain rod that runs right behind the front seats. In my van, I had a dowel that fit into two holes in the ‘wall’ of the car. In my current car, I have a curtain rod that’s flattened on the ends to fit into two cracks on the ‘walls’. For this curtain, nothing but black will do. Any other color draws attention to the fact that there’s a curtain there, but if you have a black curtain people won’t even notice they can’t see into the back. Will probably cost about $15.

  • A comfy bed. (Warning: This will take powertools. Or at least a friend who has them). It may seem strange that I list the bed third, but if you’re planning on doing urban camping privacy comes first. Step one: Take out all the seats. Step two: Stare at the space you have to work with until you’ve figured out the best place for the bed. No article is going to be able to tell you the best way to do this. I’ve outlined (with pictures!) the building process I went through in both my van and my car on my website. I spent $30 on a piece of plywood and $35 for a piece of three-inch foam for the mattress. The other construction pieces came from my dad’s garage. Total cost, about $90.

For the initial investment of a weekend and $200 I’m able to stay almost anywhere I want (see my previous article on where to park). I’ve cut out the cost of accommodation almost completely – I’ve spent much less than $200 total on campsites and hostels in the last year. This allows me to travel further, see more, and worry less about money while I’m doing it.

(Note: prices in this article are in US dollars.)

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by Jessica Spaulding

A 21st century filing system

October 29, 2008 in Preparing to Travel

The “My Maps” section of Google Maps is a valuable resource for planning and sharing trip details with friends and family – you create markers on a map and you can add pictures and details to personalise it further. You can even choose different icons to use as markers for different types of location.

As nice as it is to have a map to imbed on a blog that shows where you’ve been, I prefer to use Google’s My Maps for pre-trip planning, by storing information about places I’d like to visit all over the US and Canada. I used to have data everywhere: boxes of scraps of paper, articles ripped out of magazines, links stored in emails I sent to myself after finding out about an interesting place online.

Places I'd like to visit in the US and Canada.

Places I'd like to visit in the US and Canada

As much as I tried, this mess of paper and notes was never organised to my satisfaction. I had to search through all the information to find the details I needed about a certain attraction or town – and even if I found it, I’d still have to look up its location so I’d know if it was on my route. Or I might pull into a town, and think to myself, “Hmm. I know that guy I met at the hostel in Albuquerque recommended a restaurant here. I wonder where I wrote down the name of it?”

Now I keep everything on My Map which I call “Unapparent reasons for a trip around the US and Canada” (the name comes from the title of my website, A Year in a Car for No Apparent Reason). When I find an attraction that I’d like to visit, I log on and add it to my map. Then, when I start planning a trip it’s like having my own personalized guidebook of recommendations. Some things may have been sitting on the map for two or three years, waiting for me to get to that area. There’s no way I’d manage to hold on to a magazine article or scrap of paper for that long.

Many of the things on the map are things that I wouldn’t plan a trip around. Shelburne Falls, a waterfall in Massachusetts, was recommended by a co-worker. It wouldn’t be the point of a trip out to Massachusetts, but it is something I’ll go and see when I finally do make it out that way. In the meantime, all the information I need will be sitting on the map until I get around to it.

I still write down suggestions when I talk to people, and I still rip articles out of magazine and save them. But every little while I log on to Google Maps to go through the stack and put them on my map of things to visit.

Just creating a map and marking locations is a great way to keep the travel dream going when you’re stuck in one place for a while, and can give you some unexpected ideas for places to travel. I’d never really given the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico much thought until I looked at my map one day and realized I’d put a lot of markers in and around the city.

If you’re interested in starting your own “places to visit” map here’s a couple of places I recommend:

Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes, California
Possibly my favorite place in the US. This National Seashore is an hour or so north of San Francisco (across the Golden Gate Bridge). A gorgeous area and home to one of the best cheesemakers in the country, the Cowgirl Creamery (try the panir and the “Mt. Tam” triple cream). The area is a bed and breakfast type, and can be pricey, but there is a Hostelling International Hostel.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park
I’m a sucker now for caves and cave tours, and this is the one that started it all for me.

