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Comment by EngCanMan | Hacker News Reader

"An empty water bottle/adult diaper can become a luxury in the middle of the night to avoid putting on your clothes/shoes and exiting the van in the coldness"

You lost me when adult diapers became a luxury.

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For anyone who's spent any time sleeping in a van or car in public parking, this feels like gently worded subtext that fits in with this from the 'safety' section:

> While sleeping in normal parking I think it is important to keep discrete so people will not bother you and you will not annoy anyone.

In much of the world, going outside to pee in the bushes in a populated area carries a nonzero risk of attention from law enforcement and a progression to sleeping outside minus the now impounded van.

Try "sleeping under a bridge the rest of your life". Public exposure is a registerable offense in some states.

Fortunately there's plenty of world outside of the United States, where peeing outside does not make you a sex offender.

Do you really expose to the public when you are turning your back to everyone?

Public exposure convictions/registration from people who are innocently peeing somewhere they shouldn't is vanishingly rare. As in, I've never seen a report of a conviction that I found credible, but if I did, I'd bet lots of money that you couldn't find a second one. What I HAVE found is lots of people on the registry for indecent exposure who tell their friends "I was just peeing in alley, I swear", but I do not count those as credible.

Diaper is gross, but peeing in a bottle while sleeping in the car can be nice. Just roll over, pee, roll back over and fall asleep again. Much less intrusive than getting up and walking to the bathroom, dealing with bright lights, etc.

Going in a bottle is not a solution for all of us unfortunately

There’s a device called a she-wee and many female vanlifers report success with Folgers tins or large fountain drink cups, which then get poured into a bottle.

Source: thevanlifecoach.com

Probably not while laying down, but a wide mouth bottle, such as a dedicated Nalgene bottle, can work.

it can work in a pinch but from personal experience can't recommend using water bottles for these purposes at all

While my personal urinating experience so far in life has involved a male urethra, I met on trail women who've been using Shewee for peeing in the outdoors. I imagine that if it works the way it's supposed to work, maybe it could work with a bottle.

Peeing in a bottle while in bed is a tad more complicated for a woman.

Author here: Just to clarify: We don't wear diaper everyday... But it happened and was a good option during snow for the lady.. The luxury was an expression (I'm not English native speaker).

My Japanese wife would never go for that.

If it was the middle of the night and she absolutelyhad to go I'm sure she would - anyone would.

I wouldn't. I'd go outside in the snow. My wife claims the same. Don't take this as negative commentary directed at the author of the article. If this works for them, great! I'm just saying that it isn't a solution that would work for me and my wife.

It’s hard to imagine putting up with stuff like this when for the same amount of money it takes to do “van life” in Japan you could live quite well elsewhere.

What does it cost to live in rural Japan? I was under the impression the countryside is depopulating, which I would think would mean reduced costs.

I have a hard time imagining it to be cheaper to live in this truck than most things. And the kid… I can’t imagine this is good for the kid.

Obviously the point of the van is that you can move around a lot!

Aside: vagrancy is illegal in Japan, so if you’re sticking to the law you probably need to rent somewhere (or use your parents) and have a registered address.

> I can’t imagine this is good for the kid.

Why would you expect this to be a bad life for a 1.5yo? They get a lot of time with their parents, and a lot of time outside?

I'd feel differently with, say, a 4yo where that this sort of life would mean not having friends, but a 1.5yo is too young for that to be an issue.

This is absolutely fine for a young kid. Kids are way less conventional than adults at that age. If a kid gets food, warmth and attention they're basically golden.

It solidly depends on the age/stage of development of the child. When you say young, that really means like <3 years. Anything above that, and they really need stability, routine, and regular/stable interaction with individuals outside of the immediate family group to avoid long-term developmental and psychological issues.

Yeah I think one could quibble on the exact age...I think even up to 4 it would be OK. After that I think a more stable setup is definitely positive. I would say though that a stable environment where they get little attention from parents is not superior.

- vagrancy is illegal in Japan

Is that why you don't see any homeless in Japan? They just arrest them for vagrancy and house them in jail?

There are homeless people in Japan. You'll see them sitting in alcoves by train stations or sleeping under a stack of umbrellas in parks sometimes. The places I've seen them most are in remote locations by rivers, where they'll set up tents or tie tarps to trees to live under. They aren't as ubiquitous as they are in the US though, and I've only seen a homeless person panhandling once in all my years in Japan.

Yeah, I was doing more research and could not find anything to suggest that Japanese homeless are regularly arrested and housed in jails.

