I wouldn’t own a car I couldn’t sleep in. I once lived quite well, out of my Subaru Justy. I moved the passenger seat up all the way and flipped the back of the seat forward then I put a piece of plywood to bridge the gap between the front seat and the back seat and then put a foam pad over it all and made a comfy bed. On the other side of the car, I put an ice chest to hold my food, which doubled as a side table to put my coffee cup on. I used a small canister backpacking stove to cook on. A five gallon bucket of water with a lid and a spigot went in the back. I had a large wooden bowl to use as a sink. In the little back side pocket I kept a led head lamp and a book. My clothes were kept in a bag in front on the passenger’s side. My towel was kept hanging over the water bucket.- Make your home beautiful. I covered the cooler with a colorful small rug and had a bright bedspread from Thailand on the bed. I had lots of pillows and plenty of covers to keep me warm. When I would head for my car at the end of the work day it felt as inviting as any home. Make your home someplace with a beautiful view; even if it’s just for a night; seek out beautiful places to park your car or live. Life is full when the view is good.
- Keep your home tidy– Living in small places demands tidiness. A place for everything and everything in its place. If you don’t live by this adage your place will be cluttered and frustrating to live in. Just get in the habit of being tidy and clean up every day. Get rid of stuff you don’t need.
- Bathing. When on the road if there was a town nearby the job, I would join the health club. It was a great to be able to wake up cold and head to the hot tub before work. After work I would take a long hot shower and lie in the sauna until closing. Bathing should be done daily even if it’s very cursory. For situations where you don’t have access to a shower or even running water you can keep yourself clean indefinitely with sponge baths, if done daily. If you wait until you are really dirty a sponge bath just doesn’t feel adequate. So the trick is to bathe daily and use very little soap. Read this old Mother Earth News article about bathing when you don’t have running water. Keep clean without running water
- Toilet – (For more permanent dwellings.) For a toilet, I use a five gallon bucket with a toilet seat lid called a Luggable Loo
I put some sawdust, bark, or duff in the
bottom of the bucket and add a cup more after ever use. When it is full I dump it in a pile outside, cover with pine needles, dead vegetation, or straw. Then I rinse out the bucket and dump the water on top of the pile. I only need to empty it about once or twice a week. It is supposed to make good compost that is safe for food crops. I read about this method in the Humanure Handbook - Clothes washing– When on the road I would have 2 sets of clothes: My work clothes; my non-work clothes. Every day I wore the same work clothes then took a shower at the health club and changed into my nonwork clothes. At the end of the week I would change into my raingear and wash both sets at the laundry mat. When living in a more permanent situation as in my cabin, I use my bathing water to wash out my underwear and socks as needed. Once a week I bathe in an 11 gallon wash tub. After my bath I put my clothes in and let them soak overnight. Every once in a while I stomp on them like I was crushing grapes with my feet. In the morning I wring them out and hang them up to dry. I usually wear the same clothes all week.
