13/28 Car Truths: Try it out

Picture of the old mattress, with all the beasties on it.
Mom came up to visit for a day and brought Penny and Bubba.

The past couple of posts for this Car Truth series have focused on my experiences living in my car. I'm going to cover some before hand experiences that helped prepare me for living in my car.

Try it out!

While I know this life sounds exciting before you give away all your things and move out of your housing structure, try it out for a couple of days. Originally, I slept in my car, parked in the garage to understand what it would be like. I still had my mattress stuffed inside the car, I didn't have any window coverings figured out and I became a little more preoccupied with watching the season finale of Doctor Who.

When I actually finished setting up, I still had so much stuff left over that I had to drive back to Colorado Springs, unload the car at three in the morning and drive all the way back to Fort Collins. Once I loaded the car again, I had already taken out the passenger seat. My ex wanted to ride up to help me and I relented. I rode back down to the Springs, with him and a car full of junk, "buckled" to the driver's seat beat and sitting on the ottoman that I use for a bed now. It was pretty much a death trap.

I didn't have any window covers. Instead of making them, using shirts or towels I purchased $27 dollars worth of sun reflectors. The ties on the reflectors didn't hold them up against the sides and read of my car. I had to use the pins in my sewing kit to pin them to the roof and then unpin in the morning.

Basil by himself, being all cutesy.

The mattress in the car seemed like a good idea and far more comfortable than the back seat (which it wasn't). Less than a week with a mattress in my car attracted two cops and probably onlookers, who wondered why an off-white block consumed my backseats.

If you want to live in your car permanently or temporarily, try it out. Tweak what you have; it isn't enough or it's too much.