Vans as the ideal tiny house for mendicants

[Jhanananda]

If I recall correctly the character "beatnik Maynard G. Krebs" in the early sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959–1963) lived in a van, and was too poor to put himself through college, so he lived in a van, or station wagon and audited classes at a university became an early model of survival for me in an insane world.

I lived in this old Toyota 4x4 van in much of the last few years of college. In the above image I am posed in front of the van where it had come to rest, and died for 6 months on the street of Bolinas, CA.  I lived in this van for about 6 years, and the entire 2 year retreat in the Inyo National forest. The entire rear of the van had a sheet of 3/4" plywood that I had recycled from repairing the deck at a dharma center in Tucson.  Underneath the platform was storage.

In 2007 I bought this above van because it had a diesel engine, which I could burn waste oils in for fuel.  So, I built a fuel processing system onto the rear of it.

I made the interior of this van comfortable with a platform bed, which had storage underneath the platform. The platform was the same sheet of plywood that I used in the Toyota 4x4 van.

I also installed a small field kitchen, which is the yellow box. 

The Chevy van was twice the size of the Toyota 4x4 van and got the same mileage, but I could make my own fuel.

[Alexander]

Your lifestyle is very inspiring and heroic; it encourages me to embrace more rigor in the contemplative life. It seems fate is going to have me do that either way - given I've been fired from the job I got last year!

[Jhanananda]

Sorry to hear, Alexander, that you recently lost your job.  It happens.  Life has many ups and downs, so when we develop survival skills, then we can negotiate the ups and downs of life with less stress and anxiety.  To me owning a van is just essential survival material, because one never knows when one will have to live in it for an extended period of time.  Good luck with the changes in your life.

[Tad]

Hello Jhananda,

I wanted to ask if you had a lot of money, would you still prefer living out of a van or buy a little land away from civilization and build a cabin or build a meditation center where could reside as well as invite others?

[Jhanananda]

Essentially, the problem with buying property is it becomes a dependent, much like getting married. It becomes a black hole where time and money get sunk until you die. Old vans are the same way. This winter I spent about 2 months dealing with repairs on my motor home, which if I was healthier I could have done in a day or two. So, if one is going to live in a vehicle, then one will have to have a regular income to pay for repairs, and/or replace the vehicle when it gets too old to keep running. Disability or remote work could make this kind of arrangement work.

So, for most contemplatives I think owning a van or motor home is a better idea, but one will have to be handy and have tools, and skills, which I have, but now as my health is declining rapidly, I am seriously looking at long term low income housing, which has a lot of problems, but I can plug my respiratory equipment in, and being retired in a socialistic state, then my rent, utilities, medicine, medical and food are all taken care of with little extra.

[Tad]

Essentially, the problem with buying property is it becomes a dependent, much like getting married. It becomes a black hole where time and money get sunk until you die. Old vans are the same way. This winter I spent about 2 months dealing with repairs on my motor home, which if I was healthier I could have done in a day or two. So, if one is going to live in a vehicle, then one will have to have a regular income to pay for repairs, and/or replace the vehicle when it gets too old to keep running. Disability or remote work could make this kind of arrangement work.

So, for most contemplatives I think owning a van or motor home is a better idea, but one will have to be handy and have tools, and skills, which I have, but now as my health is declining rapidly, I am seriously looking at long term low income housing, which has a lot of problems, but I can plug my respiratory equipment in, and being retired in a socialistic state, then my rent, utilities, medicine, medical and food are all taken care of with little extra.

The material realm seems to be like some sort of curse. No matter what you do there are always dangers and potential suffering. Like it would be so liberating just to quit the civilized world and to spend most time sleeping under the stars having no property. But no, it would be too good to be true. There are predators from which humans are not protected at all.

I was also thinking that mystics of the past were much better adapted to living in the wilderness. They had immune system that was adjusted to natural living. Their bodies were used to austerity, cold, and heat. But for us, we spend decades living with all the comforts of technology so we would not survive long just sleeping under a tree with a hoodie.

Some sort of housing might be a good idea for aging mystics just due to health issues. Even a little cabin or something since like you mentioned vehicles provide freedom, but they also require maintenance.