Note: I can't find any source to confirm that vagrancy is illegal in Japan- the Wikipedia article on homelessness in Japan makes no mention of it- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_Japan

According to a very untrustworthy source (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_Japan) the numbers of homeless people are somewhat low-ish, if those numbers are anywhere near accurate it may account for the low visibility of the problem.

There are lots of homeless in Japan, and people do see them.

Anyone living near Tokyo who has money, clothes, shoes, gas cans, batteries, shelter material, work opportunities etc they wish to pass on - please reply here or email i.am.grozzle at gmail, please. Or ask staff at Lavanderia cafe in Shinjuku ni-chome.

If you have ever been to Tokyo you have seen plenty of homeless. Tokyo is where people take their shoes off before getting into their box.

There are limited public places to "sit" in Tokyo/and other cities too, for example, this is increasingly common part of civic design, to encourage either "moving on", or "taking refuge" in shops/cafes > ie. spending.

It's basically discrimination by design.

> Is that why you don't see any homeless in Japan? They just arrest them for vagrancy and house them in jail?

Each time I've been to Japan I've noticed plenty of homeless people. They are really tidy about it, but you'll find encampments in Osaka and Tokyo if you just check out some of the parks.

I lived in rural Japan for two years as a single guy and it was very, very cheap. I was making ~30k USD and saved half of it without really trying. I didn't have a car, but you don't need one even in the countryside if you can bike. These days you could Uber etc too which didn't exist yet when I was there.

These vans do seem reasonably priced compared to American living vans. I don't think you'd get much living for around $60k. Plus you could rent vs. buy.

Also about 1/4 the size.

The author links to a van rental service. Looks like a van comparable to the author's van rents for ¥24,800/night. Ouch! You could get a very nice hotel room in rural Japan for that.

You can buy vans from that company for 60k. Yes renting is more expensive than a hotel. But good luck taking your hotel room on the highway.

Fair enough. 60k would be impossibly cheap for a Class B conversion van -- even a used one -- in the US.

They could have bought a house in rural Japan for peanuts. Probably less than they spent modifying the van let alone buying it. They did it to travel. Not what I’d choose, but interesting.

Just use a water bottle like the rest of us! I lived out of an Explorer for 3 months, not once did an adult diaper cross my mind.

This only works for about 50% of the population.

My wife disagrees: https://www.rei.com/product/407267/freshette-pee-funnel

Sure, products exist which make it possible, but the parent commenter said:

> Just use a water bottle like the rest of us!

That's not just using a water bottle. And certainly is specialized enough of a tool that you likely can't find it as ubiquitously as a water bottle.

Funnels are a more specialized tool than adult diapers?

Funnels that are specifically shaped for that purpose very much are, yes. I don't understand how that's even a question.

Adult diapers' main purpose isn't peeing while on a van trip; I would imagine elderly people around the world need them day to day. A funnel specifically made for women to pee is an incredibly niche product with little to no day-to-day use.

Nobody said that a diaper is superior to a funnel. The grandparent comment makes it seem like it's easy for half the population to pee in a bottle and I called them out on it. I didn't even mention the ubiquity of adult diapers, I compared finding a specialized funnel to a water bottle on purpose.

"The grandparent comment makes it seem like it's easy for half the population to pee in a bottle and I called them out on it."

Funnels of various sizes readily available in every hardware and auto parts store. Also these specific funnels are readily available in outdoors and sporting stores. It is easy to find funnels. No need to defend "half the population" by "calling them out on it."

To remind you, because scrolling up seems to be a bit too tough for you right now, the GP comment says:

> Just use a water bottle like the rest of us!

That's still not just a water bottle. Period. However easy it is, it's not just a water bottle, and it's not as easy as finding a water bottle.

That was literally my entire point, as I have now said multiple times, but go off sis.

I don't know why this point is important to you, but in english, "just use a" and and "use just a" have significantly different meanings.

That makes absolutely no difference to my point.

"Just use a" implies that it's easy as picking it up and using it.

The fact that a funnel has to be bought and brought into the equation means it's not as easy as just [using] a water bottle.

Please, next time your wife needs to go to the bathroom, give her a water bottle and tell her to just use it. It's ok, someone said it's just that easy.

The comment you "called out": "Just use a water bottle like the rest of us! I lived out of an Explorer for 3 months, not once did an adult diaper cross my mind."

I love how you're pedantically rationalizing "calling them out" on this one word "just" and ignoring the subject is people living in their vehicles (for 3 months in the case of the comment you "called out" and indefinitely in the case of the original blog post).

First of all, just can be used to mean several things aside from simply [1]. When used in an imperative cause as it is the comment that triggered you, it is more correct to interpret it as being used for emphasis. Consider this exchange: "I pee in diapers.", "Just don't do that."