The Frontier Restaurant Albuquerque, New Mexico
Local hang out for the students from the university across the street. Order a sweet roll or two; you’ll thank me later. I’m also especially fond of their hashbrowns, but everything is delicious and cheap.

There are still lots of blank spots on my map and I’d like to fill them in. So I’m asking you, dear reader, if you have anything you’d recommend. Favorite tourist spots, great museums, or excellent restaurants. I’m interested in everywhere in the US, but right now I especially want suggestions for Hawaii, where I’ll spend two months from November. Please leave any suggestions in the comment section below.

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by Jessica Spaulding

So, um… you come here often?

October 1, 2008 in Travel

It’s easy to chat with other travelers when you’re staying at hostels, but how do you start conversations with the locals? It’s time to turn off the iPod, close the Lonely Planet, and go meet some people. Here are some tricks I use for striking up conversations while on the road:

  • If there’s a counter, sit at it. Tables are for people who want to be left alone while they eat. Counters are for people who want to interact. Simple as that.
  • Become a regular. Have lunch at a place one day and have dinner there the next. In Yellowstone there are “geyser gazers” who come every summer to watch the geysers. They hang out with each other, and some are a bit stand-offish with the tourists … They’re probably tired of explaining the same thing over and over. It took some patience, but after two weeks the most aloof of them turned to me and said “I’ve been seeing you around a lot lately.” It was, of course, the day before I left, but was still it was a fun conversation with one of the local geyser experts.
  • Find groups who meet up to do the things you like to do. Libraries and independent bookstores are a good place to find notices about meetings. I like to find craft groups and join them while I’m in town. In the US, meetup.com is an excellent website for this as well: there are meet-up groups for everything from hiking to photography to real estate investing. Sign up, specify a location, and search for keywords, or just browse through the groups.
  • Ask questions. Sure you could search the internet to find a laundromat, but you could also ask the clerk at the grocery store. Which do you think will be more interesting? I like to ask about places to eat, saying, “I’m traveling through. Do you have a favorite restaurant in town? Where’s the best place for a piece of pie/pizza/homemade biscuits?”
  • Take advantage of the visitors’ centers. Yeah, I know, it’s sort of a manufactured interaction since the whole reason they’re there is to tell you about the place, but wait … that’s perfect. The whole reason they’re there is to tell you about the place! Instant conversation and information. (Plus there’s often coffee and sometimes wifi.).
  • Take a tour. Sure, paying money for day trips isn’t very indie, but many museums and national parks give free or cheap tours. Not only do you get to learn cool stuff, but you also have an hour or two of opportunities to chat to the people on the tour.

    • Excellent. Now I have a good story to tell.

  • Get a dog, sprain your wrist or learn to make lace. My favorite way to start a conversation with a stranger is to get them to start it for me. Dogs are an instant conversation starter. As one traveler put it, “I’ve traveled with my dog and I’ve traveled with my wife. I meet a lot more people when I’m traveling with my dog.”

    I sprained my wrist a couple of months ago and I was amazed at how many people started a conversation by seeing my brace and asking me what happened. Luckily (?) what happened was not something boring like carpal tunnel, but a bike accident while cruising down a mountain in Colorado. It left me with a bunch of other scars to show off and a cool story to tell. While I don’t recommend crashing your bike at 25mph, if you DO have carpal tunnel it might be a good idea to invent a cool story about biking the Rockies. You can steal mine if you want. I don’t mind. I’ve got photographic proof that it happened to me.

    • An example of tatting.

  • My number one conversation starter? Tatting. I’ve written about this a couple of times on my website. Tatting is a way of making lace which, I confess, I’m addicted to. It fits in my pocket and I can work on it no matter where I am. People ALWAYS ask about it. Knitting and crocheting are great for this too, and you don’t even need to speak the same language. I’ve shown tatting to North African men in Italy and Armenian women in Los Angeles. No matter where in the world you are, there are people who do crafts and want to talk about them.
  • As a final tip, I recommend keeping a blog. This won’t actually help you to meet people, but it’s nice to tell them about a website if you want to keep in contact. Email works as well, but reading your website and leaving a comment is much less intimidating to someone you’ve just met who doesn’t necessarily have anything in particular to say, but wants to follow your travels.

