One of the advantages of traveling with your house, is that you generally never have to pack. Most full time RVers have painstakingly considered every single item they travel with for its use, space and functionality. Everything they think they could need is quite literally within an arm’s reach.
When packing for a vacation or business trip or backpacking adventure, most folks have to consider the weather and type of events they’ll be attending to determine what clothing and shoes to bring. And, they have to make some firm decisions based on what they can fit in their luggage. When you get used to traveling with your whole closet however, the ritual of packing is something us full time RVers can quickly forget. And then there’s the technology that you think you need to bring with you – laptop, chargers, external batteries, camera, cables and more.
For many of us, it’s a great balance of exploring wanderlust while having all the comforts of home.
However, despite preferring to travel with our house – we do occasionally choose other forms of travel for convenience or necessity. In the past month we’ve actually had two adventures that required actually packing a bag. At the beginning of the month we joined some friends in Las Vegas for Photoshop World – and it was just easier and cheaper to carpool up together and split a hotel room. And this past weekend, I traveled up to San Francisco for a conference while Chris stayed behind with our house in southern California to attend a different conference.
While the adventure of other modalities of travel is fun – I have to admit, thinking through packing a bag and having to make decisions ahead of time as to what I think I might like to wear and what technology I need, is a challenge. I’ve definitely grown spoiled by always having everything I own with me, as in both cases – I overpacked.
I’m not an RVer but lived for several years on a 26′ sailboat and loved every minute of it. I sailed, single-handed, from south Florida to Mexico, Belize and the Rio Dulce in Guatemala for a nine-month cruise and the best part of it was I was HOME EVERY NIGHT.
.-= Richard´s last blog ..More Playing for Change =-.
I have a feeling that I would find a way to overpack the RV! I am always pack way too much stuff. Half the time I get there and question why I brought some of the things I brought- I never learn though:)
I am so guilty of overpacking…and it seems like the perfect metaphor for our culture. We “have” to have this, we can’t live without that. Yet most of the time, we find we never needed those things after all and the whole affair would have been much easier without carrying around all that crap.
Nice new digs on the page by the way…looks great!
Ah, packing- what’s even worse is UNPACKING! It took me weeks to unpack from Burning Man this year. I have to admit, I definitely miss the non-packing RV life. It’s like those women with giant purses- hey anyone have gum? How about toilet paper? You’ve got everything you need with you at all times!
.-= Alanna´s last blog ..Black Rock City- Evolution =-.
As a full-timer I know exactly what you mean. When I get away from my rig and need something that is back at the rig I have an odd feeling. Like I have lost some of my super-powers! You have a great blog, I enjoy reading it. Happy trails!
.-= Johnny B´s last blog ..Travel Day, Moab to St. George, Utah =-.