Are You Car Camping by Choice or Out of Circumstances?

Not everyone chooses this life, that much is painfully obvious to many of us car dwelling brothers and sisters out there. There are those of us like myself that yearn for the freedom that accompanies living out of your vehicle, especially as you travel around from place to place and see more of the world as you do so. If your financial situation allows for you live a nomadic car camping life, then that’s a truly divine way of life.

But if you’re unlucky enough to be forced into this situation because of circumstances that are out of your control, there are ways to cope with car living to make it an overall good experience; more good than bad at least is what we aim for. Many people are simply not built for living out of their car and it’ll be much harder on them than people who can handle this extremely simple lifestyle that is also restrictive in many ways.

I see some people over on the Urbancarliving subreddit who glamorize the car dwelling life and talk about everything related to it as if it’s the best thing in the world. In addition to that, I’ve seen some car campers try to minimize the struggles of those who are living out of their car for reasons not in their control. Just because you can live just fine off beans and oats doesn’t mean that someone else takes enjoyment in living the same way.

It totally is a great old time for some of us, but to the eyes and ears of the situational car dweller this can come off as privileged and a bit disrespectful. To risk coming off as a snowflake, that’s really as far as I’d go into that matter.

I started car dwelling because the situation of living out of my car was miles better than my other situation. I wasn’t going to be able to pay rent for the next month, and I was an alcoholic whose place had become a cockroach petting zoo because of the mess. I eventually discovered the idea of car camping, and knowing that I needed to make a massive change at this point in my life, just went with it. This may be similar to some of your situations, even.

I want to point out these two different backgrounds of car dwellers and it’s something that is interesting to be aware of. It is also interesting to think about the possible reasons that one might choose this life purposefully when they could otherwise afford to live in a place with a roof over their heads.

What Are The Main Benefits to Living in Your Car

The most obvious and common reason that a person may choose to live out of their car is to save money on rent or mortgage payments. With many one bedroom apartments costing you $2,000 or more to rent nowadays, the idea of saying screw that and roughing it for a while in your car can sound mighty appealing. Instead of slaving away at work all day and forking over half of your paycheck every month to someone simply to keep a roof over your head, it might actually be a good idea to move into your car. This was one of the main reasons that I started this journey, because being able to pocket that money instead of living paycheck to paycheck was much needed for my situation. It’s also a good way to save up for a down payment on an actual house that you one day want to buy. At that point, you could say goodbye to Walmart parking lots and hello to fresh linens.

Make sure that if you go into this with the main goal of saving money on rent, know that there are still a few expenses that come with dwelling in your car; it’s not free of its own challenges and financial hurdles. I’m not going to go in detail about all of the expenses of car dwelling because it could be a whole post in and of itself, which I’ll probably write up in the next couple days.

Additionally, it’s easy to fall into the trap of blowing all of your money on food because it’s a lot more difficult to cook and prepare food while doing this. You may stop for fast food a couple times a day or buy pre-made sandwiches at the grocery store etc., and the end of the month arrives and you spent $650 on food! You don’t have to eat like that, there are ways to eat cheaply! At that point, why are you even trying to save money on housing?

If you keep the spending down, then it’s pretty easy to save money and live in your car for under $1,000 a month. That includes food, insurance, cell phone bill, gas, and miscellaneous purchases. Of course, some people have their own situational bills such as heavy credit card debt, child support, medical bills, etc., but not having to pay rent and utilities is a huge load off your shoulders.

Another reason that we choose the car dwelling life is the freedom that comes with it. I’m sure almost everyone has dreamed of what it would be like to be a vagabond at some point? Travelling around to wherever the wind takes you, without caring much about the mundane happenings of the world. This is similar to the feeling that you can get when you move out of your stereotypical apartment and get into the mindset of someone who car camps.

By the way, you don’t have to think of yourself as a lowly dirty car dweller. Car camping is a legitimate hobby and passion that many people have, so just think of yourself as someone who loves to camp out of your portable tent, which just happens to be your vehicle. There are a lot of downsides that also come with this “freedom” that I’ll get into further down in this post.

I’d say that another great benefit that comes with living out of your car is the minimalist lifestyle that one is basically forced to adopt while doing so. You have to discard many of your old possessions and large objects before moving into your car for obvious reasons. Unless you’re living out of a school bus, you probably won’t be able to take your entertainment center and refrigerator with you on this journey. And let’s face it, we don’t truly need ninety percent of the things that we keep in our houses anyway so it’s not all that bad.

You could take to Craigslist and eBay to sell many of your extra possessions in the weeks leading up to your departure if you have no place to store them. Extra money into your emergency fund will save you so much stress later on and you’ll absolutely thank yourself for it. I say that this is a benefit because there’s a lot of charm to only keeping around the things that are actually of importance to you. It’s a huge burden off of our brains when things are kept simple and easy to navigate.

