Day 24 - Unexpected Perks of Living Full Time in an RV

To my surprise I have a growing list of the unexpected perks of living in a pop up camper (maybe you're the type of person that would like to hear what is NOT working out? I've been accused of being an perpetual optimist (I prefer the term silver lining-ist, which I coined myself (I think). Being an perpetual optimist (aka silver lining-ist) seems like a good thing but would you believe it can actually make others resentful and annoyed with you? I can tell when this happens BUT I'm a silver lining-ist, which often means I ignore the growing resentment or tidal wave of negative energy coming at me and come up with a probable and positive reason for that negative energy and go on with my little parade. So, my point is, this blog may not deliver on the negative but....every now an then, my negativity fountain does start flowing, so don't ever give up hope!)

So, here we go! Perks of Living in an Extremely Small Space on Wheels and Vinyl Walls: 

1. No toilet = No seats = No pee on the toilet seats! Which means the only family member that sits to pee (that's me) never has to sit in other people's pee!! Woot! Woot! In fact, I don't ever have to know when anyone has gone to the bathroom (minus the baby, for now) and so I don't have to smell anything either! Double woot! Earlier in the month we were digging holes in the woods of Vermont and doing our business there (TMI?). Luckily, both of my kids have a ton of experience digging holes. This took literally no training whatsoever. When we told them that these were the rules for staying in the National Forest they didn't even bat an eyelash. This week we have porto-potties and actually, following the party weekend at the campground, I'm sort of missing the digging holes in the woods thing. Here's a screenshot from the government's website...if you're having a hard time believing this:

Believe me now?

2. No walls = No full body mirror = Wear whatever you want and just KNOW you look great! Case in point = yesterday when I wore a legit sleeping bag to go to a posh beach in southern Rhode Island (note: my family lives in northern Rhode Island = very different). We have photo evidence but oddly enough we are having a computer glitch right this very moment. 

3. Now's the time to get over your lifelong No Food Touching rule. We haven't fired up our onboard water system yet. Even when we do, it doesn't hold much (6 gallons, maybe). We've got one five gallon water jug, another smaller two gallon jug and a 2.5 gallon Berkey water filter (this thing is a beast and can filter anything you put through it. We got it originally to filter out fluoride from our drinking water when we lived in the city. It's like our one claim to Doomsday Prepper fame!). In all total that is a storage capacity of 9.5 gallons for five people (plus six more when we finally getting around to using the onboard water system). At our current site we have water spigots to refill our water supply. We probably go through about two of the five gallon jugs per day and less on each of the small ones. We filter all of our cooking and drinking water through the Berkey, to be safe. Anyway, what this all means is that we would like to avoid things like using a clean dish to serve dessert, or something like that. Travis and the kids usually have absolutely no problem with this. Me? I'm a lifelong no food touching kind of person. So I was both empowered and only slightly grossed out the other day when I ate fried plantains (google it Cats) from a bowl that had recently held a fried egg. Repeat after me: everything is going to be okay. This plantain is going to taste so good. Maybe you'll really like eggs and plantains after this! 

"remotes lakes, streams and stagnant ponds" oh my!
(We haven't actually tried this but it's clear this thing is a filtering beast!)

Perfect family, eating in the woods. 

4. Got a toddler (or 8 year old or even an adult partner) who likes to suddenly start spitting out their food at dinner? Do they like to upturn their plate without a moments notice? If their drink is unsatisfactory will they simply pour it on the ground? If this sounds like your life I've got the perfect solution for you...put your table in the middle of the woods! Voila, your mess simply disappears and you can finish your dinner in complete peace. Who knew?!

Last but not at all least is...

5. It's never really clean, which makes cleaning a breeze! As I mentioned before, it takes about two minutes to clean our camper but it takes about two minutes to trash it as well. This is really a glass is half full sort of thing. As a silver lining-ist I don't have to tell you how I see it (usually). Travis and I probably need a bit more credit in this department. We have spent A LOT of time going over and over and re-doing, re-thinking and re-working our organizational systems and tools. As of yet we still do not have it down but once we do it will be very important that everyone sticks to the expectation that everything has a place and that is where it goes when you are through with it. The kids aren't strangers to this, so hopefully it all goes without a hitch (or perhaps, in this case, with a hitch??). Of course, being organized will only help us deal with the muddy, sticky tree sap, leaves and pine needles, frogs and bug exoskeletons, etc. that usually cover our tiny little floor moments after waking, to a certain extent... but if you'll just focus on the giggles that accompany those things (and keep your sweeping brush nearby) you'll be just fine.

~<3 The Wanderlings