how-to Homeless in Tacoma?

This OP....

Mindset is exactly like my 16-year-old daughter's. She is waiting for her Grandpa to give her his 20-year-old Dodge Ram. Nightly discussion on how "we" are going to make it into something she can live in. I just sit and listen. In fact, I get a little jealous.

 

I have lived out of my truck for three years. I loved it. It was the most fun and best part of my whole life. I kept a real job but every weekend I'd take long road trips and see as much as I could before I had to be back on Monday morning. Some of my best advice is become friends with someone who owns an auto shop. I was able to park less than a mile from my job inside a locked fence during the week. He gave me a key to lock up behind myself. I have an instant two room pop up shower/bathroom/ a toilet, a grill etc. Before I had that I had a anytime gym membership. Not only is that a shower but also somewhere to go when you have nothing to do in the winter months. Keeps you on shape. One of my most useful simple diy things was use and old cooler for a sink. To wash my dishes and my clothes, and sometimes myself. Yeah it was uncomfortable sometimes. It got hot. It got cold. But I loved that part too. The difficulty somehow make the good stuff better. Showers felt more euphoric. Food tasted better. It awakened my senses. Getting a mortgage sucked. Took all of the joy out of living. Now it's like I'm enslaved to take care of this building that doesn't even bring me joy.

 

If you want to do this to save $$$ or you don’t have enough $$$ to live a normal life then you need to find a better paying job. If necessary you need to get training and skills for a job that earns more. Living out the back of your truck would be a shitty life. I live out of my truck when fishing, hunting, camping for a week or so, no problem. That’s a lot different living out of it full time. I know I’ll be going home to my nice comfortable heated/air conditioned house. Really nice living out of a truck when it’s cold and raining or snowing or when the temp is 100 degrees. Really nice too when you are ill and you need a bathroom now. Food prep and storage is a major problem also. In fact the list of negatives and problems goes on and on. You would basically be choosing to live the homeless lifestyle. I’m sure women are impressed dating homeless guys who live in their trucks. I know it may sound like a grand and glorious adventure but it ain’t.

 

This right here...

That being said; GL OP.

Personally i wouldn't fake homelessness. Shit is a reality for alot of people all over the world. It's not a game.

 

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC-v_BxiiJevUHtghBqhbvpw

 

or….


you can understand all this, and choose to do it anyway.

 

This is a multi-stage process.

1. Find a side street and make sure to park at an angle relative to the sideway.

2. Deflate three tires and stab the sidewall on the fourth.

3. Break your driver-side windows and replace them with pizza boxes.

4. Smash your passenger-side mirror with a hammer.

5. Throw a beat-up blue tarp over 2/3 of the vehicle.

6. Spread litter everywhere within a 40-foot radius.

7. Move your stuff in.

8. Start smoking crack.

 

https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/worlds-greatest-traveler-1988-mercedes-has-been-172-countries/

 

Maybe this thread will help @Round the world :


https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/taking-a-tacoma-around-the-world-need-advice.585792/

 

I haven't rented a apartment for 5 or so years although I do spend alot of time at my girlfriends house lately in NC when I'm not working AK (I fly there not drive). I've spent plenty of time (summers mainly) living with my truck.
I prefer staying in a tent and using the truck bed with Leer shell if the weather is crazy. I do most of my cooking on one cast iron pan. If I have plenty of time I cook right on the fire but if I am hungry or short on time I break out the one burner propane. I opt to be in the woods most of the time.
If you plan on staying in one general area you can try to work out a deal with a campground or something for showers and such. Most private campgrounds will let you use facilities for a certain price
Not for everyone but you can make the most of things while being comfortable

 

Well It’s Official
It’s Happening

 

Godspeed and keep us posted

 

Thank you
it will be short-term
hopefully "adventure" is the word of all words that will describe it

I don't have the knowledge of this topic (Overlanding Off The Grid Ultimate Badass) to even think of a good to-do list. So far I have written down:
-More Reflectix. Stealth, staple and glue black fabric. Could be easier to just slap black duct tape on the outside
-find a butane cooktop
-collapsible sink
-kitchen stuff to cook, hold, and eat food
-non-bulky laundry bag
-wooden bed platform, if it fits with my bedrug and recovery equipment bolted to the rails; elevated means dry (shell shop tells me no shell can ever truly be 100% water sealed, which I doubt), and platform means room for totes underneath to store and organize
-water supply; I now have 2 6gal jugs and have not yet found a quarter-operated fill station
to obtain water I will venture into the wilderness, perform rain dance, and hold out cupped hands

 

Knock on wood I've never gotten sick from drinking from a good running fresh stream.

 

I would have just had Panda Express for lunch instead.

 

get a lifestraw from WM, Amazon, etc.

Potable water is critical. Many options from filters to iodine tablets or UV sterilizers

 

At home 6gal lasts me over a week, so I picked up a second 6gal
used to fill them at apartment filler or walgreens one; insert quarters 5gal/1gal
haven't found any but I'm gonna check WalMart as I've heard they have one inside
PITA go to the bank get roll(s) of quarters, is what it is

for an emergency in general I do have a lifestraw from Costco, though I think it's not practical for this purpose; probably better to just keep the jugs filled. May go through them a bit faster working out and hydrating

stream probably is fine, or snow. Throw in a pot and boil to bubbling water to rid of bacteria
However I'm not sure if that works in mountains at altitude which lowers boiling point, maybe not reaching the high temp needed to kill bacteria.
Maybe it is hot enough.
Obviously you can't put salt into drinking water to raise the boiling point, in the same way you would making pasta to actually cook it properly

You won't believe what they told me

 

I know a 70 year old guy who's been living in his Tacoma for five years. He says it could be worse.

 

Look into a water filtration kit from rei like Platypus Gravity (4 ltr) or Camelback. As long as there's no livestock or sewage treatment going on upstream of you don't worry about chemically treating the water. All you have to worry about is particle filtration. Any water source in the foothills or up at higher elevation should be fine