    • That’s what works for me. How do you meet the locals?

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    by Jessica Spaulding

    Another way to manage money on the road

    August 27, 2008 in Money and Finance

    In show #67 Craig and Linda shared their tips for keeping a cash budget so this week I thought I’d share my own financial system. It can be done either with a cash budget or by using plastic.

    Rather than taking out a piece of paper at the beginning of each month and estimating what I’ll need to live, I open up my excel spreadsheet a couple times a week and keep track of EVERYTHING I spend. If I buy a 25-cent piece of candy it goes down on the spreadsheet right next to the $60 for gasoline.

    I have an overall budget for the month, but don’t break it down into categories. At the bottom of the spreadsheet is a little calculator that tells me the average amount I can spend each day for the rest of the month to stay under budget. I choose on a daily basis if I’d like to spend it on food, museums, campgrounds or something else.

    Why do I like this system?

    Having to record purchases means I spend a moment or two thinking about it after the excitement has worn off and deciding if it was worth it.

    • Keeping an accounting makes it easy to go back and look at what I’ve spent money on. I love being able to make reasonable predictions from actual data. I’ve been keeping an accounting for five years now and lived in a number of situations during that time. As I plan for the future being able to look back takes some of the guesswork out of deciding what it will cost. If you are traveling between countries a lot this would be extremely helpful as you can look back at what you spent in similar situations. (I also keep track of everything I earn. If you work a lot of different short-term jobs while traveling this is also helpful.)
    • Having a record is also good for non-financial matters. When I couldn’t remember the name of the really good restaurant in Santa Barbara, CA, I could go back and find it. Same for the hostel in Naples and the rafting company in Montana.
    • Yes, keeping track of everything can feel a bit obsessive compulsive, but it’s really not as annoying as it might seem. I keep receipts for everything in my wallet and when it starts to get large I spend a few minutes sorting through them. I spend about 5-10 minutes a week doing the data entry.

    I’d also like to recommend the book Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. They start off by suggesting you keep an accounting, but they go well beyond that. It’s an excellent book for helping to redefine how you think about money, especially if you’re trying to save up for something like travel.

    Some other tips:

    • Think of prices in terms of hours of work – when considering buying something ask yourself how many hours of work you would need to do to pay for it. A price tag is such an abstract concept this is a good way to solidify exactly what it means. If you had to stop and work for that long before you could buy it, would you? You might decide that while the hat is really nice it’s not four hours of work worth of nice.
    • Think of prices in terms of days of travel – once you’ve kept an accounting for a while you’ll get a good idea of how much you spend on an average day. This is helpful when considering larger purchases. “Is having this camera lens worth ten days less of travel?” Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
    • Just get the soup – I love good food and eating out. Part of why I choose to stay in my car rather than hotels/hostels is so I can afford to try out new restaurants while I’m traveling. That said, when you go to a restaurant ask yourself why you’re there. If it’s for the company or a chance to people-watch then don’t feel you need a full meal to get the most out of the experience. In college when my friends went out to “nice” restaurants (by college standards) my roommate and I would split a meal. We’d have just as much fun as everyone else, but spent half as much and didn’t have a box of leftovers turning into a science project in our fridge a week later.
    • Give away money — I feel that as soon as I can’t afford to give money to charities and non-profit organizations it’s a sign that I can’t actually afford to travel. I pick a different place each month, usually something related to where I’m traveling. Last month I spent two weeks in Yellowstone National Park so I made a donation and became a member of the Yellowstone Association. Giving away money helps me keep in mind that it’s not about traveling as cheaply as is possible. It’s about traveling as cheaply as is enjoyable.

    When traveling, things are constantly hectic and changing. Having a system that helps keep finances under control is one of the best things you can do to keep from stressing out and enjoy your travels. Find a system that works for you and keep with it.

