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“Oh my mama told me, There’ll be days like this!” Van Morrison….

Yes! Yes! So when those other types of days inherent in living an Airstream, nomad, tiny life come along, remember Van Morrison’s song.

Seriously though, I hear so many “yah buts”…. In reference to living this life. So many folks live in fear rather than faith, in self-doubt rather than self-confidence, in worry and problems, rather than solutions…..and every once in awhile I go there too.

I’ve had a few days where I worried about the “what ifs”, so I thought in this post I’d throw a bunch of them together  and comment on how this really has been a spiritual path for me, reminding me I am also tiny, and the universe is in control. What will happen will happen. And it will all work out as it is supposed to.

Won’t you be lonely living out there by yourself? You better get a gun, it’s not safe being out on the road. But you are a female by yourself, please be safe. How did you possibly learn all of that mechanical stuff? Isn’t it expensive to live like that? Won’t you miss your friends? What if you don’t have the right tools? What if someone steals your trailer? Will you be homeless? What do you do when you need to bring your rig in for maintenance? Where will you live? Oh my goodness, did you see that YouTube video of the sway that ended up in a roll over? Are you seriously driving through tornado alley? Really, you’re driving up the mountain peaks on icy twisty roads? How do you brake on hills without wearing out your brakes? Yikes, your black tank won’t empty, now what? What if the power goes out on your A/C? Ew, what if you get the mice your neighbors currently have? What if there’s nowhere to park? What if your hundreds of miles from cell service? Should you leave your trailer in an area you are not familiar with? If you don’t keep up with monitoring tire pressure you could have a blowout and do thousands of dollars of damage. I pray it doesn’t hail. Are you kidding me, that road is so thin, there’s no way two trailers will fit, and we are headed down which means the other trailer has the right of way…. Are we going to have to back all the way back up the hill? Where will you get your mail? Will you still have health insurance? How on earth will you vote? Where are you? Oh, don’t post your location! It’s not safe. All of this I’ve either heard, read or thought. Something as little as my awning not opening makes me see dollar signs and drastically start to doubt myself. What a fool I am, what was I thinking spending my money to live like this when I could have been in the “safety” of a house? I’ve got one of those creative minds that can spin up quite the imaginative story of what might happen and how it will lead to me being a homeless lady living out of a bag twenty years from now. Ha! Ha!

But seriously, living out of a house we have the same ups and downs, worries and fears, and real problems. Yes, someone can rob us, the furnace or A/C can go out, things break, maintenance has to be done, you could pick up a stalker along the way, you can’t guarantee who your neighbors will be…. Or better yet, you can almost guarantee they will be the people put here on the planet to teach you a lesson about yourself. And this is true in Airstream, nomad tiny living too. You still have to deal with bureaucracy and red tape when it comes to making sure you can vote, and have your basic needs like health insurance met. And basically tomorrow is not known, once yesterday is done it is what it is and living in today is the best you can do.

Its like anything else, having a great network of beautiful people around you to lean on when times get tough, keep whatever faith you practice alive, learning to go with the flow and accept what comes your way as part of the journey, are all helpful. Being grateful for all of the gifts on the journey, a little prayer and meditation, new and exciting adventures and gorgeous views help too!

A note on the beautiful people, more often in RV life I am finding people who are nothing like me but we have in common this lifestyle, people who truly cross political, religious, or any other types of belief boundaries with mine, that have little to do with the day to day of living this way. (I say little because obviously those things still effect us.) But we don’t see the facebook type black and white thinking keeping us from appreciating each other. People are interesting when you put all of that aside, and who knows, maybe you actually influence them more on your point of views, by not talking about them, but simply living your values. But one thing I do know, I can count on them. Whenever I leave, independent me doesn’t bother to tell a soul, and I’ll always have folks texting asking where I went. And my internet community of nomad friends will also pay attention, reach out, share their knowledge and skills. So in reality, we are not alone.

I write this for myself as I am just a short time out from giving up my “secure” spot in a park to get on the road. All of us have different limits as to what scares us or creates doubt in our abilities. These were just some of mine. But for all of us the sun always rises and we get another day…. until we don’t…. so I say, get out in it, and enjoy life.

