Living out of a SUV not a truck

Anyone got any links to tips and other advice to living out of a SUV (subaru outback in particular)?

I've heard and seen it all with vans and trucks, but am more interested in blogs or websites about living out of your car!

I like visual so one of my favorites so far, simple and basic: theadventuresofsloth.wordpr…

mozeman wrote:Anyone got any links to tips and other advice to living out of a SUV (subaru outback in particular)? I've heard and seen it all with vans and trucks, but am more interested in blogs or websites about living out of your car! I like visual so one of my favorites so far, simple and basic: theadventuresofsloth.wordpr…

What do you want to know about it? If you are asking if it is possible, it is. I have spent over a year living out of my VW Jetta sedan, which is far smaller than an Outback. I use a 21 cubic foot storage box on the roof so I can keep the car empty of crap. I will say that it sucks ass, and it really sucks ass if you have two people in there. But considering that I get 40 MPG, the trade-off is that I can afford to go more places than most. Again though, after a few months, it really starts to suck living in there.

Just looking for the best advice to make it the most pleasurable it can be, from a living standpoint

Two important questions here:

Are you talking about living out of the car, wherein you keep all of your stuff in the car and sleep in the tent, or are you talking about living in the car (i.e. sleeping in the back of the subie). The former scenario is simple; the latter scenario takes some more planning to do it well.

Second: how tall are you? Space is tight enough in the Subie that your height is important. I have a great system for sleeping in my Outback, but I am 5'8. If I were any taller, my setup would not be nearly as comfortable for sleeping. If you are 5'4, you can sleep in many cars; if you are 6'4 it will be much harder.

Lastly, please don't call the Outback an SUV; it pains me to hear that.

A roof box is great for extended trips and definitely makes it easy to keep the sleeping space free. That being said, a roomy tent and a good air mattress (I worship my Thermarest Dreamtime) give you a lot more space and fresh air. When it is raining or I am too tired to drive it is great to crash in the back seat, but I'd rather live out of a tent than my car any day of the week. Minimize the clothing and gear you bring along, you can't have too many boxes/ammo cans/milk crates/storage bins to organize your stuff, a good way to charge camera/computer/phone in the car is a must (hurrah for the 21st century "dirtbag"!), and a solid kitchen is a must. You'll spend far too much money on takeout and pre-cooked meals if you don't have an efficient and comfortable kitchen. That means a good two-burner stove (cooking on a whisperlite/pocket rocket for weeks at a time sucks), a small table (rig one out of your ammo cans/milk crates), and a comfortable chair (sitting on the ground is a great way to work out your hip flexors, but it also sucks). A decent set of pans and pots will make life easier.

Otherwise, get creative and make it comfortable.

Cars dont have as many tricks as things like vans or trucks with campers. A roofbox helps, especially if you have crash pads. Minimize your cooking stuff and keep clothing at a relatively reasonable volume. I found a small crash pad that helps to even the offset when i lay the seats down and keep a closed cell foam pad to sleep on in there. When I'm alone I find that by laying down only one side of the back seat I maximize storage space and just sleep with my legs in the trunk. It doesnt look very big but its plenty comfy.

JCM wrote:please don't call the Outback an SUV; it pains me to hear that.

if it looks like one, smells like one and gets the same mileage as one well.......

does "station wagon" sound better?

Killing In The Name Of wrote:I used to rock a 90s Dodge Caravan LE, all seats but the front two ripped out.... A ride like that should be well under 2 grand just about anywhere, if you spend another G or so replacing belts, hoses, tires, etc, you have a medium-clearance vehicle with a dependable V6 (mitsubishi made these, apparently it was pretty much their best motor)

I still run a '90 Grand Caravan- front wheel drive, plenty of room for my stuff, 24mpg on the highway, and a way better driving position for long trips than any Subaru. While the Mitsubishi engines are OK, it turns out the Chrysler built 3.3 engines have been lasting longer.

expeditionportal.com has a lot of good designs:
-storage
-showers
-kitchens

Mostly for the offroad community but it would be a good resource for anyone on the move.

haha mainly sleep in the back of the subie.

on a side note minivans are seemingly the most ideal vehicles for living out of the car...but unfortunately/fortunately I dont drive one

Maybe build some sort of shelf if you have crashpads, then you dont have to try and stuff them in the front seat or whatever when you sleep, you can just move them onto the shelf and sleep with your feet under them.

mozeman wrote:Anyone got any links to tips and other advice to living out of a SUV (subaru outback in particular)?

