by Hope
At the time of this post, I’ve just returned from my 2 weeks in Georgia. And will have a busy couple of weeks with doctors appointments, annual vet visit for Addie, and wedding dress shopping with Beauty and her bridesmaides…fun times!
I wrote previously about my plan to travel and car camp in between extended visits to my parents in Texas (to help with my mom’s ongoing care) when and if the house sells. Many BAD readers had a lot to say about it. So I wanted to share kind of how I’ve been planning and preparing.
First, I started with created a long list of “needs”. And I shared that with some friends who know my plan along with my sister and dad. For now, I am not planning to 1) purchase anything and 2) do any permanent build out in my car. For the time being, I will be using what I’ve got to set things up.
The Original List
This is set up as a checklist in my Notes app so I am literally checking things off as they are packed specifically for the car (more on that later).
Personal
- Shower shoes – crocs or slides?
- Sunscreen
- 1 suitcase of ‘dressy’ clothes
- 1 ball cap
- 1 sweatshirt
- 1 nightgown
- 4 tank tops
- 3 bras
- 3 workout outfits
- 3 shorts
- 3 work shirts (2 sets – one for each season)
- 6 daily shirts (2 sets – one for each season)
- 3 pants/leggings
- 15 underwear
- Swim bag – swimsuit, swimshoes, swim towel, sunscreen
- 1 sandals
- 2 tennis shoes
- 2 sleep pants
- 1 sports bra
- 7 socks
- Daily bag – for showering/changing in facilities
- Laundry bag
- 1 daily towel
Daily hygiene
- Travel size – shampoo, deodorant, soap/bodywash
- Medicine bucket
- Pads
- 2 wash clothes
- Pack of hygiene wipes
Kitchen/Food
- Zero water dispenser – 55 cup
- 3 metal water bottles
- 2 plastic cups (cost $1)
- 2 plastic bowls (cost $1)
- 1 insulated bowl holder
- 2 plastic plates (cost $1)
- 2 forks
- 2 spoons
- 2 knives
- 2 sharp knives
- Dish soap
- Wash bowl/bucket
- 2 wash cloths
- 3 storage containers
- Small cast iron skillet
- Egg skillet
- Sauce pan
- Tongs
- Spatula
- Smoothie blender
- Chia seeds
- Granola
- Veggie powder
- Protein powder
- Jerky
- Shaker bottle?
- Spices?
- Salt & pepper
- FUTURE – Single burner?
- FUTURE – Fridge/cooler?
- Laundry detergent
- Lighters
Work Stuff
- 2 pairs glasses
- Books – will begin to eliminate and move to digital only for most
- Computer – charger
- Phone – charger
- iPad – charger
- 2 notebooks
- 1 journal
- 3 pens
- 5 highlighters
- FUTURE – Big monitor, keyboard, mouse?
- FUTURE – Charging station? Battery? Eco flow?
- Scrap supplies?
- Backpack for daily use
- Formal work bag
Dog Stuff
- Food container
- Treats
- Waste bags
- Food bowl
- Water bowl/dispenser
- Mat
- Tie out
General Comfort
- Fan – charger
- Hearing aids – charger
- 3 pillows
- 12 pillow cases – I double case all my pillows, always have so this is just two sets
- 4 flat sheets – I use two at a time, so this is 2 sets
- 1 comforter
- 2 extra blankets
- FUTURE – Bed rest pillow?
- Camping chair
- FUTURE – table top?
- Car tent
Tools
- Umbrella
- Flashlights
- Pocket knives/box cutter
- Basic tool box?
- Jump rope
- Zip ties
- Duct tape
- Sharpies
- 2 scissors
- Battery charger – jumps car and fills tires
- Battery packs for electronics
- Car charger for laptop etc.
Car Facilities and access to consider
- Place to hang wet to dry while driving – towels/washcloths – like a clothesline, but where to hang?
