Okay, so it doesn’t quite have the same ring as a van down by the river, but it is Friday and it’s all I’ve got. The first day of May, the first day of the #MayWriteAway challenge, Karaoke night with the girls and beer. Oh, I do love a Friday.
We have been living in our RV for a little over two weeks now. Friends and family might be surprised to learn that I actually really like it. We now live in a new, 33 foot pull-behind and, to date, I haven’t had any thoughts of running away or setting the entire thing ablaze. I know many of you have probably lost money on the betting pool. I apologize.
It’s not really fair to those of you who thought for sure that I would be running for the hills by now. I mean, you know me. I hate camping. Hate. My idea of a vacation involves a Hilton, not sleeping among nature and all the icky things that entails. But this is different. We have a comfortable bed, wi-fi, a television, a kitchen and an indoor bathroom. I don’t know that I would actually call that “camping”… but we do now reside in a campground. So I guess you could say I am a regular outdoors maven at this point.
I am finding a lot of comfort in the simplicity of living this way. To move into this dwelling, we had to downsize, a lot. The military movers came and picked up our regular stuff and it is now sitting in storage somewhere, waiting for us to secure a house at our “forever home” location in Florida. But we still had to figure out what we would need for one Marine, one sometimes-high-maintenance-Mom who owns a company and is a professional performer, one teenager, one toddler and one dog. It was a challenge.
But I think we have succeeded. We all have what we need but not a lot of extras, and that makes life seem a whole lot less complicated. Of course, we didn’t go crazy. I still have at least a dozen pairs of shoes in this camper. I am not an animal. But, thanks to some creative command hook usage, they are all stored nicely and ready to wear. Sure, the toddler has too many toys and the teenager has too many clothes, but those things are kind of par for the course, right? Still… we are learning that we really need many less possessions than we thought we a necessity before.
I am a horrible housekeeper. Just dreadful, really. But so far, I am finding that keeping up with this camper is pretty manageable. Everything has a place because it has to. Things get put away at least once a day, maybe ten times a day… depending on how crazy the toddler has been. Laundry gets done all at once at the laundry room, and it gets folded and put away immediately so as not to become decoration for said toddler. We don’t have as much food around here (which I am hoping will pay off for my thighs at some point) so we end up eating what we have and not ending up with a fridge full of leftovers that will end up in the trash after I can’t identify them any longer.
We are spending more time together because, well… we kind of have to. We are all watching the same TV show, because, well… we kind of have to. When I am working during the day, Emma is right here by my side doing “her work” because, well… we kind of have to.
And I like it.
Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to do this forever. I am sure that, at some point, the novelty will wear off. I would be lying if I didn’t tell you I am really looking forward to my trip next week to DC where I have a hotel room all to myself.
The other night as I laid in bed I was listening to the complete silence all around me. It was peaceful. Well, until the reality of nature smacked me in the face as I listened to a pack of coyotes chase, attack and eventually kill what sounded like a wild turkey in the wooded area just behind the camper. Not exactly a soothing lullaby.
But I suppose, with the exception of the live Nat Geo episode outside the window, I am learning to love the simplicity of living in a small dwelling. I am enjoying the change of pace. I am enjoying the pleasant company of the people who are parked all around us. I am enjoying downsizing and being in a closer proximity to the people in my life who mean the most.
Who would have thought?
Many Kind Regards
Erin
For more information on the #MayWriteAway challenge, click here.
Photo Credit: Flickr
I am finding a lot of comfort in the simplicity of living this way. To move into this dwelling, we had to downsize, a lot. The military movers came and picked up our regular stuff and it is now sitting in storage somewhere, waiting for us to secure a house at our “forever home” location in Florida. But we still had to figure out what we would need for one Marine, one sometimes-high-maintenance-Mom who owns a company and is a professional performer, one teenager, one toddler and one dog. It was a challenge.
But I think we have succeeded. We all have what we need but not a lot of extras, and that makes life seem a whole lot less complicated. Of course, we didn’t go crazy. I still have at least a dozen pairs of shoes in this camper. I am not an animal. But, thanks to some creative command hook usage, they are all stored nicely and ready to wear. Sure, the toddler has too many toys and the teenager has too many clothes, but those things are kind of par for the course, right? Still… we are learning that we really need many less possessions than we thought we a necessity before.
I am a horrible housekeeper. Just dreadful, really. But so far, I am finding that keeping up with this camper is pretty manageable. Everything has a place because it has to. Things get put away at least once a day, maybe ten times a day… depending on how crazy the toddler has been. Laundry gets done all at once at the laundry room, and it gets folded and put away immediately so as not to become decoration for said toddler. We don’t have as much food around here (which I am hoping will pay off for my thighs at some point) so we end up eating what we have and not ending up with a fridge full of leftovers that will end up in the trash after I can’t identify them any longer.
We are spending more time together because, well… we kind of have to. We are all watching the same TV show, because, well… we kind of have to. When I am working during the day, Emma is right here by my side doing “her work” because, well… we kind of have to.
And I like it.
Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to do this forever. I am sure that, at some point, the novelty will wear off. I would be lying if I didn’t tell you I am really looking forward to my trip next week to DC where I have a hotel room all to myself.
The other night as I laid in bed I was listening to the complete silence all around me. It was peaceful. Well, until the reality of nature smacked me in the face as I listened to a pack of coyotes chase, attack and eventually kill what sounded like a wild turkey in the wooded area just behind the camper. Not exactly a soothing lullaby.
But I suppose, with the exception of the live Nat Geo episode outside the window, I am learning to love the simplicity of living in a small dwelling. I am enjoying the change of pace. I am enjoying the pleasant company of the people who are parked all around us. I am enjoying downsizing and being in a closer proximity to the people in my life who mean the most.
Who would have thought?
Many Kind Regards
Erin
For more information on the #MayWriteAway challenge, click here.
Photo Credit: Flickr
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