[Jhanananda]

The material realm seems to be like some sort of curse. No matter what you do there are always dangers and potential suffering. Like it would be so liberating just to quit the civilized world and to spend most time sleeping under the stars having no property. But no, it would be too good to be true. There are predators from which humans are not protected at all.

To me the Four Noble Truths is a serious reality check that every contemplative has to take, which is the material world is characterized by suffering, so there is no advantage in being attached to it. It is better to spend one's time in meditation; and expect life to be short if you are a hermit.

Also, a realm that is characterized by suffering, where mystics are most often marginalized, and where religion and politics are mostly corrupt is a place best described by the term 'hell.'

I was also thinking that mystics of the past were much better adapted to living in the wilderness. They had immune system that was adjusted to natural living. Their bodies were used to austerity, cold, and heat. But for us, we spend decades living with all the comforts of technology so we would not survive long just sleeping under a tree with a hoodie.

As an anthropologist I have been looking at the history of the few mystics who have made it into the historic record, and what seems obvious to me is a person who gives up everything to lead a contemplative life, is indeed returning to a hunter-gatherer subsistence; and the opinion in anthropology that I was exposed to in my education was the hunter-gatherer subsistence strategy was the primary subsistence that humans have occupied themselves with throughout the hundreds of thousands of years if their archaeological history; and humans are happiest as hunter-gatherers, but their life is short. Reproduction began at puberty and life for most hunter-gatherers ended at 20.

Some sort of housing might be a good idea for aging mystics just due to health issues. Even a little cabin or something since like you mentioned vehicles provide freedom, but they also require maintenance.

Yes, I had planned on inspiring a community of people to help fund acquiring property in a remote area where cabins and a community meditation hall, and dining hall, and organic garden could be built. The property is now available, but it is remote being 25 miles from the nearest town.

[Tad]

Jhananda,

How do the following things work when living in a van?

Showering
Toilet
Brushing teeth
Cooking food

In addition, do you typically like to meditate inside the van or outside?

[Jhanananda]

Jhananda,

How do the following things work when living in a van?

Showering
Toilet
Brushing teeth
Cooking food

In addition, do you typically like to meditate inside the van or outside?

Thanks, Tad, for posing your useful question. I have ben living in vans for 20 years primarily due to my autoimmune condition making it difficult to work, and making me hypersensitive to air pollution, so requiring me to live as far from civilization as possible, which forced me into the ideal lifestyle of a mystic involving seclusion. So, my solutions have changed over the 2 decades due to changes in environment and vehicles, and learning.

Toilet:
Originally, I lived in a minivan which didn't give me much room. In fact the entire back was a large bed, under which I stored necessities, so I had a folding camp shovel, and a roll of toilet paper, and dug myself a hole when needed. Eventually I acquired a full-sized 3/4 ton Chevy van, which doubled my living space, so the rear 1/4 was a platform bed with storage underneath, and storage in the passenger space up front, and storage around the walls leaving me with a crude kitchen just behind the front two seats, where I used a two burner propane stove and 1 5gal propane tank. Here is where I learned to incorporate a 5-gal plastic bucket with lid as my toilet. After I had several all too close encounters with large cats I stopped peeing outside and recycled a plastic water jug as my pee jug.

Bathing:
At first I had back to back urethritis events, which are part of the flare-ups of reactive arthritis, and I had discovered decades earlier that hot baths gave me instant relief from the pain, so I camped near back country hot springs where I could bath as needed. Often taking a long hot soak 3 times a day.

Now days I have a small motor home, which I can stand up in, but it was too small for a shower, so I rigged one up by installing a circle of hooks in the ceiling around the central AC unit, which I never used. And, I bought 2 shower curtain liners to hook them into a circle around the AC unit, and I bought a storage tub which I could stand in, and put the bottom of the shower curtains into. And, it was all placed near the two burner propane stove the RV came with, and I found I could heat a gallon of water on the stove in a clean pot and pour it over my head and wipe down, before drying off. I also put my daily under clothes and socks in the tub with me, and washed them out after I showered, then hung them on the hooks to drip dry over night, so I had relatively clean clothes to wear every day.

Brushing teeth was as simple as recycling a jar which I filled with water to brush my teeth and rinse out my mouth, and this was done on the landscape where I camped until my motor home arrived, then I use the sink and allow the grey water to water the campsite.

