Living In My Car

Continuing my theme of living in my car, here is a video documenting the detailed configuration of how I transformed my 2011 Honda Fit to become my sleeping quarters for 3 weeks in 2017. Check out my trip video, if you haven’t seen the trip that inspired this video!

For accommodations, I wanted to experiment. I wanted to see how I would enjoy living in my car for the trip. This was good practice for the #vanlife! The goal was to be simple and stealthy.

A quick search on YouTube, I found out that the Honda Fit was a perfect car to do it in. The rear seats fold flat through to the back of the car. You then take the headrest off the front chairs and it reclines 180 degrees on top of the rear. I picked up a small 6″ mattress which filled out the rest of the cargo area for me to sleep in.

For privacy, I bought a roll of Reflectix, cut out patterns of every window of the car with the exception of the front windshield and glued black fabric to it. The fabric was secured on the back using aluminum foil tape. A poor choice as I found out through wear and tear, the tape comes undone. I think I’m going to have to sew it on somehow. These worked great when I was parked in quiet suburban neighborhoods or Walmart parking lots.

I was never discovered while I was using these panels and it provided some amount of insulation although I can’t confirm scientifically (with a thermometer).

Of course, I didn’t go at this alone. I got to visit friends along the way as I stayed with folks in Ithaca, Boston, New York City, and Knoxville. I’d even had the opportunity to ride around some of these great cities since I had my bike with me.

I think I’ve already made up my mind. I am definitely going to be living in a vehicle, perhaps my Honda Fit or not. My dream is to convert a cargo van and live it in part-time from the Spring to the end of Fall every year and travel around the country while still be able to make a living on the road. I have no doubt that this will happen. The question is, when will it happen? I’m hoping sooner than later.

Have you tried living out of your car before? If so, let us know your experiences. It is always great to hear from people who have similar interests. I suppose we can chalk that up to an extreme case of wanderlust. If you read enough of my posts or watch enough of my blogs, you can probably figure out that I have it pretty bad.

Is there a cure for it? Probably not. Do I want to be cured of it? Probably not as well. I suppose this is a good problem to have. I’m probably making up for lost time when I was building up my career prior to 2013. All I know is that I am grateful to have these opportunities to share with you, my readers and viewers.

Keep those wheels rolling whether it be your bike or your car! Be safe out there.