- Desktop for crafting/writing and for big monitor/keyboard
- Charging station – existing batteries for now then consider eco flow? FUTURE What do I need for blender and big monitor? Are current batteries able to handle that? Not a now but a soon if I stay out for more than a couple of weeks
- FUTURE Cooktop for burner/blender
- Water dispenser – easy access and fill up’s – take a pitcher/gallon jug?
- Dog tie out access
- Dog supply storage with daily access
My dad then added:
- Black out “screens” for windows
- Mosquito nettings or screens for partially opened windows
- Portable (10’x10’) awning.
- Extra 8’x10’ tarp for emergency
- Small propane burner
- 5’x7’ or 8’x10’ rug to use under your awning and expand your outside use area
- Small portable, adjustable height table for outside work/cooking/eating with corresponding comfortable size chair
- Spray bottle of ?vinegar/water? for cleaning dishes, etc. w/o water
- Comfortable, cozy socks/slippers
- “Welcome” mat to use to wipe your shoes off before entering car.
- Flashlights – small & large
- Hooks for hanging clothes, etc.
- Spray bottle & wipes to use to “freshen up” on non bath/shower days
- Portable, disposable #1 (urine) “bags”
- TP
- 5 gallon bucket w/toilet seat & plastic bags & composting material
- Portable mirror
- Swiss broom and dust pan
- Extra wipes for clean up
- Plastic bags
- Hatchet for splitting wood for kindling
- Machete for intruders, clearing limbs, security on hikes, etc.
- Bear spray, security alarm, “tear gas”, gun?
- Small packs of Kleenex
- Emergency tire inflator
- 1 or two quarts of oil for car
- 1 or 2 gallon plastic container for extra gas
- Extra sets of car keys w/at least one set available outside your car using a hide a key or something like this
For this past trip to Texas, I just set up the basics. I have bedding, emergency supplies, dog supplies, and clothes and hygiene items. Once it’s confirmed that the house will sell, I will be working on the build out to make room for water storage and kitchen supplies.
Sidenote: I went to lunch with one of my neighbors in Georgia the week I left for Texas this time, a goodbye lunch perse after 8 years of living next to each other. She gifted me a 2 burner Coleman camping stove. Woot, woot! Free, on my wishlist for the future, and now I’ve got one. So excited.
I am so grateful for all the support people in my life have given me during this “crazy” time of life. I’m so excited to see what is next.
Have I missed anything on my planning list?
Hope is a resourceful and solutions-driven business manager who has spent nearly two decades helping clients streamline their operations and grow their businesses through project management, digital marketing, and tech expertise. Recently transitioning from her role as a single mom of five foster/adoptive children to an empty nester, Hope is navigating the emotional and practical challenges of redefining her life while maintaining her determination to regain financial control and eliminate debt.
Living in a cozy small town in northeast Georgia with her three dogs, Hope cherishes the serenity of the mountains over the bustle of the beach. Though her kids are now finding their footing in the world—pursuing education, careers, and independence—she remains deeply committed to supporting them in this next chapter, even as she faces the bittersweet tug of letting go.
Since joining the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015, Hope has candidly shared her journey of financial ups and downs. Now, with a renewed focus and a clear path ahead, she’s ready to tackle her finances with the same passion and perseverance that she’s brought to her life and career. Through her writing, she continues to inspire others to confront their own financial challenges and strive for a brighter future.
That’s a big list, will all of that fit in your car? Do you have WiFi figured out so you can work?
Some of certainly wish list that I don’t think will fit…like my big work monitor. But overall, yes, by packing the passenger seat and the back right well, I believe everything will fit. And for seasonal items, I can always leave a bucket at my parent’s house or check in with storage quarterly to replace items as needed.
For Wifi, I can currently use my phone and ipad hotspots. If/when I travel more extensively, I will have to consider a dedicated hotspot or satellite service, but I’m not there yet. And library, coffee shops, etc. also provide great wifi even if you are sitting outside.
Hope are you towing a trailer? I am struggling to understand how this all fits.
It feels just unsafe and uncomfortable. I am worried for you as a single woman out there alone.
