Living in a van makes me an aristocrat among the homeless – but the world seems predatory, unforgiving

‘Once I liked the sauna of the wet season, now my body seems to retain the heat long after the night has started to cool down.’ Photograph: Peter Cade/Getty Images

I have been “homeless” for over five years now, living in a ’96 Hiace van. That’s a 1x3 metre metal box on wheels, full of my tools, books, clothes, bed, gas stove, water drum, deep cycle battery and solar panel, food drum and cardboard box full of beans, rice, olive oil and spices; my children’s drawings from when they were little and about 300 A3 drawings done with black biro I’ve done over these homeless years.

I looked for artist workspace – Wagga, Narrandera, Bourke, Tenterfield, Wandoan – while travelling and observing and drawing.