Why I Quit My Job and Condo, Moved Into a Tesla to Travel the Country

A few years ago, I thought I'd never leave my hometown in Alberta, Canada.

That's why I bought a condo, hoping it would be a good investment that might help me to retire earlier in life.

After only a few weeks of living there, I realized I had made a huge mistake. I was dealing with a lot of anxiety at the time and hated living in such a large space by myself. It just wasn't right for me.

I had a growing interest in van-life and the concept of living on the road but was hesitant about pursuing it because buying a van seemed like a very big investment.

So instead of doing something drastic, I decided to move into my car, which at the time was a Mitsubishi, to see if I enjoyed that. I immediately felt so much better living that way, and a week later, I went back to my condo to completely clean it out.

I've been living on the road ever since. Having quit my job I now work online and supplement my income with the rent from my condo, and live in a Tesla Model Y that was gifted to me by my ex-boyfriend.

I'm not alone either. I travel with my two pets, a dog called Snow and a cat called Finley, but I've also been taking thousands of TikTok followers with me, hoping to show them what tiny living can be like.

Figuring out how to organize everything I need in the car has been a process of trial and error.

At the moment, I've put my dog's bed near the passenger seat, on top of a water cooler where I store food.

In the back of the car, I've got a twin mattress for myself laying across all of the back seats. My cat has a little fluffy donut bed near where I sleep as well.

Thankfully, there's a lot of storage space at the front of the car where I keep some essentials that have helped me get by. For example, I bought a big 800-watt battery that I use for my kettle, so I can make tea, or charge my phone if I need to. I also have a solar panel that I store in the car for charging the battery.

Living out of my car does take a lot of planning. I mostly use public bathrooms but I need to plan out when I'm going to need to use the bathroom or have a shower in advance, to make sure I can have access. Doing the laundry often takes even more planning, as I wash my clothes outdoors and need to wait for them to dry before driving away.

Since I moved into the Tesla last summer, I've probably spent a total of nine months living in it full-time and traveling around the US and Canada. During the winter months, I've previously stayed with my ex-boyfriend, and there have also been times when I've been able to crash with friends at their houses if I needed to, but mainly, my pets and I are pretty happy with our lifestyle.

Because I was given the Tesla for free, the biggest costs I've incurred have been parking and charging costs.

However, I've noticed that a lot of places in the US and Canada have free charging points, so I've been able to drive from Las Vegas to Canada for free, which is pretty amazing.

Parking costs can obviously add up, but I've also noticed that there are areas where I can park for free in most cities.

The overall cost has been significantly cheaper than the upkeep of my condo, and I've often thought that I'm saving a lot more than I would be if I was living in a van, where I would probably have to pay for renovations to add bathrooms, running water, and other amenities.

I've always been traveling with a touch-and-go mentality, and have been constantly prepared to stop and try something else if it stops being good for my pets.

But so far, I've noticed that both of them are absolutely thriving.

We spend most of our time outdoors so there's a tonne of adventure time for them. They probably get more walks than other pets I know.

Since I share my life online, I do sometimes get comments accusing me of abusing my pets because they're living in a space that's smaller than a home. But I've noticed that my cat, for example, seems a lot happier on the road. He used to gain a lot of weight in the winter months from living in a house, but now, he explores different places almost every day.

It's also given me huge peace of mind to have them with me while traveling, instead of leaving them in an animal shelter, which a lot of other people need to do when they go on their travels.

There have been moments where I've considered moving into a van, but I've also come to appreciate a lot of things about the Tesla that have made my life so much easier.

For example, it has climate control settings that can regulate the temperature inside the car, making it possible for me to leave my pets in the vehicle if I need to quickly go inside a shop or use the bathroom.

There are also cameras monitoring activity outside the car that I can access from a screen inside the vehicle. They help me to feel safe and secure at night when I put shields on my windows to keep people from looking in. If I hear a strange sound or something like that, I can still see what's happening outside because of the cameras.

Some people say that they've felt unsafe while doing van-life, but in my experience living in a Tesla, I've felt safer than I did in my condo because of the situational awareness I get from the cameras. I also love knowing that if I run into someone in a particular city who makes me feel uncomfortable, I can just pick up and move on to the next place.

The reason why I first made a TikTok account about my lifestyle is because as I was traveling with my pets, I'd often meet new people who had a lot of questions about how it was possible for me to live in the car full-time.

So, I started making videos about it and telling people I met to check out my account if they wanted to learn more.

I've ended up building a really cute little community for myself through TikTok. Having 20,000 followers I can share this journey with has helped me feel like I have a community no matter where I am.

One sad thing I have noticed from documenting life in a Tesla specifically is that people I meet immediately recognize that I am living this way by choice, whereas previously when I was living in my Mitsubishi, a lot of people assumed I was unhoused, and did not treat me particularly well.

Nowadays, I can pretty much park anywhere and do my day-to-day activities and people will be interested in my life instead of being judgmental, which has made a big difference. I feel very lucky to have this privilege, knowing that a lot of people living out of other cars, whether by choice or not, are probably dealing with a lot of prejudice.

I try to make as many videos as I can that answer commenters' questions about what it's like to live in a Tesla.

I think there's a lot of stigma around electric vehicles, as a lot of people assume you can't travel long distances with them. I've really enjoyed talking about how I've been able to get around and sharing what I know about this new industry and mode of traveling that people are still learning about.

A lot of people are quite shocked by the concept of my lifestyle, and I think that's because in our society, everybody always wants bigger and better of everything, so seeing someone actively going against is probably really wild to a lot of people.

At the end of the day, I think the world has changed so much, to the point where so many people cannot afford to live in a big house, and it's becoming such an unattainable goal to work towards.

I think that for people who don't want to be working long weeks and aspiring for that big house, going tiny can help you to achieve a much higher quality of life, and I'm hoping that my videos show how nice and relaxing these lifestyles can be.

So far, I've traveled over 80,000 kilometers in my Tesla, and have visited a bunch of places, such as Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona.

I'm not really sure how long I'll want to live in the Tesla or where I'm going to be next. I think my long-term plan would be to swap into an electric van or live in a tiny house in the woods. I think a lot of the people who follow me now would be interested in either of those journeys, so I'll hopefully continue to document my life on social media.

My overall aim is to show people that there is no one lifestyle that everyone should be living. I strongly believe that people thrive in really different ways.

It's important for me to show people that they are not failing if they can't buy a house. You can choose to do something else and that can be totally accepted and celebrated.

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