It’s taking way longer to move out of the house than I thought. We’ve had to sort through decades worth of accumulated stuff. From the attic, to closets, to drawers, we accumulate “stuff”, just irrelevant “stuff”. Stuff that we keep because we might need some day. Stuff that holds some memory of some achievement, some moment in time, some relationship, some experience, some utility. For whatever reason, this thing has ended up in this drawer and now I need to make a decision, “Is this necessary?” Whether you want to call it minimalism, simplification, streamlining, or downsizing, reorganizing your life to fit into an RV is quite a challenge.
We have decided to start out in our existing RV, which is only 28 feet long and has a single slide. This space needs to house two adults, two children and a dog, as well as, all of the essentials needed to do life. Enough housewares, computers, and educational materials, bicycles, tools, etc. Everything you need to stay productive, functional, and comfortable while traveling the country.
Besides that we had a major setback. 3 months ago, I owned a Ford F-150 ecoboost. I bought it new, upgraded it to be a better tow truck. It was a great truck. Though in order to eventually pull a bigger RV I needed to upgrade to an F-350 which has much larger towing capacity. So I went shopping and made a trade. I almost instantly regretted it. After only 400 miles it had a catastrophic failure. The 6.7 Powerstroke, the motor in the F-350, has an Achilles Heal, its fuel pump. The Bosch CP4 is designed to be lighter and smaller and less expensive than previous fuel pumps put into diesel engines. But it has been found to be unreliable, specifically in the US. When it fails, it fails big. It shreds itself, then metal flakes goes through the entire fuel system contaminating every other component along the way. The injectors, other pumps, the fuel lines, everything needs to be changed out! Fortunately, the truck is still under warranty and the repair was honored otherwise, the bill could have been north of $10,000! The whole experience was extremely suspenseful for me. Throwing our plans and my expectations out the window. I often wondered if God was sending me a message that I’m doing the wrong thing. The truck was in the shop for over two months. Delays getting parts, unreliable technicians, and other hold ups brought our departure plans to a halt.
In the meantime, Tracy and I continued sorting and moving our things, one load at a time, out of the house. Some of it went into our parents attics, spare rooms, and open space. Some of it was given away. Some donated, or simply tossed in the trash.
Finally, in the last couple days, we are seeing an end to the clutter. We’re completing our last tasks in the house, to get it ready for rent. Our departure date has been set back time and again. But finally, we will be getting on the road, ironically, on Independence Day.