Compose:
Any refuse from food preparation gets deposited in a discrete location where wildlife can enjoy it in privacy, and future campers don't see decomposing food waste.

Refrigeration:
Keeping food cold for a week is a real challenge when camping. So, I learned to live out of an ice chest and maximize its hold time, and other strategies.

I insulated my ice chest by completely covering it in reflectix which doubled the hold time for ice.  I also parked in the shade most of the time, which becomes problematic if you have solar panels mounted on the roof as I do now.  For years I had portable panels that I put out in the sun, and ran a cable.

I also recycled the plastic bag that ice comes in, and used it as an inside insulator resting on top of all of my food. And, the melted ice still remains cold for days, so altogether I could get about a week out of a bag of ice keeping my food cold.

Also, I used to store my ice chest under my van at night so that wildlife couldn't easily make off with my food, and the vehicle provided additional shade while being well ventilated outside. These days I like a cold drink of seltzer at night so I store my seltzer under a tree where no direct sunlight during the day will fall on whatever I need kept marginally cool, plus the night time drop in temperature I could store jugs of drinking water in the shade and put a new jug into the cie chest every morning before temperatures start to rise and got a month of cooling my food this way.

[Tad]

Hi Jhananda,

How do you go about living in a van in summer? Do you try to park under trees for protection from sun?

[Jhanananda]

Hi Jhananda,

How do you go about living in a van in summer? Do you try to park under trees for protection from sun?

All along my itinerant mendicant lifestyle also included seasonal migration, so I chased good weather. At first I had one small 15w solar panel that I deployed in the sun on a long cable, while parked in the shade of a tree during the warmer months. Now days I have 4 133w solar panels that are attached to a bumper to bumper roof rack, so I continue to migrate seasonally, and I am currently in Flagstaff, AZ, and I park in the sun during the day, and leave all of the screen covered wondows open during the day.

[Tad]

Solar panels is a great idea.

Is water supply one of the limiting factors that make you travel to town more often than everything else?

BTW, what food supplies do you find to be the most practical for van lifestyle?

[Jhanananda]

Solar panels is a great idea.

Thanks, yes, it is now possible to have a significant amount of power installed on the roof of a van.

Is water supply one of the limiting factors that make you travel to town more often than everything else?

Yes, early on I had considered buying a water purifier so that I could have drinkable water whenever I needed it, but now the limiting factor is ice to keep my food cold, so I now go to the grocery store every 4 days

BTW, what food supplies do you find to be the most practical for van lifestyle?

When I was living on the ranch and driving into town monthly I worked on avoiding anything that needed to be cold, so my diet includes cheese because it is zero carb, so I was buying parmesan cheese because it doesn't need refrigeration, and using peanut butter in my coffee to replace cream.

[Tad]

Using peanut butter as coffee creamer is very creative haha. I will have to try it.

Do you like to do cooking regularly or you prefer foods ready to eat?

BTW, is there any way to generate enough power with solar panels for a small refrigerator?

[Jhanananda]

Using peanut butter as coffee creamer is very creative haha. I will have to try it.

Thanks, but I can't take credit for it.  As I was getting ready to leave civilization permanently I met the cook for a cafe in Tucson who used to be a cook for hunting expeditions in Alaska.  She said they had trouble keeping milk cold for a month, so they used creamy peanut butter. So, I have been using creamy peanut better for the 20 years since. Also, the food bank gives me a jar of creamy peanut butter every time I go, so it doesn't cost me anything to use it. I have also since found adding unsweetened chocolate powder to turn my morning coffee into a peanut butter mocha sweetened with stevia a hearty breakfast that doesn't require refrigeration.

Do you like to do cooking regularly or you prefer foods ready to eat?

While there are a few pre-prepared foods that are low carb which I like; nonetheless, I have to reduce my expenses as much as possible, so most of the food I eat I cook myself.

BTW, is there any way to generate enough power with solar panels for a small refrigerator?

When I can deploy 8 of my 133w solar panels and charge 8 of my golf cart batteries then I can run a small refrigerator, but I can only fit 4 solar panels on the roof of my van, and I am down to only 4 functional golf cart batteries. So, I plan to purchase 4 more new golf cart batteries, and install 2ea 2-panel fold-out wings, then I expect, and hope to run a refrigerator, but all of that has to wait until I can save up enough money to retrieve my container out of the forest first.