A Chilly Night in the Car

Last Tuesday night was my first chilly night in the car. I've been living in my car since this past April, and springtime was very mild. Very rarely did the temperature drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the entire first month I slept in my car. And after mid-May, the temperatures were much higher.

This past Wednesday morning, I woke up to a temperature of 40 degrees.

Honestly, I've been fearing sleeping in my car in winter. I don't especially like the cold, but I want to stick with my experiment in homelessness at least for this winter. I recently acquired a mummy-style sleeping bag from Wal-Mart. Supposedly this sleeping bag is made for temperatures all the way down to 0 degrees F. Now, here in the middle of the country, the temperature doesn't often get that cold, but I want to be prepared.

Wednesday morning's 40 degrees wasn't especially cold, but I was pleasantly surprised that I actually felt comfortable in the sleeping bag. It seems to help that the human body actually gives off a decent amount of heat, and it's not too difficult to heat a tiny space (like the back of my car) with one's own body.

With privacy curtains installed, I have a cozy little compartment in the back of my car, and the well-insulated sleeping bag helps to keep me quite warm.

My clothing wasn't especially warm; I wore nothing more than sweatpants and a sweatshirt, with a t-shirt underneath. A wool hat kept my head warm, and I slept just fine in the car like that.

Now, I'm hoping that I'll be just as comfortable when the truly cold weather hits, from December through February. I might need to buy another well-insulated sleeping bag for more layering. And I might need to start wearing long insulating underwear to bed. But this is part of the experiment.

Since I don't have a fixed home anymore, the easiest answer to beat the cold weather would be just to drive to a warmer climate for three or four months out of the year. But I do have a full-time job, and I earn good money. And I'm under contract for several more months, so I don't exactly have the option of quitting right now. To be quite honest, it's actually quite fun to be a well-paid professional by day, and a homeless person living in a car by night. I've been able to hide my living situation from my co-workers for many months. And I don't really want to leave my job. So I'll be parking my car in the immediate area every night for the next several months, rain or shine, cold or warm.

I feel great after my first night in a cold car. I just hope wintertime is manageable. At least there won't be any mosquitoes!