Part 1: preparation
1, find a suitable car. If the car breaks down, you can't live in it If you have enough time to find a car and foresee the difficulties in the future, you may wish to choose a van, preferably a van without a rear window. Things can be stored under the sleeper in the trunk. The trunk is ventilated by a skylight. The luggage rack at the top of the trunk can also store things. You can see the scenery by opening the skylight. For example, in Australia, an inconspicuous white Chevrolet van or Horton van is very suitable for making people invisible. It doesn't matter whether the car is new or old. As long as the repair technology is good enough, there is nothing to be afraid of living in an old car. But when the car is old, it must be well maintained, or it will be in big trouble if it breaks down at the critical moment.
2. Before moving into the car, properly handle the daily affairs that need a fixed address: rent a courier cabinet or a private mailbox (PMB), or receive mail through a courier collection point. In the United States, people rent PMB's private mailbox to receive mail, but PMB charges a lot, and some collection services need to provide an address that looks at least like a residence. In China, you can rent a courier cabinet, such as Express Easy, or receive mail through a courier collection point, such as a rookie station. Whether renting a courier cabinet or a private mailbox, or collecting mail through a courier collection point, you can meet your needs for postal addresses.
Register as a gym member. If you think the gym is too expensive, the relatively affordable way is to become a student of the local community college, so that you can use the gym of the community college for free. Some university gymnasiums are even open to the public free of charge. But you have to choose carefully, because this kind of gym is often unsafe to enter without checking your ID card.
Remember to update the original mailing address to the address of the newly rented private mailbox or courier collection point, so that you can receive the mail in time.
Rent a bank safe to store valuables.
If relatives and friends can't stay at home, or you don't want to stay at home, at least ask them if they want you to use their address to handle daily affairs that require a fixed address, such as sending and receiving emails.
3. ID card, driver's license and auto insurance documents should always be kept in the car. So you won't be in a hurry when you meet the police.
Buy a car steering wheel lock and use it if necessary! Why is the steering wheel lock so important? Because without it, your car will probably be stolen. For you, the car being stolen means the whole family being stolen. You may never see it again, and you will lose all your property and run out of water. This is as serious as someone who has a room to live in stealing the whole house, which is a matter of life and death. So, buy a car steering wheel lock! In the United States, you can buy a car steering wheel lock for tens of dollars.
Part two: park your car in a safe and inconspicuous place.
1. Park your car in a safe and inconspicuous place. If there is a parking space in the property under the name of relatives and friends, ask them if they can allow you to park there. If not, see if the surrounding institutions or commercial parking lots are suitable for your current situation. For example, in the United States, Wal-Mart allows people to park overnight in its parking lot. This is not only legal, but Wal-Mart has also opened up special areas for different types of users, such as women's areas. If you are in the urban area and there is no suitable parking lot around, you can find a street that has neither sidewalks nor windows facing the street and is close to the green belt. This kind of street is very suitable for people living in cars to park. A person who is open enough to avoid good things to the maximum extent; Second, the permanent population is large, which not only ensures safety but also does not attract attention. However, parking in the parking lot of a large supermarket is more convenient and safer. For example, in the United States, Wal-Mart is not only open 24 hours, but also has public toilets. Many people who live in cars like to spend more than ten yuan to park their cars in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. It should be noted that don't always stop at the same position. In addition, every morning, the parking lot of large supermarkets is always full of people, and vehicles carrying food and goods come in and out in an endless stream. On weekdays, the parking lot of the church is always quiet and few people are there. Look around patiently, and you will find a church parking lot with plenty of parking spaces. This type of parking lot is very suitable for people living in cars. If necessary, you can ask the church for help. To live in harmony, you can even join a church. However, before telling others about your situation, make sure that person is trustworthy and willing to help you.
Although the parking lot in the industrial and commercial area is noisy during the day, it is quiet at night. It is best to choose a small parking lot near the community. This type of parking lot must be quiet at night in order not to disturb the people. You're not afraid to meet security guards in residential areas. Just tell them frankly that you just live in the car, and they usually don't give you a hard time. After all, their main duty is to ensure the safety of residential areas.
