RVing with Kid: Shakedown Trip

This past weekend's two-night trip to the state park was designed in part to identify issues with Clark, traveling with our cat (see previous post), and living the RV life. One of our big questions: will Sam, our opinionated, technology-loving nine year old, get bored? Will he want to spend all of his time holed up in his bunk, playing Angry Birds and wishing his parents could be more normal?

As soon as we arrived at the campground and set up our rig, Sam brought out his bird guide, sketch pad, and colored pencils, took them out to the picnic table, and started drawing.

The next day, we woke up and went on a hike... and miracle of miracles, the kid did not complain once. He just walked. 

Maybe he was just too transfixed by his surroundings to complain. 

Doesn't hurt when your hike leads you to an awesome playground and a wide open field.

Then I needed (more) coffee, so we went into town for a snack and silly conversations (I can't recall exactly, but the discussion here probably revolved around poop jokes).

And yes, Angry Birds did make an appearance - albeit a relatively brief one. 

Verdict: we think he'll be okay.

Biscuit's first RV adventure

This Friday and Saturday, we took Biscuit the cat on her first RVing adventure at our local state park.

Getting her into the RV was pretty easy: we tossed her favorite toy into her cat carrier, she ran in, and Sam closed the gate. Trent drove the RV (Biscuit's litter box was safely stowed and latched in the shower for the trip) while Sam, Biscuit, and I followed in the car. After arriving at the park and setting up camp, we released Biscuit into her new abode.

This was the first safe spot she found: in the bedroom right below the "closet." She seemed happy enough.

It eventually dawned on her that something unusual was going on in her life, so she hotfooted it up to the cab and squashed herself under the driver's side seat. For hours. We were relieved when she made an appearance to use her Modkat kitty litter system, which we placed in the cab in order to keep it out of the way yet still accessible for her.

We pretended we didn't notice, but silently, all three of us were cheering. Biscuit is unpredictable when she's uncomfortable or unhappy. A couple of weeks ago, she peed on our bed (while we were in it!) for reasons that are still unclear and that, according to the vet, were entirely unrelated to her physical health. We hope that was a one-time occurrence but with her? Who knows. So the RV Modkat use so early on in the trip was a victory for everyone.

The situation went a bit downhill when, at bedtime, Biscuit hopped up on the bed, made a horrible yakking sound, and proceeded to throw up all over the duvet. A few minutes later she knocked over her water dish and created a mini-tsunami that rolled through the slightly-tilted rig. We dug out a few rolls of paper towels and all was well again. 

Sam was wondering whether Biscuit - who's not the most coordinated feline you've ever met - would dare to hop up into his bunk space. She waited until everyone was settled down, gave her best leap, and made the jump from the table to the loft. Then she gazed down upon us as if to say, "I will allow you to stay. For now."

I'd call that a success. It might sound silly to be so worried about a cat, but she's a part of the family and our happiness is somewhat dependent on her happiness. If she can't get on board with our new lifestyle, that's going to be a problem.

So far, though, all signs point to a cat that will be ruling the road the same way she rules the house.

Welcome to the adventure, Biscuit!

The Great Stuff Purge, Part 2

Trent and I spent a big chunk of this morning paring down our wardrobes and other belongings. We did so for several reasons:

1. Clark can hold only so much stuff. Closet space is particularly limited. Trent and I will have a total of one decent-sized wardrobe in which we can hang stuff up. Otherwise, we'll be relying on plastic bins stored in relatively small cabinets.

2. We won't have a washer and dryer... Which means we'll be going to laundromats... And the fewer loads of laundry we have to do, the better. 

3. We're hoping we won't need a lot of cold-weather gear. The plan is to move with the seasons so that we're never freezing and never broiling. If this works out, the big puffy coats and thick sweaters won't be necessary.

So I'm all for getting rid of stuff, but this exercise was not easy. Apparently I have an inner hoarder. Conversations I had with myself during the purge-fest:

Me: This underwear is going into the trash.

Myself: No!

Me: ...Why? It has holes in it. 

Myself: But I've had that pair since 2004! It has sentimental value!

*

Me: What the heck is this? Where did you even find it?

Myself: ...Bronzer. It was in the dresser.

Me: BRONZER. Are you kidding me? Are you a Kardashian? I'm pretty sure a grand total of NOBODY trusts you to use this stuff correctly.

Myself: But I might need it. What if I have to look nice?

Me: Then this is not the way to go. 

*

Me: This sock is on its way out.

Myself: NO.

Me: It's not even your sock! It's like a size extra large! It's missing its mate!

Myself: But what if there's an emergency?!? You never know. Remember the Apollo mission?

Me: You have issues.

