When All You Need is Free Wireless

All you need is a bathroom, a few outlets and free wireless Internet to get by. An apartment is optional.

When I first moved to Seattle, I worked at Microsoft and lived in my car. I liked to joke that I was Bill Gate's only homeless employee.

I did this for almost four months - in the dead of winter - before my wife joined me in the Pacific Northwest and we needed to rent an actual apartment. It was surprisingly simple to live out of my Nissan Pathfinder. I had:

• a comfortable bed in the back,
• my clothes in a duffel bag
• and my laptop in my backpack.

I slept in the parking lot of a Seattle area library, using their restrooms. The library was heated, had comfortable chairs, lots of electrical outlets and free WIFI.

It was the free WIFI that made the lifestyle possible. I had no friends in Seattle, being an area newbie, and my Internet connection was my lifeline. Still is, actually. I was more than happy to hang around in the library in the mornings, evenings and on weekends, programming in Flash and developing pet projects. And other pet projects. (Am I shameless?)

The only rub was Sunday nights, when the library would close at 6pm. Who wants to sit in their car (in the cold and dark) for four hours before heading to sleep? So on Sundays I'd just head to Tully's Coffee for my WIFI fix.

If you find yourself in need of free wireless Internet services in the Seattle area, be sure to try the libraries first - this is one of the few good uses of all those tax dollars your business pays, right? Or read my extensive list and further info on Seattle's best bets for free WIFI.