The parking lot of the university. If you are a college student, you can park your car in the parking lot of your university. If you are not a student and don't work at school, it is difficult to park in the parking lot of the university. You have to find a way to get a parking permit from the university.
You can also park your car at the campsite. However, campsites generally have time restrictions, and some campsites charge about the same as hotel rooms. In addition, some campsites also provide cheap bathing services. In the United States, some campsites in forest parks are free, but there is a time limit of 14 days.
As we all know, the dock rest area is a "free port". Considering the actual needs of fishermen and passing ships, the dock rest area will provide them with various services, such as hot shower and short-term car rental. During the peak shipping season, foreign ships and their crew will stay at the dock for several months. Like you, they are all passers-by on the dock, which invisibly provides excellent cover for you and your car. They don't know and don't want to know your story. Even if they perceive something, they won't care. After all, you and I are both "vagrants". On weekends, you might as well take a stroll at the pier. It would be great if someone wants to hire you to clean and wax the boat, because then, you can naturally get the access card of the dock rest area and the key to the shower room.
If you can't find the bathroom for a while, you can only find a nearby stream to solve the problem of washing. In addition, you need to know how to go to the toilet safely outdoors and make a simple toilet with PVC pipes. Another trick is to put deodorized alkaline water in a 20-liter covered bucket as a toilet, which can also solve the toilet problem.
Another option is to park your car in the hospital's free parking lot. If a security guard comes to ask questions, you can say that you are visiting a sick relative. It should be noted that this trick is not easy to use in Australia, because there have been cases of murdering nurses in Australia, so the local police have been extremely strict in checking people who park in hospitals. For security reasons, you are usually ordered to leave.
If you are familiar with the manager of a brand retail store or restaurant, most of them won't mind if you park your car outside their store for the night, especially if they think you will be safer outside their store at night.
You can also park your car in the hotel parking lot. In the United States, hotels or motels along the interstate allow cars to park for free until the next day's check-out time, usually 1 1 am. As long as you put the seat flat to the maximum angle, no one will find you sleeping in the car However, as soon as the check-out time arrives, you must leave this hotel and find another one.
Once you find a suitable parking place, try to arrive late at night and leave before 7 am the next day. In this case, it will basically not attract the attention of others.
2. Wear earplugs. Because noise is inevitable, sometimes you have to wear earplugs to sleep. Earplugs can minimize the impact of noise on you and make you tolerate it. For example, earplugs can effectively isolate traffic noise, bird songs, sounds made by animals, human voices and so on. But they won't ignore loud noises and door closing sounds, such as knocking on the door.
Part 3: Maintaining Hygiene
1, find a place to take a bath. In order to meet this demand, the gym seems to be the most ideal place. Taking a bath can keep your head clear and spur you to get up early. Don't be satisfied with the first gym you find. If you continue to look around, you may find a less crowded gym where you can take a bath and clean yourself up. Remember, those who have no money to exercise and are sloppy are real tramps. Don't let yourself be one of them. Don't break the jar, because once you indulge yourself, it's hard to get back on track. In difficult times, maintaining a good personal image will always make your mind positive. It's extravagant to spend money on going to the gym to solve the problem of bathing. In the United States, the price of most gyms ranges from several hundred dollars a month. This price, just taking a bath, is really outrageous. In fact, many municipal service agencies, churches and social assistance agencies have set up free bathhouses. If you just want to take a bath to keep clean and don't want to exercise, you can take a bath for free in these places instead of wasting money in the gym. Remember to wear flip-flops or wading shoes when taking a bath to avoid getting beriberi, and remember to dry the bath towel in the car.
Compared with national chain gymnasiums, community activity centers or entertainment centers with gymnasiums and toilets are more affordable. The cost of a national chain gym for one month is enough to pay the annual fee for a community activity center or entertainment center for a whole year. However, personal belongings stored in community activity centers or entertainment centers may be unsafe and easy to be stolen.
You can also find an affordable RV campsite and go there for one or two days a week. In Australia, spending the night in RV campsites is about tens to hundreds of dollars per night, which may be more expensive in the United States. In the RV campsite, you will have your own parking space, and you can enjoy the laundry service for a small amount of money. In addition, you can supplement domestic water, take a bath, and even set up your own tent. RV camps usually provide electricity. You can charge electronic equipment and use fans or electric heaters.