And then there was the pile of orphan socks I ended up with:

Where did their friends go? No idea. They're just gone.

I have had a lot of clothes. I didn't like at least half of them, and many of them I never wore more than once or twice. Why do we hang onto things we don't want or need? Why do we buy them in the first place? Why do we feel like we have to wear something different every day of the month? 

Here's the haul we took over to the reuse facility:

To top it all off, we carted a bunch of books to the library. The house is looking a little bare in places - and that's totally fine by me.

Our plan from here on out is to only carry what we need, will use, and already have. Only when we actually need a new item will we purchase one. Will we be winning any fashion awards? No, but we were never going to, anyway. Obviously.

Pictures from Clark's maiden voyage

As Trent described in his last post, we took Clark for a spin last weekend! Our excursion consisted of just one night at the nearby state park, so nothing too challenging - except that it dropped to below 30 degrees Fahrenheit and we didn't know how to work the furnace. Learn by doing!

On the drive over to the campground (I pretty much had to bribe him to get this smile, but it was worth it because HE IS ADORABLE)

Trent hooking up the power. The campground had electric hookups but no water. That's fine, since Clark isn't dewinterized yet. We just used the facilities at the park.

In the RV with the slideout extended. The slideout makes the RV seem positively spacious.

Dinner! I made this at home and then we re-heated it in the microwave in the RV. We didn't try to turn the stove on. Baby steps.

View from the bedroom

Clark looking all handsome

Morning in a very cold RV. We were fine while we were under the covers, but by the time breakfast rolled around we felt like we were living in an icebox. Trent consulted the owner's manual, turned on the propane, and got the furnace fired up. Nothing exploded. Success.

I made coffee in the morning. I can give up most things, but coffee is not one of them. We brought the grounds with us, heated up water in the microwave, and concocted our brew in the press pot.

Lessons learned:

• We picked the right RV for us. Clark is great, with tons of storage space, lots of comfortable seating, and room enough for three people who have already spent the past two years in close quarters.
• You can not know what you're doing and still avoid breaking your house on wheels. Especially if one of you actually cracks open the owner's manual and follows the instructions.
• Climate control is probably going to be a challenge. We're going to do our best to move with the seasons so that we don't have to excessively heat or cool our rig, but weather is hard to predict. We anticipate some uncomfortable days and nights every now and then no matter how well we plan.
• I like the people I live with. That's a good thing.
• This was fun and I want to do it again! Like, now.

Gear Check

Trent will be your driver for this post.

This past Friday night we took Clark out for our first overnight in the RV. Clark is still winterized and we didn't do anything to change that. It has been dipping below freezing at night and so we will wait a few weeks before we de-winterize.  This means we did not use the plumbing/water systems. This trip was mainly an electrical and propane check and experiencing our first night in the RV.  Susanne will blog later about that aspect. This post is about the equipment.

Summary: It all worked!

Electrical hookup: We bought a Progressive Industries PT30C 30 Amp Portable Electrical Management System to protect us from high voltage, low voltage, and a host of other possible electric issues. It worked well and we were able to see exactly how much voltage was being supplied at the post, how many amps we were drawing, and that the AC was cycling as expected (60 times a second). If there are any problems with the electricity, this system will not allow it to pass to the RV.

We did consider getting a similar system hardwired into Clark but decided against it after reading about how people to tend to switch RVs after a few years of full-time living. We also wanted to save some money.

Electricity in Clark: I was able to test all the AC outlets in Clark and they all worked. I did additional tests using a multimeter and again everything was good. It's not that we were really worried but we had not checked every outlet before buying Clark like we should have.

Slide-out: Our RV slide out worked. It's amazing how sliding out part of the RV just a few feet really makes the whole RV seem much larger.

TVs: Yes TVs. Clark has more TVs (3) then we do in our sticks and bricks home (1). The antenna went up well and we checked out two of the TVs. They worked and were picking up about 8 strong channels.  We watched a dog shake in slow-motion and then turned off both TVs and put the antenna down. If given the choice we would have used the money on other improvements for Clark. However, the person that bought Clark new picked the entertainment package.

Refrigerator/freezer: We bought some food and drinks along for our trip. This was our first check of the frig and it worked well. I did discover how small it really is when I could not fit a gallon jug of water into it. I think we will be eating a lot more fresh food because we don't have the storage to stock up for more than a few days.

Microwave: Susanne heated up some yams and some dinner she had made ahead of time and it worked.  Most importantly it supplied the hot water for our morning press pot coffee.

Heat pump (powered by AC): It was our first test of the heat pump and it worked.  The heat pump was able to supply heat that worked well enough in the early evening. However by the middle of the night it was too cold for the heat pump to work well. The RV was cold.

