Car Tour of Solo Woman Living Cheap in a SUV

welcome back to my next video today we're going to meet again linda hi bob and we shot a video with you last year yes and you were in a car then yes yes and so you've made some changes between now and then you're now actually in an suv exactly and um so what's what's the deal why are you now in a suv okay well loved loved the car you know that was serenity sedan she was at 209 000 miles and at that point you start to need preventative maintenance and then but you still don't know what the uh outcome is gonna be of an engine or a transmission so i was like you know what she's still running like she's brand new i'm gonna give her to my son my son needed a second car and i am going to not roll the dice anymore when i'm out in the desert back roads traveling or whatever and uh have that timing belt go before before i get it changed i didn't want to dump any more into preventative so i have been researching and i'm like you know what i'm going to step up now to an suv so here we are and i call her happy haven happy haven good very very good and so now you uh have been in the suv for a while and you were in the car so how would you contrast the two the car to the suv well um this is now i'm about two and a half months into the suv and i've had to you know kind of emotionally mentally let go of that 15 months almost in the acura and into this and the contrast now is i've i've added a room to this to the suv i have a i have actually a nook which i call a nest and i my only nest back in um the sedan was the front seat i never used the the back seats at all and then of course i had the trunk and that was where my business was but uh now i have made a official little home in the center with two seats taken out and my business is in the is in the back so i'm still doing the sections thing and a lot of you know still in my mind is just like when you're in sticks and bricks you take that to your next home and now i've taken the sedan part of my home into the suv and more space i mean someone the other day said to me oh it must be a mansion now and i was like no not really it's just a different sort of mansion i mean there's just it's a different way of navigating because i was really kind of spoiled if anyone watched that video that you did front seat able to reach everything you know my clothes my bedding everything from the front seat and i designed it like that so i tried to incorporate that into happy haven um but there are some things where i still have to get into my little nest middle area in order to reach you know to and i'm still in the i'm still sleeping in the front seat oh you're still sleeping in the front seat yes yes yes again you know by choice um a lot of people i know were you know concerned about legs dangling right i either curl up i put my legs up on the dash and i move around through the night just like my hands move i i'm i'm always you know that moving around i i go uh diagonally and stretch my legs out and i put the seat in a reclining position and this is all by choice and i actually like it because that this works for me and for my body uh the way i don't want to lay down or i really can't lay down for very long uh remind us again how why you're in a car living in a was a car now the suv here in the desert and in the forest in the summer why are you out here why am i out here well you know my little mantra was new beginnings off the treadmill into the great unknown and you know i'm here it's a great mantra thank you and yeah i'm here to just to make a difference in the community as well as to stretch and grow in my own life [Music] this last year has been quite the ride i did 25 000 miles in the acura i worked two summer jobs i still have my digital business that i work all year long you know youtube channel growing you know how that is that can keep you busy 24 7 blogging um and so now i just i'm just so passionate about this lifestyle i visited 17 national parks 10 national monuments and on and on and on and i tell people in a nutshell i have done more in the last year probably in my life than in the last 10. so you mentioned you had a youtube channel what is that serene and simple life and that's just something that i want for everybody so everyone go and check out linda's youtube channel serene and simple life well why don't we take a look around at how you set up your suv oh that's fantastic i would love to thank you let's go take a look so you that you mentioned uh this was your happy haven and you've even labeled it so yes i don't drive down the road with this but when i'm stationary for a little bit it's fun yeah yeah it's very nice thank you and so you have a toyota highlander that you're living in now yes this is a 2012. about it has 120 000 miles on it oh my that's just a baby that's yeah yeah i'm excited about that and also um just to share with your audience i through my work camp jobs and through my digital nomad business and you know not working crazy hard or anything my jobs were more like experiences than jobs but i was able to pay cash for the first time in my life wow on a vehicle first time without a car payment and i'm going to be 62. so so you're not out here suffering you're out here thriving yes absolutely yes and so you know and then and i saved what six hundred dollars a month i was renting a room before i i started on this journey september 15 2018. 