The following suggestions may be more expensive, but they are also an option. If you can afford it, you might as well stay in a cheap motel or hostel for one or two days a week and take a good bath there.
The swimming pool also provides bathing service. Whether the shower room there is private or not depends on whether the swimming pool is equipped with a single bathroom or a public bathhouse. If you really can't find a place to take a bath, consider wiping your body with a scented wet tissue, or simply taking a homeless bath in the public toilet, if you don't mind. You can also simply wash your hair or wipe your face in the single bathroom of local enterprises and institutions, but remember to bring a bath towel to dry your hair and washstand quickly. You can't always do this in the same place, you must change places every two or three days.
If you feel safe in the coach service station, you might as well tell the station staff that you have no place to spend the night and ask them if they can give you a coupon for the bathhouse in the station. Long-distance truck service station is also suitable for overnight parking, but it is generally noisy at night, so earplugs should be prepared.
Some toll roads will have large service areas, especially expressways, and bathhouses will be open to truck drivers free of charge. These service areas are open 24 hours a day and are very suitable for overnight parking.
Pay attention to whether the community college sports ground is equipped with a bathroom. If it is, it is also a good place to take a bath for free, because you don't have to check your identity documents often. You might as well spend some money to take a class at the community college, so as to become a legal member of the college. Not only can you learn knowledge, but you can also use all kinds of resources of the college for free, such as gym, library, WiFi, employment center and so on.
Part four: Keep a low profile
1, be careful. Keep your current predicament as secret as possible and don't let others know, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the police or the plot of criminals, thus causing unnecessary trouble. In order to be as inconspicuous as possible, you need to rotate the parking place from time to time.
When you are moving in a parked car, try to move as gently as possible to avoid the body shaking violently.
If the sun is toxic during the day, you need to put a sunshade on the windshield.
The private space created by windows alone is far from meeting your needs. If you want a more private space in the car, some cheap gadgets can help you. For example, it is very effective to hang a reflective sunshade on the front windshield and the rear windshield. You can also install folding sunshade curtains on the windows on both sides, or even buy some cheap fabrics and fix them on the windows with tape or magnets to shade them. Among them, black cloth can best block the light and protect privacy.
If the local laws allow it, and it doesn't prevent you from driving, and you can afford it, you might as well stick a dark film on the window as far as possible within the scope permitted by law. This, together with the function of sunshade, black cloth or towel, can create a private indoor space for you. However, if you don't put a dark film on the window and hang a towel, it will easily attract homeless people to make trouble, and the dark window can make people outside the car unable to see the space inside the car. Even if you hang a towel in front of the window, it won't attract attention and cause trouble.
When you sleep, you might as well open a small crack in the window. The seam should not be too wide to prevent others from sticking in, but it should not be too narrow, otherwise fresh air will not circulate and fog beads will condense on the window.
Part V: Prepare the necessities of life
1, prepare daily necessities. If you want to live in a car, at least prepare blankets, pillows, car cushions and other pads. Because of the angle of the seat, sleeping in such a narrow space in the car will inevitably lead to dull pain in the back, so you need to keep painkillers. When sleeping, you might as well put one end of the blanket in the front seat and the other end in the back seat, just like setting up a tent between the front and back seats, which can block the light and make people outside the car invisible to you. A cheap car refrigerator will make life more convenient. The key to the car refrigerator is to be waterproof. Because when frozen food thaws, a lot of water droplets will condense on the surface, and you don't want these water droplets to drip all over the car. The car refrigerator can help you keep those perishable foods properly. The car refrigerator is most efficient when it is fully loaded, so whenever you take something out of it, you should replenish the corresponding volume of cold water. If you buy a car refrigerator, it needs to work in a well-ventilated environment, so if you put it in the trunk, it will not work well. Make sure that the refrigerator can only be operated when the engine is running, or when there is a under-voltage protection switch in the car. The reasons will be explained in detail below. In addition, make sure that nothing is near the radiator grille of the car refrigerator, because the hot exhaust gas from the refrigerator may ignite these things.
