Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

okay so im homeless starting next week for at least 6 months.

I'm thinking about living out of my car. before anyone says "no topher. dont", Ive slept and lived out of a car before. So its no big deal to me. and with cellphones being portable and the fact I eat all my food without having to cook or store it. I see nothing wrong with this. To stay warm, I have snowboard gear, and blankets. I have slept many times in snowstorms waiting to go snowboarding. and in college ive slept numerous times in the backseat. I have gym showers to use, bathrooms there, and nearby stores. and I will have to find free computers to use I guess. I just need to find a parking lot that I can park my car in over night and Im set. I can use my cell as an alarm clock.

my only concern is people breaking in to the car and seeing me sleeping. so I think im gonna tint the windows. plus im a big guy, so I can handle my own.

my biggest problem is that gas prices are so damn high and I dont want to contribute to any of that nonsese, as I feel awful for depleting this world of fossil fuels. I have sworn off driving a car, and will only use mine if I can run it off of an alternate fuel source.

so my question is:
how do I run my car off of biofuels? how to I found biofuel to purchase and use? also is this safe to use during the winter? or will my car freeze up?

thanks.

Haha I spent a few days in my volkswagon beetle when i lived in south africa before i moved into a tent on my best friends back porch. It was memorable. Anyways, your car needs to be diesel to run on biofuels. I've looked into it for myself. Theres stuff you can get to make your own biodiesel and adapters to make your car run on veg oil, but in both cases your car needs to be diesel.

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hey how u been?


dammit. my car's not diesel. it runs off of regular

I feel really bad if I go back to using gasoline for 6 months.
then again I am not using electricty, heat, or anything else like that cause i wont be in an apartment. so im doing my far share of conservation. just sleeping in a car.

what do yous think?

Topher,

Hey Brother, I've slept in a car a number of times when traveling and didn't have money to stay anywhere else. My only problem was getting comfortable for sleeping and with my small bladder, having to wake up at 2AM and pee outside

I respect the fact that you are worried and concerned about resources you use, but you use far less than the average American, especially now just staying in a car.

I know you are tough, and you can sleep anywhere!

I wish I could give you more info on Biodiesel, you'll have to watch my movie coming out in a few months, Tonya Kay talks all about it I'll have to re-watch that footage so I can remember all the details. Her VW car runs on vegetable oil.

I wouldn't be too concerned about using gas, right now it seems like your only option and you conserve in so many other ways so no worries.

Best of luck to you my vegan brother, I hope you're still able to use internet every once in a while, we love hearing from you

-Rob

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haha yeh I will probably carry a container with me to pee in, and a bag in case I have any bathroom emergency situations and cant find a place. cause in the city I cant pee outside. there is no woods

getting comfortable to sleep will be a pain in the ass for the first few weeks. but I will find a way to get used to it in my very small SUV. probably either make a "bed" with the back seat down and somehow craft it to be able to be slept in, or I will fall asleep in drivers seat with it leaned back, and hope no cops or anyone else sees me. (apparently sleeping in a car is frowned upon and whatnot). if anyone knows of any nearby rest stops I could park at, that be fanastic. thanks.

Ive learned to sleep basically anywhere. in cars, vans, buses, trains, floors, grass, benches, sidewalks, chairs, beds, etc. but my favorite place is in trees. I love sleeping in trees. ask some of the ppl that met me in england. I sleep just bout anywhere. its all thanks to mono

yep I will be able to use the internet probably once a week (friends computers, free library computers....when i find the library, etc.). so I will keep in contact probably bout once a week. no more than 5-10 minutes I can spend on the forums. I will just post once a week with an update on how im doing. and robert please keep in contact with me thru email and whatnot. I was gonna use my $1000 loan deferrment money to buy a guitar and a laptop (so i can keep in touch and use the internet). but right now surviving is more important than the internet. so the $1000 I will use to get new brakes on my car, register, and inspect it. and then insure it.

hopefully my mom doesnt fuck this up for me. I wont get into details but she controls and pries. and I dont need to be fined or arrested for sleeping in a car.

I dont mind paying car insurance now, even though insurance is completely useless. I despise car insurance companies. they dont cover shit. all they do is waste my money. but I need insurance to make my car street legal, and since theres a police station right by my school, its very important I obey the law. so I will consider insurance my car rent. hehe.

the
truth is im just gonna live life day to day, like it was meant to be lived.
living out of a car is the cheapest thing I can do. and it looks like on weekends, I might have a friends house to crash at.
so as long as I can find somewhere to park without being towed or fined, Im set.

