Privacy in a Car

During my first two weeks living in a car, I spent most of my evenings trying to organize my belongings. Not matter how organized I became, it was still hard to function without any real amount of privacy. My car's windows were untinted, which made it hard to change clothes or relax in the car.

I spent those first few nights parked on a residential street, and the lights got to be annoying any time a car passed. Even the fairly distant street lights made it harder for me to sleep, since I was used to sleeping in a very dark room. I tried using eyeshades, but even the virtual darkness of the eyeshades didn't change the fact that my whole 'home' was exposed to anybody who walked by and peeked in.

Something would have to change.

After living in my car for two weeks, I decided to put curtains up and tint my windows. That combination of tint and curtains worked amazingly well, making me practically invisible to any passersby.

And even better, it didn't cost that much to install.

I stopped by my local AutoZone parts store and picked up a $10 do-it-yourself window tinting kit. After watching a few instructional videos on YouTube, it took me about an hour to tint my back passenger windows. I decided against tinting the rear window, since the contour is different. Also, the defrost grid has a greater likelihood of causing ripples or bubbles in the tinting.

After applying the tint, I went to a fabric store and bought a couple of yards of denim fabric. The thick, relatively opaque denim would make perfect curtains. I cut them to cover the approximate shape of each window.

In all, I had cut four curtains: one for each of the back passenger windows, one to cover the rear window, and one to separate the front seats from the backseat area. Some adhesive velcro kept the curtains attached to the windows.

Total cost of the window tinting, denim fabric, and velcro: $25.

One of the best things about my curtains is that they are convertible and removable. By day, my car is completely transparent and looks like a regular vehicle. After I'm parked for the night and the sun has gone down, I just put up the curtains, and my car is instantly converted into a tiny private capsule. Passersby can't tell that I'm inside. In fact, they can't even tell that there are curtains up, unless they practically press their face to the window and look very closely.

By making my car private, it makes my life in a car so much easier. I can change clothes without a problem. If necessary, I can even go to the bathroom or take a sponge bath in my car. But more about those topics some other day!

By making my presence in the car nearly undetectable, I feel more comfortable parking overnight in a much wider range of locations. Some otherwise wonderful parking places have bright lights, which made me think twice about parking there. Now I have no qualms about parking under the bright lights, because the private capsule in my car is shielded from the light. No eyeshades needed!

And my little sleeping area is just about what I need. The private capsule in my car is shaped like a small igloo. I sleep with my head behind the front passenger seat, and my legs stick into the trunk area. I have a fairly large 'nightstand' area next to me, which I use for storage. It's actually a lot more comfortable than I thought it would be. My little private living area -- not counting the front seat area of the car -- gives me just over 23 square feet of space.

Twenty-three square feet. That's not much by most modern standards, but just enough for me to get by.