Living in a Van

petsounds — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 12:59:41 -0800

How feasible is it to live in a van? I want to quit my job and travel around living in a van. I like sleeping in enclosed spaces. i dont like material possesions.. i like simlicity and freedom- the idea of just writing and reading all day without owing my time to anyone. I want to live cheaply. I would sleep in the van at night but i wouldnt really spend much time in it. I would park it either in or near a city or on the outskirts. During the day Id be in the public library (where there are public restrooms). Im from the cold northeast so I want to take my van south where the are warm cities, maybe arizona or southern california. I dont want to freeze at night when im sleeping in my van. The city would need to have good libraries. I would park my van in empty parking lots or industrial lots or whatever i could find, so it would need to be inconspicuous and blend in so I wont get bothered by cops. I am thinking either a dodge 1500 or a chevy express van because they are both cheap and look like the typical white service van. I dont care about having windows or much space. all i need is a sleeping bag, pillows and lots of books. To wash clothes id take them to a laundromat and for showering i can get a gym membership. Id buy a lot of rice and dry bulk food that you can cook just with water, you can make some nice meals with a bunsen burner stove, beans, soups, noodles etc. I would get lots of batteries for reading light. Im not doing this out of desperation because i'm broke. The point is so that i can be FREE and not have expectations from anyone and to see if its possible to survive on my own and take care of myself without paying rent. I do have 40K set aside- i want to make it last as long as I can. My question is, am i crazy? has anyone else had experience living out of a van in a city? what else do i need to worry about? hearing your stories would be very helpful!

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Living in a Van