MISC
0. Just try stuff and figure it out. Use what you got, even if it is a normal car. Because you will learn what works for you and learn skills about what you can put up with. If, instead, you want the "must work" way, you'll spend several months and a ton of money. And, your rig will still not be exactly what you want. Expect to iterate and incrementally improve.
1. Get the interlocking gym mats ($20) for the floor/bed. These are waterproof, cheap, and you can easily cut to size. Yes, other flooring is neater, but this is easy and good. Start with this. If you want it softer, double the layers. Use old t-shirts to smooth out uneven spots.
2. Don't insulate. The reason is that the payoff isn't good. You will cut your heat loss only in about half because your windows will be full of heatflow. It's just physics. And it's a lot of messy work. Keep it easy to start. Instead:
3. Make a "bivy box". It's a 3-sided wood box/platform which you sleep in. In the easiest incarnation, get a folding table and sleep under it. (Really!) You can put a sleeping bag OVER it to cover the sides which keeps the box warm. Underneath, put some pads or blankets. I found a few spare outdoor cushions to use as a small bed. Or get a trifold cushion or two blankets. If you are doing this in a car, get a medium cardboard box that your head and shoulders will fit in. Use this like a helmet, and then cover yourself completely with blankets. You will look just like a messy car.
4. Get a lithium jumper pack. (Pricey, maybe $50-$80) This is a spare USB charger for your cell phone, but also will let you jump your car if you somehow drain the battery. Find one that has a cigarette adapter so you can recharge when driving. This is cheaper than AAA. You will probably mess up and drain your battery at some point.
5. Get Google Fi. You can pause service, it's cheap, and it's a great backup. You can use your phone as a hotspot. $20-30 a month, but you can get down to less than $4 if you keep the service paused most of the time. You can also use it as a primary phone service and ditch your pricey plan. Tip: set up a Google voice or BurnR number so you have communication even if you have cell service paused. Both allow voicemails to be checked via WiFi or 4g mobile data.
6. If you use a heater or cookstove, get a CO (carbon monoxide detector). So you don't die. But, I don't think you need either.
7. Planet Fitness black card if you can afford it. Easy wifi, water, showers, gym.
8. Large hand sanitizer bottle with a pump.
9. Get a quick dry towel or a 3 pack on Amazon.
10. You don't need a super fancy sleeping bag. Just get two cheap ones. I find eBay to be the cheapest source. ($15 each)
POOP AND PEE
11. Get creative with emergency poop and pee solutions. Think how dogs and cats poop and pee. Newspapers, kitty litter box (or cardboard box with some gravel), etc are your friends, as are good plastic bags. Some people use a yogurt container in an emergency. You can pee in the car and then dump it 5 minutes later discretely. If you master that, you'll never be "stuck". There is an ick factor to get over. If you can't handle it, get one of the $75 portable toilets which have a good sealed container (also Amazon). Or a sealed bucket plus sawdust or kitty litter.
POWER AND WATER
12. If you can manage it, just use USB to run most things. in the coming years, Chromebooks will start using usb-c for charging, so even laptops can be usb-c.
13. If you do have something you have to run on 110v, especially if it is a MacBook, spend the extra bucks and get a pure sine wave inverter. I got a Bestek brand for $40 that works for MacBooks. On the modified sine wave inverter, my MacBook refused to charge. Then, just run your car when you need to charge something and can't go to the library. This is much easier than solar and the setup and space for solar is pretty high. Solar is not the best option for 90% of people. The 10% who need it are the ones who are deep off grid for weeks.
14. Water: get two 1 gallon jugs (with screw top kids, not the pop top. Those don't stay closed well) and get 4 Gatorade or Powerade bottles. You can also have your favorite water bottle, but these are great standbys. Nobody has ever minded me filling my Gatorade bottle from a tap. But they would mind you filling a gallon jug. So, 4 Gatorades is a gallon.
FOOD
15. Avoid cooking if you can, at least to start. Exception: you like the idea and that'll get you going. (It was fun to buy frozen Dover sole at Trader Joe's and cook it. It was amilestone that said, I can do anything in here!) The reason to skip it is that cooking in a car is a chore because cleanup is hard. The cooking is pretty straightforward. It's also a lot of space and gear you rarely use. If you do cook, get paper plates as backup. And, keep an empty storage big from DollarTree as a wash basin or to store dirty dishes you can't get to. Instead of cooking...
16. Learn to eat healthy from fast food or the grocery. Taco Bell can keep me alive with 2000cal for about $3-4 a day, with no meat. I also have learned that canned corn is delicious, as are baby carrots and zuchinni can be eaten raw. Greens are a tough one, but instead of cooking....
17. Get a $5 cigarette lighter immersion coil to boil water. This thing is dangerous, so never operate when you aren't keeping close track of it. You'll also need to keep the engine running while you use it... It will drain your car battery. I had to get 2 or 3 before I got a good one (they all worked, but a few got too hot because the wires were thin. I had to unplug and replug them every 5 minutes, otherwise the burning plastic smell was too much). Don't immerse the plastic part, just the coil. I use a small insulated metal or ceramic mug. A wooden clothespin will help keep it secure too. If you do, this will boil 8oz of water in about 15 minutes. This means you can quickly dunk any veggies you want to cook, like fresh bulk spinach or kale. And make any soup that doesn't require long boiling. Although you *might* be able to cook potatoes or rice, the time to do that is really high. So, think teas and soups that would be fine to make with pouring hot water over them.
18. Learn to love green onions (raw) and cilantro (raw). On the west coast, these are less than a dollar each.
19. An ice chest is very handy. Get a sturdy one that you can sit/stand on if needed. The best place for it is between the driver and passenger seat.
20. Sugar packets are desert, as are the little Tootsie rolls from Planet Fitness.
21. Pickles don't require refrigeration for a few days (if they are the sour kind, not the sweet kind).
22. Instant oatmeal /quick oats work with normal room temperature water.
23. Ziploc bags have a million uses.
SAFETY
24. Sleeping hidden and in a normal vehicle (like a minivan) is the best way to not attract attention. See the bivy box above.
25. Pepper spray. $10.
26. If you do need to sleep parked on the street, try to park near other cars (so you don't stick out). My best rule is wake up before 7am and drive to a grocery store/Walmart/shopping plaza then. Another safe option is the parking lot of an emergency room hospital.
27. Later, you might consider tinting windows very dark, or blackout curtains. Note: the cheap temporary solution is old newspapers taped onto windows. But, in those cases, you will stick out. I prefer to blend in.
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