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    by Jessica Spaulding

    Slow down and see more

    July 23, 2008 in Travel

    When I first enter Yellowstone National Park I’m overwhelmed by the crowds around the Old Faithful geyser. The huge parking lot is packed and there’s a number of people wandering around just trying to remember where they’d parked.

    I’m tempted to drive away and find a less populated area of Yellowstone, but since I’ve come all the way I figure I’d better go and see Old Faithful erupt first. After all, it’s the must-see sight of the park. Can’t come all the way to Yellowstone and not go see it, right?

    The area is so full of gift shops and restaurants that I get lost trying to find Old Faithful. When I do I sit and listen to the families arguing next to me. Kids are yelling at parents and parents at kids. The man next to me is nearly furious that the geyser is three minutes “late.” Suddenly, I realize I’ve become a Tourist. Someone who is shuffling from one “must-see” sight to another without really getting to know the area they’re visiting. I’m waiting for Old Faithful because that’s what you’re supposed to do in Yellowstone.

    I wait anyway. I take the required pictures and get out of there. As I expected, I do not need to go far to find a much calmer place away from the Tourists. Up the road there’s a basin of smaller lesser-known geysers next to the river. There’s fewer people and they’re relaxing in the afternoon sun, playing in the river, and wandering around the boardwalk between the geysers.

    This is more like it. Here’s a place I can soak up the atmosphere of Yellowstone without having it spoon fed to me in brochures. A couple hours in the shade near the river and I’m feeling better. I head back to the Old Faithful visitor’s center for a map and by now the Tourists have checked Old Faithful off their lists and left for the day. The geyser is steaming against a pink sky and when it goes off later in the evening I’m one of only about twenty people watching.

    I spend the next morning waiting for nearby Grand Geyser. It has a four-hour window but I’m not feeling rushed to get to the next thing on the list. I’m too busy chatting with other visitors and getting suggestions about lesser-known sights to visit when I make it over to their part of the world. I get to know some of the Geyser Gazers who spend their summers here. They tell me all about Grand Geyser and what signals that it’s about to go off. When it does 2.5 hours later, it’s amazing and I am hooked. Old Faithful has nothing on it. I come back when it erupts that evening and this time I’m the one who can tell other people what to watch for. I no longer feel like a mindless Tourist, but an explorer. I’m interacting with my surroundings, and learning more than just what’s on the signs. I’m sort of disappointed when Grand Geyser erupts at the beginning of its four-hour window because I haven’t gotten to know all the people around me yet.

    Sure, you could rush around, travel with a checklist of the must-see spots trying to visit as many as possible. I’m sure there’s something to be said for it, but I won’t be the one to say it. I’ll speak instead for slow travel and spending extra time in a place you like more than you expected. You might see more things if you keep a checklist, but you remember more if you don’t.

    Hints and tips

    • Don’t over-plan your trips so you’re hurrying from one attraction to the next.
    • If you’re in a crowded tourist destination where everyone’s rushing around, take a breath, slow down.
    • Visit some of the lesser-known attractions nearby and come back to the blockbuster sights later.
    • Talk to both the other visitors and the locals: more than anything else it will be the people you meet who make your experiences memorable.
    • Most importantly, be willing to change your plans if you find a place or people that have struck your fancy.

    It’s been five days now and I still haven’t left the geyser region of the park. Once I took time to get to know the area it became more than just a checkbox on the Tourist’s must-see list.

    I’m probably going to have to change my plans and save Glacier National Park for another trip if I want to give it and the rest of Yellowstone the time they deserve before I head back to The Job. Soon I’ll explore the other sections of the park, but first, I think I’ll go see who’s out waiting for Grand Geyser to erupt tonight.

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    by Jessica Spaulding

    So where do you park?

    June 18, 2008 in Van dwelling

    So where do you park?

    This is the question I get asked most often after “Where do you shower?”

    The showering question I’ve answered in a post on my website, so I’ll direct you there in case you’re interested in ideas for keeping clean while living in a car.

