Living in a Small Space Opens up the
Whole Country For US!
Most people are going to start out believing that living in a small space is something that takes sacrifice, endurance, and discomfort; that frugal RVing, and frugal living is somehow painful.
It just ain't so!
Well... OK... I guess there is a lil' truth to it.
You do have to sacrifice... You won't be able to spend hours and hours cleaning that 2500 square foot house any more... It's only gonna take a few minutes to shine up the rig in the morning...
You will have to sacrifice a lot of that 'stuff' you had wedged into closets, attics, storage sheds and the garage... in boxes you hadn't opened in 12 years...
Living
in a small space, that you'll know, living in an RV, You will have to
endure stepping out of your rig into the pristine glory of a mountain
meadow... or maybe the manicured grounds of a decent RV park! If that's
more your style. :-)
You'll have to endure the discomfort of NOT paying twice your Motorhome payment... in interest, on that big house every month!
You'll have to learn to tolerate the discomfort of knowing that, if you decide you're weary of this neighborhood... you can just fire that rig up and take your living in a small space... rolling down the road to a new neighborhood.
It's a pretty big sacrifice, I know, to cut your cost of living by such a degree, that you can cut the 'Bread Labor' time required to support it... To the point that the majority of your time becomes available for music, art, hiking, dog training, leather crafting... leaning that gorgeous Motorcycle through the twisties...
...compared to the fraction they enjoy now.
... or how about makin' whoopee in that great big, Queen sized bed all afternoon...
... or in a High Mountain Meadow! ;-)
Seems like a pretty sweet benefit of living in a small space to me!
Fugal living in a small space is not for everyone. Some folks just can't break out of their preconditioned need for all those things I'm talkin' 'bout leaving behind.
They just can't get their head around the Joys that are built into the Freedom you gain once you succeed and are Free of the burden of owning all that junk.
It took me enduring the reality of a consumptive society, for way too many years, to realize the joy that is built into Frugal RVing and Frugal living in general.
I understand how difficult it is, early on, to divest all that 'stuff' and nonsense. We've gotten conditioned over a lot of years to psychologically need it... but it's like dope... you may think you need it... but boys and girls... it ain't doin' you one dang bit of good!
Some folks, for reasons I really can't grasp... somehow NEED to have to take 37 steps to the kitchen... to get a soda... rather than the two it takes to cross from the sofa to the fridge in a really nice fifth wheel RV! :-)
Living in a small space does require a few things. I for one, cannot tolerate 'stuff' laying all about... it makes me crazy... It's like a constant nails-on-a-chalk-board screeching...
Clutter makes me straight, raving, crazy...
So... If you're the disorganized sort... I'd say you have to get into some new habits maybe... Like putting things away when you're done with 'em. There just ain't enough room to be very sloppy... and still do much living.
Clutter and close confines are pretty much it, if you're lookin' for a recipe to get on each others nerves.
If you are part of a 'pair'... little 'agitations' that you escaped from by running out to the 'shop', back in the sticks-n-bricks house, are gonna grow a lot larger in the confines of living in a small space...
Paradoxically, Heidi and I have always got on Far Better... in our RV... than under the pressure of the Real Estate Fallacy that owns and hopefully one day soon, will have 'owned' us...
Rather than needing to get away from each other... we've found that living in a small space, with less junk and baggage... actually pulls us together... hmmm... who'da thunk it!
... and it only took a summer of tribulation to realize that! :-)
But Remember this... If you need the 'escape' to the shop... or to shopping, or what ever... to get away from those lil' agitations for a bit, that your 'significant other' pokes you with... you'll need to come up with some new 'pressure releases'...
You can step outside and take a long walk in the woods, to gain your 'space' away from her for a while...
... or maybe you can ask that Gal, in that rig on the other side of the Forest Service campground you're parked in, if she'd like to cruise the lake in your lil' boat... so you can get away from 'him'... She just might be needing some space too!
The thing is... Living in a small space isn't an automatic nirvana... well... except for Gypsy Cowboys like me! :-) It will take some adjustment for most folks... Go into it knowing that... Go into it with your eyes open, looking for those places you need to do some tinkering...
... but I submit fellow Gypsies... It gets really sweet... really fast! and each day on the road your smile will get wider...
All I ever hear when I talk to folks that have broken free of the 'Big Box' theory of the Great American Dream is... "I wish I would have done it 30 years sooner!"