I really am working hard to achieve my goals. I think I might document my life, kinda blair witch style. charge my video camera at school, and then film a couple minutes of me sleeping in the car, walking to school, working out, etc. I think it would make great footage for one day in the future when I can show ppl how much dedication I have...

you never know

Good plan topher. Dont worry bout the gas cuz like rob said you are not using many other resources. That video thing sounds cool. Also some places have wireless internet so if you buy some card to access wireless internet you could find a cafe or something to use the net in. I think thats becoming really popular. There is a place called Panera bread, i dont know if its in NJ, but around here that place as free wi-fi if you have the proper stuff to use it.

cool ive heard of panera bread.

yeh i wont have a laptop though

but many areas do have wireless networks.


my biggest problem is finding various different places to park. cause hoboken has no parking whatsoever and you need permits for like everything.

so im gonna have to constantly move my car and find places outside of hoboken to park without being booted. thats probably the most annoying thing. other than that im stoked!

What are you eating daily that you could have on hand that wouldn't require any cooking prep/storage? You really aren't prepaing ANYTHING? I had my electric shut off once (stupid electric company made the freaking mistake and I payed the price in AUGUST in ARIZONA) and I ended up spending a lot of money on food each day that i could eat without prep and storage. Hopefully you really do have a solution for that because , whew, they drained my financial resources.

I normally dont cook or store food (for the past few months ive been eating like this.), except for the occasional burrito or spaghetti. but now I dont have that option. so i must eat on the road like I been doing the past week or so.

I normally buy my food at the grocery store and eat it right then and there. I cant afford to eat everything I want and need, so I am forced to make the most.

some things i eat:
soydogs, soymilks, cereals, bananas, apples, builder bars, raw peeled carrots, bagels, "green juice", nuts, vegetarian chili (yes i eat it cold and in the can), wholegrain breads, etc.

I most likely will live off a diet consisting of bananas, bagels, and soydogs.

its gonna be hard to make sure I get enough calories, carbs, and protein to maintain and bulk. but i'll try my best. probably the ocassional multivitamin too.

Hey Topher, check out the local Wal-Marts man. Most of them allow overnight parking, it's mostly RV's, but one small SUV shouldn't stand out too much. There are some wal-marts that don't allow overnight parking due to local ordinances or in high-crime areas, but most do. You should check it out, then you would have a 24 hour bathroom as well as builder bars and veggie dogs on hand.

Good luck, I'm sure you will come out on top. And yes I can vouch for Topher, he can sleep ANYWHERE! I even saw him sleep through a dog licking his lips!

thanks michael!

Ive already charted out the nearest walmarts.
thats where I plan to have access to my bulking food. heh.

employees working the night shift have to park their car somewhere....perhaps my car will become like theirs. where security wont think much of it, and just think its another employees.

I am gonna try to move from place to place as I dont want to get caught.

thanks michael!

take care

topher,
whats with all your expensive stuff lying around in your car? like your camera and stuff. i mean, aren't you afraid of someone breaking into your car and stealing it during the time you are away
maybe you should invest into a good anti-theft-device or something like that, dunno
living in a car must be quite hard and VERY uncomfortable.
maybe you find a temporary place to stay somewhere else?
wish you all the best!

I dont have any expensive stuff. my camera im gonna carry with me in my bookbag...

the only thing left in my car will be blankets, clothes, shitty guitar I made, and snowboard. I will cover everything. and Im tinting the windows. plus I will be parked in public well lit areas. if they steal while Im at school, oh well. if they steal while im in there, theyve got a surprise. heh.

someone's already broken into my car before and stole my cd player, cds, and smashed my passenger window (had to get a new one).

as long as my snowboard doesnt get stolen Im fine.

I dont have money for anti-theft stuff. I just got to take my chances.

I dont really care about posessions. theyre just things. as long as I have my health thats all that matters to me.

its not that hard. I plan to make it quite comfy actually.

ok man comming from mechanics skool i can tell you that you will need a desiel to run off veggies. older (late 80s early 90s) VW desiel rabbits are great for this. and alot of schools will usually give the oil away if you ask respectfully. saves them money from having to pay for waste removale.

Second... i don't think anyone would try to break in to your car if they see a person in it. unless they try to rob you. But you deff look like they won't get any thing from you with out a fight. But in the case of how Lelle sugested a car alarm system... they only make noise and flash lights.... if they wanna break in to your car that won't stop them. just make them more noticeable. Althou more people tend to stay away from cars with the lil blinking lights on the dash and door panels. Maybe spend a few bucks to get a small led light that blinks from your local radio shack. just be shure to hind your goods and lock your doors.

Living out of a car is a crazy thing to do. so i give you props. I could not do it seeing how i own a small 2 seater convertable. tried sleeping it it several times... not easy, especially with racing seats, gauges, switchs and dvd screens all up in your way.

Well The BEST OF LUCK To you. if you lived closer you would surelly have a place to stay here!

danny

How's school going in Hoboken Topher? I'm glad that you did find a place to live at least. That was good of your relatives to help you out. Hopefully you'll be able to repay them someday for their kindness.