    It’s hard to give general advice on where to park because there are so many factors to take into account. Most important is finding a place you feel comfortable with. Below is a fairly general list of places I’ve parked, both while traveling and while staying put.

    Campgrounds

    These are great if you’re just getting used to the idea of sleeping in your car. When I first tried living in my car I drove 40-60 minutes each night to stay at one of the few campgrounds in the LA area. (I know, sort of defeated the non-commuting advantage of living in a car.) It took me a while before I felt comfortable sleeping “out in the open”, and it wasn’t until I grew frustrated with the drive that I started trying out some places in town.

    While traveling, campgrounds are great. You have a chance to relax and meet other people. You can do some cooking (it’s hard to pull out the campstove in the grocery store parking lot and still be stealthy) and of course, many campgrounds have showers. Always a nice bonus.

    Sunrise at the Salton Sea as seen from my campgroundI have a tendency to look at the cost of the campground and wonder if I’d rather have that money the next day to discover a new museum or restaurant instead. Still, I like campgrounds. They force me to take a day off from traveling and site-seeing.

    Walmarts and grocery stores

    This is my favorite type of parking spot when on the road, especially if they’re 24-hour stores. Easy to find and easy to blend in. Most Walmarts allow people to stay overnight (not all, but when they don’t it’s usually a city law and it’s mostly to stop the RVers). Even if they’re not 24-hour stores there are usually cars there overnight from the people who work the graveyard shift stocking the shelves. Hospital parking lots also seem to be a favorite among the vandwelling community. I’ve stayed in them but I am not a big fan myself, though I couldn’t tell you what exactly about them makes me uncomfortable. Maybe it’s just security patrolling ever 3 minutes. That will depend on the hospital, I suppose.

    Truckstops

    Great for the safety and access to facilities, but usually very loud. That being said, if you drive around the area a bit you’ll often find a quieter spot away from the buildings where there are a couple of trucks parked. I love finding the truckers. They’re easy to spot since the trucks are big (and the truckers don’t go far off the main roads). I can be pretty certain wherever there’s a number of them gathered it means the spot has already been established as a good place to catch some sleep by both the truckers and the police. I don’t like being parked off by myself since I feel like I’ve then made myself a target. If I park near the truckers then I feel comfortable in that I’m neither going to be woken up by the police nor attacked by crazy people. Just, as my mom says, by crazy truckers.

    Rest stops and vista points

    Rest stops are great though sometimes loud/busy. Vista points are usually quieter and darker which is nice. If I’m the only car there I will sometimes be concerned, but usually I’m a fan of rest stops and vista points. Parking at a vista point also guarantees a great view in the morning.

    Residential streets

    These can be tricky and each one should be taken on a case-by-case basis. Make sure you don’t need a special parking pass to park there overnight then decide how you feel about it. The main question you need to ask yourself is if it’s the sort of place where the neighbors are going to notice a new car. Don’t get there too early. Don’t stay too late.

    Main commercial streets

    Busy, but again, if there are other cars around you’re not going to stand out. Just make sure you follow all the parking regulations. Many places don’t allow parking between 2am and 5am or have some similar rule.

    The view in the morning from a spot in Anza-Borrego State park where I boondocked for a night.

    Country roads and back woods

    To be honest, it bothers me to park in the middle of nowhere, or on a turnout of a country road. I don’t like standing out and a car near the road is likely to be noticed. On the other hand, I don’t like going into the woods because even though I’m less likely to be noticed I feel like I’m more likely to be hassled if I am. It’s perhaps an unfounded fear, and I will park on the turnout of a country road if I can’t find another place, but I’m not a fan of them. I know other vandwellers (both male and female) who like finding a spot out in the woods. Maybe it’s something I’ll get used to, but you just have to go with what’s comfortable for you.

    As you can tell there isn’t really one great all-purpose spot to park. Each place you travel is going to have a whole different set of situations and it’s really up to you to try out different places and find out what you prefer. I’ve also been asked, “What if you’re parked in a bad neighborhood? Don’t you get scared?” Except that I don’t park in bad neighborhoods. The best thing about traveling and sleeping in a car is the mobility. If you don’t like where you are then keep driving. There’s plenty of good places out there.