RV cover: We got an outside RV cover for privacy and to add a bit of insulation to the big heat sink that is the front window.  The cover went on well and stayed on during the night wind and rain.

Furnace (powered by propane): I read the manual and then opened up the propane tank and fired up the furnace. It started up quickly and the furnace supplied the heat needed to keep Sam from revolting. The furnace supplied heat worked very well.

Generator: We didn't have to use the generator but the user's manual recommends that it be run for about two hours once a month if it's not otherwise being used. So I disconnected the AC from shore power (the electrical post at the park) and hooked it into the generator after it was running. We ran the  generator for about two hours and used the heat pump to supply a load (about 20 amps) on it.  The generator worked well and we used its power to bring in the slide out.

Clark's Chevy chassis: Clark got us the 7 miles to our spot in the State Park and got us back home. Good going Clark.

Not checked: We will de-winterize in about three weeks. We will then have to test the black and gray tanks, the hot water heater, the shower, the sink, the freshwater connection, and will have to drain the tanks as we sanitize the systems.  We also didn't bring the cat.  She will provide another test for us on the next trip.

Still need to get:

TPMS: I really want to get a tire pressure monitoring system. All the full-time RVers suggest them as a must have safety system. Checking the air pressure on Clark is a pain because the hub dust covers must be removed to get at the values. This is the brand I'm thinking about but I need to do more  research and bite the bullet money wise. This system likely will cost less than a tire blown out.

Cellular signal booster:  I need to get and install a signal booster before we leave. I am basically waiting to make sure we have the latest technology.  I'll likely go with the recommendations from the https://www.rvmobileinternet.com.

??? other stuff ??? I don't know what we are forgetting or don't know we don't know but we will find out quickly when we start RVing full-time.

Two months out!

Susanne is your driver for this post.

We're now two months away from our RV departure window. We don't have an exact calendar date in mind because... well, we can be flexible. That's part of nomadic living, so we might as well embrace it from the get-go. Our window is defined by the fact that my job and Sam's school year both finish up at the end of May, and we want to pay rent on our current place only through the end of June at the latest. 

When I'm not busy with teaching, I spend a lot of time trying to wrap my head around leaving academia. Is it the right decision? Yes, but the thing is, it takes years of hard work, focus, and sheer determination to get through a Ph.D. and even more of the same - plus a huge dose of luck - to land a tenure-track job. Walking away from something I was so set on achieving isn't easy. Like many who work in academia, a huge part of my identity has been defined by what I do and my contributions to teaching and research. Moreover, my opinions of myself as a person have often been dictated by my job successes and especially my failures. So yes. This is fairly terrifying, TBH.

My knee-jerk tendency to define who I am by what I do, how good my evaluations are, whether I get the grant I apply for, and how others in my field judge my work has become a problem. Some people can handle all of this with aplomb. I don't. Instead, academia turns me into an anxious, stressed-out, working-too-hard, self-conscious basketcase. In the great words of "Office Space," I don't like that so... I'm not going to do it anymore.

Or to paraphrase a farewell-to-academia blog I read a few months back, I thought it would be one way, it's not what I thought it would be like, I tried it, and it wasn't for me.

Since announcing our plans to RV full time, most people have been incredibly supportive and nonjudgmental. A few people have looked at us quizzically and asked, "...but...what will you do?" I don't necessarily think they're judging us. I think it's an honest question that roughly translates into, "How will you support yourselves financially? How will you create a meaningful life if you don't have a job title that reflects your education and training?"

We addressed the first issue a couple of posts back. In reality, we will both have jobs; they'll just be Internet-based jobs, and mine will be part time. My other job will be to homeschool Sam.

As for meaning, I've spent a lot of time thinking about it lately and jotting down what does and doesn't matter to me. It took awhile, but eventually I came up with the following list of my priorities - the things that give me meaning:

• Cultivating a happy and stable family life
• Having autonomy in my work, and doing work that allows me to be creative and problem solve (that's why I like geology and science in general: it requires creativity and problem solving)
• Finding and participating in adventures
• Challenging myself physically 
• Supporting and inspiring others when and how I can
• Making choices that are environmentally and financially responsible

What doesn't matter to me so much:

• Having a lot of money
• Owning a house that's fixed in one spot (that might change in the future, but right now it's not a priority)
• Having the same job for most of my career

I wish I could add "What other people think" to that second list, but that's not true. I'm a sensitive person and I DO care what other people think. I wish I cared less, and I'm hoping that our nomadic lifestyle will help me place less weight on outside opinions.

A friend posted this cartoon on Facebook the other day and it really hit home: "Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement."

That's the big picture I want us to focus on.