Let me begin by saying my four legged fur baby Dudley, a Boston Terrier Mix rescue, is my favorite wildlife in the park, and thus,  wildlife safety is especially dear to my heart. Animals found in nature are an integral part of living tiny in my Airstream. They provide me with lessons in choice when it comes to my point of view on my circumstances, as well as my place on the planet.

When I first parked here I was warned watch out for the skunks. We are the guests. The skunks are bold and will come up to your toes and kiss your toes without thinking twice. They won’t bother you, they’ll simply keep on traveling under, around your trailer. I asked if they would be kissing my dog’s toes too. Well…. Needless to say we have spent hours on end taking doggy training seriously, making sure that my dog would listen to me if the occasion should ever arise. Which by the way, I have had a skunk kiss my toes and I’m happy to say I survived scent free! Apparently one can try the tomato juice bath, but the reality is if my dog gets sprayed we will be smelling it for a few weeks inside and outside of the trailer.

Apparently it is rare, but we had the fortune of experiencing a five hundred pound bear wander through the area where we were parked. Local law enforcement went on a comic chase of the fellow who had made it through the local cities at the foothills of the mountain and found our lovely location. When I first heard about the sightings, I thought, yah right,  five hundred pounds must mean it’s really three hundred, although that’s still a lot bigger than me!  As it turned out, once caught back in the local neighborhoods swimming in backyard pools, the bear was actually five hundred pounds, so even in urban camping areas I found it is important that one takes care of trash appropriately, and does not leave anything good smelling laying around. Its great to get to know neighboring RV travelers, as they definitely keep each other up to date on sightings and safety. I have had so many nice neighbors help look out after my dog.

In addition to the bear there have also been sightings of mountain lions, huge raccoons, rattle snakes and a bobcat. Coyotes are the most common wildlife we have run into. It is true they are very clever and quiet. I’ve seen them on walks where one will show himself, then disappear in the brush across the path, then a second, third, until seven had passed. Needless to say, we went back to the trailer that day.

Coyotes and bears are dangers but don’t underestimate the birds. The geese will stare down my dog and come at him hissing. We also have an endangered bird that I’m not sure the name of but we lovingly call it the Jurassic Park Bird. It looks as if a child drew it into being, a great big blob of a body on tall skinny legs with a big pointy beak. It makes a very curious bizarre sounding sound. Dudley wanted to chase after it, even though it was bigger than him, and it just stood its ground and gave him a look that said “I will eat you in one bite.” So, we have spent lots of time training with audio tapes of birds, coyotes and other sounds. Hopefully that will all pay off. But honestly, when friends come for a visit and they take a pause, the first thing they notice is the serene sound of the birds singing in mother nature’s quiet tranquil  beautiful backdrop.

Last but not least there are the bunnies. They look so adorable I’d drive up at night and find six of them sitting like statues on my front yard. The bunnies are no joke! They would take on my dog but more seriously they do major damage to certain vehicles. Some vehicles have environmentally friendly covering on the wires that is in essence made of soy. So, yes, bunny steaks! The bunnies will destroy a vehicle with this type of wiring in no time and a lot of insurance will likely not cover the damage. In our case we found that ordering coyote pee online, yes – that’s a thing… and putting that on the ground worked as a preventative measure. But with that, we had to make sure not to track it back into the trailer. Also, guess what…coyote pee attracts coyotes!  And so we go full circle.

Some preventative measures we like include, rattle snake training for dogs offered at the local sporting goods stores, always being aware of ones surroundings, and hiking with a big stick as well as friends. I am also on the look out for a spike collar to make my dog look less like dinner. It only takes a second to be snatched up. Unfortunately we were  sound witnesses to the misfortune of someone else’s dog being attacked, a sound I will never forget. The best preventative measures I have found for both of us is to rise and shine with the cycle of the sun. When it gets dark, we pretty much are in for the evening, and that’s alright with us. We also take our dog/human training very seriously.

