Jewelry Organization in an RV

I don’t wear a lot of jewelry, but I go through phases in life where I’m really into earrings. I’ve been in in one of those phases for over a year now and been frustrated by my lack of a satisfactory earring organization system. You just have different considerations when you live in an RV and don’t have a dresser or much surface space! I certainly didn’t want a box where they would get all jumbled and that I’d have to store in a cabinet. I also wanted something very portable.

I researched ‘travel jewelry organizer’ for a bit and finally decided that a hanging pocket organizer that can be rolled up might be just the ticket. They’re meant to be hung over a door, but glancing around the rig a few weeks ago, I realised that I have an ideal spot next to my vanity if I hang the organizer from my shower wall!

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The hanging jewelry organizer I bought has 80 pockets (40 on each side), so each earring can have its own little pouch and not get tangled with the others:

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I ending up buying my organizer on eBay because I got a better deal to Canada, but it’s the exact same one Amazon sells. I primarily picked it because it had the most pockets, but I also liked the neutral cream colour. I found a green one that would have looked nice here, but would have clashed with the green in my Isla bathroom, plus it had a lot fewer pockets. The bottom pockets on this one are larger than the top pockets, so there’s room for big pieces, too.

I like that I’l be able to fold or roll up the organizer, throw it in a suitcase, and have it available at a hotel.

It’s amazing how long I’ve lived in this RV and I’m still finding ways to maximize my space!

One-Month Countdown

I’m leaving for Mexico a month from tomorrow! Where did the summer go?!

Last year’s departure felt very scattered and rushed because I was waiting on a cheque that took ages to arrive. Packing was hard because I didn’t know what I’d need and if I’d need it again before I left. Outdoor things, like tarping Miranda, got left to the last minute. I ran out of food and turned my fridge off too early. And I almost left without my pillows.

This year, I really hope it’s going to be different. I had thought I’d get my October payment for September hours for the proofreading gig promptly at the beginning of October, but that client has made it clear that they pay at their convenience, not their staff’s, and that I can’t count on getting a payment by any particular date. So I’m scrambling to rearrange the budget to make sure that I can leave with what I have in the bank right now and what I can count on my other clients to pay me by October 23rd. It’ll be tighter than I’d like, but not so much to make leaving on October 23rd a risky move… except for the truck being a huge wildcard. I know that it’s fine mechanically, but I’m worried about rust on major components, like the suspension.

I’m going to get a safety inspection done on the truck  tomorrow afternoon (only $40!) and hopefully will get an okay to go. If not, departure will have to be delayed until the October payment comes in so I can buy a ‘new’ car. If that happens, I am not making a huge deal out of it. There is a guy in Assiniboia who has reliable cheap cars and I’m going to basically buy the cheapest thing on his lot. My branch here has said that based on what I’ve told them about my financial situation, they would loan me a small amount for a vehicle purchase, but I’d rather delay departure and pay cash rather than increase my debt. Anyway, I’ll cross that bridge if I get there.

I’m paying attention to the weather and scheduled tarping Miranda for this Friday. I haven’t had any more leaks, even in heavy rainfall, so perhaps my roof sealant has finally cured, but I’m not taking a chance with snowmelt. The tarp I have makes it undesirable to tarp ahead of time because it blocks windows and roof vents, as well as the front door, but I’m giving myself more time this year so that I can do a better job of it and some folding so that I can avoid those negatives. Caroline and Charles have tons of baling twine and told me to get some from them rather than buy any, so I’ll take them up on that offer. Other exterior chores, like winterizing the water system, can absolutely be left to the last minute as it only takes an hour or so. I’ll plan to do that the afternoon before I leave, unless the weather forecast for that day is dismal.

As for packing, I’ve been keeping a list since last winter, when I was still in Mexico. It basically boils down to bring more kitchen stuff and bring fewer clothes. I even plan on bringing my folding table so I have extra surface/storage space in the kitchen. It took me a full month last year to set up my kitchen properly and I don’t plan to wait that long this year. Caroline gave me a bunch of kitchen stuff that came with her new-to-her RV that will mean I don’t have to bring all my own ‘good’ stuff with me, thankfully. I just keep imagining things getting confiscated at a border or being destroyed in an accident. I had the same things in an RV, but it’s amazing how they look more suspicious packed up in a truck. This is why I keep waffling on whether or not to bring my good computer chair with me. I’m sure the crappy chair I bought last year will still be there, but, well, it was crappy. 🙂

I don’t intend to sleep in the truck at all this time around, so I’ll be able to better pack my vehicle so it’s easier for customs to get go through and I have less in the cab with me. Of course, this will change if I end up driving down in a subcompact… That will be determined tomorrow. I really hope the truck is fine to go since it is so comfortable to drive and I’m doing a marathon run that would leave me sore if I was in a car. Once I know, I’ll be able to buy packing containers. Packing last year was pretty much a disaster in that I used a few totes, some suitcases and the rest were bags, which didn’t keep things together well at all. This year, it’s all going to be nearly all totes! I am packing one small suitcase since I do plan to fly to Mérida and it’ll contain the clothes I need to get me to Nogales, at which point I will repack it with warm weather clothes.

