The kitchen gear not voted off the RV island

We've made amazing progress in reducing the amount of STUFF we own and identifying what we want to take with us. Today it was all about the kitchen gear.

Here's a rundown of what we decided to take with us on the road:

1. Utensils: Four regular knives, four forks (one currently in use), four spoons, two serving spoons.

2. Knives: We like to cook, so these are important.

3. Dinnerware: Three plastic bowls, four plastic plates, four small bamboo plates, one small bamboo cereal bowl.

4. Pour-over coffee maker: We had a press pot, but cleaning it is messy. On our last shakedown RV trip, I managed to spray a full cup of soggy grounds all over the interior of our rig. This coffee maker is much easier to wash.

5. Variety of necessary kitchen paraphernalia: Stirring spoons, measuring spoons, measuring cups, bottle opener, bag clips, grater, peeler, spatula, etc.

6. Mugs and cups: So far we've got it narrowed down to four ceramic mugs, two plastic camp mugs, one beer glass, and three juice glasses. This is a small percentage of the glassware we previously owned. We need to make another cut here, but for some reason I'm having trouble letting go. Of drinking glasses. Yeah. 

7. Pyrex measuring cup: I think we've had this since we got married. It's awesome for measuring liquids as well as heating up water in the microwave. It's coming with us.

8. Pots and pans: One wooden salad bowl, one plastic mixing bowl (with handy gripper base), Pampered Chef mixing bowl (I can't part with it - I use it almost every day), saucepan, 8 x 8 glass pan.

9. Instant Pot: This thing is amazing. Every 5-star review you've seen is totally justified. Beans go from dried to fully cooked in less than 30 minutes, and it has a crockpot mode for soups and stews.

10. Our beloved, grimy toaster oven: We really thought about giving this away, but we use it all the time. We make toast in it, bake bread in it, and roast vegetables in it. We'll house it in one of the storage bays, pull it out when we're in camp, and use it as part of our outdoor kitchen.

Going through our belongings to figure out what we need to take, what we want to take, what's easy to let go of, and what we find ourselves attached to has been an interesting and informative experience in itself. What does it say about me that I have a death grip on a coffee mug? (Although come to think of it, maybe that's not too surprising...) What does it mean when we are desperate to sell things we thought we just HAD to have when we purchased them? Should we be giving out plastic- and candy-filled goodie bags at the end of every child's birthday party? (Answer from someone who just spent an hour tossing these foot-piercing pieces of cheap crap: NO! STOP WITH THE GOODIE BAGS.)

One thing I've realized is that I want to become a more thoughtful consumer. I want to spend more time weighing the pros and cons of my purchases - not only in terms of cost, but also in terms of space, emotional aspects, environmental effects, and social impact. Am I buying things because I truly need them or because I want to keep up with the latest trends I see on Instagram, Pinterest, and HGTV? Are the things I'm buying worth the price and the space? What is the cost of disposing of something that looks kind of ugly but that is still completely usable?