Chapter 4 – Housing - Experimenting In Homelessness
There are lots of people in the world who are, what the government would call, “homeless”. These are people who, either by their own choice or by virtue of the circumstances they’ve been given don’t live in a conventional home. These people are living with all levels of income and comfort. Some live in a van traveling and sleeping in a different Walmart or Home Depot parking lot each night, some live in big, snazzy RVs parked in full-service campgrounds, some live in boxes under overpasses, some live in modest, vintage or home-made trailers spending time in many state or federal public lands, some live in boats. Wherever they live the place they call home doesn’t look like what the legal …show more content…
I have a job working over the Internet so I’ll work throughout my experiment. I usually live pretty minimally and low impact but because I’m not homeless and living in poverty, my experiment is not an accurate representation. No amount of living like I’m homeless can replicate really not knowing where one’s next meal will come from or having a place to call home.
The most important feature of this RV to so many actual homeless folks is that it’s a place to feel sheltered and home. A largely overlooked problem of homelessness is the lack of a place to feel secure and safe and home.
The saying “life is a journey not a destination” certainly applies to this adventure. This RV and the journey that it is are new to me. I continue to have ideas and read articles with plans for improvements. I have lots of big plans in my head, like the water catchment system I mentioned above, for continued improvement and look forward to the journey.
I’m not suggesting everyone should live like a homeless person but this is a demonstration of how we can all live with less. And a statement of solidarity with those who have no choice but to live with less. This is a means of showing the government and commercial establishment that “home” is not only a large, expensive to own and maintain house with traditional, on-grid utilities anchored to a piece of
There are lots of people in the world who are, what the government would call, “homeless”. These are people who, either by their own choice or by virtue of the circumstances they’ve been given don’t live in a conventional home. These people are living with all levels of income and comfort. Some live in a van traveling and sleeping in a different Walmart or Home Depot parking lot each night, some live in big, snazzy RVs parked in full-service campgrounds, some live in boxes under overpasses, some live in modest, vintage or home-made trailers spending time in many state or federal public lands, some live in boats. Wherever they live the place they call home doesn’t look like what the legal …show more content…
I have a job working over the Internet so I’ll work throughout my experiment. I usually live pretty minimally and low impact but because I’m not homeless and living in poverty, my experiment is not an accurate representation. No amount of living like I’m homeless can replicate really not knowing where one’s next meal will come from or having a place to call home.
The most important feature of this RV to so many actual homeless folks is that it’s a place to feel sheltered and home. A largely overlooked problem of homelessness is the lack of a place to feel secure and safe and home.
The saying “life is a journey not a destination” certainly applies to this adventure. This RV and the journey that it is are new to me. I continue to have ideas and read articles with plans for improvements. I have lots of big plans in my head, like the water catchment system I mentioned above, for continued improvement and look forward to the journey.
I’m not suggesting everyone should live like a homeless person but this is a demonstration of how we can all live with less. And a statement of solidarity with those who have no choice but to live with less. This is a means of showing the government and commercial establishment that “home” is not only a large, expensive to own and maintain house with traditional, on-grid utilities anchored to a piece of