I’m loving simplifying and continue to do so. The longer I live in my Mini, the more I let go of. I used to have two closets full of really expensive clothes, and now I wear the same few outfits over and over again.
I’ve learned to shop for food more simply (and frequently), buying fewer items that I know I will use that week. There is a novelty to always buying your food in a new place. I’m learning to stop and turn around when I see a roadside vegetable stand.
This has been a real growth process, a culture shock in many ways, but I feel like after almost seven months this life is starting to feel familiar. With the thrill of the first few months, “familiar” is a significant phase. I think you all have seen me go through it, kind of flailing around, trying to figure out if I was bored, still whipping back and forth across the United States.
There was a lot of empty space in my life after I let go of things and self destructive habits. It was a leap of faith and the re-filling of my life with more deeply fulfilling aspects wasn’t immediate, but has crept in slowly.
I am out of doors more often. I am hot more frequently, cold more frequently. I’m no longer inside a sealed up building, obsessed with keeping my environment a perfect 72 degrees.
Last night I was driving back to the RV park and the full moon was high over the desert. I thought, “Oh, it’s the 23rd, the full moon!” It was as beautiful as you can imagine over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and I felt such a deep sense of peace and joy. It then occurred to me that this was the first time in my life that I had spent weeks in awareness of the phase of the moon. I’d never moved slowly or attentively enough before to care.
I loved connecting with Susan, and feel so inspired by her. She doesn’t own anything. After four months of being on the road, she cleared out her last few storage items - giving away the last of even her sacred and sentimental possessions. Everything she owns is in her RV, and it looks pretty empty to me, so I’ve decided to do the same. Sometime this fall/winter I will be heading back to Austin to get rid of the last few things that I couldn’t give away before.
I hope you all are doing well!
Take care,
Jennifer
***
p.s. I get a lot of emails from women with questions about solo RVing, so I’ve started a Yahoo email group for aspiring solo women RVers. If you are a woman hoping to simplify and go nomadic, I hope you will join! If you are a solo woman already are on the road and are interested in helping other women, I really hope you will join as well. Women couples are also welcome. (Basically, if you are a woman who drives and maintains her own rig, this group is for you.)
Hopefully this will be a better forum for answering (and archiving) questions specific to solo women RVing. And, since most of you don’t blog, I am hoping it will be a better place for all of us to connect.
You can find the group here
*
13 Comments
Generally speaking, nothing truly worthwhile happens quickly. The changes that you’ve expressed via this blog over the past year and a half have been steady, and often profound. In fact, I believe you should consider writing a book at some point. Seriously, don’t dismiss this idea.
With regard to physical possessions, this is something I struggle with. My wife and I hang on to old items as if getting rid of them will somehow destroy the memories they represent. For example, after all these years, what good is it doing us to keep my wife’s wedding dress in the closet, professionally preserved in hermetically-sealed plastic? Nobody is ever going to wear it again, and we don’t even look at it, but thought of getting rid of it is somehow unthinkable. Need to work on that.
Anyway, you’ve come such a long way with this. I’m so envious.
I really think your thoughts and experiences would make a very motivational book that could help a lot of people.
Great post. Stuff is really an albatross… Andrea E
LOVE your BLOG! I have been following you and Susan! What an inspiration! I JUST took my first RV trip (MattyinMotion.com) and cant wait to get an RV and hit the open road!!
Thank you for sharing your experiences!!
Matt
I follow a dozen or so blogs (really trying to keep it small and manageable) but find yours is the one I get excited the most when a new post appears. Honestly. This was another great and interesting to read post. Thanks. Gee, I wish I were a woman so I could join your new group.
Everybody’s a little different. I have always found it easy to give up things while in the grip of my latest mania. Including people. But then I’m more anti-social than most people in the first place.
Living on the road is an exercise in finding out what is essential to you, and what is more like a tin can tied to your bumper. And what is more like an anvil.
