One of the hardest things to find while living on the road, whether you have a van or car or truck or you’re on the street, is a clean, regular hot shower. You can take sponge baths in restrooms, or in streams and lakes during the summer, but it doesn’t take the place of a shower.

You do have options, many of these I discovered AFTER leaving the van-dwelling life. But you can benefit from my experience I hope. There are many ILLEGAL ways to find a shower, but I’m not even going into those since I advocate ONLY legal means and methods to everything. Sorry. That said, there are still lots of ways to get a shower. Here are my favorites:

Join the YMCA or a health club. I recently joined Gold’s Gym. There’s a two-year membership agreement but if you negotiate well you can get the gym to work with you on the enrollment fee and monthly fees. You’re looking at between $30 and $50 a month. That’s for Gold’s - and the advantage there is, you can visit ANY Gold’s gym in the country up to 14 times EACH, each year. So if you travel between cities, you’ve always got a shower and a place to hang out. And Gold’s has more gyms than any other health club chain in the country. And you can get healthy too. I love the Denver YMCA. There are several really nice ones - pool, jacuzzi, sauna, showers, racquetball and basketball. You’ll need a bankcard/debit card and a source of income of course. Some places will let you in on a day or visit-by-visit basis. Check with the Recreation Department of any city you’re in. Many have recreation centers with pools and you can get a shower for between $1 and $5 a day, no membership required. They may want ID though.

If you’re in any big city, check the restrooms (actually always check ALL public restrooms). Many restrooms in big office buildings have showers. It makes it easy for employees who work out. I used the shower in the office building in Denver where the Temp agency I worked for was. Try not to shower during busy hours (lunch, morning or after 4 p.m.).

Truck stops have great showers. You can often offer to help a driver with something (offer to do their laundry or whatever) in exchange for their shower ticket. They often get free showers with a fill-up. Sometimes they’ll just give them to you, other times they’ll take $5 or a portion of what a full shower would cost ($7-$12).

Out west many laundromats and convenience stores have a shower. You buy tokens - usually $2.50 for $10 of shower. You want a longer shower? Add more money.

Campgrounds will let you use their picnic area, laundry facilities and showers for $5 a day. Tell them you want their “day use fee” because you just need a shower and to do laundry. If you think you can get away with sneaking in late at night and just using the showers, think again. Most showers have code entrances on the doors and you need a code to punch in to get in. Even if the doors are open, if you get caught, you’re trespassing.

Churches. Many of the “mega” churches have basketball and gym facilities that rival many high schools and small colleges. Talk to the minister and ask if you can take a shower. He’s more likely to say yes if you attend the church. That’s not a bad idea. A good day to start attending church (at least most Baptist churches) is Wednesday. There’s usually a great home-cooked meal (often free) before a short Bible study. If you’re serious and sober you can get fed and cleaned both physically and spiritually this way.

Hotels. If you get by a hotel early enough, you can often catch construction crews leaving (6 a.m. to 8 a.m.) and they’ll often let you shower in their rooms after they’re done. Better for guys to do this gals. Sorry. Not really safe, but a lot of construction guys are homeless and will be understanding enough to let you in for a quick shower. If they do, don’t trash the place and ruin it for everyone okay?

Community Colleges. Take a one hour credit class, like weight lifting, walking, or some gym class so you’re a legit student with ID, and use the showers, rent a locker. Many, many students these days are living in their vans and offices and using the facilities at their school so they save money on rent.

I’ve talked to at least one Med school student who lived in his car and his grad student office for a year.

Workplace. Look for jobs, usually in manufacturing, that offer employee showers or gym access. I worked for Camping World for three months and came in early to shower, or showered after work. Employees had access to the gym, which I didn’t, but anyone could use the showers. Work in a warehouse or other facility, including many professional horse farms, state fairs, theme parks etc. and you’re likely to find a shower you can use.

If you live in a beach town, look for public showers or showers near the parking lots and public access lots. These are usually just a showerhead in full view and you’re showering in your clothes, but it gets the sand, salt and grime off of you and it’s free.

IF you’re a veteran, you can always go on base and use the facilities there.

High Schools. Some high schools have “after hours” programs (mostly in rural areas) where townspeople can come in and use the equipment since small towns don’t have health clubs. That includes use of the showers.

Women, check with women’s shelters, rape crisis centers and battered women’s shelters. It’s hit or miss, depending on your situation, but sometimes you’ll be welcomed to take a shower once or twice.

If a friend, family member, or co-worker invites you over to shower, leave the shower as clean or cleaner than you found it. Don’t use all their shampoo or soap and pick up your towel, dry off the glass shower door and wipe down the tiles if that’s how clean it was. You don’t want to create work for them. And, you want to be invited back.

You really just have to keep your eyes open and ask people if they know of a place to shower. You’ll be surprised at what you find. If you’re an Elks or Moose club member, or a member of any national organization, their clubhouse may have a shower. If you can pay, you can always get a shower. If you can barter or trade work or something you can get a shower. If you do nothing else, stay clean, smell clean and wear clean clothes. If you’re homeless, smelling homeless, stinking and being dirty will do more to hurt you than being unemployed, than sleeping on a park bench…don’t look or smell bad. Make this your number one job - to look, stay and smell clean and together.

Go to your town’s “drop-in” center to find out where you can shower or do laundry if you can’t afford to do it. Get a job cleaning rooms at a hotel if you have to - you’ll have access to showers and laundry there…and may even be able to sleep in your car in the parking lot….

Good luck - and if you find another place to shower, let us know.