We have also learned how to use pepper spray. However, I have a cautionary note on pepper spray. Always when storing leave the safety on, and I would suggest bag it in case it accidentally goes off inside like it did on me. Mine rolled out of the cabinet above and landed in my dishwater, discharging it and burning my eyes and skin for a couple of weeks. Luckily my dog was not nearby. Talk about feeling dumb.

Most importantly, we try to keep an attitude of awe and gratitude remembering we share the planet with others. After all the cool thing about critters is that we get to see them! Living tiny, we are not so loaded down by stuff that we walk from inside of our cars, to inside of our garages, and then into our houses missing the rest of life on our planet. We see and get to know our neighbors. We learn that even though we as critters can pose grave danger to each other, learning to live in co-existence,  respect each other and appreciate each others beauty brings happiness and peace. We find this true for the humans as well as our other animal friends. When we park in locations further out from the cities we look forward to what we will encounter. We continue to be amazed at the small things in life, and all of the beauty that we missed when living in our stick and brick homes, where the focus was typically on having more material things to feel happy.

 

It was time. Time for my first trip. I was truly terrified, but in a conversation with Cassidy, who I mentioned in an earlier blog, she shared that her first tow was towing horses at age seventeen. She said I would be fine. I thought, well at least I don’t have any horses that are going to die today.

She was right. Seriously, I simply followed the advice I had learned to search for in my various Facebook Airstream Groups. Confidence comes with practice. The advice I found most helpful for me personally is listed here:

• Get an equalizer hitch put on to distribute the weight and cut back on the possibility of sway.
• Get comfortable driving the truck alone first.
• Have your favorite trucker take you out for your first spin in a parking lot for practice.
• Practice turns, backing up into spaces, breaking everything in the parking lot to get the feel for it.
• Your side mirrors are your friends. When backing up don’t smash them, they stick out. If you do smash them, super glue will work until you get them fixed.
• There are plenty of others nearby who would like to be your friends and will help. Tell them what you need from them. Be precise.
• Know your hand signals and connect by cell phone to your spotter so you don’t miscommunicate.
• Know the trailer will go in the opposite direction of what you are used to.
• Hold the steering wheel in the bottom middle and steer from the bottom in the direction you want the trailer to go…. Good one that got me out of my head.

I’m sure I’m missing a few good ones. But seriously, my favorites are the ones I learned on my own:

• Not all help is help. If they are not superb at towing themselves, they are not going to know what to say to guide you.
• When in doubt Get out…. And look.
• Go slow.
• Use the Jake Break on hills. (It slows you down with the engine like a semi… pretty cool.)

Also having those checklists when you’re forgetful like me is helpful, as well as locking everything down, having one cabinet packed full and another empty is better than two half full. Wrap your breakables in towels and tuck them into your bedding.

So anyhow… all of that is technical stuff you can find if you search online.

I’ll just add a little more of my story and lesson learned that you might not hear elsewhere. From this view I gained a new respect for the road. You know those people who drive small cars and are super impatient to get to very important destinations, likely more important than anyone else’s on the road. I call them “Zippers”. Yah, they zip in and out of traffic trying to get ahead of everyone, with no respect for big rigs or other drivers in general. You usually end up passing them at a stop light when you get off the freeway. Yah,,, actually that used to be me. I have to confess, I used to be a zipper! But with my new found trucker view of the road, I have been reformed. I apologize to anyone I may have offended in the past. Would you believe I even saw one person, while driving down the freeway, pass a water bottle to the person in the next lane? I thought dude, do you even realize there is a three quarter ton truck hauling another ten thousand pounds behind it that cannot stop on a dime? Is your life really only worth a bottle of water? Also, WAZE does not have a setting that says, I’m driving a 27 footer. Hey WAZE how about it. So if you use it or any other app for directions, think ahead because the app won’t take into account whether the on ramp is too small and twisty or the turn is too sharp. Don’t get yourself in a jam. Just reinforcing my most valuable lesson, go slow. I think that is the most important lesson in towing. You can correct any bad move you were about to make, as long as you haven’t made it yet.