I wouldn’t recommend letting your car situation turn into a car hoarding situation, I have no idea how some people can live like that with things just stuffed into their dashboard and the floors covered with junk. I’ve been there and done that in an apartment and never again will I live like I don’t care.

The Disadvantages to Living in Your Car

What are some of the things that suck about living in your car? There’s quite a few of them, so while it may be worth it for some of us to choose this lifestyle, it is not without it’s headaches.

The uncertainty of a secure place to sleep is a big one that many of us worry about even as veteran car dwellers. As time goes on, you figure out the best spots where you’re less likely to be disturbed but unless you’re parked on private property that you have permission to be on, you always run the risk of being told to leave or getting a visit from the cops. It’s hit or miss with the cops, some of them will look at you like a piece of gum underneath the table and some will sympathize with your situation and politely have you leave while maybe even giving you some pointers along the way. Either way, you want to avoid law enforcement at all costs as someone without a permanent address.

When you take up this life of car camping, whether by choice or other circumstances, you run into the issue of living in a cramped space. This is really a given, and the small space doesn’t bother some people, myself included. I don’t need much space at all, as long as I can lean back and read a book or watch videos on my phone then all is good.

It definitely helps to drive to places where you can stretch your legs during the day like parks and the gym. You might be surprised at how many people who do this stuff spend almost all of their free time all cooped up in their car. If you take that route, you can expect to take a hit to your mental health after a while. It helps to get out there into the world and live a little, whether your down on your luck or not.

We don’t have easy access to a bathroom to have a comfortable poop or to freshen ourselves up as easily as it usually is. The bathroom situation of course differs depending on whether you’re male or female, but it’s definitely an annoying task for all of us who car camp. What I do about having to pee as a man is to simply go in a bottle if I’m not near a convenient bathroom. I personally don’t find it disgusting to pee in a bottle as many others do; I then dispose of the pee later that day or even the next day in a suitable place.

Pooping is more challenging but I prefer to use a public bathroom but if that’s not possible I have myself a bucket situation with a disposable bag attached to the inside of it. Females can do similar things but peeing is a bit more difficult, they actually make a funnel and tube situation for this called a Peewee, which is what my girlfriend uses.

This life is more dangerous than if you had the safety of a normal home around you. You might find that bad things are more prone to happening to you when you aren’t surrounded by the four protective walls of a fixed residence. It is definitely a much higher risk to your safety if you end up living out of your car. There are piece of crap human beings who like to break into cars or cause trouble for you if they find out that you live inside of your car.

For the most part, car dwelling relatively safe, especially if we’re comparing it to living on the actual streets. Even your vehicle can offer a good amount of protection behind your walls and windows, and most people are not messing around with other people’s cars.

Still, one has to take measures to become as stealthy as possible when car camping and not leave valuable items (or any items at all) visible to the outside public. Just stay as low key as possible and much less trouble will come to find you. I’ve had multiple unpleasant and annoying interactions when chilling in a parking lot with my window down because of the heat and not wanting to waste gas.

People sometimes take my window down as a premium invitation to come and speak to me about whatever the heck it is that they want, whether it’s money or wanting to get in and get a ride to somewhere. Yeah, don’t let a random stranger into your home right off the street.

Some say that it’s harder to stay clean and hygienic while being a car liver but I personally haven’t had that be the case. If you get yourself a Planet Fitness membership for fifteen bucks then you can get shower access and bathroom access. There is a planet fitness in most medium sized to large city. And well, if you don’t have a Planet Fitness or another affordable gym membership in your area, then I do imagine that cleanliness would be more of an issue. But it’s really not hard to stop by the gym every other day and clean yourself up real good, and if you actually use the equipment as well then that’s even better.

It helps to not worry about what others think of you but many of us receive negative judgements from other fellow human beings by living out of your car. Being a car dweller can hurt your reputation in your workplace relationships, familial relationships, and even friendships. One should really not place any importance of how other people view you and rather focus on the things that matter, but for many of us that is easier said than done. I’m just pointing out that there are some closed minded people out there who may look down upon you for it.

Conclusion

With all that being said, my point here is to try to help spread the word that not every one does this out of some grand desire to free ourselves from the shackles of society and live a free life. I find it a bit strange to see so many people glorifying the act of living out of your car. It can be an easy-going years long adventure of relaxation for some rare people but for you average Joe, it sucks.

What are your thoughts on people’s different reasons for being a car dweller, do you think it’s worth mentioning? Do people’s reasons even matter? To be honest, I don’t think that it matters all that much. But it definitely does do to make yourself aware of the different pushes and pulls of the car dwelling life. The more you know before going into it willingly, or because this harsh society has pushed you down, the better.