600 a month times now i'm almost out 17 months do the math that pays for a vehicle right so you were able to save your the rent you used to pay and pay cash for a new rig yes yes new to you yes and and follow your advice with having that three thousand to five thousand buffer right for anything that might go wrong you gotta have that mm-hmm number one question usually for people when they don't when they see that i don't have a bed per se is where do you sleep so might as well do this right right so here is um you know and i can actually i'm there's a box back oh it's going pretty well okay and then we go back here this slides back pretty far so this is how you sleep this is the bedroom yeah and see this this uh the slant here and i tell people hey try it you might like it because people will say i could never do that now i've talked to a couple women who are like they're trying out their front seat and it's working for them but we just don't think in our minds it doesn't make sense to do this well you know a lot of people like sleeping in recliners and that's about the angle you'd be at in a recliner exactly you know put your feet up without being put your feet up yeah like you know right here and you know just for a few minutes i sometimes stretch them out that way when i'm laying down and then this is the other thing is i flip if anyone's watched that other video i reference you know on your channel is you know i can do this too for a while and and back and then i do a still nest with pillows this is my snack attack box i had one of those last year some people say oh you didn't take the front seat out i don't know i still like that traveling feeling if if someone wants to hop in and and we go together you know i like to have that rather than take the whole seat out at least for now and then here's still the reachables i've got the 12 volt you know early in the morning love love love this in this huge glove box in the suv gigantic yep and also um toiletries and makeup bag they're just this is huge too it is yeah this one's a big bag yeah serenity yes serenity sedan did not have that and also and she was a 2003 this is a 2012. i got a 12 vote here i've got one up here and said two cupholders here the water one here's another cup holder you know there's lots of pockets here that a 2003 car did not have right see this black bag it's just it's an insulated bag and i learned this i think from your channel is this is like the coolest part of the rig yes so i've got a loaf of bread there i'm a little stocked up because i'm here for you know a couple weeks for the rtr too and then plates real handy because i remember i'm still bringing that serenity sedan idea here things still be i want things to be handy my ipad is right here but everything looks you know is squared off and nice and neat and then the tray table oh no that's nice you know really nice so i can still play house and play office right here in the front if i choose to not go in the back you know still referencing the other video you'd ask me like last year like you know i'm playing like a rainy day what would we do and i can access this nest what i ca i can't wait to show you from right here you know i'll either i use this as a gripper and i just scoop myself right over top of this or you know if i want to come in through the door over here like regular people do then now you have a highlander and it's a it has three rows of seats yes and you took out the middle row yes they're gone yes and created kind and put in a platform that just gave you an enormous amount of room here yes yes why don't you show us that yeah speaking of room room it made a kitchen room a little look reading room and it also made an office right i'm i'm really impressed with what you've got going oh thank you bob so would you like me to show you the platform first right so you had to make a platform because like all these suv seats they're all off level and so you wanted it level you got stuff in there yeah you see the bumps here these bumps go all the way across right for various parts of the seat what a great idea that is and this is uh i think it's a 40x36 now lowe's did this for free for me yeah i guess you just go in at 8 o'clock in the morning and you smile at the guys and and they had this 2x4 in the scrap pile so i was fortunate to be able they said you can have that they didn't charge me for the for the nails and they did the drilling because i'm like i don't have a drill and i told them what i was doing you know that i'm traveling the country and living in my vehicle so they were kind of fascinated by that and so then they brought the platform out and put it in for me so like you call this what a no-build build that would be a no-build build and you can't even hardly tell it's there you've covered it with a nice uh quilt yes i have yes that came from sticks and bricks so that was kind of like bringing that little uh comfy type thing into into your new home so with this nice flat open area you just put in some furniture that you probably had on hand or you wouldn't bought it i i did a little splurge here bob because you know saved on getting this vehicle and and you left a space there for you yes and this is your office yes it is and it's in a kitchen too office and kitchen and and just a little um r r room i try to just take off my little sandals then i can just yank the door shut or if it's raining i'll come from the front like i showed you before and so you needed a uh a chair because this is going to be a pretty hard piece of plywood yes so and a recliner how are you doing that well this is one of those like where you you know have to bring it all the way down and then it clicks in place three different like levels is that okay so we'll just pull this all the way down okay heard the click maybe yeah and then um my little squish ball click click and click straight up and so you set the angle at whatever you want yes yes so everything is organized in a box you can just move it around it sure is i've got my um long john's in here now hopefully only for another month or so and we'll be done let's see how nice yeah yeah this was like container store or something i'm sure amazon probably has nice ones like this too i like the sturdierness of this because now that's one of those things that i can get dressed and sit on this in the morning instead of scooching pants on in the front i come back here and i'm five five so i don't know if you can get this in you know but i i can i can absolutely yeah and it putting socks on and all that good stuff shirts everything i sit on this little stool but it's my end table during the day okay so we just did the r and r showing you like if you just want to read a book or something and sit in your little chair that's cool and then this turns into the kitchen area where i can put my little propane gas stove on and as long as i think you've mentioned like be careful of the heat rising up here right that's the key thing and put the windows down you know and i'm not talking cooking a full-blown meal or and grease and everything i'm talking a progresso can of soup and then this it gives a nice ambiance this is just a bungee cord and i bought these 36 inch curtains had to do nothing with them at walmart so that makes a really nice look because my trunk is back here with my business so i got this check this table out guys and you can move this left right they give you little plugs here there's four holes across here you can they give you two of these for to hold your laptop or your book or whatever but ta-da that is a great little table and they come up oh my higher for for legs that need to be higher and also slants so off to the side here oh my yeah show and tell that is a great thing somebody here one of my new friends showed me how to slant that see yeah you slant it and then you lock it in place so you can get the keyboard just where you want it exactly exactly that is so nice and i measured look at that from here to here so now i just made my coffee in my 12 volt and i um i'll put this guy this is normally sits up here and it doesn't go anywhere when i'm traveling so yay for that it's nice and heavy if nature calls and y'all can figure this out on your own but i've got the little pecan here and so it's very handy and i can just move this out of the way and it slides right here it's got a home so now i'm ready for a nap again or what have you but in here's clothing i ball everything up yeah and i'm telling you i got like 20 shirts in here all in this this is my entire dresser this is my kitchen top which which brings to mine too i'm covering your question before you ask bob this is the toilet you know this is the potty some of you already know how this guy works yeah and the bag oh my goodness look at that bags in here so right yeah so that's that's a collapsible five gallon bucket yeah and you know that's my can be my stool for the day too yes that's that's amazing and then i've got reflectix back here they're they're hidden i've got a a solar panel i've got a jackery so the jackery goes right here and that's something that i can grab from the front when i'm traveling in right and you just charge it as you drive exactly that's it yeah that works good or i use the solar panel if you want to see on the other side yeah sure oh my of course it's well well organized if you want to if you guys remember some of you those blue ikea bags last year still love those but those are now in my fulfillment house storage back in texas and here's the product this is the this business that you run an art and craft business yup yup yup and i just designed on the road this past year a nomad collection so let's see and i have a mighty five collection because i traveled and serene and simple life travels so aha you're gonna like this one bob all right this is from the serene simple life travels stewart's landing nevada treat everyone like you'd like to be treated i do like that one yeah that's beautiful thank you i love the colors but anyways now instead of those blue bags i've got four drawers and so how if someone wanted to order one of those from you uh how would they do it that would be say it display it dot com okay say it display it dot com no and in the middle just say it display it yep they come packaged with a little display stand you pop it together or not you can use a little velcro clippy and put it on your dash if you want right so then over here is my food here's more of the reflectix i used instead of felt now i'm using a fabric that i got at hobby lobby and it has a vinyl backing and i'm finding that a little less condensation that way using this is a blackout fabric this is excess product which hopefully will go down through the year but right here this is a little overkill with drinks while i'm stationary but here's about uh two weeks worth of food in here yeah i've got everything from some jasmine rice to progreso soup to chili to some pasta and then i've got some various drinks in here and a couple gallons of water and then i have two up front there too so i carry four to five gallons of water with me and [Music] some bags for filling orders so and in between the little nook and the boxes in back yes and so this stuff is actually sitting on top of the the third row of seats exactly those are folded down into the wells yes and just more really organized storage yes yes what i've got i've got two boxes here this is kitchen next to it is shoes with tendons on top road pro and then this is shower bag two summer clothes of those amazon basic bags right next to that is my laptop and some markers and that's it guys there i'm not stacking up to the ceiling here to be flipping and flopping right everything you can get to pretty darn easily yes exactly okay and why don't you give us your youtube and your business again well it's serene and simple life and there's also a blog serenesimplelife.com and then the business is say it display it which is uh daily inspiration cyberspace in your face and they're wondering some really wonderful stuff yeah and i i like to you know this is one of my favorite sayings too bob i know you're all about gratitude i am so gratitude changes everything well thank you so much linda for this update we'll probably see you again next year about this time absolutely bob thank you for all you do and for the opportunity to share with your audience a little update and you know take getting on down the road again very very good so there you have it folks some really great ideas i think it's amazing how much room there was in this suv if you got anything out of this video and i know you did like us on youtube subscribe to the channel hit that thumbs up button and we'll talk to you later

Channel: CheapRVliving

Views: 189,664

Keywords: live, living, car, van, RV, Full-time, nomad, gypsy, camper, camp, boondock, travel, snowbird, caravan, tiny, house, tribe, RTR, adventure

Id: Sk3pEp99w2k

Length: 20min 56sec (1256 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 17 2020