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by Jessica Spaulding

Staying warm, keeping cool

September 7, 2009 in Van dwelling

Traveling by car is a happy medium as far as exposure to the elements is concerned. When parked at a campground nature is a little closer than sleeping in a building, but unlike sleeping in a tent there’s a bit more control over how close it can get. Here are some tips on keeping the temperature comfortable.

In cold weather

  • Curtains help keep the heat in as well as out. Window glass is a great transmitter of heat, so having relatively thick curtains (try a heavy felt) will keep the car from losing heat. I spent a week one winter freezing my butt off in Albuquerque where the temperature was in the low 20s (Fahrenheit). The next winter I’d finally gotten around to putting in curtains. Driving through Idaho the night temperatures were 0-10 degrees, and while I wouldn’t say the van was toasty, at least I didn’t wake up shivering in the middle of the night.
  • Cooler temperatures just make the blankets cozier. Sometimes it’s too much trouble to try to keep the whole inside of the car warm, so get a nice fluffy blanket or sleeping bag and sleep in your sweats. (Don’t forget a hat. Most of your heat will be lost through your head.)
  • Never underestimate the power of the sun. It may be your enemy in the summer, but that greenhouse effect is a big help in the winter. Park so the windshield gets direct sun to take advantage of it. At night, park the car so the morning sun will hit it full on; this gives the car a bit of time to heat up before you crawl out from under your cozy covers.

    • sunrise-auckland-harbour-bridge

  • There are mugs and pots that plug into the cigarette lighter. Hang out at your campground enjoying the weather without having to get out to light up a propane campstove and cook your dinner. In cold weather I’ve found the mugs to be especially nice; I always have cup of tea going. Boil some water and heat up your bed with a hot water bottle.
  • If you’re planning on spending a lot of time in the car in cold weather, and your vehicle has the space for it, consider installing a “house battery.” This is a second battery that also charges off the engine but can be used to run a heater (or AC, for that matter) without draining the battery that starts the car.

In hot weather

  • Tinted windows and curtains will be your best friend in hot weather. The car becomes a greenhouse in the sun. Keep your curtains closed and get a sunshade for the windshield.
  • Shade, shade, shade. Same idea as the curtains. If the sunlight can’t get in, it can’t heat up the car. It’s amazing what a difference parking under a tree can make.
  • For keeping food cool consider a mini fridge that plugs into the cigarette lighter or a cooler with dry ice. Dry ice is available at many ice cream shops – if you use it, make sure to keep the car ventilated.
  • If you’re finding it too hot to sleep try draping a wet towel over your legs. It may take a bit of getting used to, but it works.

Final thoughts

When the weather gets too bad, leave.

Don’t let bad weather ruin a trip – plan activities around it. Take advantage of the snow and go skiing. If it’s too hot, lather up with sunscreen and float down a river in an inner tube. Spend time checking out museums or dawdle at the lunch counter chatting up the locals.

When the weather gets too bad, leave. One of the best things about traveling by car is the mobility. Follow the snowbirds and travel south for the winter then head back north for the summers. (Opposite for those south of the equator, of course!)

In fact, you may not even have to drive far to find comfort. A small change in elevation can make a huge difference. If the desert is too hot check out the mountains nearby.

Now get out there and have a fabulous road trip no matter what the weather is doing!

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by Jessica Spaulding

US travel: car or backpack?

July 29, 2009 in United States of America, Van dwelling

Short answer: It depends.

There is never one “best way” to travel. It all depends on where you want to go, how long you have and on your personal preferences. Here are some things to consider while you’re planning long-term travel in the US and trying to decide how to get around.

Note: For the purposes of this article I consider “travel by car” to involve sleeping in your vehicle for the majority of the trip. There’s a lot of resources about it on the web, (my website is A Year in a Car.) Try searching for vandwelling, car living, or urban camping. More information can also be found in previous ITP articles.

Logistics

If you’re interested in a trip that hops from one city to another, public transportation between the cities is going to be easy and driving between them is going to be long and boring. (Though there’s nothing like driving all day to put the map into perspective.) Yes, even Los Angeles, the birthplace of car culture, has good public transportation. Driving around an unknown city and getting lost or stuck in rush hour will definitely cut down on the fun of the trip. Traveling between cities is much more fun if you don’t have to do the driving.

If you dont feel like hiking in, the best way to reach Olympic National Park is by car.

Nearby Seattle has excellent public transportation, but If you don't feel like hiking in, the easiest way to reach Olympic National Park is by car.

While public transportation in and between cities is easy in the US, most of the country isn’t urban. Travel by car will be the easier option if you’re visiting Carlbad Caverns in New Mexico, Point Reyes in California, Zion or Bryce National Parks in Utah, or any of the other approximately fifty million other cool spots in the US. If you have two or more people to share the driving that’s even better. You can split the cost of gas and pay for your own tickets.

Traveling by car also means you don’t need to plan ahead so much. You have no timetables to keep track of. If your car is your hotel there are no reservations to make. You can stay easily stay longer in a place if you like it or leave earlier if find you don’t.