If you can afford it, you might as well buy a portable bedpan, which is the so-called emergency chemical toilet. It can make your car life more comfortable. At present, its market price is not expensive, and you can own one for a few hundred dollars. If you can't afford it or there is no place to put it in the car, you can pee with a wide-mouth plastic beverage bottle or use a bucket as a temporary toilet.
Buy a spare battery pack and air compressor for the car to start the car quickly. In addition, prepare a spare tire and at least one can of tire repair liquid. Select the type of tire repair fluid that can be removed at any time.
3. Solve the problem of electricity consumption in automobile life. Installing a converter in the cigarette lighter socket is an emergency measure, especially when you plan to use low-power equipment with power within 100 watt in the car. If you plan to cook with electricity in the car, you need to get electricity directly from the car battery, otherwise the fuse will be blown. However, if the car is not equipped with an expensive dual battery pack or on-board inverter, it is almost impossible to get electricity from the car battery for cooking. Indeed, the 12 volt kettle and rice cooker can barely be used, but the efficiency is very low and it takes a long time to cook food. If the voltage of the electrical appliance does not match the output voltage of the vehicle-mounted power supply, it cannot be used unless an expensive vehicle-mounted inverter is installed on the vehicle. In addition, if there is no dual battery system installed in the car, power can only be obtained from the car battery through the idle engine. However, the voltage output in this way may not match the voltage required by the electrical appliance you want to use, resulting in the failure of the electrical appliance, because the vehicle power supply is not designed for using these electrical appliances after all. For people living in cars, the low-voltage protection switch is essential. Once the voltage reaches the limit of the battery, the under-voltage protection switch will automatically cut off the circuit, so that those external appliances can't use electricity, but the car can still start normally to protect the car battery from being damaged. The price of low-voltage protection switch is generally between tens of yuan and hundreds of yuan, which is still worth buying for people living in cars. If the voltage of the battery is frequently adjusted, it is easy to damage the battery, making the car unable to start, and the cost of replacing the new battery is very expensive, then it will be in big trouble.
Outdoor gas stoves can replace cooking utensils, but for safety reasons, it is best not to use them in cars. Cooking in the car can be very dangerous. For example, if there is no stable and flat surface for cooking, it will cause a fire if you are not careful. Hot metal parts and splashing hot liquid can easily burn people. The carbon monoxide produced by cooking is easy to be poisoned in this relatively closed space in the car. Moreover, the smell of oil smoke exists in the car for a long time, and the smell is unpleasant. It is better to cook outside the car. Unless you live in a van or RV with special cooking space, you can cook with confidence as long as it is well ventilated.
4. Prepare some portable storage bags to store items. Soap, clothes, mobile phones and other items are put in the storage bag, which can save a lot of troubles, because the space inside the car is small, but it is easy to find things. And if the car is untidy, it will inevitably cause passers-by to stop, and it is not good to look through the window. Try to hide the bedding where others can't see it, such as in the trunk. If there is no room in the car to store the clothes and supplies needed for a week, put them in a friend's house for safekeeping, which is also a good reason to go to a friend's house for a bath and leisure. In addition, dry the clothes in time after washing, and don't put them in the car wet, which will not only be moldy, but also stink. When you are not in the car, you may wish to open a small gap in the window for ventilation, and put desiccant everywhere in the car to keep the air inside the car fresh and dry. The sheets are washed once a month to prevent yourself from smelling homeless and being perceived as a tramp by others.
5. Seal the dirty clothes in a plastic bag separately and isolate them from the clean clothes. In this way, you won't get your clothes dirty.
6. Buy a flashlight with good quality. Magnesium flashlights with 3 or 4 batteries are as thick as metal rods and can be used for emergency lighting and self-defense. It's killing two birds with one stone.
Part VI: Solving the problem of eating.
1, carefully choose the food you eat in the car. Peanut butter, canned tuna and biscuits are all good choices. Food needs to be stored in boxes to avoid being crushed. In addition, provide enough drinking water to accompany meals. Because there is not enough refrigeration equipment in the car, the food you can store is actually very limited. If every meal depends on takeout, it will be too expensive. It is best to prepare some affordable and nutritious foods and corresponding containers, such as traditional large-grain oatmeal, milk powder, bottled water, chocolate protein powder, plastic cups and so on. You must make sure that you always have healthy fast food in your car as your solid backing.