A Van As A Home

While I was still living in Australia, one of my biggest problem was paying the rent. Frankly, my rent expense ate up a disproportionate amount of my income. And it so happens that I’ve read about homeless people who are able to live on their cars for years at a time.

Now, these people were not the prototypical homeless people who are homeless because they cannot afford to pay for rent, rather, these people who sleep on their cars are people who do so out of their own choice.

These people are the same as me, they are “simple people” who are getting tired of expensive rent costs. And when I say simple, I mean people who can live off out of the most basic existence.

These are the kinds of people who can regularly sleep on a sofa without needing a sofa bed. These are the kinds of people who can live off with just their cellphone, laptop and internet connection. Simply, put, these people just need a space to sleep on during the night.

I have watched YouTube documentaries of unemployed and homeless Americans living in their cars, it’s a sad situation and something that needs serious addressing by their government, but I can only imagine the other homeless people in other countries who don’t have cars to sleep in.

Though this article would like to seriously discuss the issue of homelessness, I think there are much more relevant articles online who directly discuss the issue with more factual information. This article would simply concentrate on why people should rather buy camper vans than buy cars for their cosmetic appeal.

And this article is new. There are already people and even couples who sleep in camper vans in the city even though they can actually afford to rent. Here is a sample YouTube video: Couple living in Google's parking lot.

This would especially benefit a family who has one or more children. It is sad and very inconvenient to see children sleeping on the seats of cars surrounded by all their remaining possessions.

If their parents have the foresight before to buy a cheap camper van instead of a flashy car, then at least their children would be relatively comfortable sleeping inside the cheap camper van parked in a street or somewhere.

But why would you choose to buy and use a camper van than a regular sedan? Gone are the days when camper vans used to be only used for the purpose of caravanning. Today, people buy cheap and simple camper vans for mainly overnight stays in the outdoor.

Let’s face it, what kind of person is really excited about packing their camping supplies and equipments in their car only to unpack and arrange it later in their camping site if they are only going to spend a night in the outdoors or just for several hours?

With a camper van, it’s like having a second home. Depending on your kind of personality, you can afford to decorate or pimp out your camper van. You could plaster posters on the wall of your camper van. You could install a sound system in your camper van.

Can you do this if you camp in the outdoor in the open, protected only by a flimsy tent that a lot of wild animals with sharp and strong teeth and claws can easily tear apart? Of course, we can’t forget the fact that you can convert your camper van easily into a portable office or shop.

Imagine yourself as a smalltime or struggling actor who has to sleep on the actual movie set located somewhere in an isolated place. Imagine you are a real estate agent who has to be onsite selling real estate located in an undeveloped area.

Then there’s the issue of being evicted from your rental place or even home because you are unable to pay rent or mortgage. It could be as simple as losing a job or the rent or mortgage becoming unaffordable.

Homelessness is a very real reality that can happen to anyone at anytime. Imagine how many regular recessions happen in many parts of the world resulting in skyrocketing inflation and joblessness.

Just imagine the pandemic that we are still having today. I read about a couple who because of pandemic measures were unable to return to their house which is under quarantine lockdown. Lucky for them, they have the common sense to see the practicality of a camper van.

Their camper van enabled them to not only weather the pandemic, but it also gave them the chance to live whenever they are allowed with no quarantine restrictions. Another thing we need to consider are natural disasters.

Fires, typhoons, earthquakes, tornadoes can easily create homelessness in large populations of an area in mere minutes, if not, hours. Yet we see plenty of people buying cars and even pickups and SUVs which are nearly useless if one is homeless.

One of the biggest reasons why I like to own even a cheap camper van is because it has toilet facilities. You might find it funny, but consider the situation almost everyone goes through when they are taking long and even short road trips.

There are people who because of medical or habitual conditions, are forced to use the toilet. In normal road trips, most people either endure the pain as they force themselves to control their bowel movements until their vehicle arrives at a stopover point where if they’re lucky, there are toilet facilities.

The other option for most people is to do it in a secluded place where they can never be seen doing their bowel movements. But this is usually difficult and very inconvenient. Most road networks are in places where there is a high population density.

And I’m sure no one has ever been comfortable doing their bowel movements without the conveniences of even an ordinary toilet. There are even places in the world where you have to wait for a long time just to be able to use a public toilet.

Here’s an idea: “What if you located your camper van in an event or a tourist area where there are many people but no toilet facilities?” I guess you’re getting my idea: Charge people to use your portable toilet. Also, while you’re at it, why not turn your camper van into a restaurant?

