Kai, a resourceful retiree, has lived more than a year in a 39-square foot, 2006 Smart Car. She retired at 65 with limited income. Living in a Smart Car meant low fuel costs (55 mpg, 500 miles per tank), low maintenance, and negligible travel expenses.
As a former backpacker, she says she “sized up” when she became a Smart Car camper. (She does have a 10×10 storage unit.)
The Smart Car, which she nicknamed “Oelita” (Little Blue), has a 3-cylinder motorcycle engine that can hit 90 miles per hour if she pushes it. Storage bins on the floor keep the space above usable for daily living. The bins are organized—tools, food, clothing, etc. She cooks with an alcohol stove or kettle, and uses a soft cooler with ice for perishables.
At 5’5″, Kai stretches to sleep out by using the dash as part of her bed. She inflates two air mattresses and stacks pillows for support. In the morning, everything packs away in minutes.
She bathes outdoors when she can. If there’s no public toilet available, she keeps a double-bin toilet system on hand that uses cat litter.
Kai follows mild weather. She uses hand warmers and a winter sleeping bag in colder temps, and shade or damp cloths in the heat.
“Living in a Smart Car is like being in a fishbowl or a train berth,” she says. Large windows, she notes, make the space feel open (as “open” as 39 square feet can be). The car is road-legal with no permanent modifications.
Kai plans to stay in her Smart Car until age 70, when she will file for increased Social Security compared to if she filed earlier. For now, her tiny mobile abode does the job and keeps her bank account in the black.
The information in this article is based on a video at Cheap RVliving.com.
This isn’t the first “Smart Car Camper” we have profiled on RVtravel.com. Read about Lorraine Forster and her Smart Car lifestyle.
More articles you might really like
• Visit the Cody Firearms Museum in Buffalo Bill Country
• Thousand Trails’ changes fees: now as high as $4,000 a year
• Build your own mattress: Mattress makers won’t tell you this
• Secret Costco shopping tips you should know
• Is BLM camping safe? Yes! But take precautions
• Watch RV fire unfold from above in sobering drone footage
• True or myth: Cracker Jack once offered a motorhome as a prize?
• Exposed: The ‘borderline scam’ of RV dual-pane windows!
• Save your RV’s refrigerator: Leveling tips for overnight stops
• Camping World owes many RVers big refunds.
RVT1217