No trailer. These last couple of years of travelling back and forth to Texas have given me a good handle on space. And now we are building out some storage on the right hand side of the back to give me secure storage (so it doesn’t topple over on dogs when I’m driving), a desktop that will pull out on heavy duty shelf slides to give me a place to work and cook, and with designate spots to hold my water storage, cooking appliances, and other specific items that I need to access regularly. It’s certainly going to be an iterative process.
1. Towel(s)
2. Oral hygiene items
3. First aid kit (for yourself and dog)
4. Flea control for your dog
Best of luck with the laws of physics…
I have a few questions. 1. Where in that car do you believe you can fit so many things? It looks as if the mattress takes up the majority of the space. Where are you going to “build out”? 2. What will you do with your dogs when you are not in the car? You will be in and out of shops, appointments, etc, 3. What will you do if you get sick? For example, you may come down with a bad stomach virus in the middle of the night? That would be terrible to try to deal with in a car.
Good questions:
1. We are building out the right hand side of the back to give me hidden storage, a pullout table top, and storage going up. My friend came yesterday and we laid it out. He’s going to build the framework and then we will iterate as I use it.
2. Choosing the places and time that I travel carefully makes a difference with the dogs. I do have a temp monitor I leave in the car when I leave them. It sends an alert to my phone. I can leave windows cracked, have battery operated fans, and so forth. But really, I don’t have to leave them too often or for too long. I also have a tie out attached to my car, so I can back into green spaces and they can “roam” when I’m set up working.
3. Yes, being sick would be terrible. Kind of tested it out this trip back from Texas as I was recovering from the flu. Thankfully, my set up is really comfortable. I rested a lot between drives taking naps at rest areas, in a Buccees parking lot and so forth.
So many concerning things here.
How are you going to stay safe with your hearing aids out (presumably at night?)?
Will you and the dogs be safe sleeping and hanging out in the car when it’s hot?
Are you leaving enough clearance to see out your rear view mirror when driving (your car is your house, you need to protect it!!)?
How will you keep fruit/veg without a fridge?
Now that you have health insurance I suggest you get bloodwork done and preventative screening you’re behind on – mammogram and colonoscopy, Pap smear. I suggest you get a full psych eval also. Your decision and planning process conveys that you may have ADHD and /or an executive function disorder.
How do I stay safe without my hearing aids? Aside from my dogs notifying me of anyone around, I am always very aware of my surroundings and in all my years of travelling (even before hearing loss,) I’ve never come across a situation where I didn’t feel safe or unable to handle things.
I will mostly limit travelling in the hot months. Spending those months visiting people I can stay with for a few days at a time versus living in my car. And this summer, I will hunker down at my parents. The extra help is needed now more than ever before. But will always be conscious of weather prior to taking a trip with the dogs.
Yes, I’m only building up on one side of the back of the car, it will not hamper my back up camera, blind side camera, or rear view mirror at all.
I currently have a cooler that I travel with. If I end up taking longer trips where I can refresh my ice, etc. I would need to invest in something more robust or switch to more freeze dried fruits. But for now, my cooler does the trick.
I had all my annual woman exams last fall, paid out of pocket. No issues found. And am actually headed to a general physical exam this afternoon. I don’t think I have ADHD but certainly been battling depression big time. Am hoping to get back on Lexapro now that I have insurance again. I’ve been off of it for a little over 6 months and can feel the difference and have for a while.
Did I miss seeing a cooler? All of this, plus a dog? I’ve watched you make some decisions I disagreed with over the years, but this one is right up there. You’re giving up a house in a LCOL area to live out of your smallish car and couch surf. This is homelessness. By choice. You can tell us all how much time you’ve put into thinking this through, but it seems to fit your pattern of making a decision and then trying to make a rationale to fit what you’ve wanted to do all along. You’re a dreamer, and you seem to surrender a lot of your decision making to relying for signs from a higher power. I think the rest of us who’ve watched you for many years already know how this movie ends.