Money

Assuming you use your car as your accommodation, travel by car is significantly cheaper. The cost of gas may be more than the cost of public transportation but cutting the cost of hostels and hotels out of the equation more than makes up for it. Traveling by car also makes it easier to adjust your spending to fit your budget. Your main fixed costs become gas and food, both of which can be easily cut by staying put exploring an area more deeply. Get a campstove and buy more food at grocery stores than at restaurants.

The social scene

For ease of meeting people, backpacking and hostels has got vandwelling beat, hands down. Not that it’s not easy to meet people while living in a vehicle, but while staying in hostels it’s practically forced upon you. If you’re a shy person hostels are a great way to break out of your shell. If you prefer being able to easily have alone-time then a car is great. For more tips on meeting people outside of hostels while traveling check out this previous ITP Article.

Safety and comfort

After two years of living on the road I’ll fully defend the idea that living in a car is just as safe (if not more so) than backpacking, for both your own personal safety and your property.

Personally, I prefer sleeping in my own bed each night. I like not being bothered by someone snoring or stumbling into the room at 3am. The car can sometimes feel like tight quarters, but they’re my quarters and I don’t have to share with anyone.

There is something very elegant about living out of a backpack.

There is something very elegant about living out of a backpack. It’s a nod to simplicity to know that everything you need you can carry in your best backpack. But if you want to be lazy about the planning, if you want to carry enough food and water so that you can randomly boondock in the woods for a week, or if you’re a voracious reader, photographer, obsessive crafter it’s nice to have the extra space for luxury items.

What works best for you is going to depend on your situation and the kind of trip you want to take. If you live in Los Angeles and want to spend one month in Boston driving there is not a good idea. But if you live in Los Angeles and have a month to travel around northern California then taking a car is your best bet.

I highly recommend trying out both on short trips (or better yet, try both on long trips). There is no “right” way to travel and the only wrong way to travel is not to do it.

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by Jessica Spaulding

Home Sweet Home, the next steps

December 24, 2008 in Van dwelling

My article last month covered basic things you can do to a vehicle to make it comfortable for living in. These things focused on privacy, which is important if you plan on urban, or stealth, camping. In this month’s article I’ll go through some things to make your vehicle more comfortable to live in. There’s a whole range of things you can do, it all depends on how much time and effort you want to put in.

Food

For some people, a camp stove and a cooler is enough, but if you don’t feel like messing around with propane canisters or worrying about stocking up on ice or dry ice then check out some of the appliances you can plug into the cigarette lighter – truck stops are a good place to find them.

Many vandwellers swear by their SmartMug, a mug that plugs into the cigarette lighter. I found it to be good for tea, but slow and not hot enough to do any real cooking. I’ve been very happy with my RoadPro water heater. It’s not as fast as a camp stove, but I can cook ramen noodles or canned soup and don’t need to find a place outside to set up the stove or buy new propane canisters. RoadPro makes a lot of 12-volt appliances, I’m considering their frying pan.

Electricity

Speaking of things you can plug into your cigarette lighter, an inverter creates a regular plug to charge your electronics as you drive. If you’re especially heavy on the electronics (for example, if you have a TV or use your computer for hours every day) then consider adding a “house battery”. This is a second car battery that recharges while you drive, but is hooked up to the cab of your car. This way you don’t need to worry about draining the battery that starts the engine.

If you plan on staying put for long periods of time and don’t want to run your engine to recharge your batteries think about installing solar panels. There are plenty of kits and information for RVers and if your vehicle has a decent-sized roof you can make something work for you.

Showering/bathing

Portable solar showers, spray bottles, baby wipes, and of course, rivers and lakes are all ways of keeping clean on the road.

Do some searching on the internet and you’ll find that there’s just as many opinions on showering as there are vandwellers. Many, like me, are happy to pay for a gym membership for regular bathing, and figure out other solutions as necessary. However, browse any camping (or vandwelling) website and you’ll find many other ideas. Portable solar showers, spray bottles, baby wipes, and of course, rivers and lakes are all ways of keeping clean on the road. It’s up to you to determine what works best for you. I’ve written a post on my website about where I find showers while traveling.

Heating and cooling

Having curtains in the back is surprisingly helpful for both heating and cooling. I found that while I was freezing while sleeping at 24°F, a few months later (after I’d installed curtains on the back windows) I felt warmer in 10°F weather — it was still chilly, but not too bad.

Having no schedule, I find it easiest to travel like a snowbird, heading north for the summer and south for the winter. If you don’t want to be ruled by the seasons you can put in vents and fans for the summer and a heating system for the winter. Again, there are as many different ideas as there are inventive vandwellers and a lot of what’s possible will depend on what type of vehicle you have.

One final note

I recommend living in your vehicle for at least a week or two before investing much time or money beyond the basics covered in last month’s article. This gives you a chance to see what is important to you, and what will be worth the time and money you have to invest in upgrading your vehicle.

Also, think about where you prefer to travel, and how long you’ll stay in one place. This will help you determine whether a purchase is really necessary. For instance, I kept a cooler for a few months before I decided I didn’t really need to bother. My desire for food that needs to be kept cold isn’t strong enough to justify the space it takes up in my Prius, and I’m usually close enough to a store that I can buy what I want, when I want it.

If you’ve lived in a vehicle and have ideas I’ve left out, or are thinking about trying it and have a question, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear what you’re thinking about.

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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

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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Avatar of Jessica Spaulding

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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