I lived in a van in the Bay Area for 8 months, then a totaled RV for 10. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise -- it's awesome. If you find decent parking spots

I lived in a van in the Bay Area for 8 months, then a totaled RV for 10. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise -- it's awesome. If you find decent parking spots (it's not hard, just use google maps) you'll find tons of areas that are quieter than those $2500/month apartments in San Jose with planes whizzing by. I got pretty good at sleeping with shooting range earmuffs. For a long time my routine was wake up whenever I wanted, bike to Starbucks or a library, read for a few hours, bike to the gym, work out, and read for the rest of the day. When I was in Pacifica I would get hours of sun, which you can't really do with a 9-5. The problem is that it's incredibly socially isolating. Very few of my friends treated me any differently, but I still got progressively more lonely. More and more of my "reading" became surfing Youtube and chatting on IRC or 4chan with people I'd never be able to meet in person. I spent a lot of time being mad at police. I'd meet girls on Tinder with the thought in the back of my head that they wouldn't find my sketchy RV as funny as I do. I'd prefer it to paying $2k/month for a studio with no heat and stressing out about money all the time, but I wouldn't be able to keep that up, either. It's not like you need a toilet to survive. We went without them for most of human history. You need a toilet to fit in.