Car Living

So what’s it like living in your car? Its not easy and definitely not for everyone. Luckily I have a SUV so there it a bit of room to sleep in at night but not as much as the VW vans I see many people living in. I wish I could afford to get one myself the newer ones are pretty nice.

The toughest thing about living in my car is you have no bathroom. Which makes it very difficult to keep clean and you have to use public restrooms thing, which took me some time to get used to.

I found a community gym here in Cincinnati that have showers so I lucked out there. They also give me a chance to work out a little to keep me from getting too soft. I think its very important to stay in shape when your homeless because you need to stay healthy because I just cant afford to get sick or injured.

I spend a lot of time in coffee shops and the library. Because I have a laptop I can get any work that I might need to do done and it’s a great source of entertainment for hot days like today when its just too dam hot outside. The problem with having a laptop tho is that it pretty much needs to go everywhere I go especially when its hot out and the inside of my car can get over 100 degrees. I also have to carry around an external drive that holds most of my backups.

I try not to drive around too much because of the cost of gas. So I mostly hang out in one neighborhood. I take the bus sometimes but also walk a lot to where I need to be. Because im low on cash every cent counts and lately I’ve been trying not too spend any more that I absolutely have too. Its tough to eat on the cheap and not eat at fast food places but when your hungry there is nothing cheaper than the dollar menu at McDonalds. I also park at one of the local parks and will sit in my car and read a lot ( when its not too hot!)

Finding a place to sleep at night has always been a challenge. I try to find places that have a combination of low foot traffic, so I don’t have to worry about people seeing me and calling the cops, a safe area so I don’t get mugged, and a quiet location so I can get some sleep. I have three different locations I have been using lately, I try not to stay at one place more then two nights in a row for fear of becoming recognized.

I really need to get some window tint for my windows. I bought some do it your self stuff once but it was a complete failure trying to apply it. If I get some extra money that would definitely be something I would pay some one to do for me.

The heat this summer is really killing me, I don’t mind it too much during the day but a night it sometimes makes it impossible to sleep. I cant wait until fall….