Are you ready to transition into life as a full-time RVer? Life on the road is an exciting adventure. You have the freedom to pick up and go whenever you are ready. With more and more jobs transitioning to “work from home” positions leaving the house behind is becoming a reality for more people.
Are you a family ready to hit the road in a large RV? Or, are you seeking to set out on an adventure before settling down with a family (if so we have class b rv’s for sale that you will love)? Here are some tips to help you downsize from a house or apartment to your RV.
Tackle the paperwork
Most households are loaded down with paper. It might be stacked on the counters or hidden away in drawers, but either way, you aren’t going to be able to take it all with you. Instead, you need to spend some time going through all your documents to determine what you really need an what you can part with and shred. A good way to go through this process is to go paperless as much as possible. Use a program like Evernote that allows you to scan documents or snap pictures of them and save them into folders that you create online. By doing this you still have access to the information without having to hold on to the physical document.
Take pictures of the things you love
We all have some items that we are emotionally attached to. It might be the large grandfather clock that you inherited from a relative or a stuffed animal you had since you were a child, it’s time to decide how much you really want it. If the item is something that you love the memory of, but you know that you can’t take it with you in your RV (or you choose not to due to lack of room) take a picture of it. You can create an online or physical scrapbook of these favorite things and document in writing the memories that made the item so special.
Get real about your clothes
Sort through your clothes and think about what you will actually wear when you are RVing full time. If you aren’t going to be working and don’t enjoy getting dressed up then you probably only need to keep one or possible two outfits for these occasions. That way you are covered for the occasional wedding, funeral, or special occasion.
Look for articles of clothing that are versatile. You want as many of the items that you own to mix and match well together. When you do this you still have different options for outfits while owning fewer items. Transitioning to life on the road also forces you to get real about what clothes actually fit you. There isn’t enough room in the RV to bring all those outfits that you “hope to get in someday”. Pick what fits and what you love and donate everything else.
Swap your books in for eBooks
If you are love reading you probably own a lot of books. There is something that is nice about holding a book in your hand, but your RV might not have the storage for all of them. Keep your favorites. Then, work on getting ebooks on a Kindle for all the rest. You can have as many books as you want on the Kindle and it can get put away in a small drawer when you are finished reading.
Keep multipurpose toys
If you have children they are going to want toys to play with. Have them pick out a few favorites. Then, invest in things like Legos. They are small and you can tuck away a few containers of them. But, the best part is they give your kids endless opportunities. They can design their legos into anything they want, which opens up their play options and gets them using their imagination.
Really think about what you use
It’s time to decide what you actually use. Do you own 15 small kitchen appliances, but only use 2. That’s your answer. Crockpots are great creations, but if you don’t cook with it there is no reason to waste precious storage space in your RV. But, if you love making smoothies and protein shakes every day then you want to make room for your blender.
Consider storing things you don’t want to part with
Are you unsure if full-time RVing is your long-term plan? If so, consider storing some of your items. Pay for a storage unit for the first 6 or 12 months. You can keep your furniture and other items in storage while you try out life on the road. If you love full time RVing you can go back and get rid of it all at a later day. If you decide you like to RV for vacation, but not every day then you don’t have to buy all new stuff.
Each item that goes into your RV needs to be something that you absolutely need to have or that you absolutely love. You will love to live in a space that is filled with things you love and use instead of things just taking up space.
