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On August 5, 2017, Rosa moved into her Honda Element and started traveling full-time. Nine years later she still lives in the same car, which she calls Elrond, and he is closing in on 300,000 miles. To mark the anniversary she parked at a forest camp, opened an $18 bottle of gold-flecked bubbly, and spent half an hour on her channel Life Out of My Element answering viewer questions about what nine years of car living has actually been like.
We first featured Rosa when she hit six years in her Honda Element. This video takes the story three years further. She covers money, dating, safety, sleep, and why she will never trade the car for a van.
Nine Years In, There’s More to Explore, Not Less
After nine years you might expect the road to get old. Rosa says it works the other way: the more she travels, the longer her list gets. She has been to every U.S. state except Hawaii and to 53 of the 63 national parks. Most of the ones she’s missed need a plane or a boat, like the remote Alaska parks, Dry Tortugas, Channel Islands, Isle Royale, and American Samoa. (She has also skipped the Gateway Arch, which she calls “the dumbest thing that it’s a national park.”)
She grew up outside Philadelphia and spent her first years on the road covering the East and Midwest. These days she stays out West on purpose. As she explains, the East has far less public land and free camping, so car dwellers end up at rest stops and Cracker Barrels. Out West she gets what she calls “punch me in my face beauty.” She is a resident of South Dakota, which has no annual vehicle inspections, and she only has to go back once every five years.
She Downgraded Her Mattress, on Purpose
One viewer asked whether nearly a decade of sleeping on foam has worn her body down. Her answer is that she has gone thinner over time. Her first build had 6 inches of foam, her second had about 5, and the current one has just 2.5 inches.
There’s a real design reason behind it. In a vehicle as short as an Element, every inch of mattress takes an inch away from headroom. A 6-inch pad would keep her from sitting up in the back, and she decided sitting up mattered more. She mostly sleeps on her back, says her body adjusted quickly, and notes that sleeping on a thin mat or the floor is normal in much of the world.
Her build is still simple. Her dad built the current platform, and the storage underneath is mostly Amazon crates. She says it isn’t even finished. The hardest part of car living for her isn’t the bed, though. It’s gear. With no storage unit or home base, she carries everything for every season all year: snowshoes, chains, winter clothes, and two sleeping bags. She points out that the slickest Element builds usually belong to part-timers, who don’t have to fit their whole life inside.
Why Rosa Won’t Upgrade to a Van
The most common question she gets is why she doesn’t upgrade to a van. Her answer is that a van would make her life worse. “I picked correctly the first time,” she says, “and you don’t mess with perfection.”
For many nomads the usual path goes car, then small van, then a van you can stand up in, with each step bringing back a few comforts of an apartment. Rosa says she likes the discomfort. She would rather ride out a blizzard with no heater in her sleeping bag than in a climate-controlled rig, and she sees most “upgrades” as more things that can break. She also brings up the cost and gas mileage, and she ends the video, as usual, by telling viewers not to buy a bus.
No, She Isn’t Secretly Rich
The biggest misconception she hears is that she must be rich: a trust fund, parents paying the bills, or hotels every night off camera. She thinks $150,000 van builds created that image. Her real path looks nothing like it. She skipped college and worked three jobs and 80-plus hours a week for several years to buy the car and build savings. She lived on those savings the first year, then worked seasonal jobs in national parks for about half of each year, including a stint at Death Valley. During COVID she did DoorDash and Instacart. She has done YouTube full-time since 2022.
She says she doesn’t make a ton of money, but her costs are so low that it’s enough. This year a friend talked her into recutting her long videos as short clips for Facebook and Instagram, and that has done surprisingly well. She is also honest that she hasn’t made long-term financial plans yet, and that this is the first year she has even thought about it.
Fear, Dating, and Doing Things Off Camera
Rosa doesn’t present herself as fearless. She describes a constant baseline of alertness: her heart jumps at noises after dark, and she assumes every snapping branch near her tent is a bear. Her approach is to manage that fear rather than let it decide for her. She has worked on telling paranoia apart from real danger, and she says a few anxious hours at night are worth waking up to the sunrise.
