Home Sweet Home

We are officially fulltimers! The first 24 hours has been a whirlwind, as we expected it would be. To be honest, it has often felt like we have been on the brink of disaster about 50% of the time, yet somehow we continue to squeak by with everything going as it needs to (on maybe the second or third attempt). As an example, when we were working on getting things set up at the camper on Sunday afternoon, Will ran full on into an open cabinet door – the one right above the kitchen sink that holds our glass mixing bowls, coffee mugs, and other breakable things. Will is fine, but the screws on the hinges pulled right out. He patched the holes and we left the door off over night before he tried to replace the door. We completely forgot about the door when we pulled up to the camper yesterday ready to get on the road. We hooked right up and took off for the hour drive to our home for the next month. I opened the camper door to start getting things set up and my heart sank – the cabinet door was sitting on the counter. I almost couldn’t bear to go in, with visions of ALL THE THINGS laying scattered and broken on the floor. But I went in and, much to my surprise, nothing fell out of the cabinet. The salt and pepper shakers had fallen over in the cabinet, but everything was fine. That is how things have consistently gone. Seemingly headed straight for disaster, yet avoiding it at the very last minute.

Almost exactly 3 months ago, we had the initial conversation about making this a reality. The conversation we had after that one was that if we did this, we had to roll with whatever comes. I feel like we are embracing that mentality the fullest so far.

Since our inaugural trip, we have added many more touches to make it feel like home, and I think we are accomplishing that really well. On that trip, we recognized that Little Bird’s room is simply not functional for us as it is, and we will be doing some work on that in the next couple of weeks. We also have other plans for making this space feel more like us, but those changes are taking a backseat until we get her space figured out. Even in the 24-hours we’ve been set up, we have added to our wish list of things to change: lighting solutions, removing blinds, replacing curtains, etc. We thought storage space would be a challenge, but we seem to have pared down our belongings to a reasonable and comfortable amount that we do not quite feel like we’re busting at the seams.

This shift in lifestyle is definitely going to take some getting used to. We are going from a 3-bedroom house to a less than 300 square foot camper. Learning to live smaller is more than just paring down your belongings. It is learning how to live in a much smaller space with other people, it’s learning which way to turn in each area to avoid smacking a knee or elbow. We have baby proofing foam on so many corners and edges, and it they are not all for Little Bird’s sake! Even though we are ecstatic to have the outdoors be a focal point of our living space, that takes getting used to as well, especially while wrangling a toddler and keeping most of the rocks out of her mouth. Any change takes getting used to, and this one already feels easier (in some ways) than I had expected.

I would be remiss to not give a huge shout out to our families who have been pivotal in us making this dream a reality. Yesterday, Little Bird was with my parents and Daisy was on vacation at Will’s parents. Being able to move in and really get settled with just the two of us was incredibly helpful. And that is just the help we had yesterday. As anyone with children knows, it is next to impossible to get many items checked off a to-do list during the duration of a 1-year-old’s nap, let alone move and shift your way of life, so the help we’ve had just with entertaining Little Bird has been a game changer. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.