Also, the actual hooking up of the hitch, is really no big deal. It just looks bad ass. But in reality you just follow the steps, one after the other. It’s much simpler than it looks.

And the best part about it is you get to enjoy the ride, the view and the serenity. I’m a city girl for sure but wow! It was so amazing to wake up in the middle of the desert in Joshua Tree and look out at the desert. There is a beauty there that touches the soul in a way that is unexplainable in a blog. You’ve gotta just go there. There is nothing like having nobody around you, being able to keep all of your shades and windows open and just take it all in. There will definitely be more trips to come.

 

 

 

So far, I’d been living risk free in my Airstream, in a beautiful RV park tucked among the hills along a gorgeous lake just a hop and skip outside of LA. I’m minutes from my LA Airstream buddies who have helped me tremendously in my education process. The park seems to be a well kept secret and has been an awesome place to start out, but the road has been whispering her promises of travel, adventure, beauty and growth in my ear, pulling me out of my comfort zone. It was time. I knew,  “Bug” was just not going to  get the job done! You see I’ve been driving a VW Bug for as long as I can remember. It was time to find a tow vehicle.

Bug was small, quiet and could go unnoticed slipping in and out of places without disturbing anyone. Bug represented everything polite, sweet, unassuming, and always would move out of the way for the rest of the world, making sure everyone around had their needs met first. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bug and all of her beautiful qualities, but, there comes a time in a relationship, where a girl’s gotta make some changes. So, along came Beast.

I have no idea why I called my Doge Ram 2500 4×4 Diesel Truck, Beast. I love saying that! But it simply came to me and stuck. Beast is strong, unapologetic, courageous,  and adventurous.  Beast is self reliant, commands attention and has no problem with everyone moving over. Beast has no problem putting herself first. Beast, owns the road. Just sitting in her I sit a little taller.

I grew up with three big brothers in the late sixties and heard all of the messages many of you had in terms of what was for girls and what was for boys. I remember times I impressed my brothers by daring to cross those societal lines. I recall climbing the trees in South Chicago that towered so high one could not see the homes, just the Sears Tower off in the distance above a tree blanket of fall color. Then as a young adult there was the very impressive pink tool kit that had tools better than some of the ones the boys had. I picked them out from target when rehabbing an old Victorian in South Minneapolis. After first moving to Los Angeles,  I successfully maneuvered the three dimensional grid of  LA freeways during rush hour, once again leaving my big brothers in awe. (If you’re from LA, stop laughing.) I had already impressed my brothers with my competence in doing things that we did not grow up thinking were for girls, but I guess societal messages go deep.  I still had tiny voices of doubt as to what I could do, what I should do, how much of my feminine self I might lose doing it, and other ridiculousness. So here I go again, relearning that as women, we can do whatever we want and it does not define us. There are no limits.  Now I learn how to drive and care for Beast, my 2018 2500 Dodge Ram 4×4 Diesel Truck, in preparation to learn to tow. I’m still learning about all she can do but buying her was a first step at making future towing and boon docking a reality.

 

By the way, if you are a truck salesman and you are a guy you should know… I passed up Chevy and Ford, not because of all of the oh so convincing classic online arguments over which of the “Big Three” trucks are the best, but simply because of how I was treated in the sale. At those two places I experienced two extremes. There were the guys who were more interested in making small talk about my cute cowboy boots… (and granted they are), or my beautiful turquoise necklace… (a treat to myself from Santa Fe)… but seriously, salesmen (and I underscore men… sorry guys). Salesmen who didn’t want to spend an iota of time educating me on the advantages of buying different trucks, but rather thought compliments  from guys would make the sale, basically lost the sale.

In the other direction, were the salesmen who acted as if I was invisible. I’m not sure if it was my gender, or one of the other classifications I fall into that typically make me invisible…. Who knows. I won’t pretend I can read intentions, but regardless, acting as if you had no time for me because you thought the businessman in the suit behind me might spend more money made you and your companies the losers.

