With income addressed (albeit, untested), shelter is the next biggest issue. With rent prices through the roof (and no regular income), I saw that modern problems require modern solutions.
For some reason, no matter what country I may be in, I always find myself to be riding the poverty line as if it were my trusty steed. Never completely starving, but never financially stable either.
Needless to say, it does mean I find myself in many, many amusing situations as a result. From trying to refurbish outboard motors, to importing Chinese cell phones in Eastern European countries that have zero interest in said phones, to opening a drone operations business, the fallout makes for swell entertainment, if unpleasant at times. Sort of like gladiator combat, I presume.
Still, it occurred to me that paying for living could be eliminated altogether, if my home and my vehicle became one and the same. So, that's just what I opted to do. Upon getting back, I'd deposited all of my silver bullion at the local pawn store, and took out a loan for two thousand of the finest Canadian loonies I've ever laid my eyes upon.
Said silver bullion was accumulated during better years, a few ounces at a time; when the paycheck hit, and expenses were paid, a splurge on a dozen ounces would be a celebration.
With time quickly ticking by, and my loan repayment date drawing ever-closer, I practically lived on the pages of Facebook Marketplace. After shooting a dozen offers to various sellers, I was struck by the realization that a larger vehicle would be optimal for living - and at that very moment, my eyes settled upon an old, slightly beat-up, but no worse for wear, Toyota Sienna.
Needless to say, I was in love.
While considering my various options, I came across an old Ford Focus wagon; funny enough, I happened to have that exact model, in that exact trim, of that exact year, a while back. Purchased with a terrible misfire and in rather awful condition, I must say, it was my favorite car until the Sienna. I never buy a car for more than fifteen hundred dollars, and I got that one for eight hundred Canadian rubles.
An ignition coil swap later, and it was running almost mint. Mind you, a chunk of metal the size of a golf ball would fall off the frame when I'd go over a pothole slightly too deep, and I did have to stick to backroads, as it could not handle any speeds over 80 kilometers per hour, but it was a beauty. Gas consumption of a moped, and for a 2003 jalopy, took off the line like a Ferrari. Or, at least, as much a Ferrari as you could get for that sort of cash.
But, I digress - I'd be here for two weeks if I wanted to talk about all of my automotive exes. Two days later, I was the happy owner of a vehicle that was old enough to have had a midlife crisis. Twice.
Jokes aside, the layout was fantastic - three rows of seats meant I had ample room to convert into a home, the left half allocated for sleep, and the right half, for a galley and workstation. As my income would mostly be earned from outside the vehicle, I'm not putting too much time into building out a full desk or anything of the sort.
While we're on the topic of living conditions, allow me to introduce you to The Diet(tm) - albeit, in the next log.