I don’t get it—can you seriously not see what a terrible plan this is? You say BAD readers don’t like your idea but maybe everyone chiming in with all the reasons why it is a truly terrible plan should sink in. Maybe look at people who have their lives together and realize that none of them think this is a prudent decision. For starters—where are you going to park that just lets you sleep in your car there and put your dog out in a tether? Not to mention what kind of a life if that for a dog? And you’re going to work through all this while your dog is out on the tether? This is beyond a disaster. I think there is zero chance of this happening, but you need to hack up from this plan and see if you can save your affordable house before it gets foreclosed.
I really like rest areas for setting up to work and letting my dog roam on her tether. Also public parks are good for that. Back into a shady spot and enjoy a few hours of nature with the car open. It’s really nice. And if I go out west, there’s more BLM land you set can up for days or even a week on end.
Why would my house be foreclosed on?
Why would your house be foreclosed? Ummm…. Hope you’ve posted twice about difficulty paying upcoming bills.
One would assume the largest would be your mortgage and frankly, with your history of bad financial decisions and refusal to listen to good advice or be honest with yourself or anyone else about actual numbers and income vs. expenditures, who knows if you’ve paid the mortgage?
I could have sworn what I posted was that I needed to make $XXX to cover the next months bills. Work has been steady and growing weekly for almost two months now. There is no risk of foreclosure.
Hope, many of us have followed you for years. A few years ago you “forecasted” you could pay off the house in two years. Now hear you are swimming in even more debt . Apologies if some of us have doubts that you’ve “forecasted” enough to pay your mortgage for the next few months.
This is way too much all at once. Just start with the basics and use what you have easily at hand already. The mattress setup you have pictured is already the vast majority of what you need to set up. Figure out a makeshift table top you can use with adjustments to the drivers seat of the car (you need to keep space in car to be able to use the adjustable seat). Plan to use accessible facilities over trying to cram so much stuff into the car.
Be smart with layering clothing instead of separate seasonal sets. 1 formal outfit, no nightgown, fewer outer layers and more socks. Put a set of your regular toiletries in a bucket or case you can take into the shower facility.
Basic safety concerns: I would nix storing any fuel or hot plates/burners in the car. No machetes or other serious weapons. You are much more at risk vs potential utility. Absolutely no to keeping a gun in the car, for so many reasons, but especially with plans to drive across state lines and through different municipalities.
You’ve said over and over that the actual car camping is going to be pretty limited between planned visits, so it seems unreasonable to build out as if you’re going to turn the car into an apartment vs a temporary place to sleep while in transit. TBH I’m not sure how any significant car camping can happen, especially with dogs, before fall/winter unless you are going to head north.
I shared this post so BAD could see the thought process. You will notice that many of the things just say FUTURE as I have been thinking through everything. But not investing any monies into this at this juncture.
For the summer, I will sit tight at my parents and help with my mom. That is where I can do the most good for now. Two and a half years of full time care is wearing.
The weapons were also on my dad’s list of additions. I’ve been testing out the basics over the last two years with multiple trips to and from Texas and weekends around here. I’m feeling pretty confident in my set up.
7 out of a list of 50 or so items say future, so I did notice that and obviously your space will not expand enough in any future to reasonably accommodate half of the list. Sorry, but what you’re saying just isn’t logical. If you have a basic setup you already successfully tested, what’s the point of the long list and pretending they are all things you’re seriously considering?
If we weren’t supposed to take your Dad’s suggestions seriously you should have said something about that in the post. Same with writing in your posts about all these car ideas, then responding in the comments that actually you’ll be staying with people for indeterminate periods and not car camping. That just feels like you’re posting ragebait or some other bad faith participation.
I didn’t get to the idea of spending on these items, just the physical practicality of living in the car. We know you won’t be investing money because you simply don’t have discretionary money or available credit for this. I asked about this on an earlier post: are you sure (having analyzed the numbers) that you want to proceed this way vs. staying in the house and leveraging a homestead exemption against your creditors, whether through bankruptcy or otherwise?
I’ve never travelled with a “kitchen” so that will be new. Nor have I had to consider changes of seasons while I was on the road.
This is essentially everything I would need to live should I travel for months at a time.
