what’s it like?
Car life…
Well I sure as hell would be a lot more comfortable in a larger car than an old Toyota Camry. I never thought I’d travel the country in anything other than a van, trailer, or RV. But here I am! In a 4 door sedan.
Luckily, I am small and fit in the backseat. Although with my first setup I had the bed in the back, trunk packed with stuff, and kitchen in the front seat and some stored in the back too. Now I have changed my setup many times, but I am pretty content with how it is now.
Sleeping Situation:
My legs got tired of being all cramped up back there, and I found many different sleeping positions. Sometimes I straddled the front seat, passenger seat, sometimes I did a full body twist with one leg on each front seat, sometimes I shoved my feet in the corner and slept diagonally, and eventually my legs hurt so much I started sleeping down the middle console. I’m skinny, so I fit, but it’s not very comfortable.
I now decided to switch my sleeping setup. The kitchen and bathroom is in the passenger seat and my sleeping set up now has the seats down and my legs go in the trunk. Feng-shui wise this is terrible because of the line cutting my body in half. Actually feng-shui wise, I wouldn’t recommend sleeping in your car at all LOL. Anyway so I moved all my clothing items to the other backseat while I can lay down on the other. With the seats down, it creates a weird dip where it changes from backseat to trunk. Now my lower back hurts…but my leg problem is solved. It’s also a tight squeeze to fit in the hole going into the trunk. So to turn or switch positions I need to pull myself out of the hole, turn, and then insert myself back into the hole. Sometimes I sleep down the middle console so I can stretch my legs out and turn freely.
What’s in the front seat?
In my passenger side I now have a car refrigerator (link below), my toiletries in containers, shoes, and other kitchen/ car cooking supplies (I’ll link below). You can check out some of these IG Reels of my car set ups:
My setup beginning of my second half of my journey
Second revision after second half of journey
First switch to sleeping half in trunk
Sleeping in my car in the rain
Adding lights and customization to my setup
Scroll down for more videos of my car setup!
what’s my car stacked with?
Here’s a list of things I got off Amazon to help with my car living situation:
(please use my direct link, so I can get credit/commission for purchases. It helps me a lot so thank you!)
Battery jump starter- I got one that you can just attach it and press a button to jump start. I used it once when someone at a truck stop needed help with his car. It can also be used as a portable charger with USB port and a flashlight! The one I have isn’t available anymore, but it’s just like this one.
Update: I had to use this several times since my alternator stopped recharging the battery. Total lifesaver- many times!
Tire Inflator/ Air Compressor- I haven’t had to use it, but I have it for emergencies. https://amzn.to/3R7Zmy1
Car curtains- I used to put blankets in the windows. Someone bought these car curtains for me and they are life changing. They are magnetic and you just magnet it to the window! https://amzn.to/3dvxy9f
Retractable Windshield Shade- this is one of my favourite investments by far. It suctions onto your windshield and retracts like blinds. No more folding and unfolding window covers, this retracts! https://amzn.to/3fcEZm6
Car vacuum- I still haven’t found the perfect one, but this one is far better than any regular car vacuum. The sucking power is much better than your average car vacuum but the battery doesn’t last very long. Reviews say it’s impossible to clean, but you can just take the long nozzle with skinny flat end and shove it through the hole to push the filter out to empty it. So far, this is the best car vacuum I can find. I charge it with a power inverter in my cig lighter. https://amzn.to/3VdbHnT
Power inverter- the one I have is a bit faulty, and I was looking into getting a different one. I use this to charge items that have regular plug, it changes the car cig lighter into an outlet for plugs. I blew a fuse with this which wasn’t the inverter’s fault but it seems to be faulty if I use something with high wattage. Now that I watch the wattage I use, I haven’t had a problem with it. I recommend this one that has power protector so you don’t blow any fuses: https://amzn.to/3UAKU4r
Multiple cig lighter with USB-C port- This also shows how much power you’re using so you don’t blow a fuse and has an on/off button so you don’t drain power while the car is off. The mounting tape worked for a little, but now keeps falling. that’s just the tape it came with though, the product itself works great! https://amzn.to/3DJ6Cx9
Mini Car Refrigerator- this is the best investment. It cools down quickly and even froze my ice packs in one long drive. Even if it’s not on, it still keeps things cold and cool for quite a while. You can put it on “freezer” mode or “refrigerator mode” by adjusting the temperature. This is the perfect size to fit comfortably in my passenger seat and allowing room to store my other items. https://amzn.to/3C2iOIh
Mini rice cooker- this is my favourite by far. A life saver, and all I really need because I eat so much damn rice. When I first got it, it cooked rice in about 30 minutes. Now, it takes 40 minutes to an hour to fully cook. Not sure why, but it’s still a great little rice cooker. The cup it comes with is actually the amount of half a cup, so it cooks 4 of those little half cups meaning it cooks a total of 2 uncooked cups of rice. It is fantastic. I use it to keep my soup or noodles warm and also used it to warm up pre-made pasta. To boil water, I recommend getting a water boiler since it’s faster. Uses about 100w. https://amzn.to/3dzlVxX
Water boiler- fits right in the cup holder, and boils water in like 10 minutes. It’s so quick. Easy to use, it does get hot so be careful, and it only boils like 2 cups I think. Wish it was a little bigger and could boil a little more water, but not bad for instant noodles. https://amzn.to/3r1EmhW
Car “microwave”- this is pretty much a hot plate surrounded by insulation thus warming up your food very slowly. It does get pretty hot, and works as a slow microwave. If your food needs to be “cooked” by the heat of a microwave, this will not do that. It warms from the outside slowly, but it can heat frozen meals. https://amzn.to/3f1ysKM
Car table- this is such a game changer. Can be used to hold laptop or tablet, I use it to eat and chop food. Easy to put on the steering wheel and sturdy! https://amzn.to/3R19I2x
Passenger seat cooler- It’s small but actually fits quite a lot. I usually store my hiking snacks or emergency ramen, along with my vitamins and the side pockets store my cooking utensils and my blender water bottle.
Blender water bottle (Blendjet 2)- This is a travel sized blender I use to make smoothies and protein shakes. It has its flaws, but overall once you learn how to troubleshoot it it’s a good blender. I wish it wasn’t so faulty, but it’s a great size and actually blends well. Here’s a video of some things I troubleshoot with it:
This brand is not on Amazon, but here’s a similar one: https://amzn.to/3S9an3i
Mini cutting board- This is a small size and good for traveling.
Knife set- I got these to cut food. They work fine so far!
Essential Oil Diffuser- I use this mainly to repel bugs and make sure they have no interest in coming into my car. It also just smells really good, but I put my own concoction of essential oils to prevent bugs. It sticks right to the dashboard, and the sticky thing is so sticky it’s practically immortal. I really love this, I was going to get one that fit in the cup holder but this is more convenient so I have more cup holder room.
DYLN Alkalizing Water Bottle- Unfortunately I lost this in South Carolina. But it is a water bottle that alkalizes water in 20 minutes. When I had it, it was great for when I ran out of my gallons of alkaline or distilled water I usually purchase at grocery stores- I can just put any filtered water in here and it would alkalize it. https://amzn.to/3qXWzwI
Back seat organizers- I got these to organize my clothes better instead of in random bags and luggage. They fit perfectly for my car setup!
https://amzn.to/3UwytXv bigger one
https://amzn.to/3LBasKM smaller one
Back seat organizer on back of front seats- this organizes various things, I had my socks and underwear, pads (for period), baby wipes, cleaning wipes, tarot/oracle decks, random stuff etc. https://amzn.to/3BCOVNg