Thanks to the decisions made by President Donald Trump and his administration, the American economy is in a more volatile place than it’s been in several years, and that’s arguably most consequential for our country’s senior citizens who are preparing to retire. This is true for members of my family who are hoping to retire, and for Kai, a former backpacker who now lives full-time in her European-spec 2006 Smart ForTwo.
Kai chose to live in her ForTwo because she wanted to retire at age 65, but, like many Americans, can’t afford to do so while also waiting until she hits age 70 to collect the maximum allowance provided by Social Security. Her solution? Move into her car to save money. She’s been living out of her 100-inch-long 2006 Smart ForTwo for over a year, and she seems to enjoy it despite the lack of a toilet or shower.
Living in a Smart requires some flexibility
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuorNxAgv3g
A large portion of our lives is spent sleeping, and sleeping comfortably in a Smart car sounds impossible, but Kai says it’s plenty comfortable for her. She folds the passenger seat flat, and stacks several inflatable sleeping pads on top of it. Kai stands 5-foot-5-inches tall and says she has plenty of space to comfortably sleep on her side since her sleeping arrangement provides three extra inches of space to spread out.
In order to hoist herself into her makeshift bed, she has to enter through the driver’s side, turn her back to the passenger seat and brace her feet against the driver’s door to push herself up on top of the pile of inflatable pads before kicking her feet toward the back window where she can stretch out. At least since she sleeps with her head near the windshield, she gets a great view of the stars every night.
Kai says that since she’s a backpacker, the Smart is actually upsizing for her
This level of downsizing would be too drastic for most people, but not for former backpacker Kai. She is used to living minimally, which is a good thing since she lives without a bathroom, bedroom, traditional kitchen, or really any creature comfort that’s provided by a house or even a studio apartment. Normally Kai takes care of bathroom duties out in nature, but since she appears to be set up in a desert, she says she’s faced severe sand storms that force her to take care of business inside the car. When necessary, she sets a plastic bin that’s lined with a trash bag on the driver’s seat, sits in that and does her business in the tub into a plastic zipper bag that’s filled with pine cat litter pellets. She refers to it as her emergency toilet.
To cook, Kai uses the Smart’s fold-down tailgate as the cooking surface, where she has a kettle for water boiling and a single-burner alcohol stove that’s fueled by isopropyl alcohol. She has one bin that can be used as a cool box, and she uses insulated water bottles for other things.
Kai has already lived out of her ForTwo for 14 months, and hopes to continue doing so until she hits the age of 70 and becomes eligible to receive her maximum Social Security benefits. While she seems to be just fine living out of her car, I believe it’s unfortunate that people like her who have earned the right to retire have to turn to such extremes in order to live off of the government assistance program they’ve paid into their whole lives. But maybe I’m the extremist for holding such controversial views.
