4. What do you do for shelter?

In the Desert

My primary home is a cave in the desert canyon near Moab, Utah. The latest cave I've been staying in is maybe 5 feet wide and 5 feet tall inside and 15 feet back. It has a tear-drop shaped opening, part of a crevice in a cliff wall. I cover it with plastic in the winter & it stays fairly warm even without fire. But I built a little wood heating & cooking stove out of a large tin, with connected cans as a flew, which takes the smoke out a small hole conveniently above the entrance. Just a couple small sticks will cook a meal & make the cave warm & toasty. The cave is very stealth, hard to find, & doesn't even look like a cave even when you're close by. The entrance is south-facing, high on a ledge, meaning it gets sun most days in the winter. I can sunbathe naked up there in the dead of winter while the temperatures are frigid in the canyon below as well as in town!

I usually have a ringtail cat (which isn't really a cat) companion who periodically tries to move into the cave with me. Ringtails are only seen at night, so I feel privileged seeing such a rare sight.  

I also usually have a camp or two around town or on the outskirts of town, a place to crash when I'm feeling lazy or can't make it up the canyon at night.  In these camps I shelter myself with tarps or abandoned tents that I find.

On the Road

When I'm on the road I camp in random places, including in groves of trees, prairies, farm fields, sheds & abandoned houses. In cities I've slept in open spaces, parks, on roofs, & abandoned buildings.  On time I camped right by a police station, the least likely place for a cop to look.  College campuses are also a great place to camp.

I usually carry a tarp & sleeping bag with me when traveling. But I've ventured out without tarps or sleeping bags or blankets & have always found everything I needed, like large pieces of plastic or tarps from construction dumpsters & such, and blankets & sleeping bags. Several times I have traveled with a hammock.  I can hang a hammock between trees where the ground is not level or wet.  And I often hang hammocks high in trees in parks.  Most people don't look up, so I can even sleep stealthily in busy parks this way. 

Strangers have also offered me a place in their homes. Whether I've gone out with a lot or nothing, I've never ever found myself lacking shelter & bedding, even at the times I find myself doubting, lacking faith.

In Friends' Back Yards

Friends often offer me their back yards to sleep in.  I once spent several months living in a friend's tree house.

I also house-sit 

People ask me to house-sit for them, because they need their animals, plants, gardens, and yards cared for, and they don't want their pipes to freeze in the winter.  In all my years of living moneyless, I have never asked for or looked for a house-sit, and I do not advertise my house-sitting services.  I often turn down requests for house-sitting, because I often prefer living outdoors.  I sleep much better in the fresh air than inside walls, in winter or summer.  Some winters I have received house-sits for most of the winter.  Some winters I've spent the entire winter outdoors.

Because of house-sitting, with computers available, I was able to create this website.