To top it off, I ended up at Ontario Dodge on the 15 in Southern California talking to  Cassidy, a twenty something year old snappy female who was smart not just on her product and all of its internal workings (transmission, engine, etc.) but also on the competition. She told me from her personal experience hauling horses, (as up until then she spent her days as a successful horse jockey). She didn’t waste my time with lots of filler blah blah blah. She was fast and to the point, and since the sale, is still incredibly helpful when it comes to questions I have. She goes way above and beyond in terms of customer service and follow up even after the sale. Oh, and I told her if she was going to hand me off to the closer for the finish of the deal, rather than closing it herself, I would walk. And you see how that chapter ended. Thanks Cassidy! Introducing Beast!

 

Folks told me I looked so happy in the photo above. Well, I am and I’m about to share some of my secrets. It’s all in the downsizing. Less stuff means less stress. The garage sale was just one way that I downsized. There were also lots of tiny decisions and choices all along the journey of the last two years. And in all honesty, I’m still downsizing. I work on one area, and eventually another area reveals itself as the next space in my life that could use a bit of decluttering. So, here are some random thoughts on that to round out the garage sale story I just talked about.

A Quick Thought On Blankets:

Keep all of your favorite blankets. That is one thing that I packed away to see if I would miss, and they all came back out. It’s nice to have blankets for guests when they visit, but also when the temperatures drop it’s nice to layer blankets and crawl under the heap, rather than throw away dollars on propane or have to rely on hookups for my electric heaters. I found It could get down to the forties at night outside and it would get into the fifties in the trailer and I would be toasty under a good pile of down and other cozy blankets. And getting up in the morning chill just made my morning cup of joe that much more of a treat.

Clothing:

I had to make some decisions since I was going from four closets in my house, to two closets in my apartment to a fourth of a closet that I now count as one closet in my airstream. If I had items I walked out of the house in and nobody gave me a compliment, I decided it was their time to go. Items that I loved except maybe one little thing about them I let go of. Items that squeezed my figure accenting where all of the fat resided in my body…. Absolutely gone! For the most part if it was not a piece that I could mix and match with a few different pieces, I let it go, or if I had multiples that pretty much could pass as the same piece I let them go. And if I hadn’t worn the piece in a long time I definitely let it go.

I kept the items that frequented my dirty clothes basket, because I knew I actually wear those a lot. I kept the clothes that made me feel happy when I put them on and were comfortable. I kept items for the occasions I knew I would be involved in. Yes, I kept a couple full length formal dresses! I’m not going to repeat the “POD” method as you can check that out on google, but I tried a version of this where I kept out 30 items of clothing from the given season and that is what I wore. In my version I picked my favorite thirty items for a particular season and packed the rest away to see what I’d miss, or not miss. Shoes were hard to say good bye to, so I kept quite a few and found creative ways to store them. I use those grey cloth baskets from Target to store quite a few things. They are awesome because they squish into funny corners and they protect things from breaking. Anyhow, I had a ridiculous number of coats that I gifted to friends and handed out to homeless people, some of which I had never worn. Ridiculous! As time travels on I notice I am able to let go of even more and really get down to what I need.

 

And there were my favorite furniture pieces:

I discovered my beautiful Italian Bed Set simply would not fit in my apartment bedroom. The room was small and odd shaped. I tried measuring that room over and over and even thought maybe I could store it on end. A friend said I’ll buy it from you for $400. I was surprised to find the minute I let go of it, a weight lifted, not only did I have zero regrets, I got a little extra joy out of the set knowing my friend’s daughter would be enjoying it. I donated a couple of fun chairs I had to a local art museum for folks to sit on while looking at the art. It makes me smile when I go in there and see them put to good use.

Dishes, Dishes and More Dishes:

A dear friend said, you really only need two plates, two glasses, and two sets of silverware. He had lived in a minimalist manner all of his life. He couldn’t possibly understand all of the fun memories from each of the mugs I had and how I needed to keep all of those memories…. So I kept them. Now, looking back, I think I still have three of them. Things break, get lost or borrowed along the way, and then I simply do not replace them, or if I get something new, I get rid of something old.I also realized that when I host a party and need lots of dishes, I don’t take out the fine china, I take out paper plates and plastic cups. I really did not need all of those dishes.

