"For a few months in 2013, Allred camped out of his car while in Silicon Valley, and frequently describes this period as having been homeless. However, a deleted post on his blog titled 'Voluntarily Homeless in Silicon Valley' explains that he lived out of a car by choice."
I have a friend who is adamant that he lives out of his truck by choice, but it's hard to call it a choice when there's only one option. I wouldn't hold his feet to the fire if he later admitted he was in a rough spot (our friend group is all very clear on this situation). I had put Allred entirely out of my mind for a while, but I seem to recall his "homelessness" was characterized more by image than by practicality. Since we're being technical, it seems worth making the distinction.
I had this same debate here a few months ago, about people living out of their truck/van in Seattle, and the "choice" of it. There was more than one person that could (or would) not see the distinction. "I've seen plenty of social media and YT videos talking about how much they enjoy the experience".
Uhh, when people talk of living out of a vehicle in the context of homelessness, they're talking about people parked in the back corner of a Walmart lot with their laundry and many earthly possessions beside them, not social media creators making YouTube videos for "#vanlife".
