First step in converting my SUV into my "home"?

[OperationOverlord44]

Hey. What's up? I just joined. I'm a noob when it comes to travelling so bare with me haha. I have an SUV, a ford escape, about 10 years old. The back seats fold down to where I can put the whole back down and only have the two front seats up. What are the first steps I can take in converting my SUV into a new home for a while? It's not a huge car but it's not tiny either. I don't know anything about mechanics, carpentry, but I think I can still do something to make it a comfy place to sleep at night and hold what I need. I think the first few steps I could take would be getting the windows tinted and window vent visors. Any other suggestions? Thank you.

 

[SophiaII]

i think a big one is deciding what you want to bring and why. most people take too much

 

[OperationOverlord44]

Thank you for the reply. I haven't thought this out completely yet but here is a rough draft:

Clothes - 5 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts, 2 pairs of pants, 5 boxers, 5 pairs of socks, 1 pair of boots, 1 pair of shoes, 1 hat, 1 hoodie, and 1 jacket.
For cooking/eating - one pot, one skillet, 1 multipurpose tool that includes fork, knife, & spoon, a portable propane grill (wether I bring this or not depends on if it's safe to drive with),
Misc. items - guitar, portable amp, (may opt out to a small cheap acoustic/parlor guitar) small axe, knife, box of matches, a couple lighters, and pepperspray.

That's honestly all I can think of off the top of my head right now. Anything you can suggest I get rid of or add to the list would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

 

[SophiaII]

personally, i'd add a showerbox. like a small showercaddy and fix any toiletries you want in there.

one thing you can do, if your living situation is pretty stable right now, is to measure out the useable space in the SUV and mark it out on the floor of your bedroom or a patio, and try to see how you can make all that stuff fit comfortably. Start really struggling with yourself where you would want to put stuff, then see if that would actually be a good place to put it

 

[MilkaNoobie]

see i would go with a gym bag and a gym membership with all your toiletriew in the gym bag so after you work out you can shower

 

[roguetrader]

my advice ? don't let over thinking / analysing / preparing stop you from actually getting out there travelling - I mean seriously brother just throw all your shit in that SUV and hit the road ! even if you don't feel fully prepared you'll find useful stuff on your travels and you can ditch / trade anything that's not getting used - its only when you get out on the road and start living out of that SUV that you will decide what set up works for you and what you actually need - things might be a little cramped / chaotic until you get the hang of things but pretty soon you'll have it sorted - your own little routine that you can refine and tweak as the week's roll by.... I agree that blanking off the windows is a good idea - so people can't see you sleeping in there and can't see your gear.... I wouldn't buy a load of fancy kit either - you'll only stress about it getting robbed when you're away from the vehicle...... and seriously @SophiaII what is the point of marking out an exact SUV size space on the floor of a building etc when you can just use the vehicle itself to decide what goes where etc ? (maybe I'm missing something ?)

 

[roguetrader]

(rant over) I'd probably build a large-ish bed that doubles as seating in the day with storage underneath if possible and also a mini kitchen / table area.... I'd make all this demountable / collapsible because flexibility is a bonus and it's handy to be able to try out new things until you're happy with the set up.... hard to say more because I'm not sure how big a Ford Escape is - we don't got them in the UK....

 

[WanderLost Radical]

I'll go with @roguetrader here. Just shove everything you think you'll need in there. If you find out you won't need it, its always easy to get rid of it. Just use common sense for your layout, then adapt if needed if you think you need to.

Don't spend too much time trying to figure out what you'll need: you'll just end up buying shit you won't need. Just go without it, and when you need it, get it. You'll most likely find ingenious ways to go without it.

 

[OperationOverlord44]

I'm definitely going to be getting all the windows tinted and some window vent visors. The window vent visors would be for if I need to crack the window at night if it gets really hot in the car that way with the visor no one would be able to see that it's cracked. Also thought about maybe some sort of blinds? or car sun visors around the back windows. (I think the sun visors would be less conspicuous though.) That's one thing I am kind of worried about honestly... someone breaking into my car and stealing all my shit. A reason why I should follow your advice roguetrader and not buy a bunch of fancy, high end equipment. Rogue, to give you a vague perspective of how big the sleeping area (the back) of my ford escape is... It's about 4 ft high, 5 ft wide, and 6 ft long. I haven't done any measurements, that's just a guesstimate. Not very roomy but enough to lay down & sleep and store what I need. Thanks for the replies good people.

 

[SophiaII]

and seriously @SophiaII what is the point of marking out an exact SUV size space on the floor of a building etc when you can just use the vehicle itself to decide what goes where etc ? (maybe I'm missing something ?)

I'm horrifically introverted and I shared a 355 sq ft dwelling space with two adults that I avoided and 2 large dogs, and a cat. The cat an I lived in a space about 6x8x6, except not really, because of the slanted roof, the shitty ass built ins, and a closet that I couldn't remove. I lived in that tiny space with my cat for about 5 years.

Depending on your personality, you can gain a lot of insight from marking out a space and playing around with it. The people who made our "house" obviously never had to live in a space like that, and so the actual usable space was more like ~200 sq ft.

Using the vehicle to decide where things go only works if you already live in it. If you're still working on it, or you're currently only using it as a commuter, your needs and priorities are different.

Of course, not everyone needs to mark things out like that. For some people that would sort of crush them, or be useless. Those people know who they are and would just say to themselves "that's not for me" and wouldn't do it anyway, so no harm in suggesting it.

 

[dprogram]

Have you considered removing the rear seats? That would free up some storage space and you could lay a piece of plywood down for your bed.

 

[etpyh]

Listen to @roguetrader .
The only thing I would get installed if you are so unsure, is some sort of bed, anything else you will find on the road. For a bed I suggest, that you first measure the heigth of your folded down seats. Then get some plywood, that is about as wide as your car (as wide as your rear door), and as long as the distance between your rear end - whith closed doors- and the rears seats -while they are in the normal driving position-. Then get another piece of wood, that reaches from the end of the front seats to the end of the rear seats/your first piece of wood) and join them with a hinge (don't know if that's the correct word). Then put some timbers under the rear wood sheet (?), in the size of the height of your folded down rear seats. That way you can just flip over the front part of the wood construction if you want to drive, and flip it down if you want to sleep. While you have storage room under the whole construction, and you don't loose any room other than the volume of the wood itself. Hope that was kind of understandable.