    As for me, I spent the last weekend moving from my van into a Toyota Prius. I’ll be spending some of my gas savings on campgrounds more often (more like once a week rather than once a month). I’m trying to get myself to slow down more as I travel. When you live in a car it’s nice to have a small plot of land, even if it’s only for a night and it only has a picnic table and a fire pit.

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    by Jessica Spaulding

    The Evolution of a Vandweller

    May 21, 2008 in Van dwelling

    “You’re the most bizarre volunteer we have.”

    “Really?”I asked. Connie was the volunteer coordinator at KCRW, a radio station in Los Angeles, so I suppose she would know, but having met many of the other volunteers, I had my doubts.

    “Yeah. Because you come in here and you look all normal, but you drive up from San Diego and you’re living in your car. And it’s all so you can volunteer here!”

    She did have a point. I drove back to San Diego while I was volunteering at KCRW because I had a job there. The job was boring and temporary but it paid really well and I wanted to milk it for as long as possible. So I spent half the week in San Diego, living at my parents’ and then half the week in Los Angeles, living in my car.

    “What about ___, and ___?”I named a couple of volunteers I felt were more bizarre than me.
    You come in here and you look all normal, but you drive up from San Diego and you’re living in your car.“Well, yeah, but I had to let them go.”
    “Stalking the DJs?”
    She paused a moment. “Pretty much.”
    “Am I so bizarre that you’re going to have to fire me?”
    “No, you’re not dangerous-bizarre. Just bizarre-bizarre. C’mon, living in your car? You’re definitely the most bizarre person here.”
    “So am I the cut-off point? Any volunteer more bizarre than me has to go?”I kind of liked that idea.
    “Yeah. That sounds about right.”

    That conversation took place a little more than 4 years ago. It was really the first time I started considering that perhaps my approach to breaking into radio was coming off as a bit … well, bizarre.

    Admittedly, this life took a bit of getting used to: I had to find safe places to stay at night and cool places to stay during the summer days — but it was free, and that mattered most. And it was only for three nights a week. Getting an apartment for three nights a week was silly, and staying in a hotel would cost just as much. Sleeping in the car, either at campgrounds or in grocery store parking lots seemed the obvious option.

    Obvious to me, at least. Connie’s declaration of my bizarreness was my first hint that perhaps other people didn’t see it that way.

    Eventually, I moved up to Los Angeles and started getting jobs in radio that actually paid. I rented one cheap apartment (at least cheap for Los Angeles), and as happy as I was to finally have an apartment I began wondering if it was worth it.

    I began reading stories about people who lived full-time in their cars, vans or RVs. I interviewed a friend of a friend who had lived in his car for two years, not because he didn’t have the money for an apartment, but because he didn’t think any apartment was worth the money it cost in Los Angeles.

    A year and a half later I moved to an apartment with a 10-minute commute and a great roommate, but it cost $900 a month in rent (and yes, that was just my share, and yes, that was cheap for the area). During the three weeks between moving out of the first apartment and then into the second I tried out living in my car again.

    Jessica's backyard on the indie travel podcastUp to that point I’d lived in my car for three months and had no problems, but it was only for three days a week. The rest of the week I spent at my parents’ house. I could sleep in a bed, shower whenever I wanted, and raid the pantry before taking off again for Los Angeles. What had bothered me most about living that way was not the sleeping in the car, but driving between the two cities.

    So I tried it again for three weeks while looking for a new apartment and during those three weeks I realized I was hooked. While I planned to stay in my apartment for the next year or so, I knew I’d eventually move back into my car. I’m happy to say I’ve been houseless — though certainly not homeless — since July 2007. I still work in Los Angeles radio, but only about 5 months out of the year. I live cheap and even working only 5 months of the year I’m still saving money for the time when I quit work all together and travel full-time. In the meantime, I get to spend 7 months of the year wandering around, seeing the country, visiting old friends, and meeting new people.

    Yeah, I can see how you might call that bizarre. I call it fun.

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