‘I’m a survivor’: 70-year-old woman living in car as rents skyrocket

At five o’clock in the morning, Beth unzips her sleeping bag and rolls down the window of her Chevrolet Equinox. 

It’s just 5°C in the small Arizona town where she is currently “car camping”. Over the past week, she has developed a bad cold that has been getting steadily worse. If it persists, Beth will check herself into Urgent Care. 

Two weeks ago, Beth had “what would probably be my first moment of truth”. 

“I wanted to go home, but there was nowhere to go,” she shared in a YouTube video.

Beth turned 70 a few months ago, following a busy and successful career in the computer and tech fields. 

In 2019, she retired from her most recent job as a public librarian. 

“I always made a good income and I was very grateful for that, but I didn’t save enough, apparently,” she says. 

After COVID-19 hit, apartment rents in her area doubled. Beth quickly found herself priced out of the rental market. 

“I floated along, living in one apartment after another,” she says. “I was moving every year, and that was costly too because you have to pay security deposits, moving costs.”

“I had to move from neighbourhoods that I felt comfortable in to locations where I didn’t to get lower rents. Even then, the rents were near $1000, and they weren’t very safe neighbourhoods.” 

Eventually, struggling with debt and isolation, Beth decided to move into her SUV in order to get her finances under control. 

At times, the bitter winter cold and windstorms have made life in the car difficult. 

“I had a serious moment of giving up and throwing in the towel, but I persevered,” Beth says. 

“I’m a survivor, I feel like one. I deal with what is going on.” 

Despite her difficult circumstances, Beth remains remarkably optimistic and finds joy in the small pleasures of her everyday life.

Each morning, she smiles and tells her small community of YouTube followers, “It’s going to be a great day today”.  

“The connection to nature … is more immediate living in my car. I just open my doors, see the moon and the constellations in the early morning, and I love it,” she says. 

Going forward, Beth is considering swapping her Chevrolet Equinox for an old minivan that is large enough to stand up in. 

She is grateful that there is less stigma around living in vehicles compared to when she was younger. 

“I know there are others in my age group doing it. And I know that younger people are struggling in these times as well,” she says. 

“Everyone should be able to have a safe place to live, but maybe in these scary times that’s not something that can always happen.”