Clean Drinking Water & Cheap Entertainment

I've been wanting to mention a couple of vehicle-living tips that have been on my mind lately regarding two topics that are totally unrelated. I don't feel like adding these tips into previous posts that were more similar, so I apologize if they seem a bit random here. Lots of different vehicle-dwelling tips have really gotten scattered throughout all my different blog posts, but hopefully everyone has discovered the "Search this Blog" box that is over on the right side of the screen. You can use that search box to find all of my posts that contain certain words & topics that you are curious about :)

Finding Clean Water to Drink

I drink a lot of water. And that may even be an understatement. I might go through a gallon per day, although I don't really keep track. Water, Green Tea, and Kombucha are all the beverages that I have been drinking. Occasionally I buy some 100% juice, but not very often, since it is so full of sugar. Anyway, water is always my beverage of choice, and it is very important for your water to be clear of bacteria, metals, and other disgusting things. It can get very expensive if you want to keep buying bottled water everywhere you go, plus that creates an excessive amount of waste when you keep throwing away all those bottles. For free, you can fill up your water bottles at many public drinking fountains, but the water quality often isn't very good. I have been quite discouraged many times in the past when I got water from a drinking fountain and it tasted absolutely disgusting. I do have an MSR MiniWorks EX Ceramic Water Filter, and you just screw it onto the top of a Nalgene bottle & hand-pump it in order to purify your drinking water. I don't actually use it that often, though, only really when I'm backpacking, because it can be pretty inconvenient. I usually just don't feel like using it, to be honest. My best friend has a different type of water purifier called a "SteriPen" that works by using UV Light. I haven't tried that method, but it has good reviews, and my friend seems to like hers. Another option, which will definitely kill all the bacteria in your water (although it won't get rid of any metals), is to put a few drops of GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) into your water. If you don't believe in the power of GSE, read this review of a woman who used it to drink from a waterfall on Kauai. There are lots of other positive reviews out there, along with the fact that I've occasionally used drops of GSE and never had any bad results.

THE BEST OPTION that I've found is just to keep a couple of gallon jugs inside your vehicle. You can take those into almost any grocery store or supermarket and fill them up at those purified/filtered water machines. The water that comes out of those machines is excellent quality, tastes great, you get to re-use your containers, and it is very inexpensive. I just walked over to Publix, yesterday, and filled up two of my gallon-jugs with clean water from the machine, and it only cost 60 cents total. It was only .30 per gallon. If you were to throw away your gallon jug and buy a brand new one every time you needed more water, it would cost you closer to 1.30 (instead of .30), and would create un-necessary waste. Those water machines are my favorite way to get fresh drinking water. No question about it. I'm not a big fan, however, of just letting my water hang out inside the plastic jugs for very long, (especially in a hot vehicle), because I don't want my water to absorb any nasty chemicals from the plastic. It might be a wise idea to transfer some of it into an aluminum, stainless steel, or BPA-free plastic bottle, which is what I tend to do. Those BPA-free plastic water bottles might be bad for your water, too, I'm not really sure, but I would like to think that they are somehow better than the regular plastic bottles. Here is a site about the BPA-free plastic hype, in case you are curious:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/04/bpa-in-water.php

I know that glass isn't a good type of container to keep in your vehicle (since it could easily break & is heavier to lug around), but I believe glass to be the safest container to keep your water in. I actually have a medium-sized glass container inside my van that I do keep water in, despite what I have read. I think the author of the "Living In Cars" book didn't recommend carrying glass containers inside your vehicle, but I haven't had a problem with it yet. If I ever do break a glass bottle in my van, then I will re-consider. My glass bottle stays securely in place within my little refrigerator, so I don't worry about it breaking, and I don't worry about chemicals getting absorbed into the water.

Cheap Entertainment (Movies!!)

I really am quite often a home-body. Especially if I have gotten settled and used to parking somewhere for a while. I do get out and about a lot, but of course I like to stay "home" and hang out in my van some days, too. I don't watch many movies, but they can be pretty relaxing and a good way to get some cheap entertainment. They can also be a good form of evening entertainment when you are traveling.

I'm not talking about going out to the movie theatre, because I think that is just way too expensive. You can buy yourself a movie for the price of sitting inside a theatre. I've got a few different inexpensive ideas when it comes to watching movies... All you need is a laptop or portable DVD player inside your vehicle. I just use my laptop.

1. Rent a movie for free at a public library

2. Check-out a movie from a RedBox machine - You can find RedBox kiosks at many locations, all over the United States. I often see them when I first walk into Walmart. You can rent DVDs from them for 1.00 per night and return them to ANY RedBox kiosk location. Find their locations, movie selections, and read more about it at http://www.redbox.com/. Pretty neat set-up.

3. Garage Sale/Thrift Store - Pick up a cheap DVD there and then donate it to a library or another thrift store when you are done with it.

4. Blockbuster (.99 rentals) - This is my favorite option for renting movies, because as long as you have a Blockbuster Card, you can rent movies at ANY Blockbuster location. We just rented "The Postman" and "The Anchorman," (both Excellent movies) for only 99 cents each. They are due back tomorrow, just right down the road. Very convenient. And we don't even have an "account" at this particular Blockbuster. Isn't it nice to know that your very own Blockbuster card will work for you in any U.S. Blockbuster? Much cheaper than going to the theatre or lugging movies around with you that you have bought.

Health Nuttiness

For the past couple days, I've had this slight feeling that I'm on the verge of getting sick. There's been that tickle in the back of my throat and the inkling that my body is preparing to ward off whatever is slowing starting to attack. I must be doing something right, though, (or else I've been blessed with a naturally strong immune system), because I don't remember the last time I was sick...and I really don't plan to be any time soon.

