March 12, 2022
Life is finally starting to settle down a bit. We closed on the sale of our home, sold almost everything we own (we have a small closet of stuff we kept and are storing with family), bought a truck to tow our 5th wheel and purchased a trailer for dad to settle into. We’ve been living in our RV for a couple of weeks now and finding our rhythm, as well as what we need or can live without.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find life isn’t all that different, but it has had it’s challenges.
Work and school have gone well with us having our respective spaces and tables to set up and be productive at. Even without a big desk, oversized gaming chair and double monitor set up, we are still able to get everything done and haven’t had many issues. Getting internet hiccups worked out did take a couple of days, but having both a hookup where we stay and our hot spot has ensured we have reliable internet. I think the biggest challenge is having to put everything away every day, but I have found that has really helped me stop for the day since I can’t go back and quickly check for one more thing.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are not as challenging as we thought, especially since we lucked out and found toaster oven sized baking pan, cookie sheet and crisper. We can store a decent amount of food in our pantry, fridge and freezer, so have just meal planned and prepped in advance. Retraining on cooking with gas has been wonderful. The oven is a bit tricky, but I’ve made brownies, cookies and a casserole and no disasters! Without a dishwasher, we just make sure we wash, dry and put away dishes after each meal, especially since our kitchen counter houses our printer that we had to have for work and school, at least through the end of this school year. Louie gets to go to digital work instead of paper-based when he goes to middle school next year.
Family movie nights are a little cozier as we pile on a smaller couch and I’m getting used to not stretching out. My dad built me an awesome bench for the dinette so we could ditch the chairs and have it to double as a coffee table and that has been wonderful. Some days I just toss a blanket and pillow on the ground and curl up there–an open invitation to the dogs to curl up with me, I have found.
The dogs have their bed under the dinette table since it’s wall-mounted and love being able to see us pretty much anywhere in the camper while curled up there. They are slowly getting used to not having a doggy door and a yard to roam, but they love getting walks and time outside multiple times a day. Molly can’t climb the steps up to our bedroom, but is content to hog the bed in the living room. Luna, on the other hand, has been used to sleeping with a human her whole life, either at the foot of Louie’s bed or ours. Since Louie has an upper bunk and a jackknife sofa and we now have a queen bed, she has been trying to figure it out. We have to lock her out of our room–how does a little shih-poo take up so much of a bed?! Louie slept on his sofa for several nights for her to get used to being in there, so now she is settling in to going between the dog bed and his sofa.
A smaller bedroom has been a challenge. Turns out, the wardrobes are actually too small for a hanger to hang in, so we took out the closet rods and mounted in hanging sorters and just fold our clothes and stack them (Yay for the KonMari method!). We have had to clear out more than we already had and have to store some off season stuff. we have upper cabinets to use and can store some stuff up there. Our Beddy’s have made life easier as far as making the bed and keeping a small bedroom looking neat, but it has been an adjustment not having both a sheet and a blanket. They were an investment and a luxury purchase for sure, but I am glad we got them.
We were used to small bathrooms with owning older homes, but the shower is even smaller and we have to take short showers, or at least we are getting used to it for when we are boondocking or not at full hook-up sites. Having the water heater so close means nearly instant hot, and a switch on the showerhead to turn it off while we soap up have both made it an easy adjustment. We actually have a linen closet and medicine cabinet in the bathroom, so it’s actually an upgrade from before!
We have decent storage and have done a pretty good job of containerizing and finding things a home. It’s just remembering which container is where and playing jenga to get to something when we need it.
We do have to clean all the time, since it’s so small. It hasn’t been a big deal to have to vacuum the floor twice a day (less than 5 minutes, total!) or wipe down the kitchen or bathroom daily.
I think the biggest challenge is getting used to the down time and trying to not spend it connected to TV or the internet. Our projects are nearly all done as we’ve made our modifications and checked things off. I’ve been able to read more, play games, and should finally get more time to write. I am looking forward to getting some clear skies in darker areas to finally use the telescope we snagged at an antique store, too. We splurged on a dog stroller/bike trailer so they can go with us more places, and since Molly is 14 and tires easily. They love it, and especially loved exploring Bok Tower last weekend, then getting to ride around.
BJ is wrapping up jobs he had and will start working on his mobile photography business more soon. I can’t wait until his online store is up and running so we can share the amazing pictures he takes as we explore.
All in all, life doesn’t feel all that different, and it’s nice to be closer together. It’s starting to feel like the big sigh you take at the end of a long day when you can finally relax. Now we can focus on the people and places that are important more than the things and the to do lists.
I do miss the chickens…and the fresh eggs.
We are still undecided on whether or not to create a Patreon, TikTok or YouTube channel to share videos about life. It feels like there are already so many out there.
Comment below to let me know if you’d be interested in that, help us decide! Until next time, follow or interact with me on Twitter @AddictedtoTeac1