Personal

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Out of the Fishbowl

What a difference this morning…

I didn’t want to blog too much about this when I was at Nk’Mip, but the long term residents there were nosy and gossipy. At first, I thought it was just me, being a young single woman with Yukon plates, but others experienced the same thing. I couldn’t do anything without someone in the park commenting on it. When I opened my blinds in the front room to paint, someone knocked on the door to comment that the yellow would affect my resale value! When I had all pallets and the mattress down in the library, someone knocked to find out why I was making such a mess! My water management strategy was always under scrutiny, and when someone saw me watering my batteries he made sure to come over and treat me like I’m an idiot. Couple that with the lackadaisical management and I have no intention of returning there. It’s a shame because it’s a truly lovely park in a good setting and reasonable prices.

Tradex, located at the Abbotsford Airport, has thus far proved to be surprisingly quiet. I awoke to sun and minus 4, so, being out in the middle of a big open field, I was able to open the curtains to let some of the golden rays in. Looks like we’re supposed to climb to plus five today and keep climbing. Yaaaaaay.

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Words To Live By

I’ve collected quotes all my life, so it’s only natural that some have made their way into my decor.

My best friend sent me this coaster, which I put in the dressing room:

Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.

I kept the card she sent me after my father died because I loved the message so much. Tonight, I made a super simple frame for it using leftover trim and used it to cover a hole in the library wall:

Perhaps life is but a journey leading to the perfect home.

I finally found a home for this gem, from the same friend:

Home Sweet RV! (note the very Canadian moose!)

Another friend cross-stitched this sign for my house. It was one of the first things I hung up when I bought Miranda. It fits the new decor perfectly!

Welcome

Finally, I first saw a sign with this caption when I was in Maine in 2006. I decided to make one myself for my house, but never got around to it. When I saw one at the Walmart in Penticton with a ‘made in Canada’ sticker and which fit my decor, I snatched it up! It lives over my microwave:

Home is where your story begins

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Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Today, I’m starting to prep for next Thursday’s television interview with Global’s morning news show, and tomorrow I have a phone interview with a journalist from the Vancouver Sun who wants to write an article about me. I’ll be promoting the 2011 Early Bird RV Show as well as my ebook Full-Time RVing in Canada.

The newspaper article doesn’t seem too scary to me, but television?!

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Public and Private Lives

Tonight, I was asked by an organizer of the Early Bird RV Show if I want my rig on display while I’m there.

Nope.

The pictures I post of my rig are the limit of what I am willing to share with the public. Miranda is my home, and much as I am proud of it, it is not for public viewing. I have always disliked having visitors in my space. A few friends do worm their way in of course, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go. I would not stand for strangers traipsing through as though they were in a museum. This reluctance also explains my lack of enthusiasm at the thought of doing a video tour of the rig. Moreover, Miranda is not so special an RV as to merit much curiosity.

I am really looking forward to the RV show, but I know that after seven hours a day on my feet talking with people, I will want nothing more than to retreat to my rig to recharge my batteries because I have a very low extroversion threshold.

There are now exactly two weeks left until I pull out and two and a half until the show starts. I hope to see some of you there!

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How Small Can You Go?

For my current lifestyle, Miranda is perfect; she’s a real apartment on wheels with a functional kitchen and bathroom, much more ‘home’ than ‘RV.’ But I do think about downsizing even more at some point when I might be ready to focus more on the travel part of RVing. I found one guy in the US, Tynan, who really demonstrates the advantage of having a smaller, more van-like, RV–you can stealth boondock in cities.

Tynan has a Winnebago Rialta. I’d consider it a B+ or an A-, classwise, that is. One of the coolest things about it is the bathroom. Check out his RV in its early days, with a demonstration of the bathroom:

I’m not a huge fan of convertible furniture, but I have to say that this bathroom would almost be an acceptable step down from my current digs and make it possible to squeeze myself into a smaller rig.

Like me, he realised that having a small RV means cheaper renovation costs, so he made some upgrades to the flooring, then to his kitchen, including putting in granite countertops!

His rig is quite luxurious and small enough that he can sneak into some parking garages. He’s been dry camping in San Francisco for a while, and that’s a city where overnighting in an RV is very difficult to do unless you have a tiny rig like his.

I’m not yet ready to subscribe to the extreme minimalist lifestyle the way Tynan is, but I can tell that that’s where I’m heading. I took some huge steps in that direction by getting into the RV, and I think that further downsizing will happen on its own thanks to the new habits I’ve picked up. But I don’t intend to give up Miranda any time soon!