7 Tips for Living in Your Car with Your Partner

We’re 125 days into living on the road in our Ved (Vehicle Bed) and while we wouldn’t want it any other way for a few weeks now we’ve been thinking,

Man, we are kind of sick of each other.

Not every minute of course. We still get excited first thing in the morning before reality sets in like I described in one of our earlier blog posts. It’s the other moments during the days, normal moments that wouldn’t have bothered us during our regular life love. Moments like when I continue to put my trash in different places or Nick stuffs his dirty clothes into every crevice of the car.

Here are a few realizations we’ve come to on how we deal with it.

Is she still right behind me?!

Go to the grocery store alone

Grocery trips are fun now, even together. They mean ultimate happiness for a few days, dreaming up our next meals, which we sometimes finish with a square of decadent dark chocolate. Who knew this would be an even happier experience alone? But it was! I know, how revolutionary and independent of us … But for real, that’s how we both later described feeling. Driving our own car down the highway like a real individual. How liberating it was to get not just one, but possibly even two of whatever you wanted with no other human standing by reminding you of the budget, how many minutes of the trip will be lost to donuts, or bothering you about how much sugar is in that can of whatever it is you want.

Making some coffee (with cream; a luxury).

Say it all

I should start by saying you should reserve some of it for a less heated time, like night time cuddles or right after meal time (don’t blame us for your next fight). But for real if your partner is bugging you in some way, let them know. Are they tapping their fingers on hard surfaces in the car and you also live in that car and maybe it’s raining and you can’t even get out? Let them know. Are they still doing it? Tell them again. We don’t mean drop hints or get annoyed and expect them to read your mind. We mean, be polite and blunt. Most humans aren’t so good at hints.

“Nick, you stink.”

Do the same thing in different places

Because we have the same exact schedule and life, we tend to want to do the same things at the same time. Often that is taking a nap or reading our books. This can easily be done in two different places. One human can be inside the Ved (or other travel machine) and one human can be outside. Don’t underestimate the power of this arrangement. You seriously feel like you spent a refreshing hour or two alone when your partner was just slightly out of view.

At our campsite in Upper Dream Canyon, Boulder CO.

Take a nap or eat some food

This one cannot be overstated. You can seriously tolerate a lot more when your human needs are met.

Napping with my favorite dog. We didn’t even know Nick was there.

Wear headphones

When you decide to take the plunge with your partner and move into your car full time we definitely recommend two sets of comfy headphones. Don’t forget to pick a handy spot for them to live so you can find them quickly and easily when needed. Headphones helped me listen to an entire book and a half (with minimal interruptions) driving back from South Dakota and Nick has spent countless trips jamming out alone right next to me.

Hang out with friends

So far, random encounters and plans with friends have broken up our trip perfectly. When you start feeling tired of each other, there’s just something about being around other people that makes you lighten up. Like she’s not really that annoying, look other people are laughing at her clearly, hilarious jokes.

Notice we take this opportunity to stand as far apart as possible …

Laugh about it (most important)

We sometimes would analyze why some married couples make jokes about each other and being stuck and stuff and we just didn’t really get it. I think we get it more now. Don’t worry we’re still in love, but we know it’s a new stage of love. The kind of love you enter when you’re one month into your fourth year together and 125 days into 365 of being together 24/7. So anyways, laugh together on your own how ridiculous you’re being. And then get others in on it too for optimal laughter. Tell everyone how he’s always around at least within 100 feet and he never leaves and he hasn’t showered for 10 days. Tell jokes about how you’re sick of each other and really laugh hard about this, as hard as you can. Because it’s really not that serious.