Everyone has questions about my housing solution. Some of them are emotionally taxing for me to answer, and probably shouldn’t be anyone’s business but mine. However, i’m trying to be really open about this situation and process—partly because it’s more common than you probably realize. The U.S. Census Bureau found that between 2019 and 2023, there was a 41% increase in Americans living in RVs.

Why are you transitioning away from traditional housing to life in a vehicle?

The very short version is: i had every reason to believe i’d be buying a house and living in it at the end of my current living situation, but circumstances changed. I should neither buy a house nor rent one.

Why shouldn’t you buy?

• Several years ago, a generous family member offered to match my contribution to my down payment, but circumstances changed in the interim and they’re no longer able. This brings my monthly payment up past what’s responsible to agree to as a person whose profession does not guarantee a minimum monthly income.
• I still might have been able to swing it, since we were planning to purchase in Canada with our U.S. dollars. Alas, they restricted immigration to pre-pandemic levels just before i was ready to apply.
• My country is currently Batshitville. The notion of investing in housing/property here, even temporarily, seems unwise for marginalized people, even if we’re lucky enough to be able to afford it.
• A second consequence of the orange-stained political catastrophe in the U.S. is that because many ignorant Americans think of Canada as “U.S. Lite,” those who feel threatened are applying for permanent residence in Canada. Many of them are more privileged than i am, which pushes me down out of the eligible percentile of applicants. (Slightly off topic, but this devastates me, because i genuinely want to live there, not just to “escape” the U.S. I put in a lot of research to find where i’d like to live, and when we visited, i fell in love with Newfoundland.) It would be a gamble to purchase a home in Canada and live there hoping for a permanent residence visa.

Why shouldn’t you rent?

• Rentals cost more than a monthly mortgage for someone with my credit score and a solid down payment. If i rent on what i currently make, i cannot accrue savings. Savings are critical to avoiding a worse situation than this, especially as i age, which will shrink my familial support network and my likely income.
• While i have a job (multiple, since i freelance), it doesn’t pay enough to rent a domicile that allows my pets and offers standard legal protection for tenants. I basically get pets or legal protection, not both.
• I have fifteen years of experience as an editor and over twenty years of experience as an illustrator. It would be very silly to abandon my skill sets to make less money per hour just so i could work more per week and enjoy life less. I have GAD, and my treatment plan includes working from home. And speaking of how renting relates to mental health:
• I will have to move when the property changes hands, which has happened in every rental of my adult life. It depletes my savings with moving costs, disrupts my work schedule for weeks or months, which further depletes my savings, and in one instance, it directly caused the sudden, horrible death of a beloved pet. I don’t accept that i need to endure this again. No to daily panic attacks until i find a new place. No to literal months of nightmares that surge in the wake of a move.
• I adopted a dog who is too big and the wrong breed for every affordable rental opportunity i’ve seen in at least the past eight years.
• I adopted him when i still thought i would own my own house in the next two to three years.
• Do not ask me the next question that some people ask me about the dog.

But what about the dog? Why don’t you just find him anoth—

• #Nope. Dogs spent 10,000+ years learning to enjoy our company. Most dogs would be happier living in a car or even in a shopping cart as long as it’s with a human they trust. They’re definitely better off in an RV with someone who loves and cares for them.
• Oh you don’t mean for his safety and comfort, you just mean for mine? Fine. Let’s say i find him another home. Then when yet another rental property inevitably gets sold/has a catastrophic rent raise and i still can’t afford any safe options, and i end up living in a vehicle anyway… I could have just kept my beloved dog because the outcome was the same, but i won’t have him anymore, just guilt and regret. #Nope.
• One of the reasons i choose bully breeds is because they make me feel safe. I’m a small unhideably queer man and i actually have been attacked by strangers, more than once. The first time, my fluffy non-bully breed dog got aggressive to save me. Since that fluffy dog passed away, having a dog that looks intimidating (even though they’re secretly a marshmallow) has prevented me from getting robbed once and assaulted once. That’s just the times that i know of.
• My dog is a legal ESA, so yes, i could technically force a landlord to accept him, but then i’d still be trapped in all these problems.
• I’m. keeping. the. fucking. dog. We’re done with this section forever, thanks.

If GAD keeps you from working on-site jobs, can’t you just get disability and government-subsidized housing?

• I’m not disabled, i just can’t work any random job without repercussions. Fortunately, i like freelancing! It took me so many years to find this unique niche for myself, and it’s perfect for me. (The U.S. government doesn’t acknowledge freelancers in any meaningful way, but that doesn’t make me disabled, just disenfranchised).
• Even if i did count as disabled, i don’t need assistance—just the reasonable worker’s rights/accommodations that everyone should have. I’m neuroatypical and i have a mental health challenge, but i just need to structure my life in a way that accommodates how my brain works. Freelancing does that. It probably won’t make me rich, but so far i am debt free and i can pay all my bills, knock on wood.
• By the way? No one who has applied for or received disability ever asks me this question, because they know what a nightmare it is to be on disability. For one thing, it prohibits working at all; it’s not a basic income you can build on, it’s a contract for perpetual poverty. If i need money for vet bills or a medical procedure not covered by the lowest tier insurance, i couldn’t sell art to fund it.

If you have resources and support, why can’t you just move in with family or friends?

• We are doing this, to some extent, because being nomadic means we can visit people we love and park in their driveway for a few days, haha!
• Remember, it’s not just me, it’s my partner also, and the two of us fit a lot better in two separate RVs than we do in the basement of a relative’s house, which is where we have lived since 2021.
• We have lived with or rented from friends + family in some form for the last decade. The toll of always feeling like a burden gnaws at both of us. I would rather completely own a temporary domicile than be eternally a guest in a permanent structure.
• Quick thanks here to my dad, who actually surprised me by buying my RV for me and gifting me some money to do stuff like add solar panels and renovate the office area. I think if more people had parents like mine, there wouldn’t be so much misery in the world.
• I do have a few offers of more permanent housing that are unsuitable for various reasons. Frex, some dear friends have a basement apartment i can stay in for whatever rent i can afford. However, it’s too small for both humans and four pets, and while i can work there, it’s too rural for my partner to do his job.

Okay, okay, fine, so you did your research and you must be unhoused / homeless / nomadic. (What do we call you?)

• I say nomadic or itinerant in most situations, especially when i should avoid bringing down the room.
• I refer to other people as unhoused, especially if they have fewer options than i, because it’s a preferred word chosen by advocates and i assume they know what they’re doing, but…
• When i need someone to understand i’m not screwing around, i say “homeless.” I’m not being “free-spirited” or “whimsical,” but violently practical. They (you!) need to know that someone who is intelligent, erudite, competent, good-natured, technologically proficient, employed, reasonably responsible (for a Millennial who loves cartoons), and has no addiction problems is still going to live in a box on wheels because our society is at that point.

How do you feel about all this?

I choose to give the answer in the form of a Buzzfeed quiz. I scored:

• 10% Adventurous
• 30% Excited but Worried
• 50% Concerned
• 10% Terrified

Well, i can’t fix the housing crisis, so how do i help you and your dogs?

• Decide to get in touch with the people you love! I offer two subscriptions in which i send you postcards and stickers that give you an excuse to reach out to people you don’t talk to as much as you wish: Comradery | Patreon | Ko-fi | BuyMeACoffee
• Buy gifts from my shops: inkshark.net primarily, but also Artisans Coop | Gumroad
• You can absolutely tip me ( PayPal | Ko-fi ) for all the content i share free online ❥
• Hire me for design or illustration work, or mention me if you know someone needs some. I have multiple portfolios: illustration, design, and stuff i make for myself.
• If you know anyone who needs an editor, i come highly recommended by my clients and colleagues. I’m proud that most of my clients feel invigorated and confident about working on their project afterward. People who are afraid of editors should especially consider me (:
• I would love a remote in-house position, especially part-time, at a Canadian company with design or editorial responsibilities. I watch job listings, but i know i’m missing some, so if you see one let me know.
• Link to this site and share any post you find interesting on social media. I also blog over at inkshark.net, which is more focused on creative pursuits and less on our white-knuckled alternative housing adventure. (In case you prefer to share guaranteed non-depressing stuff lol I know i do!)