Living out of my Taco, looking for advice!

A big hello to the Colorado forum! If anyone knows of a better spot to ask these questions, let me know!

I will be moving to Colorado soon from the great state of Texas and will be living out of my truck. Due to the nature of my job, I will be gone for about half of the time, so it doesn't really make sense for me to live in a room that I use only half of the time. That being said, I am still a health conscious adult and would like a place to be able to park, cook, and shower whenever I am not at work.

I understand that a common approach is to get a gym membership and use their showers, but I also enjoy cooking and meal prepping. I do have a portable stove that I use to cook when camping or in the mountains, but I do prefer a kitchen for cooking big batches of food. Does anyone have any ideas as to what others have done?

 

Advice? If you have the means, don't live out of your truck in CO. Even if its only 1/2 of the time... the winters get cold here (especially in comparison to Texas). Ever consider renting a room in a house? Could be had for cheap and will be much more comfortable.

 

you gonna freeze your ass off. I mean it's possible, we've all camped in the winter.
But it gets damn cold here and we haven't hit the cold months yet.
What part of Colorado are you moving to?
I say go for it.

 

If you have the money get a travel trailer or a slide in. Either will be way better than trying to live out of little truck with just a topper.

 

As far as cooking meals, stay in an extended stay type place when needed. They usually have kitchens you cook a bunch to stock pile meals in vac bags. Also a chance to do laundry.

 

In the mountains I'd say truck life would be pretty miserable in the winter for any extended period of time. In the summer however it would probably be great! If you're gonna be in the front range the cold might not be too bad some of the time, although it can get really cold there as well. I do have a buddy that lives in a van in Denver and seems to like it. As far as cooking goes I don't know of any communal kitchens or anything. Maybe look at the forecast each week and pick the coldest night then get a hostel for that night and cook a few big ass meals for the week? I understand not wanting to pay the crazy expensive rents here, especially if you're not gonna be here full time but in doing so you're gonna sacrifice stuff. i.e. a kitchen. Maybe see if someone would rent you a room in a house for less, under the agreement you'll only be there X number of days per month.

 

Let’s get some info on the truck set up...

 

You can definitely make it work if you prepare and plan.
I say go for it.
You’ll likely look back on that experience very fondly.

 

Sounds like fun! The best advice I can give is to try out your setup multiple times before you go. That way you will find out what works and what doesn't. Load the truck with everything you think you will need and camp out in your driveway or someplace close to home.

Longest I've camped out of the truck was 2.5 weeks. It was a blast. I have a bed platform setup under a Leer truck cap. There's room underneath the platform for storage.

I found a lot of good information on YouTube. Here's a link to a guy who lives out of his truck full time. He has a lot of practical advice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cifmm424s2M

Do you know which area of CO you are looking to stay? It's a beautiful state. Good luck!

 

To address all the "you'll freeze and die" posts, I'm not planning on moving this winter (Jan/Feb), probably spring (March at earliest) when it's more pleasant out. That being said, I do respect the dangers/misery of weather and will also look into some heating options.. though I do have lots of warm clothing/gear from some of my mountaineering pursuits and have never slept cold in under 0F in the mountains before.

So I will be moving to Aurora, and working on Buckley AFB. Not quite Denver or the mountains but damn closer than I've ever been.

I'm headed to Aurora! I have watched this guy before, definitely picked up some good information from him before, thanks for the link! I've got a rudimentary setup built, not quite where I like it but enough to do a bit of a shakedown to see what works and what doesn't, thanks for the tip!

I kind of went with the approach where I rent a room.. I put an ad out on craigslist, we'll see who bites. I do know a few people in the area so I'm also entertaining the idea of sharing their kitchen and in return paying some of their rent, too. Thanks for the ideas!

Setup is in progress at the moment Will post pics when finished. I don't doubt that I will look back fondly; I had a semester in college when I was not able to find a place to stay and slept couch to couch with some friends. One of my favorite years of my life.

 

I definitely would if I was in it for the long haul. But at the moment, I'm just trying to get out of my comfort zone for a few months before I drop some coin on a more expensive setup.

 

I lived out of my truck for a little over 2 months while working and also over other lengths of time.

My advise is get a awning if you don't have one (one of those pop up ones work great, or bling out for a 270 batwing) so you have more sheltered space
If you have access to a kitchen or other space I would also cook basic things/ meals to eat during the week that are a larger hassle to cook. If you don't have a kitchen get an instant pot if you don't have one. Kicks ass makes cooking so quick and easy and works as everything.
Also recommend a fridge. Dealing with ice is a pain in the ass for anything longer than an extended weekend. I've been using one I picked up from eBay for roughly $350 since 2017 (Chinese). Idk how many hours I've been having it running 2000? Point is you don't have to deal out $$$ to get something that works.
If you have any other questions ask me

 

They get blizzards into June. I've visited CO several times, was vacationing there this past June and many less traveled roads weren't open yet. Around 2' of snow dumped on the area we were visiting after we got home in mid-June. July-September are the warm-ish weather months. And even that is relative.

Pics of Colorado in mid-June. Rest area, my wife and grand daughter.



Grand daughter sledding.

 

This is true but March-mid June in Aurora should be pretty tolerable, to very pleasant, to hot. Mid June-mid Oct should be good to go just about anywhere in the state.

 

Thanks for all the advice, I will look into it!

Sheltered standing room seems pretty essential, though one of my main reasons for living out of the truck is to spend less time at home and more time with old friends and making new memories.
Also yes, I discovered the instant pot a few years ago.... life. saver.
Lastly, I was considering that.. but you would have to hook it up to power. I was hoping to bum some fridge space off of a friend or something just to store my food, or to store at work. If not, the fridge is definitely in the future.

 

Oh and OP if you're planning on staying in CO for longer than just the summer, I'd save yourself some grief and ditch the Texas plates sooner than later.

 

If it’s Aurora bring a gun, or seven

 

That's awesome you know friends where you are going. Sounds like a memorable trip! Makes sense wanting to spend less time at home.

+1 on the pop up tent. Inexpensive and can cook under it when it rains, use it to cover fire wood, etc.

Depending on how crazy you want to get with cooking, maybe look into a flat top gas grill. My brother in law brings one when we go glamping and we can cook a ton of food at one time. However, meal prepping a bunch of food brings up the issue of keeping it all cold. You'll figure it out, you have some time.

 

I'll be there for at least a year or two. I have to ask why, haha. I have a friend who is going to grad school there for three or four years now and he still has Texas plates

Great idea.. now that I think of it, I may use something like one of those pancake griddles to just cook up a ton of meat.

 

If you do the “gym membership” option, the Beck Rec Center is down the street from Buckley.
https://www.auroragov.org/UserFiles...ecreation Center Membership Passes_Beck_2.pdf