Newbie here, I need some advice! (Will be homeless in 3 weeks) vandwellers

Hey everyone!

I'm brand new to this and could really use your tips and advice, and/or links to articles or other resources that might help.

I'm going to be homeless at the beginning of June and I NEED INFO. Sorry for all the newbie questions.

Relevant details:

• Will be homeless in 3 weeks
• I have about $10k in savings if needed—I may need some of this to outfit my van with solar etc?
• I just bought a 2014 Toyota Sienna minivan with ~55k miles yesterday. It has tinted windows and is totally clean/tip-top mechanically and cosmetically. It just came off a two-year lease and had all the scheduled services from the dealer where I bought it. It has new tires too, couldn't ask for a better minivan. I own it outright but still need to register it.
• I live in a college town in the Midwest, population 125k, but don't necessarily need to remain here since I work mostly online, and I have friends in many other cities
• It gets HOT here in the summer (if I stay around here) and I will be sleeping in my car. I'm a big person and I get hot easily, and I usually sleep with a fan on all night. I will need a way to keep cool at night—say, 65 degrees. What are my options? This is important to me.
• Should I get a gym membership? There are a few 24-hour gyms around here; I could shower there. I would want to get a membership to a chain so that if I travel, I still have access.
• There are a number of big-box stores here. Can I park there? Can I use the bathroom there as needed?
• I do most of my work online, and I need internet access for several hours a day, every day, minimum. I have a laptop, an Android smartphone, and a Kindle. What is the cheapest/easiest way to accomplish this, and to keep all my devices charged? The public library? A cup of coffee at a coffeeshop every day, with WiFi access for customers? I am pretty addicted to the internet (my work is news & social-media related) so I really need internet. Right now I spend 12+ hours a day online every day.
• What do I need to know in order to live in my car without getting in legal trouble, without starving, etc?

Two other important pieces of info:

• I have an extremely messed-up back and suffer from chronic back pain. I sometimes walk with a cane; I'm pretty much unable to do any lifting of even moderate amounts of weight, or any type of labor related to renovating or outfitting my van myself. If I'm going to do anything like install solar etc I'm going to need to find someone to do it for me. I'm not exaggerating when I say that even removing the seats from the back of my van is pushing it for me, physically, so please keep this in mind as far as budget if we're talking about things like installing a refrigerator, or battery banks, or solar panels, etc.
• I'm also a musician and sometimes busk for money, so in addition to normal living stuff, I need to leave enough room in my van for at least 1 guitar, a mic stand, a small utility bag (backpack size), a small folding hand truck (aka dolly), and a small amplifier. My amp runs on 8x AA batteries. If it's possible to use rechargable AAs and recharge them from solar or something, that would be ideal. I could also use some advice on ways I can avoid getting my music equipment stolen.

Thank you in advance, so much, for ANY help you can provide. I appreciate it.

Submitted May 15, 2016 at 04:14AM by van_dweller http://ift.tt/1VX6zlS vandwellers