Can I live in a ____________ ?

That question keeps coming up on various vehicle-dwelling forums (or fora, for you Latin speakers out there). People of limited means, or people who want to maximize their fuel milage, want reassurances they can live in something smaller than, well, whatever they're living in now.

My answer is that people can live in anything—tents, thatch huts, cardboard boxes, under a bush... The question is how do you want to live.

This morning I met a woman living out of the Toyota Matrix pictured above. It's not spacious, it's not fancy, it doesn't even have a toilet. But it works for her. A couple of years ago I posted about a woman spending months at a time traveling with her dog in a Suzuki SX4. (below) Does she look like she's suffering?

And a couple of weeks ago I posted about the guy boondocking in a Metro (and now in a Tracker).

I'm in a cargo van. Standard length, standard roof height. No kitchen, no shower. But I have a fridge, a stove, a heater, electricity, a fan and a very comfortable bed I can stretch out on. Because that's how I want to live. That's what I need. I see other vehicles and wonder if I could downsize to, say, a minivan. I'm certain I could do it somehow, but would I be happy? I keep downsizing bit by bit. By the time the Rolling Steel Tent coughs its last (if I don't beat it there) would I need so little that I, too, could live in a Matrix? We'll see.