She has also had four relationships during her nine years on the road. One was a coworker at Death Valley, two were fellow vehicle dwellers, and one was someone from home. Each time, she says, her world got smaller instead of bigger, so she’s happily single for now. She is also working on simply living without filming. After the Pacific Crest Trail and a hard stretch afterward, she has been going on hikes and watching sunrises with the camera off. She wants the lifestyle to stay real to her and not just become content.
Elrond at Nearly 300,000 Miles
At his last oil change Elrond read 298,348 miles. This year she put about $5,000 into him for a new starter, alternator, and brake pads. Her plan is simple: “We’re just going to keep replacing every bit of him, and we’re never getting rid of him.” She missed his 200,000-mile mark and hopes to celebrate 300,000 live with her viewers.
Hippo, Bogs Boots, and the Little Things
A few of the rapid-fire answers are worth noting. She has traveled the whole time with Hippo, a stuffed animal she found at a thrift store for about 50 cents. He lost an eye when she finally washed him. Her go-to footwear is a pair of Bogs boots rated to -30°F. She paid about $70 and has worn them hard for almost five years. She says it isn’t a sponsorship and that she has never taken one. She doesn’t keep a PO box because it would tie her to one place, and she tries to own as little as she can.
Her Advice for Anyone Who Wants to Try Car Living
Her advice hasn’t changed in nine years. Start with the car you already have. Most vehicles can be set up for sleeping and road trips with thrift-store finds. Test the lifestyle before spending real money, and skip the $100,000 build. If money worries you, she suggests a seasonal job through CoolWorks. That’s how she lived and worked in national parks among people who love the outdoors as much as she does.
When she started, she used freecampsites.net to find places to sleep, because apps like iOverlander weren’t widely used yet. Both are still good starting points today: FreeCampsites.net and iOverlander.
Car Life Details
- Vehicle: Honda Element, nicknamed Elrond
- Living in it full-time since: August 5, 2017
- Mileage: 298,348 at her most recent oil change
- Bed: 2.5-inch foam on a platform her dad built, down from 6 inches in her first build
- Storage: Amazon crates under the platform, with all four seasons of gear on board year-round
- Recent repairs: about $5,000 this year for a starter, alternator, and brake pads
- Residency: South Dakota (no annual vehicle inspections)
- Income: YouTube full-time since 2022, after seasonal national park jobs and gig work
- Travel so far: every state but Hawaii, 53 of 63 national parks
What Makes Her Story Special
- She has stuck with the same small car for nine years and nearly 300,000 miles instead of upgrading.
- She shows that a thinner mattress can be the smarter choice in a low vehicle, since it buys back sitting headroom.
- She is open about the parts of car living that aren’t glamorous, like fear, gear storage, money, and dating.
- She paid for it with years of hard work and seasonal jobs, not a big budget.
- Her advice is practical and inexpensive: use the car you have and try it before you buy anything.
Watch the Full Video
Rosa answers viewer questions on her ninth anniversary of living in her car.
Video: Rosa / Life Out of My Element, “9 years of living in my car – let’s talk about it” on YouTube.
Highlights
- Nine years living full-time in the same Honda Element
- Elrond is closing in on 300,000 miles
- She went from 6-inch to 2.5-inch foam so she can sit up in bed
- She says a van would make her life worse, not better
- Every state but Hawaii and 53 of 63 national parks
- Her advice: start with the car you have and test the lifestyle first
Learn More
Rosa / Life Out of My Element
YouTube: youtube.com/@lifeoutofmyelement
Instagram: @lifeinmyelement
Seasonal jobs: CoolWorks
Finding campsites: FreeCampsites.net and iOverlander
Video stills: Rosa / Life Out of My Element.
Explore More
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- Van Life at 80: Patty’s $200 Minimalist Build
- Car Camping
- Tours & Features
Could you live in a car as long as Rosa has, or would you need a van to stand up in? Tell us in the comments.
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Alex
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