An Outback is a STATION WAGON! I swear wagon is a dirty word.

Just sayn' :p

wankel7 wrote: An Outback is a STATION WAGON! I swear wagon is a dirty word. Just sayn' :p

no matter what ya wanna call it, the living situation between a station wagon, small suv, and minivan (to an extent) are all similiar and organization and other helpful tips are all in also in the same group when compared to vans and trucks like so many people talk about on this forum

My plan is to build one of these for my subi mountainproject.com/v/car-c…

I already have a modular rubbermaid-tub system for my gear that will fit in the locking (!) compartment under the bed; climbing gear in one box, sleeping bag/pad and pillow in another, cooking equip/camping stuff in another, and finally the food/beer just goes in a small cooler or two behind the front seats. I've never been on the road for more than 2 weeks, and I was living in a tent - not my car - but let me just say that the novelty of a solar shower wears off after about a week.

This year at the Pit in Joshua Tree, there are two guys in cars, smaller than an Outback, and one has been at it for years.

He has removed all but the driver's seat in a Nissan hatchback or something, and placed plywood layer on floor for level. An L-shaped studio, as it were... He even cooks INSIDE.

The trick is...well, I have no idea how he does it. But he seems content.

The other guy is 21 years old, so that explains how he is able to do it.

Personally, I could never live out of a station wagon because I have a dog and also like some privacy. I have a big van with a hightop.

Happiegrrrl wrote:This year at the Pit in Joshua Tree, there are two guys in cars, smaller than an Outback, and one has been at it for years. He has removed all but the driver's seat in a Nissan hatchback or something, and placed plywood layer on floor for level. An L-shaped studio, as it were... He even cooks INSIDE. The trick is...well, I have no idea how he does it. But he seems content. The other guy is 21 years old, so that explains how he is able to do it. Personally, I could never live out of a station wagon because I have a dog and also like some privacy. I have a big van with a hightop.

My plan is to do this only for extended trips that over multiple months on end

Get out of the car, man. Life is good in the forest(put your local environment here..well there, really). The rig gets you there. Then you pick where you live.
Easy Peasy.
No offense, but DUH.

Kirk B. wrote:Get out of the car, man. Life is good in the forest(put your local environment here..well there, really). The rig gets you there. Then you pick where you live. Easy Peasy. No offense, but DUH.

Camping is not free generally. You can expect $300 a month in camping fees if you don't stay in your car. Even if camping is free, you would use at least half of that value in fuel driving around trying to find free camp sites, driving to McDonald's to use the Internet for research, ect. That is why I stay in my car.

If you are anywhere on the East Coast expect condensation to be a huge problem.

I don't know if it is such an issue out west, where it is typically much drier.

devkrev wrote:If you are anywhere on the East Coast expect condensation to be a huge problem. I don't know if it is such an issue out west, where it is typically much drier.

Condensation is a huge problem in the east, not so much out west. I have a friend who is a bit of a slob, has roadtripped around the east a lot in sedans and SUVs, and his cars smell of permanent mold and B.O. I actually use a removable sheet of felt cloth that velcros to the roof of my camper shell to catch and remove condensation; you may want to try that in your subie.

Beyond that, if you are wanting to do a long-term road trip, make some sort of sleeper platform/loft, although that coud be a bit cramped in a suburu. Or, a lot of the time you can find just the right combination of rubbermade bins to make a removable platform in the back that you just set boulder pads on top of. We do that in my wife's CRV a lot.

Or, just buy a better vehicle. Once you factor in the pain in the ass of less space, and the lost gas mileage from a rooftop carrier, you may as well just buy a real SUV, pickup truck, or minivan.

No condensation in the forest. Camping is MOSTLY free. Maybe you're doin' it wrong? I dunno.
The InfernoNets are vastly overrated. I like to unplug for the quiet. I'd rather library than SmackyD. That's just me, though.
Good luck.