Road Life Hub

I hope this post doesn’t discourage anyone, but road life isn’t for everyone.

Particularly if you’re a senior or disabled like me. Life out here on the road can be challenging. Some will find it to be too challenging.

So, what do you do if you find yourself living in your vehicle and discover it isn’t for you? Or that you just aren’t capable of keeping up with the work it takes to be a vehicle resident.

If you’ve spent any time living this life, you know it isn’t all about driving or even camping. There is a lot of work that goes into living in a vehicle.

For example, on a given day, let’s say today. I woke up in Kingman Arizona.

I worried all night that I would get “the knock” because of a sign that I personally found deceiving stating there was no camping in that area due to an Arizona statute, but when I went to the Arizona state website and looked up the statute, it turned out the sign only told part of the story.

I had camped at this same spot for two years, and the sign was new this year.

I played it out over and over in my head. What if the ranger did come and tell me to leave? Would they be open to exploring the statute in more detail or just insist on enforcing the sign, no matter how deliberately I pleaded my case?

In the end, I knew the ranger would win.

One thing I’ve discovered about vehicle living, if they wear a badge or a uniform, you can bet it is a waste of time to argue with them. They will always win.

It got up to 75 degrees in Kingman yesterday. A pleasant day and a great day for solar. But no matter how cool it gets in Arizona (and by cool, I mean 70’s) if the sun is shining and I have no shade, it’s going to get hot in my car. By 3:00 yesterday my dash thermometer had already reached 89 degrees.

When I was a solo nomad, I would probably have toughed it out. But I have Trinity with me now, and I will not subject her to those temperatures. It was supposed to be in the upper 80s the rest of the week here.

So I made the decision to go back to Williams, our happy spot. The temps there are only supposed to be in the 70’s this week, and there are lots of trees to give us shade.

I woke at 5:30 am, and the temperature on the dash said 58 degrees. Perfect weather to wake up in a car. I almost turned on the engine to get some heat, but I knew it would warm up fast once the sun came up. And with the price of gas, sometimes heat in the morning is a luxury I can’t afford.

I brushed my teeth in the back of the SUV (not an easy task), and looked for a good motivational video to listen to as I tackled getting dressed while lying down.

I’ve gotten pretty good at it, but my aging bones are starting to tell me they don’t want to cooperate. You have to use muscles most people will probably never have to use, and it can be a challenge.

Once it was light enough outside, I got out of the car and Trinity followed.

Then we went for a walk so she could do her duty, and then we played for a bit. She gets the zoomies after she poops. It’s great to see her opening up and being a happy dog.

Then I went back to the SUV and lined my outdoor portable potty with a trash bag and did my duty. Then I dug out my pine shavings and sprinkled some on top. This absorbs the smell and makes any liquid into a solid.

Then I opened the back hatch and checked the battery levels on my two power stations. Both around 50%, which is great. I don’t worry nearly as much about power now that I have given up trying to run a refrigerator. I’ve had to change my eating habits, but it’s not that bad.

I opened the passenger door for Trinity and she jumped up into her bed, aka the passenger seat, and I fed her. She gets kibble and soft food. She really looks forward to the soft food and tolerates the kibble.

I then grabbed my saucepan and filled it with water, then pulled out my single burner butane stove and lit the burner.

That is another change I have made due to my delicate power situation. I have stopped using my rice cooker in the mornings to heat my water for my coffee.

Doing it on the single burner requires me to get out of the car on sometimes chilly mornings, but now that I have Trinity, I’m out there anyway. It also takes half the time to heat my water as the rice cooker and uses no battery power.

I use Folgers coffee singles to make my coffee. They are like a tea bag, but they’re coffee. They are quite expensive, but not nearly as expensive as buying a cup of coffee at a truck stop.

I mix in a couple of single serve creamers. I’ll be switching to the powdered creamer once these are gone. It’s cheaper and more convenient.

While my water was heating, I began folding my solar panels. Last night I moved them so they were facing the morning sun because it was not my intention last night to leave today.

My 200 watt panel has four sections and a long cord which I have to roll up and stuff into a bag not designed for it, as Jack added an extension onto it so I could move it further out to get more sun.

The 100 watt panel only has two sections and folds like a book. The zipper to the bag the wire goes into is broken, so I have to tote that panel with the wire in one hand and the panel in the other.

After I poured the hot water into my cup, I knew it would be a while until it cooled down enough to drink it, so I took my single burner and placed it into its case after it had sufficiently cooled and slid it under the platform that my mattress sits on.

Then I took the step stool and placed it where my toilet usually sits and grabbed my keys from the middle console, tossed the panels onto the roof and climbed up the ladder and leaned precariously over the side of the car to unlock the topper.

This is another instance of using muscles most people will never have to use. And it requires good balance, something people tend to lose as they get older.

Jack got this topper on Facebook Marketplace. It was a steal, but that’s because it has no hinges.