I'm still feeling okay, so I hope this "pre-sick feeling" doesn't progress any further. I've been popping additional zinc, Vitamin C, and Echinacea, just to be sure. I will admit, I'm a bit of a health nut, and I have been for quite a while. I take a few supplements and I'm very conscious of many things regarding my health. The honest truth is that I strongly want my teeth & hair to be strong, I hope to "age well," I want to feel continually healthy & aware, and I don't want to be plagued with any problems that I can knowingly prevent.

I know that writing about nutrition and what I eat may not seem like it fits in with this topic of "living in a van." Actually, I think it fits very well: When you live in a van, you pretty much have to be conscious of your health, because admit it - It would be downright miserable to be sick and have to lay around inside your vehicle. No fun whatsoever. Plus, if you get sick & live in your vehicle, you'd better find yourself a good parking space, because you are probably not going to feel like driving around very much. I want to live a very long, healthy, and happy life. I want others that I care about to do the same. I deem "what you put into your body" (especially when you are living on the road) to be a very important topic.

I love reading, and I am always in the middle of one book or another. I am currently between pages in two terrific ones, and it is surely no surprise that they are regarding health (perhaps becoming a nutritionist would be right up my alley):

"In Defense of Food - An Eater's Manifesto," by Michael Pollan

"Cure Tooth Decay - Heal & Prevent Cavities with Nutrition," by Ramiel Nagel

Both are excellent books, really making me think about how the American Diet today is so different from the diet of our great grandparents. We are living in an age of obesity, where people are now trying way too-hard to eat "right," when all we really have to do is eat "real food." People are eating so many "low-fat" products & "zero-calorie" caffeine drinks that are loaded with chemically-altered fake-sweeteners that are causing cancer, not to mention other things. I believe Michael Pollan sums it up perfectly, by saying, "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants."

I have read so many articles and books regarding nutrition, trying to figure out the best of all the information out there. It is quite a task, trying to pull the best aspects out of different diets (Adkins Diet, Abs Diet, Juice Fasts, Raw-Foodism, Vegan, Vegetarian, High-Fat, Low-Fat...) and create the ultimate diet for yourself, without becoming an obsessive health freak. :-) There are hundreds of supplements people can take, and certain ones supposedly need certain others to help them absorb properly, etc. What a mess! Ideal health shouldn't be so complicated, although, at this point, I really don't think it is.

I guess I consider myself to be semi-vegetarian with raw-foodist & vegan tendencies - I do eat fish, chicken, turkey, and beef, BUT no pork or pasteurized dairy products for me. I also believe that it is ok to eat small amounts of ANYTHING, as long as it is 100% "real" food. I am getting to the point where I don't want to eat anything that contains ingredients that I can't read out-loud, don't know what they are, or have never heard of. I won't go near hydrogenated oils, "low-fat" products, artificial sweeteners (aspartame, splenda...), margarine, or anything that has been chemically altered. I don't eat things that are man-made. I will never own a microwave again or use one to heat my food (stove-tops, ovens, or over a fire will work just fine). I prefer to eat eggs that only come from cage-free, grass-fed chickens. There are lots of little things like that that I believe in... Things just used to be so different "back in the day," they farmed differently, certain diseases & cancers weren't as much of a problem, and people weren't eating the packaged food-like products that are sold today. I am using the method of trying the best that I can to eat only things that my great-great grandmother would most-likely recognize as actual food.

I do love the taste of food, so I do eat a variety when I can. I do not just eat salads and vitamins. Lately (for convenience & storage reasons) I've mostly been eating non-perishables like peanuts, apples, shredded wheat with almond milk, turkey-jerky, PB & Jam sandwiches, and goji-berry/pine-nut trail mix, but today I had a whole-grain bagel with real butter (cream & salt) and a piece of grilled salmon (on a bed of veggies) from the natural-food store nearby. I really am not a fan of taking supplements, but I do take a couple (and they make me feel terrific, not to sound like an infomercial): A multi-vitamin, cod-liver oil, a chocolate calcium chew, and spirulina. I also love wheatgrass juice, whenever I can find it.

I know that everyone eats differently, and what works for one person won't necessarily work for another. I am also constantly changing-up my diet, since I love lots of different foods, and, lets be realistic here, I live in my van. Many of my favorite things can't be easily made inside a van, so visiting with friends is an ideal situation for utilizing their kitchen and whipping up those things that you've been missing out on. In my case, that would include making some delicious cabbage rolls, baking a little home-made granola, cooking up a pot of steaming white-chicken chili, or blending up some powerful green smoothies. In fact, back when I was drinking a green-smoothie every day, my hair and skin were the healthiest that they have ever been in my entire life. The power of greens is truly amazing.

 

I think what I really miss most is having a kitchen. I have always loved to bake & cook things from scatch. (It's never been Betty Crocker cake-mixes for me!)... In storage, I've still got my bread-machine, my food dehydrator, and my soy-milk maker, all of which used to get many hours of use. They are patiently waiting for my return. Someday I'm sure we will be re-united, but until then, I will just enjoy where my time takes me without them.

Back in my old apartment, this was my first attempt at making a green smoothie (Peaches & Parsley (or was it Spinach?) in this particular one, and it tasted wonderful!!). Obviously it was my first attempt, as I didn't realize I was putting in way too much...

Another green smoothie, but this one was made in my brother's kitchen, while I was living in my van & parked in his driveway... Mmm. They really aren't disgusting at all, even though you might be tempted to think so: