Comment by alaskamiller | Hacker News Reader

Comment by alaskamiller | Hacker News Reader

I went crazy one time and decided to leave Silicon Valley and live out of my car in southern California. I saw a lot, met characters, and learned lots more.

Biggest takeaway: the idea bordered between impractical and stupid. But I was 24 and I thought I knew better. Also, I was 24, I could tolerate being stupid.

Other takeaways:

1. Buy a Costco 24 Hour Fitness membership. You now have access to facilities around the country.

2. Make friends with 7/11 clerks, the nice ones got your back at night for a few days at a time.

3. Pack a baseball bat. Seriously.

4. Bring a tent and camping chairs.

5. Very few bums and vagrants have good stories but the ones that do are worth their weight in gold.

At the end of the day you're going to spend more time and effort figuring out how to survive than working. This becomes a huge drag after the magic fades the first week.

And, oh yeah, if you want to be full on relentless: make friends with big corp employees in Mtn View and Palo Alto to partake in their cafeterias. Or figure out how to do the tailgating dance.

> 5. Very few bums and vagrants have good stories but the ones that do are worth their weight in gold.

Many have Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome from alcoholism and will lie about absolutely anything. If you are bored and stuck hanging out with vagrants, you can make up a story that involves you and them, and they will jump right in. Like, "remember, what was it 5 years ago... that we took the trip to Alaska to go moose hunting." They will remember and fill in the details. A very strange disorder from a lack of thiamine. Even though the conversation is complete fiction, they enjoy the story time.

Thanks for the Advice. However, I'm going to disagree about your point on productivity. I'll be spending all my waking hours in coworking locations, and the only time spent in my car will be for sleep. Finding showers are the only thing that may become a distraction. If that proves to be the case, I will get a gym membership.

See my other comment, but I think you underestimate the physical and mental strain something like this usually entails. Hey if you are going to do it you are going to do it, more power to you. Go get em!

I just think "being tired" in all senses of the word is a pretty impactful thing. As a young person I never understood why people would complain about xyz, to me, through my ignorant ass teenaged eyes I thought everyone was just weak-minded and dumb.

When you are young you are invincible sorta thing. And hell I'm still young but now I seriously think .. damn I'm tired. Damn it sucks to get sick. Damn what if this, what if that. I overdosed on caffeine recently. That sounds pretty "funny" actually, but caffeine is a real drug and suffice to say I completely tripped out. One of the worst experiences. Long story short it made me really really really really prioritize a healthy lifestyle. I don't want to feel unhealthy, its not worth it.

Mom was right. Eat your vegetables, balanced diet. Exercise every day. Take a minute to relax. Love your friends. See the sun.

Ok shutting up now.

High five! Maturity rocks!

That's good advice. One of the first things I do when I move is find a gym. I find it really helps to break the day up and go work out for a bit. When I finish and get back to work it is almost like starting another day.

How long do you work til? Going to the gym for me would entail: getting ready, driving there, working out for an hour, driving home, showering and then getting back to work. Seems nice in theory but it'd be way too disruptive for me.

I usually wake up at 8 and work until around 12. I'll go to the gym and be ready for work by about 2. Most of the time I'll work until my girlfriend comes back from work which is around 10pm. I try to do a minimum of 8 hours a day with a few breaks in the day. Some days I'll do 3-4 hours but because I tend to do 6 days a week (and quite frequently 7) it is not a big deal.

I'm currently living in Toronto, Canada (I'm from Australia). I don't really know anybody here so I have nothing better to do than work. I take time off for the gym, food and when my girlfriend has time off work. This way she stays happy and I get to work as much as I want.

Reminds me of Bing Gordon's talk at CEO summit about how professional ball players go out to the field and deliver consistently in comparison to rookies. Consistency matters. This is the single most import thing which sets them apart. They bring in the goods every day. It is a marathon not a sprint. To do marathons, you need discipline, be balanced and be grounded. Experience teaches you a ton. You learn how to balance, keep your sanity while hitting the ball out of the park consistently. When I was young and felt invincible, I would code all night, had lots of unhealthy food, had irregular sleeping patterns, and looked down on old-experienced developers who balanced work/coding with everything else in their lives. As I got older, I realized how naive and stupid I was to have such a skewed perspective.

Don't forget worrying.

OP, SF is an epicenter of car break-ins. Chances are high that you're gonna get your stuff stolen. If you're lucky, it won't be your tech gear cuz you'll be in a coworking spot (good luck finding parking - I have memories of driving around for an hour+). But it would suck to have your clothes, blankets, sleeping bag, and other things stolen. Thieves in other cities won't bother with that stuff, but SF is different.

I have to agree with appsurd. This sounds like a great idea right now, and you've worked everything out--wait until you've down it for a week.

I moved up to Portlandia from LA to intern at Vizify and thought it would go according to the plan as well. I was also going to document my process as I thought it would make for some interesting content.

I thought the condition would create a pressure that would make me perform and produce more--all it did was create a pressure of homelessness, which killed my productivity. I was always tired and depressed AND dirty.

You're plan makes sense conceptually--but wait till you're actually there and homeless. Figure out an alternative otherwise your productivity will suffer big time and you might as well stay home and make shit happen there.

Good luck!!!

Wouldn't you be much more productive if you were well rested (sleeping in a car isn't all that comfortable in my experience) and not constantly worried about hunting down the next shower, even discounting the time you'll spend on doing so? Having gone through an eviction taught me it's hard to focus on your work when you're worried about your basic needs.

Some of my friends have lived your dream lifestyle for a few years now, in their cars/RVs, on couches, or literally in tents. Freedom isn't quite free.

But then again Silicon Valley is moving closer to mirroring bullshitty Hollywood scene. I see you got some hits from hackey tech news blogs so you're already up a few. Ride the hype for as long as you can.

I would rather in 4 months time smile seeing you write a blog post about how you sold your company for a mil than anything.

Take care and good luck.

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