After spending time at our house last week, it’s been a bit difficult for me to return to the camper and not feel caged in. Everywhere I look, I see stuff and it’s driving me crazy! Not that my house was always spotless and clutter free, but I’d gotten to the point that if someone stopped by unannounced, I didn’t hide and pretend we weren’t home or let them in and apologize profusely, making excuses for the mess that surrounded us. The kids were older and able to pick up after themselves and I’d found and read a wonderful resource called Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley. Some of you may recognize the author as Flylady. She has a gentle method of teaching you to tame the CHAOS* monster. Flylady, coupled with the fact that we’ve spent the better part of the past four years on the road in hotel rooms, really made me realize that I didn’t need all of the stuff that I had laying around. De-cluttering became easy for me, a self proclaimed pack rat. Add to that, the fact that our basement had flooded twice in the past three years and I really didn’t have much clutter left to get rid of.
I’ve said all that just to say that I really didn’t think it’d be a problem for me to downsize to a camper. I certainly knew what was necessary and needed. I only packed a few items that I really couldn’t bear to leave behind, some of my Longaberger baskets and a few pieces of matching Longaberger pottery. It was really okay to surround myself with a few of my pretties wasn’t it? After all, I’d given away or donated just about everything else. Well, I quickly realized that I should have packed up the specialty items and left them at home because not only do I not have room for the baskets, one of my bowls cracked on the road! Ughhh….
Other than our clothes, blankets, toiletries and school books we haven't really over packed. The boys wanted to keep their Xbox and a few prized possessions, my daughter brought along her guitar and my husband thought to bring his tools. I don’t think we did too badly. But today while searching the internet for ways to maximize our space, I ran across an article that says you will only have problems with space if you have too much stuff. I beg to differ. After all, we have two adults, three children that are all taller than my 5’5” and a beagle puppy that is nearly full grown living in a 31 foot Class A motor home. How much extra space could we possibly have? Which has led me to believe that I…gulp…may need to…gulp…get a grip… and deal with it.
That may be so, but I also think that there has to be a way for me to utilize the space that we do have to the fullest. I know some RVer’s use their shower for storage and though we did in the beginning, it feels so much homier to shower in our own camper than to visit the bath house on a regular basis. So, luxury wins out over practicality in that department. Here are a few of the ideas that I do have: I need a larger shower caddy to organize our shampoo, soap, razors, body wash, etc. I’m also going to throw out the laundry baskets and buy a mesh laundry bag or two. That way we can store our dirty laundry in the shower when it’s not in use and the bags can easily be lifted out of the shower and placed on the floor of the tiny bathroom when needed, unlike the bulky laundry baskets that I don’t have room for. I’m also going to buy a shoe bag for the back of the bathroom door. This will solve the dilemma of tripping over shoes when you enter the camper, providing that everyone puts them away, in their place. The closets in the bedroom are deep, but don’t provide as much storage as they could. We’ll hopefully solve this problem by building shelves into the back of the closet for some items that we wouldn’t normally need on a daily basis. I’ve also talked my husband into building a shelf in our room to serve as a computer desk for the laptop.
I’m sure the newer motorhomes, fifth wheels and travel trailers probably have options that weren’t available twenty years ago when our camper was manufactured, but if you’re a full-time RV family, or you have a tip for me that would allow us to make the most of the space that we do have, could you please leave a comment or email me? I’d really, really appreciate it. And so would my children who are convinced that their momma is turning into Jekyll and Hyde.
*Can’t have Anyone Over Syndrome
© 2009 Tonya Prater/Live the Adventure
Comments
Jul. 10, 2009 - Impressive
Posted by Keith Wilcox (http://www.mekeliki.com)
First I would like to congratulate you for 10 years of home schooling. If you've kept your sanity for that long you shouldn't have much problem dealing with the new living arrangements. I agree with the books you've read. The less stuff you have around, less clutter, even in a small RV. If you haven't used something in the past 3 months, you don't need it - that's my philosophy. Best of luck!
Aug. 4, 2009 - Hi!
Posted by Anonymous
I am a homeschooling mom and we just purchased an RV to enable us to do lots of traveling the next few years. We are keeping the house as a home base, but I am getting my blog set up to journal our travels and what we learn. We are taking possession of the motorhome this week and we are so excited! The shoe bag sounds like a fantastic idea. We rented a motorhome this summer and fell in love with the idea, and shoes were one of our biggest issues! A family of 7 has lots of shoes!! Check it out sometime at adventures08.blogspot.com. I'll keep tabs on yours too!