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[bhikkhu]

6. I lived in my van for a couple months in the mid 80's.

It wasn't bad, as I figured if one was homeless, one might as well be homeless in a nice place. So I drove to Santa Cruz, slept on the beach, parked at the rest stops and national parks and so forth. The problematic parts were bathing, which was mostly inadequate sponge baths. And then the unpleasant realities of not having an actual bathroom, dealing with waste and so forth.

It was difficult to relax anywhere, always trying to not be noticed and trying to find out of the way places for some peace, and that took its toll eventually. I saw a help wanted at a 7-11, but they needed me to have a phone # to contact. So I rented a cheap little room in a house and got a job, and on from there...

on edit just to add - while things turned out fine for me eventually, at the time I remember thinking it was about a 50/50 chance. In that situation, there's no safety net and so many ways to fail, any little thing that goes wrong... Having some family on your side is the big thing, but if you can avoid homelessness that would be much better.