I found what I missed first was daily access to lots of bandwidth. That is easier to obtain than it used to be. The second thing was my books. But by then I had given them away. Also a very nice stereo system, and my collection of LPs going back to the 60’s.
Wish I had them now. But it took a while to figure out how much I missed them.
But most of all, I suppose, I miss the friends I lost touch with.
For some reason your post made me start thinking about Calvin and Hobbes. Maybe it was your founding a girls-only cyberclub.
http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/dim/?fh=4d8aab6ae9fa54b6448a7d4af315131a
Calvin is quite the miniature philosopher. On the way to that one I found another, on what it might take to be happy:
http://progressiveboink.com/nick/images/calvinandhobbes/CH860417.JPG
And on being careful what you give up for the sake of sanity:
http://www.joeydevilla.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/calvin_and_hobbes_on_ritalin.gif
Ah, well. That was fun. For many of us, full-timing may turn out to be just a phase. But that doesn’t mean we can skip going all the way through it. Good luck.
Bob
Jennifer,
I looked at your Group and found that you have had 10 Members sign up in the first day – that is fantastic.
But girls ONLY? I want to join too, I am sure you have plenty to say that applies to all RVers not just Girls.
Remember this, “generate meaning in your life out of your own fascinations”? I think you may have found it!
Well, I must admit, you sound like a completely different person this October 25th than you did last year at this time. I would say that your words sound as though they are coming from a person who has really achieved something very grand…and you have!
You may have indeed become a Traveler; as opposed to something like most other folks, who are merely on vacation, with always someplace that they have to be staring back at themselves in their rear-view mirror. The Traveler’s perch is a position that is difficult to achieve, often day-dreamed about, but seldom realized by most people.
I have traveled extensively (mostly for work), but I carry along with me the chains that I’ve forged in life wherever I go. It sounds as though that you are very near to having broken completely free, Congratulations and please accept my humble envy!
ahhh, what a great way to live – every day brings me closer to when i too can take the nestea plunge. thanks for another peaceful vision of my future – they are about the only thing keeping me going…
That’s funny…..when we are on the road I rotate about 3 outfits, two of which include shorts. I carry one nice dress shirt in case we go out to eat somewhere that requires more than a t-shirt, and, of course, a pair of jeans. My wife and I each have access to 2 hanging closets, but I only use one for daily stuff. The other holds winter stuff (winter jackets, rain jacket, winter boots, etc) just in case we find ourselves unexpectedly in cold climates.
After reading “About You” and FAQ, there is little to nothing regarding your husband. Even the video of the RV appears to be designed for one. Since I have read so many personal things you chose to write on your blog, I am very curious how you and your husband share lives. It is fascinating that the relationship seems to operate in completely separate worlds.
We all have so much “stuff” that we don’t need. I’m looking forward to getting rid of mine.
I’m going right over to join the Yahoo group – great idea! Thanks for doing that for us solo women (present and future).
Barbara
Ooh, I’m joining your group. What a great idea. I commented ages ago and you sent me an email and I always meant to email you back but was scared of doing it wrong (or something… who knows what my brain is actually afraid of) but ANYWAY, I always read your blog and find you so inspiring.
I’m actually maybe going to look at a van to buy this week, which would put me one HUGE step closer to being on the road myself. I don’t have my driver’s license yet, but I’ve been practising and with a goodly dose of bravery I could have it in a couple of months. Until then I will keep reading and dreaming.
Thank you!
Hi Jennifer,
Your blog is so inspiring. I am in my first RV and hoping to go totally off the grid with solar soon. Like you I am learning a lot. Oh by the way I think you are some where near me just now, not sure. Austin TX
looking forward to following your adventures.
Best wishes
Lady
2 Trackbacks
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Clinton, RoadCEO. RoadCEO said: blog: It’s Getting Simpler http://bit.ly/aaBGvv #camping #rv #adventure [...]
[...] Walking through the ruins of the ancient Pueblo people’s homes in Bandelier National Monument, I was thinking of Dan’s comment about our attachment to items that function as placeholders for our important memories. [...]