I have been living in my van on the streets of San Diego for the past two months or so, and I have come to some uncomfortable conclusions.
- When you live in a van in the city, people think you’re homeless.
- When people think you’re homeless, you start to feel homeless.
- So you start hiding in plain sight… doing everything you can to appear ‘normal’.
- Which means that at night when your puppy barks at a noise outside the van, you panic because you don’t want anyone to find out your secret.
- So you try to make the puppy be quiet, which is impossible, and you whisper angrily, “Shhh!” and hold her muzzle tight, and now the puppy is scared of you, which makes you feel guilty and awful.
- The puppy sheds fur all over everything including your clothes and you smell like dog, which makes you feel unkempt and dirty, in spite of your efforts to stay clean and presentable.
- You worry that someone might notice the light from your laptop or even your cell phone, so you sit in the dark (shushing the dog) until sleep finally overtakes you.
- But you can never rest fully because the puppy always seems to bark or growl just as you are falling into REM sleep.
- And the blackout curtains you have gone to so much trouble to make and hang over the van’s windows just add to your depression because BLACK.
- When the dreaded knock on the window finally comes and the admittedly nice cop interrogates you about living illegally in your van, you feel exposed and vulnerable.
- So when the obviously homeless old man you have observed hiding his trash bag of stuff in a bush near your van every morning smiles and says hello like he knows you, it is unnerving to say the least.
- Because you realize you have joined the growing club of people who live on the streets, and there is not so much difference between the two of you after all.
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HI !! Well…my thoughts:
1) If it feels good, DO IT !!
2) If it does not, DON’T DO IT !!
We, more or less have choices, haven’t we ? If U’re miserable living in your van, why suffer ??
Hope & wish your situation gets solved & happiness is back in your life.
My regards, Lucy.
Have a wonderful long weekend.
Thanks, Lucy… stealth camping in the city has been the problem, not living in the van. We are leaving town on the 3rd, when my Social Security check arrives. I HOPE I remember this lesson next time I am tempted to hang out for weeks in the city!
I’m just curious (and asking sincerely) about parking the van in a spot like a KOA or even a mobile home park? I understand this would be more $$, but I also think it would be, perhaps, more peaceful for you because you’d have a real dedicated spot, less interruptions and distractions, and maybe some real peace while in the confines of a city? Also, doesn’t a spot like WALMART now allow van-dwellers to park unbothered in their parking lots? Or is that an urban myth?
The dog hair is a whole other issue, of course. I live with that as a constant accessory. It’s my version of CHIC. xo
HI !
It’s not hard to minimize the amount of u’r pets shading hair, if U brushed them every day & place the hair / dander U obtained on the brush into a plastic bag the remaining amount will be much less… I have a white long hair kitty & believe me I know how hard it can be to control her shading, brushing her every day it has really helped !!!
My regards to both, Lucy.
Thanks, Lucy. 🙂
Money is the issue, Jen. I can’t afford a paid spot and Walmart doesn’t allow overnight camping in cities that have ordinances against it. Luckily, I have found a good spot since I wrote that. The unwritten ‘rules’ are to rotate 7 or 8 spots but I realized that was part of the problem. Both Scout and I were constantly having to deal with new noises. The place I have found is super quiet, with barely any traffic and no people walking by. So I have decided to stop rotating and just stay there every night. We finally got a good night’s rest last night, yay!
I look forward to all the discomfort this lifestyle engenders. Thank you, LaVonne, for pointing out a few I had not thought of. Still can’t wait.