I unlocked it and tackled getting the panels into the topper with one hand while holding the topper open with the other. Once I forced the panels into the topper, I closed the lid and made sure all three sides locked closed.

I then had to be strategic about how I set up the power stations, because they have to be covered with a piece of reflectix to keep them from getting overheated by the sun in the back window, but they also need to have plenty of air to vent, or they will get too hot.

I loaded up the dog and reorganized the stack of various household items that now sit on the fridge that is no longer in use.

I had to stack things just right, because Trinity sometimes rides in the back, and things will fall over and, her being very skittish, it ruins her trip back there.

The last thing to go in the car is the potty and the trash can. I removed the plastic bag from the potty and put it in the trash can. Normally I’d use the bag 3 or 4 times before throwing it away because bags can get expensive, but I didn’t want to make the 120 mile trip with a poop bag in my car.

I took the screens off the side windows, removed the windshield cover and started the car.

By then it was 7:50 am. I’d put the driver’s side of the car up on blocks last night to level it, so I drove off of them, got out and picked them up and put them in the back on the floorboard.

I stopped at Love’s travel plaza and tossed my trash into one of their barrels. Then I drove into Kingman and did some shopping at Dollar Tree. It’s a great place to shop for food when you have no way to refrigerate it. Lots of single serve stuff.

I put up the windshield cover and left the windows cracked, then hurried with my shopping because it was already starting to get hot outside and I didn’t want Trinity to overheat.

Then it’s the fun part of vehicle living, the drive. There was a lot of construction going on, a lot of lane closures, and the road between Kingman and Williams in mountainous so cruise control isn’t always an option. I used to find this drive pretty, but these days driving feels more like a chore than an enjoyable activity.

Trinity is not yet a traveling dog. She was lying on the bed in the back of the SUV and it turned out I hadn’t properly secured the step ladder and when I hit a bump it slid down onto the bed. It made her jump and she rode the rest of the trip in the front seat, looking the whole time like she was about to throw up.

She never does, but watching her discomfort while we’re going down the road makes me sad.

Once in Williams, we stopped at Family Dollar and I ran in to get trash bags and another roll of paper towels. I got some cash back so I could use the Primo water machine in front of the store to fill my one gallon water jugs.

I used to have a 5 gallon jug, but I’m no longer physically capable of picking it up, plus I really don’t have room for it. Eventually I may remove the fridge, then I will have room to haul my water on the floor instead of the bed.

On one of my last trips, one of the water bottles had a loose lid and I was sleeping on wet sheets for days.

Then it was out to Dog Town Road. I decided not to camp in my regular spot. I had a bad run in with the sheep dogs that herd the sheep that come through there twice a day.

Plus, Trinity loved eating sheep dung, and I find that disgusting. So, we drove further down and found a spot where the sheep don’t come through.

I found a spot, then had to think strategically about which way the sun is traveling over the trees so I can maximize for the best solar. I also had to move around to find a flat spot.

Since my “bathroom” is outside, I have to make sure I park in such a manner that nobody can see my bare butt when I’m sitting on my toilet, which I place in front of the back driver’s side tire, and open the back door to use the potty, and my toilet paper sits just inside the door, as well as the trash can the paper goes into.

I never place the toilet paper in the potty with the pee because I will eventually be pouring it out onto the ground, and I don’t want to be a litter bug.

Then it’s time to unload everything and start all over again.

This may sound like fun to many, an adventure. At first, I thought it was, too. But there has come a point in my life where I’m just tired of pooping in a bucket while sitting outside hoping nobody is watching.

And having to check the location of my solar panels every half hour, often having to move them for optimal sun absorption.

And using the driver’s seat of my car as my office chair used to be a nice change of pace, now I dream of an actual chair at an actual desk in a home where the bathroom is indoors and the toilet flushes.

I dream of a life where I can sleep in a bed I don’t have to exit my car to get out of, to walk on carpeted floors to the kitchen where I just touch a button and my coffee brews.

I started this life out of necessity. I lost my housing when I separated from my husband. I’ve been out here for almost three years. I’m like many, I’ve been priced out of the housing market given my only income is Social Security.

Many people in my position have learned to make it work. Some have convinced themselves that this is their only choice. I was once like that. But I am no more.

My goal with Road Life Hub has always been to help seniors and disabled vehicle dwellers live their best life on the road. But for some, the road will never be their best life. And I believe that I’m starting to feel that way.

Over the coming months, Road Life Hub will be winding down. In the meantime, I’ve begun trying to find a way out of this vehicle. Sticks and bricks aren’t for everyone, but I believe I’m at that point in my life where they are for me.

Please continue my journey with me as I transition out of road life and into traditional housing. I haven’t quite figured out how to make that happen, but I’d love it if you came along for the ride while I find ways to do it.

My motto has always been “I’ll find a way. I always do.”