Living in a car is a bumpy ride
The concept is simple: get locked in the largest library at Queen's University for 10 days, sleep in a car and build three school libraries in Nepal.
It sounded easy enough when Leslie Chan and I volunteered to be the two DREAM club members to participate in Mission: Ultimate Stauffer Lockdown!
Suzuki Canada provided the car, a nice new SX4, and a $5,000 donation to start us on the way to our goal of raising $10,000 in 10 days. The rules allow us to leave our roped off area for five minutes of every hour as a break, and we could bank time to take a shower or go to the washroom. All Leslie and I had to do was talk to passersby and encourage them to make a small donation in exchange for a little piece of construction paper shaped like a car, which they could tape to our Suzuki.
DREAM (Discover the Reality of Educating All Minds) is a charitable club at Queen's. It has been doing this type of fundraising for two years through an international charity known as Room to Read. Last year, it raised enough money to build a computer lab in Cambodia. This year, the goal is three school libraries in Nepal.
Going in, confident and well rested, it seemed the only real problems would be missing classes and sleep deprivation (the library is open 18 hours a day, 8 till 2 a.m.). Leslie also seemed concerned about being on a live, 24-hour webcam, but I don't really have anything to hide (and my girlfriend likes being able to check up on me).
Day 1: It's amazing how many ways you can arrange the seats in an SX4 – and how none of them is conducive to sleeping. The cargo area with seats folded is anything but flat compared with my parents' Subaru Legacy. But, as a result, it maximizes its depth and is probably more practical for groceries. I settle on folding the rear seats down (but not flat) and putting an air mattress in the back.
Leslie has placed a smaller air mattress across the front two seats. Right now it doesn't look comfortable, but we're going to try it anyway. The biggest challenge is getting in and out. We can't open the doors all the way and there's little room between the air mattresses and the roof.
Day 2: Waking up in the back seat of an SX4 and rolling out the tailgate into a small roped off area is an odd way to begin a day. It gives one a humbling feeling, like being a piece of cargo. It seems the only way I can get myself out is to use the handles above the doors like the rings in a gymnastics event.
Leslie has discovered that sleeping across the front seats of a car parked in fourth gear means bruises on her back. I'm sure she'll remember to shift into third tonight.
Day 3: It's surprisingly tiring to be a zoo animal, especially with a constant stream of childish university students coming to poke and prod. But at least it gets dark at the zoo. Our car is parked in front of a donor wall, which means it has constant, high-intensity lights shining down on it all night. Thank goodness we don't have a moonroof.
We've already collected a little over $500, although we're astonished by how many people can walk right by our car, decorated with colourful pieces of construction paper and sitting below a massive banner.
Day 4: After a long day of talking to people, a few DREAM members and I congregate in and around the car to relax and listen to music on someone's laptop.
We can't use the SX4's sound system because the battery is disconnected. Then again, with no iPod plug-in, we probably wouldn't have used it anyway since none of us has CDs with us.
What we really need is a barbecue and a couple of other cars. Then we could have the first – and undoubtedly the last – full-on tailgate party in Stauffer Library history. There's just something about hanging out the windows of a car with a few friends. That's always fun – even if the car is parked inside a library.
Day 5: Our idea of taping paper cars to the Suzuki has been a hit. The sight of all those colourful bits of paper is finally making people stop, though donations so far are only a bit more than $1,000. Some people seem to stop because of the car itself – many haven't seen an SX4 before and most are intrigued to hear it's a Suzuki.
The webcam, meanwhile, is driving us both nuts. One of the DREAM team members went out and bought us some more bread because he saw us eating our last piece on the webcam. That's a little creepy.
Day 6: The air mattress has begun to leak, leaving my legs dangling out over the rear bumper, bum sunk into the cargo area and my back arched across the folded rear seats.
Meanwhile, Leslie has concluded that trying to stuff an air mattress across the front seats is a waste of space. She has decided to become one with the car, sleeping on a few pillows, her face within an inch of the steering wheel. Thank goodness the battery is disconnected or I'm sure I would've awoken to honking at least once.
Day 7: Our excitement about living in a parked car has waned, but we get an infusion of energy from a local radio host, Carl Richards from Fly FM in Kingston.
He was so inspired he decides to stay with us for 24 hours and do his radio show from our cramped area. We spend most of the day doing radio interviews and listening to his station.
But even his enthusiasm deflated, along with his air mattress, in the middle of the night. Leslie and I have traded sleeping arrangements. I can't believe she has been getting any sleep in the front. Maybe it's that I'm a foot taller or maybe she's just a saint.
Early in the morning I'm roused from my sleep by a rather muscular man standing over me yelling my name. He introduces himself as a radio host from one of Fly FM's competitors. He wants to do an interview in five minutes.
Before I know it, I have a cup of orange juice shoved into my hand and Mike from Bob-FM climbs into the car and starts asking me questions on live radio. Leslie, who woke up much earlier, can't stop laughing.
Day 8: Without the air mattress, the car has become torturous to live in. I got no sleep last night, and wouldn't you know that today is the day that the assistant librarian and the principal of Queen's University show up with a photographer.
To end the day, Leslie and I have a long and interesting conversation with several evangelists from whom we literally can't run away. The real good news is that we've received nearly $3,000 in donations.
Day 9: It's the weekend again so we're finally getting some sleep. The car is pretty much covered in paper cars from donors, thanks in large part to our awesome volunteers who have been out canvassing in —20 C weather. We have laughs with all of them when they return and are frequently accused of having lost our minds. Maybe it's just that we're really happy to be almost out of here.
Day 10: The last day in the car has been pretty relaxing. I've grown rather attached to our SX4: it's the little things like the thud of the doors, the nifty folding seats and the sporty steering wheel. It's the first thing I see each morning, and it makes me want to wake up and drive.
We've been cramped, sure, but I have no doubt the front seats are comfortable for long journeys. If Leslie and I can sleep across them for 10 days without major complaint, you can definitely sit in them for 10 hours.
Would I buy an SX4? Based on living in it for 10 days, sure.
The final tally comes to just over $5,000, plus Suzuki's $5,000 donation. Mission: Ultimate Stauffer Lockdown! has been a success. Leslie and I are thrilled – to be returning to real beds. And I'm sure more than 100 Nepalese schoolchildren will be very happy.
To find out more about the event or to make a donation, please visit www.queensdream.ca.
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