I am definitely not considering bankruptcy. The house is just too much for me both mentally and financially at this point. I am moving forward with a very clear intention to sell it.
I am most definitely going to be car camping in between staying for extended periods with my parents. That has been the plan all along. I’m sorry if that wasn’t clear.
I thought if the house didn’t sell then it would a “sign” to stay? Now you have a very clear intention to sell? This is all clear as mud, honestly. The plan seems to be “there is no plan.”
Between the posts and the comments, it’s coming across as criticism about car camping is met with “I’m actually mostly staying with people anyway” and criticism about list items gets a response of “I never seriously considered that anyway”. Of course your readers are confused.
You should be doing a trial run of this set up without counting on anyone else taking you in.
This just now seems like you are pushing your family to take you in or help you out by coming up with a ridiculous, very half-arsed plan.
There has been no mention of where you plan to do this set up with awning and rug. Campgrounds aren’t free and you can’t just plop down your setup wherever you want. I guess if you stay in very rural areas maybe someone wouldn’t notice. Or maybe planning walmarts? I mean, that’s limiting you again to smaller areas. A city just will not allow, your dogs and that bucket to hang out for any length of time.
Ha, I know the awning and rug were part of my dad’s additions. I about fell over laughing at the thought of that with my car. You can tell he’s gotten the tiny living and van camping bug too as much as she sends my sister and I videos. My car camping will be much more contained.
Hope, I have followed you since the beginning here and have usually rooted for your success. So please understand I say this with complete kindness. PLEASE rethink this plan. It is not safe, sustainable, or financially sound.
Personally, I would rethink selling the house. I think it is a really terrible financial move. But yet, I do understand that maintaining it may just be too hard for for you. Not everyone is cut out for home ownership. But if you must sell your house, please find a cheap efficiency apartment somewhere that you can use as home base. Living in your small SUV full time with dogs is not sustainable, not safe, not fair to the dogs, and an all around bad idea. Have you priced campgrounds? How will you poop in a bucket in a space where you can’t even stand up?
Safety? Wear and tear on the car. So much more I could list but others already have. Frankly, it makes me sad that no one in your life hasn’t talked you out of it yet. Get a apartment home base and then you can live out your car camping fantasies when time and weather make it doable.
Hi Hope. This seems like a not very well thought out plan. Your vehicle is not all that large when you factor in two dogs and a mattress. Are you certain your vehicle can actual withstand the weight of your travel items? How can you possibly work in such a tight environment? I am worried for you and the precariousness of your future life.
So your plan is to live in Texas in a car when it is 100 degrees out for like 4 months in a row? I think you are smelling the equity in your house and just trying to get your hands on that money. I think that is pretty short sighted. Plus once that is done, how will you qualify to buy a new house? I’m assuming the car thing isn’t a long range plan. I would try to think 2 or 3 years down the road.
No, in Texas, I will be staying with my parents to help care for my mom.
And yes, I am certainly excited to pay off debt with the equity from the house.
The plan is to save to buy a piece of land and build a tiny house. But I’m not sure where I want to be. That is the 2-3 year plan.
With all the research you have done, I’m sure you have found that tiny houses are illegal in most places. Even in rural areas tiny houses (<600sq ft) are generally forbidden and by law they are considered the same as living in an RV camper. Most counties have restrictions on how long you can camp, sometimes only 14 days every 30 days, even on land you own.
Can you share the areas that you have found it is legal to live in a tiny house? Or are you actually not mean the traditional "tiny homes" (<600sq ft and on wheels although generally stationary). I'm curious, because I would love to have a tiny home on land I own but I haven't found a location where it is clearly legal to do so.
I definitely do not mean the “tiny houses on wheels” or lofted sheds. Rather more a stick built, very small, one story home.
In my research, there are square footage requirements and often require it be manufactured on site versus a converted shed.
A friend of my parents is actually building/moving into one on her daughter’s land in Texas and was able to get financing. The world is changing…in some places at least.
I have no intention of financing and have no idea where I want to be, but will definitely consider code before I purchase the land when it’s time.