My Plant Babies:

I love my plant babies. I hauled as many as I could with me to the apartment, then a few less to the first parking place for my trailer. Now I’m down to three pots. As I get closer to getting on the road and truly being a nomad, I’ll likely dump the plants and buy new when I settle down in one location again. The best thing I did with my plants was give them to my dear friends. When I visit  their homes and see my old plants it warms my heart and makes me smile. Also the plants look a lot better than when I was taking care of them.

Books, Books, Books!:

I am definitely a book addict. I gave away three fourths of my books to places like Cafe Con Libros, where you can exchange used books,  and also in book boxes the trendy new addition to folks’ front yards around the neighborhood. I’d still say books are the thing I have the most of. I have been slowly reading them and saying goodbye. Where I had duplicates on kindle I let the hard copy go. I had to ask myself… am I really going to read these? When I did the math,I realized how many books I had collected and that with all of the time in the world there would never be enough to read them all. Books are heavy so I know I have a ways to go in letting go, but I’ve made great progress.

Files and Important Paperwork:

I had files from work, and files documenting my life up until then. Everything I can now happily say is paperless and I feel light and free. I believe I transformed around seven boxes of paper records. I do have a little more to go in this arena. There also was a lot I had been toting around in files that I really had no need for and it got shredded.

Hobbies:

The keyboard, photography equiptment and art supplies, including the huge canvases and art easel were non-negotiable. When you figure out what you really love, you find a way to make it fit.

A Tender Surprise:

I came across some childhood dresses that my mother had saved for me. I thought,  well I’m not having kids and my nephews and nieces are too old for these. Its a shame they are in perfect condition, but its silly to hold on to them. I tossed them into the waste bin and immediately my eyes teared up. I snatched them back out, and immediately called my sisterhood. These dresses were way to precious as they told the story of my childhood. I could see a little version of me as I thought back on everything I went through as a child, good and hard. I saw the best intentions of all of the people who loved me into the me I am today. With things like this, I have created artwork out of them to preserve them in my memory and heart. I also stored a couple things like this with good friends, knowing I could get them back later. And now that I have let go, I know I’m fine with saying good bye. I also gifted some items from childhood to friends with small children, and got the joy of seeing these things create new memories in someone else’s family.

I went from the 2,000 square foot house and 10,000 square foot yard with a two car garage to the apartment which was approximately 900 square feet not including my patio. Then in the apartment I started closing off rooms and sections of my closet getting my pile of belongings smaller and smaller. Eventually the day of the big move to the airstream came and I made the big jump to 200 square feet. I started with nice neat looking plastic bins stored underneath it. Now they are all gone too, its just the trailer and the back of the truck where I store things. I even sold my VW Bug to the guy who sold me my airstream! I did the math on renting a storage unit and thought that it just did not make sense. In ten years I can save the money and buy new if I really want any of these things again. Besides, there will be new designs and trends out in ten years, and if I leave my airsteam I’ll be in an entirely new space that deserves new furniture.  I can honestly say, looking back on all I let go of,  I have zero regrets. I miss nothing. There is not one moment  when I have thought I wished I had not thrown something. And I have added a few new things to my belongings, but the fun now is I only buy top quality things that I really want and need. I slow down and ask myself why I feel the urge to buy something. Am I really just bored, or am I avoiding feeling sad about something. I laugh at myself because if I’m being honest I have to admit, I’ve bought some pretty big purchases over break ups with boyfriends. Seriously…. big! Now there is no guilty shopping. Shopping is way more fun when living tiny.

I know there are some folks who have been doing this longer than me now following me… please do chime in on any great tidbits you have discovered along the way about getting rid of stuff. By the way folks, this applies whether you stay in your sticks and bricks home or whether you join me on the road.

My hope in my near future writing is to quickly get caught up to where I am present day actually living in my Airstream. Join me again soon and as always… thanks for following me.