Check Out The Trailer!

My current pursuit: The lovely 2012 Aljo 162. Photo courtesy of RV Guide

This is what I'm applying for a loan for and this will very shortly be my home. I have searched long, long hours over multiple travel trailer websites looking for the one that could fit my lifestyle and luckily I found a few dealerships in the area that sell it. This particular photo above is a little off...as the door is actually more to the front of the trailer, but it still gives you a pretty good grasp of the trailer's exterior.

This is a bunkhouse travel trailer, the bunks being directly to the left of you as you walk in:

These are the two bunks, I'll be taking the top whilst my awesome roommie will be taking the bottom. You can't see it very well from this angle, but there is a window that opens up on the bottom bunk. Whether it's only supposed to be used as an emergency exit or a super easy way to go outside remains to be seen.

Directly across from the bunk area is the kitchen:

 It really isn't much different from the current kitchen situation my friend and I are in now, but I'll go into that detail later. This seems perfect for the two of us to cook in and I'm planning on painting the cupboards. I'm painting anything that is that brown color really.

 I despise it.

 In fact, I had originally passed up this model because of the colors. Once we actually went to see it we changed our minds and decided it only needed a coat of paint. Yet again, you can't see it from here, but in the far back between the bunks and the kitchen is a door which leads to the bathroom. A simple toilet and shower are in that cramped little corner, but it will do nicely if I keep it tidy.

Finally, in front of both the kitchen and the bunks, taking up the entire front area of the trailer, is the dining area:

 This was one of the comfiest dining areas I'd sat in yet while looking at trailers. We had visited quite a few dealerships and while most areas looked more appealing than this they were near hazardous fitting into. It's because most areas are so packed in and the tables are usually bolted into place or stuck into the ground via a pole. With this one it's set up like you would find an ironing board. So, if you wanted to fold it up and have no table, or make the entire thing into one big bed by fitting the table snugly onto some grooves in the center you could.


And that's my future home! There's definitely more to it than that, but I wanted to go over the bigger areas and since I technically still don't own it I want to wait to make a more thorough post later when I do.

The three interior photos from above are courtesy of South Hill RV.

And So I Simply Sat

Yesterday was another big day for me, filled with a strange impartiality to the objects I once held so dear. I had another yard sale in the morning, unfortunately it was on a weekend that an event was happening one town over. Thus I didn't do nearly as well as I had the first time I sold my things. It could also have been that I didn't put up any signs either, so...yeah! Alot of it went straight to the "free" pile left out on the sidewalk and then to Goodwill.

It was very strange, though. To look at all those things I'd sworn to myself I'd not part with...or at the very least have a hard time doing so... And see them as they are, simple objects holding me down, keeping me back. It's not that I see them as garbage, but that I realize I do not need them. And because I do not need them I no longer desire them.

It was freedom in the most tangible form I've yet to discover. It was beautiful.

After that I hung out with a friend and we traveled around a recreational area nearby the river. It was so peaceful, so calm. I adored it. I realized that if I hadn't been selling my things and they were all still stuffed into my small home I'd probably be spending my Saturday cleaning them up. Instead I got to hang out with my good friend and after...well...

I sat.

I mean, literally, too. I had just left my friend's house, heading out to get my hair cut until my other friend got off of work when he called to let me know he was just getting off. There was a pillar nearby, completely void of anything on top and comfortably flat. Its cool self was shaded by the many trees along the roadside and so I climbed atop it and looked out.

I soon realized that the freeway exit nearby always had cars getting off and the nearby overpass was also always dotted with a car or two. So I made a small pact. I would not move from that spot until my friend came to pick me up or I could see no moving cars in view.

And so I simply sat as I watched person after person drive on by. Some stared straight ahead, some fumbled with stuff in their car and others talked on their phones. The best times, however, were when people saw me on my pillar top staring right at them as they passed. Some could not, in an awkward way, keep eye contact while others did not want to break their own gaze. I'm glad that the street had such a low speed limit because now that I think of it that could have been a little dangerous!

I sat there, on my pillar, for fifty minutes before I could see no cars in sight.

After that I stood up, stretched, and moved on. It made me put my life into perspective just a little more, to realize that with or without me the world goes on. Instead of making me feel sad it comforted me. It let me know that problems come and they go and that life still continues all the same. I have my choices to make and so does everyone else. I felt more in control of choices.

So I'm Selling My Life

Lifestyle, that is.

I've decided to take a really big leap and try for something I've always admired, but have never had the tenacity to try. Minimalism. I'm pretty sure I've talked about it before, but I've never really fully committed myself to it. After all, going from the crazy prepared person I am to minimalist me is a pretty major leap.

I've realized, though, that having so much stuff in my life doesn't make me happy. It just annoys me. A lot. I go home and I see what I have to put away or clean or dust... Do I want to remember my life cleaning things? I know I'm a wannabe neat freak, but seriously, having an evening ahead filled with organizing stuff I don't often use doesn't sound fun in the slightest.

So here's what I've been doing

I've had a yard sale already and made a pretty penny in the process. I spent a week going through stuff that I just didn't care for...next is to go through the stuff I do hold personal value to.

Now, now, I'm not going to go crazy and just toss everything and regret my actions. I'm doing this in a moderately slow process, only ridding myself of things I haven't used for years. Next are the things I haven't used in a year. And then so on and so forth.

So if I do this right I'll be getting rid of the stuff I really really don't need and keeping the stuff that actually means something to me.

And that's not the only thing I'm up to. Remember last post? Yeah, I know, a while back. Yep.

I really am trying out a whole new lifestyle, bit by bit. And though it's not the uber secret I was hiding last post this one is still moderately neat...

I've set my eyes on the travel trailer I plan to buy and LIVE IN.

Huzzzah!!

That's right! I'm going minimalist for two reasons! One, I'm tired of the extra stuff and two, because I really won't have any room for any of it!

If only my excitement were tangible, it would be bouncing off the walls as much as I am.

So, yes. I'm trying to buy a travel trailer and slowly, but surely my efforts are bringing me closer to my goal. I've done a ton of research and am continuing to do so.

But let me tell you, clearing for a loan is not a simple feat and I've been denied left and right. In a way I feel fortunate for this, because it means I just have to take my time and make sure I'm making the right decision, both trailer wise and living style. At the same time I feel pretty annoyed because I've spent my life buying things with cash and as such have only recently begun using credit.

Still, playing the underdog makes me more invigorated to achieve my objective and makes that objective all the more desirable.