Running Out of Space
Nov 12 2009
One of the biggest challenges of our road trip has been space, or lack thereof. While our Newmar Allstar has a “super storage” below the master bedroom, space is still a premium for a family of five living full time in an RV. The kids are allotted 2 drawers each. They use their top drawer for clothes and their bottom drawer for toys/rocks/Halloween candy, and other treasures that kids collect. Off-season clothes are stored below in rubber bins. We routinely make trips to clothing donation boxes. So where does all our other “stuff” go? Here are a few ideas if you are storage-challenged and interested in this type of trip:
- Games: Put all game pieces and instructions in separate zip lock bags. Put game boards and pieces in a large rubber bin, and THROW AWAY THE BOXES! (We fit about 15 games in one bin.) For jigsaw puzzles, cut the picture of the puzzle from the box and put that in a zip lock with the pieces.
- Kitchen items: We have 2 frying pans and 2 saucepans. Everything must have dual purpose to take up real estate, i.e. the colander is my salad/fruit bowl. Corning ware is the only dishware to consider for RVing—plates stack snuggly; they are microwavable, and break resistant. We quickly hand wash dishes after each meal, and they are ready for the next.
- Electronics (cameras, IPODS, computers): We have 2 laptops. We keep all cords and rechargers in small bins in an overhead cabinet. The printer sits at the bottom of our one and only closet.
- Bikes: We rigged up hooks in the super storage. We keep the expensive bikes there, and two kids bikes go on the bike rack on our towed car. Helmets, locks, and bike bags are in a bin below.
- Decorations/knick-knacks/keepsakes: Don’t have them! We visit thrift stores for holiday decorations, and then give them back after use. We do have some small souvenirs in a box below.
I can’t tell you how liberating it is to travel light. We could lighten up more—the digital piano and golf clubs haven’t been pulled out the super storage much! Hopefully we will keep “simple” when we move back in to a house.
On an end note, we do feel like we live simply. I told an Amish person once that we can afford this trip because we live a simple life – me telling an Amish man that “we” live simply…my wife laughed at that.
I admire your talent for ultralight living! My husb & I are long distance hikers whom our friends call “gram weenies” for our ultralight habit on the trail. Anyway, I’m curious about your traveling diet. Suggestion for a column: Food, food, food. It seems like meal planning, shopping & cooking might require great effort for a family of five on the road. How do you work it without succumbing to budget-breaking restaurant food (“road kill”) or falling into repetitive meals like spaghetti every night? And what have been your favorite meals (maybe the crabs you caught?)
Every good long distance hiker possesses the Yogi skill; it’s the art of hanging around a populated place, without begging, but looking so hungry that people offer up food. Your photo of the hungry young RVers in the outdoor kitchen looks an awful lot like yogi’ing! Way to go, kids!
Wait till you finally settle in one place and get your stuff out of storage it will seem like Christmas.
@Verna, thanks for the post. As for food, we have a pretty complete kitchen in the RV, and we use a crock pot quite a bit. We use Cook’s 30 Minute Recipe book and prepare easily prepped meals. We have a good variety, from tamale pies to lasagna, to crock pot chili to yakisoba to somen champru (the latter two are from our Okinawa days). we also travel with a BBQ and use that as weather permits.
We have never had to “Yogi.”
@Pat, great point!