There hasn’t been much going on socially this summer, so I’m a bit starved for flirting with cute waiters at beachside restaurants and going out in the evenings to listen to music. Unfortunately, my friend Dale is absolutely not returning to Maz, but perhaps I’ll find another single friend to hang out with. And, of course, there should still be horseback riding this winter, as long as my group can shift riding day to Mondays or Fridays.

I’m getting pretty excited about the thought of heading out!

Programmable Thermostats Work Both Ways

Some time ago, I upgraded to a programmable thermostat so that I could better control the furnace in cold weather. What I liked about it is that I could set a temperature for different times of the day, so go to bed in a warm rig, let it cool down overnight, and then get up to comfy temps.

It’s taken me a bit of time to realise that I can use the thermostat the same way with the air conditioner. Now, I don’t run the AC tons and I don’t need my home to be icy cold when it’s 50 billion degrees outside, but I work in here and need to concentrate. I have the machine, so why not use it?

We’ve been having an odd summer where it is very cool in the morning and then it gets to infernal temps in the afternoon. It’s such a gradual change that by the time I realise that I’m boiling, it’s 95 in the RV!

So I have my AC set to 85F, which is a good compromise for me between boiling and paying for tons of power. Most days, it never kicks on. But there are days like today where the AC kicks on and I realise that it really is getting warm. I get up, shut the door, windows, and roof hatches, and then let the AC do its thing.

The thermostat upgrade was one that has really paid off over the years. You should consider it if you spend any length of time in your RV!

Spreading Out

Now that I have to usable outbuildings, my living space has grown from 125 square feet (plus exterior storage compartments, plus loft, plus cab), to that plus about an additional 500 square feet of floor space (never mind the potential of going vertical), plus yard space.

I’ve always done a pretty good job of not keeping Miranda too over stuffed, but I’ll confess that it’s nice to be able to spread out a bit. I’m storing excess cold weather clothing in the cabin and anything related to home maintenance has been moved to the shed, which has really freed up my office overhead cabinets.

I’m also actually doing things in the buildings, especially the cabin. It’s nice to get up in the morning and ‘go to the gym.’ After work, it’s lovely to go spend an hour on the swing in the yard and listen to the birds. Laundry is so much more pleasant now that all that’s involved is bringing the garden hose from the fresh water intake on the RV to the cabin instead of having to move piles of stuff out of the way.

While I didn’t like living in RV parks for a lot of reasons, one thing I missed about them was having facilities to go to. That’s a common theme among tiny home dwellers. If you study their stories, very few tiny home dwellers spend as much time in their homes as I do. Many work away from it, have a city at their feet to use as a living room, and/or work outdoors on their property, so they pretty much only use their space for sleeping. I wouldn’t say that I’ve been getting claustrophobic living in Miranda, but since there is nothing within a reasonable distance of Haven, it’s really nice to be able to get a change of scenery once in a while.

I’ve been asked why I’m building my homestead this way with a series of outbuildings and a main house instead of just bringing in a single prefab home. I really don’t have a logical answer for that other than the fact that the proportions of a regular home are too large for me. Building piecemeal the way that I do, I can have things be right-sized for me. Also, this is how things are done in farm country. Everyone out here except folks living in towns has a main house and multiple outbuildings that go beyond a simple shed. My situation is only peculiar because my main house is an RV.

I really do think I’ve found the compromise that I didn’t believe was possible, a way to reconcile my two very different yearnings for both an exciting nomadic life and a mundane sedentary one. I can’t have it all at one time, but I can have it all. I’ve got my cozy domestic summers in Canada and my urban winters in Mexico, with a bit of exploring in between. I really wouldn’t be surprised if a few years down the road, after exploring Mexico as thoroughly as I have Canada, that I buy property in the heart of a city the size of Mazatlán and then spend my retirement years going between these two extremes. Time will tell. 🙂

Redundancy

Having had to run the furnace quite a bit when I first got here, I ran out of propane after just five weeks. I was really looking forward to a cooked dinner tonight, but I can’t get to town till tomorrow.

No problem, as it turns out. Cleaning the grainery earlier this week, I found a still useful small bottle of propane, the kind used for a camp stove.

And so, dinner was cooked on the porch. Don’t laugh. I didn’t want to run the risk of ruining my plastic table. 🙂

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