Hey all! So I finally decided to do what I've always wanted and up and leave home to travel. On July 17 my girl and I are going to root wire in WV and then were going to travel around and live out of my car for a few months. Had anyone done anything like this? And if you have, what are some pointers you would give to someone about to do it ? thanks!

Get a van instead!

^that! I know a few people who have done it and said its liberating but also scruffy haha
Some decent camping cooking equipment is recommended and also a giant bx of wetwipes for freshing up. Get used to sussing out where the free/cheap shower and toilets are.
Public baths are usually good for a cheap shower and exercise.
Microfibre towels dry quickly but are unpleasant to use lol You can also get solar showers where you hang the bag out in tjr sun to warm.

Take advantage of free library wifi and a high quailty tent and foam/air mattress are a good way to raise comfort levels as sometimes the car may not be habitable if its so hot. Also the stench of many nights sleep and fun sweat. Think Cleveland in Family Guy " close the window your letting the stank out"

Enjoy!

ive lived out of a car many times on short climbing trips, 1-2 weeks, its hell, definately get a van.

other than that i would say you will have an excellent time.

Thanks guys! Camping equipment is already on the list...... our preferred experience would be to camp as possible when weather permits it. I'm thinking about trading my car for a van as well. I also have this car seat mattress thing on its way.... its a mattress designed to fit on folded down car seats! Pretty awesome find haha.

Also, check out couch surfing.

I've never tried it myself, but know some people that swear by it. Meeting new people in new places, a lot of the times they will feed you and have a comfy place to sleep.

Great idea for when your ready for a break from the car and tent.

Have fun!

Station wagon, at bare minimum. Place to stretch out if weather or circumstance doesn't allow camping. I did this for 3 months in a $500 car, although I did have some couches to stay on for part of that time.

Try to have a 3G or 4G mobile device so you can research while on the road. Having a GPS navigator could save you a heap of hassle.

I once lived in my car for a month after my boat sank (with a cat). I have lived in a transit van for a couple of months and i lived in a an old ambulance for a few years. I agree with the others about the van, or at least a station wagon.

A list of requisites would be a camping stove and utensils, radio, books, one of those solar shower things (they are a foil sack for water which absorbs the heat from the sun), some way of blocking sunlight into the car if you are sleeping in it (a car can become an oven in hot weather), a coolbox, a set of tools (spanners, socket set, allen key set, cross head and flat heat screwdrivers, maybe a battery charger and a multimeter), a workshop manual for repairing the car (make sure all your car"s fluids are at the correct level and check tyre pressures at the very least), spare fuses, make sure the 12volt cigarette lighter socket works for charging phones or running an inverter off of ( i would only run an inverter with the engine running as they can wipe out a battery before you can say Jack Robinson) and an airbed.

Or you could just wing it with a spare pair of pants and a credit card.

Thanks guy! I've been a huge fan of your work for a while so its cool to hear from ya. I plan on putting a few months worth of payment on my 3g phone so I won't have to worry about that. I also put an ad up on craigslist wanting to trade my car for a van or station wagon I feel like I have a pretty good plan set up so far but I'm trying not to think too far ahead. Oh and if anyone here is going to root wire you should drop me a PM

sleeping in a car is no fun ime
im guessing it can wreck your back and you will have many days of bad sleep.

so yeah like most have said. go with a van or trailer and some good camping equipment.

have fun youre lucky to have a girl that is willing to go with you

It was actually her idea. She had been traveling for a while and came home to meet me and we decided to hit the road again haha. Idk if I'd be able to come out of my shell like this of it wasn't for her.

I did this for 3 weeks recently in a small 1992 Toyota truck with a topper on the back - being able to sleep comfortably was very important to me. I highly recommend getting a vehicle which allows you to do that.

Aside from that, a few other things come to mind.

- Places to sleep at night: most campgrounds require you to pay to stay. If you have no problem paying for that, then great - but if you get tight on cash or just need somewhere to hop off the interstate and get some rest, most Wal-Marts allow you to park overnight and sleep in your vehicle in their parking lot. (you'll usually see semi's and RV's doing this) I did this several times.
Also, www.freecampsites.net is a good resource for finding free campsites as well as some truck stops and regular interstate rest areas. You can also park overnight in some 'Park-n-ride' lots (usually found in cities next to interstate junctions).

- Someone above mentioned solar showers - I got one for $10 at Walmart before I left and it was awesome. Sooo happy I got one. I actually just filled it up with hot water in gas station bathrooms and then drove somewhere I could get at least a little bit of privacy and showered in my swim trunks. Sometimes I hung it on a tree, others just on the truck. (have a ladder rack to hang it from)

- A small cooler was great to have

- Jug of water/antifreeze. I had one instance of the engine getting hotter than normal - up in the mountains on a 95 degree day on a pretty demanding stretch of highway. It hadn't blown any hoses but had lost a decent amount of coolant through the overflow. Was very nice to have jugs of water on hand to refill and continue on my way, albeit driving a bit slower. (keeping the engine RPM and subsequent heat down)

- Solar USB charger: I got an Anker 14W solar charger on Amazon for $60-70 and it was a huge help. I put it on the dashboard while driving, and on days where it wasn't too cloudy, it charged devices faster than the cigarette lighter port in the truck - and still charged pretty well on cloudy days. I also got a battery pack and kept that charged up as a backup for when there was no sunlight.

Not sure where you are planning on travelling to, but you should also check out the US Forest Service (USFS) Dispersed, or Disbursement campgrounds.

They are campgrounds that are typically first come first serve campsites that are offered for free on various USFS properties in different states.

You should be able to go to the USFS website and search for these sites for each state.

The one I was just at in Lake Tahoe, CA had 13 campsites, each of which had a picnic table, a metal fire ring for campfires, and a community toilet house (no running water - hole in the ground under the toilet).

It's a great, no cost way to find places to camp. There is usually a limit to how many nights you can stay, but the one I was just at allowed 7 nights.

Travel Safely

Much Love&Light

Observer

This new tent gives you a full view, it was released this year:
http://www.mountainhardw...ault,pd.html?colorID=314

this forum: squattheplanet.com has been extremely helpful to me in my strange drifter/transient lifestyle of late.

whether you're loaded and headed only for all the major spots, or looking at a more longterm journey outside w possibly no money, you will probably find a lot of helpful information in that forum.

Best of luck.

thanks so much for that reference! We don't really have a plan honestly were going to kind of just go where our journey takes us I suppose! Surprisingly for me I'm not very nervous! And actually quote excited, as I'm rather unfulfilled by the current "American dream" way I've been living.

My brother lived in a Subaru Forester for almost a year... He is 6'4". Needless to say, it was less than comfortable. Get yourself a van.

the american castration

for a while yeah and we were at each others throats. Sometimes we slept in motels. We went around the west coast until we broke up in phoenix. From there I went solo with a greyhound. The end.

go to http://www.cheaprvliving.com/ despite the "rv" in the name, most there are vandwellers. There's more information there than anywhere else I've found. Very helpful folks on the forum as well for specific problems.