Arguably, one of the biggest concerns one would have regarding owning a camper van would be electricity source. I guess many would answer that electricity would come from solar panels installed in the roof of your camper van. Even a small wind turbine can be considered.

Of course, the electricity produced this way is small and unreliable. This is why you should consider the reliability of your car engine in being able to provide you with electricity as your car engine is your most readily and biggest provider of electricity.

In some areas of the world, particularly in America and Europe, it is predicted that charging stations for electric cars would soon outnumber petrol stations. If you are living in such countries, these charging stations can be your source of electricity.

Of course, we cannot discount the use of portable generators. It is a well known fact that portable generators are in wide use by caravanning enthusiasts in many countries. There are even small generators which are rechargeable using renewable energy.

One thing that you would definitely need is a mailbox service. It is advisable that you check your local directory for any businesses that offer physical mailbox services. This is especially important if you are an unemployed person living in a camper van.

In many countries in the world, unemployment benefit cheques and other government financial benefits still arrive by physical mail to their recipients. A physical mailbox also allows you to be contacted by many institution of society besides the government.

These physical mails can be court summons, employment contracts, business documents and so on. It is a well known fact that many social institutions in society still require physical contact addresses in order for them to formally recognize you as a functioning member of society.

We are now living in the age of e-commerce. More and more people now shop online and have their orders delivered straight to their doorstep. But what if you are living in a camper van and have no formal registered physical address for delivery purposes?

There now exists several businesses who offer delivery acceptance and storage services. There can be a store or for that manner, any business that can offer this service. It’s just a matter of finding one near where you regularly park your camper van.

In fact, this can be a good side business to any business or even any home owner who wants to earn extra cash. A business owner is almost always at his place of business all the time and so is a dedicated housewife for example. They can benefit from this side business.

But I guess, the most common way people without permanent addresses have their orders delivered is by asking a relative, friend or even an acquaintance accept their orders in their place.

Again, this could be a good side business to offer to your relative, friend or acquaintance. There are many people and not just those without permanent addresses who are unable to personally receive their orders. This is especially important for expensive and important orders.

I guess this is not really a problem anymore. It used to be in the old days when internet service was expensive and unreliable and may even be very slow for mobile internet access. Now, almost anyone can do all their entire online activities and transactions using only their cell phone.

But here’s a thought, there are many homeless people and those without access to the internet for financial reasons who use publicly available internet instead. And this information could be to your advantage.

Though it rarely happens these days, there are still times when a particular area’s internet access is very slow and even unavailable due to the heavy volume of internet traffic or if there is a telecommunication breakdown that needs repairing.

If you are for example are a remote worker and is living in a camper van, you can easily travel to an area where the internet service is much better. It could also be a lifestyle issue. A remote worker can easily park near a beach for example and enjoy the lifestyle while still working remotely in the comfort of a camper van.

I guess the point does not to be driven hard that having a camper van affords you a lot of freedom in terms of lifestyle. It’s like being able to live wherever you want as long as your camper van has access to this area.

I don’t know if there has been anyone who has ever taught about it, but what if you just bought a cheap lot as a residential address and just park your camper van there? One advantage to this is that you are not tied down to the physical location of your residential address.

You can have a secured storage area like a small warehouse for your heavy and inessential belongings. You can have a septic tank and other waste removal facilities in your lot. Essentially, what non-portable houses offer.

You might think that having a camper van is all good, but there are also disadvantages to owning a camper van. These are mainly associated with the cost and discomfort of driving and maintaining a usually heavier than normal and oddly shaped car.

I have also read the fact that homeless people who sleep in the streets in their car are sometimes harassed by mean and even criminal elements. But this happens anywhere whether or not you own a car.

Another thing you need to consider is that depending on the law of your particular country, it may be illegal for you to sleep in your camper van in any street. Admittedly, this has been the biggest turn-off for me in buying a camper van.

But in some countries like the United States for example, the governments allow people with cars to sleep in designated sleeping areas which are usually parking lots and other vacant lots. I for example have seen YouTube videos of Walmart parking lots being free parking spaces at night for homeless people.

And this could be a way for the United States for example to lessen the homeless situation in their country. To turn parking lots at night into sleeping spaces for the homeless with cars. There are many facilities for cars and not just parking lots who became useless at night.

Many portable products and services are already available to us. You can have appliances that are powered only by batteries. There are services that deliver your orders and mail in proxy delivery establishments. In short, it is completely feasible to have a nomadic city life by only using your vehicle as a place to sleep in.

Although this might seem like a great freedom to have and not to mention a great financial savings because you don’t have to pay a rent or a mortgage, consider that sleeping in the street is still illegal even if you are sleeping in your vehicle even if its a camper van.

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