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Homeless physicist 'sick of smelling of my own BO' living in a van in a region with impossible rent (www.abc.net.au)

submitted 6 months ago by Baku@aussie.zone to c/melbourne@aussie.zone

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[–] makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml 14 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

I'm doing a Big Lap right now. Working from my laptop as I go. I'm quite fortunate.

However, the sheer number of homeless people living in vans (if they're lucky) and cars is astounding.

This is a new phenomenon to Australia (at this scale), and I don't believe most people realise just how very many people there are living in their cars.

The regional towns lie bundaberg, grafton, etc are just loaded with people in this terrible situation.

[–] No1@aussie.zone 12 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Some years ago, I remember reading posts (can't remember where I saw them) from a guy who lived out if his car in Sydney.

He was doing it by choice to save money to get an apartment. He had a job, but didn't want to waste money on rent. He covered a lot of tips and tricks, and answered heaps of questions. Eg a little heater for cold night, membership for 24hr gym so you could shower/ exercise, best places to park etc..

What struck me the most, was I started out thinking the guy was crazy, but ended up admiring him and thinking maybe he was the only sane one. I often think about this when I see homeless stories, and wonder what I would do if I lost my home.

This is just a side story though, and this guy (and I) had many advantages that other homeless people don't.

Being homeless is no joke, and we shouldn't have a society where people don't have basic shelter.