Excuse my mess in the car. It’s a raw shot of what it looks like when I’m relaxing at a park.

I slept pretty good in my car even though it was kind of hot last night. My fan is doing a remarkable job of keeping me cool by circulating the air.

Last night was a warm mid 70s, and as you can see from the image, it takes a while for it to cool down. I usually wake up around 1 am to pull the blanket partially over me. But those few hours from 10 pm - 1 am are kind of getting brutal.

What makes it much easier for me to sleep in the car is using window nets to keep bugs out. I place them over the door, which lets me keep the windows down about 5–7 inches so plenty of air can circulate. But that on its own isn’t enough, so I hang a relatively small fan near the window to keep the air moving and help my body stay cool.

Right now, I don’t feel like I need an AC unit in the car to sleep. But when the hotter summer nights come around, I may need to either add an AC unit or find a cooler place to sleep. Since I live about an hour from the beach cities, I’ll opt to sleep in one of them.

I just realized I said, “I live an hour away”…

The irony of that line. I still have to let this situation sink in, I suppose.

What I really mean is that my job is about an hour away from the beach. It’s the only home base I have, and everything else is a rotation of locations around it.

What I love about being relatively near the beach is that I can escape the scorching heat and enjoy a consistent 60–70-degree climate. California is painfully expensive, but it has a ton of perks, and the weather is one of them—so I might as well take advantage of my situation.

California has tons of people sleeping in their cars, and sleeping near the beach is just about everyone’s desire. So it’s going to be harder for most people to sleep in any of those areas, especially if their car doesn’t blend in, like those large camper vans or trucks with slide-in campers.

Fortunately for me, I have a regular-looking truck that can blend right in.

For now, the way to beat the heat while living in a car is to cover the windows with nets to keep bugs out while you lower them. Add a fan to help circulate the air. Place that fan near an open window to bring in cooler nighttime air. And if you live in California—or anywhere near cooler areas like beaches, rivers, and lakes—take advantage of the geography and climate. There’s always a solution, and these are two simple ones.

Stay fresh out there.

See you next time.

Amado

Until next time,

Amado Aguilar