So you were really just (Just meaning ‘only’ [1]) triggered by your poor understanding of the use of this word.

But there's more. Even if the comment used just meaning simply, you are still wrong.

Everyone is talking about habitual practices including and especially the comment you "called out."

Instead of habitually using adult diapers, habitually just (meaning simply) using a bottle is easy. Acquiring a suitably sized funnel from an auto, hardware or outdoor store for people who live in their cars who clearly have transportation, have a lot of time on their hands and frequent these stores anyway is an insignificant consideration.

There is no bottle related sex inequity to fight here.

And why do you, as a former LGBTQI+ director, keep referring to funnel-using-persons as women or wives? Tisk tisk. Thankfully what you say is representative of your own viewpoints and beliefs and not those of your employer! Maybe someone should call you out!

[1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/...

Are you ok? Do you need someone to talk to?

You seem to have an awful lot of anger and resentment over a random person on the internet calling out that funnels make it a lot more than “just using a water bottle”.

And for your own curiosity, I used wife because he literally called her that. I know reading is hard; you’ve already shown it earlier by hyperfixating on something that wasn’t being discussed.

Order a soft-drink to go. Nice wide-mouth container.

I guarantee you there are many women van/car lifers who don't use adult diapers (I know quite a few!). As has been said many times in this thread, there are inexpensive tools for this.

Did I somehow say otherwise?

I said that just peeing in a bottle really only works for half the population. That's all. Your choice to somehow read into those words so deeply as to make up a completely new sentence that was never written is yours alone.

How would you know? Can any ladies here confirm whether they can or cannot pee in a bottle?

I imagine if you place the bottle at the urethra opening it's possible it might work.

With practice, and be prepared to spill for quite a while, judging by how many of these exist (quite a few also just recommend to use a funnel):

https://www.wikihow.com/Pee-in-a-Bottle-(Women)

https://www.rei.com/blog/hike/girl-talk-peeing-in-the-backco...

https://www.wikihow.com/Pee-in-a-Bottle

https://www.tripsavvy.com/can-women-pee-in-a-bottle-backpack...

https://www.ozmo.io/how-can-a-girl-pee-in-a-water-bottle/

(and many, many more)

It certainly doesn't seem anywhere near as easy as just [using] a water bottle.

I came here to quote this with virtually the same response. I will go so far as to say this is gross.

Gross. Anyone who has camped knows that feeling of sadness when it’s cold outside but you have to go to the bathroom at 3am. But some of the best moments I’ve had outside are during that time. The air is cleaner, you can see the stars if it’s clear, you might hear coyotes or other animals yipping not too far off...well worth the momentary annoyance.

It's a rare opportunity to see the stars. It's always worth it.

Camping in a remote environment is way different than parked in a parking lot on some highway exit - and now that Walmart isn't 24 hrs in the US you can't even just park there and walk in.

Temperature also changes things - if it's above zero outside it's not so bad for a quick jaunt, but if it is -40º it's a whole different ballgame.

Sure, but I don't know a lot of places in Japan that get to those temperatures, especially on the map indicated.

Yeah, "van life" is going to vary wildly depending on the country and even where in the country you are.

Reminds me of getting out of a hammock in the woods at night.

True, but at the same time I'd wager its rather difficult to appreciate the grand mystery of nature while you're sloshing around in a pee soaked diaper.

Agreed. Why not install a toilet in the van? I remember watching videos where peopled installed toilets in their van. Didn't seem too complicated.

>Our van doesn’t have toilets, considering how difficult it is to dump trash I wouldn’t recommend using your own toilets while traveling.

I don't buy it. What do buses and RVs with toilets do in japan? If it is that difficult to dump trash, then what do these guys do with their soiled diapers? Certainly there has to be better options than wearing diapers.

I don't know, but I drove an RV for a month through Europe and we've never used the onboard toilet because we didn't want to have to deal with it. (We were also students on budget and wanted to avoid camps as much as possible.)

Of course I would prefer the RV toilet to a diaper though.

Buses with toilets probably have dedicated disposal facilities operated by the companies. Long-distance buses here are mostly run by big conglomerates.

Japan has no campgrounds with RV hookups? At such facilities, you can hook up and flush out your sewerage.

I don't know, it's already unsettling when the person driving in front of me is leaving a trail of wiper fluid sprinklets

A wide mouth Nalgene or whey protein container work well for both ladies and males. I’ve never heard of anyone using a diaper. Pee only of course.

Yeah, this and the trash situation seem pretty unpleasant to me.

He also said he doesn't bathe every day. Hard pass.

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