Carliving.info - Free information about living in cars, vans and campervans.

Living in a car.

Living in a car just is not easy. Cars simply are not designed to be lived in. You can do it, but it will not be a normal life. If you are living in your car you can be pretty sure that it is because you don't have much choice in it. Don't despair though, you can live in your car, you will just have to make quite a lot of adjustments.

Your car can provide you with a safe and secure place to sleep. It can provide you with electricity. It can even provide you with hot water and a way to cook your food.

Advantages:

Cost is very cheap to buy.
A car can blend in fairly easy.
A car has good fuel consumption.
It is easy to park.
You may already own a car.
If you hold down a job it won't look out of place, provided you can stow your stuff inside of it.
If it is a station wagon there may be room to stretch out in the back.
If it is a big car, you might have room for yourself and your stuff.
May be cheaper rate to stay at caravan parks.
You can tow a trailer for storage or tow a caravan.

Disadvantages:

There is not much room in cars.
You will probably not be able to stretch out and sleep. This can be very uncomfortable.
There will be limited space.
Cars can get hot in summer and cold in winter. But this is common with all vehicles.
Privacy will be an issue.
Going to the toilet or washing in one will be difficult.
Cooking in one will be difficult.

Conclusion:

Living in a car will be hard. The lack of privacy and inability to really sleep laying down will be hard. Since you probably own a car it may be all you have. But if you can trade it for a van or a camper your life is going to be so much better. Definitely good fuel economy. I cold imagine wanting more space though. Camping in a tent beside the car on week ends in the bush or a caravan park would definitely be an option for me.

© 2007 Romana S. This text is copyright. The ideas and concepts are not. Feel free to link to it, but if you want to put it on another web site ask for permission to do so in the forum. Not for release on commercial web sites or Wikipedia or Wikibooks.

Main