Space Has Taken on a Whole New Meaning as a Full-Time RVer

For decades, I tried to figure out where I belonged, even in my early years of high school. I didn’t belong to a clique, group, club, or gang.

I was an outcast. A loner.

I was a 15-year-old-teenager making sure her younger sister got her homework done, and her older sister stayed out of trouble while her mom was at work. There was no time for foolishness. I spanked my older sister when needed (despite being much younger) and sat down with my younger sister to make sure she was ready for tomorrow’s math test. When the day was over, I retreated to my sanctuary: A small corner room in our ranch-style home.

I packed that small room full of music boxes, books, stuffed animals, and various nick-nacks. Little did I know, I would be married just a year after graduating high school and leaving all of those treasures behind.

I left home at 19-years-old with two suitcases and a carry-on bag to be with my husband. Other than my clothes and a few pots and pans I could pack, we didn’t own anything. We went dumpster diving for our furniture, slept together on a full-size mattress on the floor, and shopped second-hand. Despite trying to make a future for us, I did my best to make our two-bedroom apartment feel like a home.

Over our twenty-year marriage, I felt like I finally achieved it. I showcased several collected antiques that fit our farmhouse theme and gloated over guests’ compliments, making me feel like my home could be featured in Better Homes & Gardens.

It wasn’t easy accomplishing. Before I enlisted as an active duty member, we often went to bed arguing about paying a utility bill or buying groceries. Nine out of ten times: We spent our money on a bill and went to bed with hunger pains. In 2007, we faced one of the worst housing market crashes and quickly understood what the phrase “being upside down” meant. Ever since we have been too afraid to own a house again.

Making the best of renting while serving our country, we would pick up and leave every three to four years. Each time we boxed up our belongings, we’d carefully unwrap them, find a spot where we felt they belonged, and tried to make the best of our new residence.

No matter how much effort we put into the transition, no place felt like home.

Trying my best to make our living space feel like ours, I continued to fill it with stuff. I became obsessed with materials and consuming items to fill the void of trying to feel like I belong there. Soon, I found myself constantly dusting, cleaning too much house, and maintaining a space that did not feel like ours.

One day I woke up and opened my eyes. I suddenly saw our home in a new light, and none of our belongings meant anything to me anymore.

I went through every inch of our 1,600 square foot home and sold all of it. Ironically, I kept about the same amount of stuff I took with me when I was 19-years-old: Clothes, pots, and pans. I officially went full-circle. Except instead of moving into a two-bedroom apartment, we bought an RV.

I said “goodbye” to the sticks and bricks lifestyle to live as a nomad, and I’m the happiest I have ever been.

It takes me 20 minutes to clean our “house,” and I belong to a community that makes me feel included. The most important thing: I have learned to live with less and focus on my health. I have learned that material things don’t mean anything; Only the company of my friends and family.

The space I occupy is less than 400 square feet that exist on top of six tires. Each morning, I wake up to birds chirping outside my window, I drink my coffee on our porch, and I’m at peace with the world surrounding me as my domain. Living a tiny life has made me feel the most alive that I have ever felt.

It often takes people a lifetime to find this kind of happiness. I hope you can also find the happiness you deserve, no matter how you choose to pursue it or where you are.

“In age of consumerism and materialism, I traffic in blue sky and colored air.” — James Turrell¹

[1.] James Turrell: An American artist known for his work with light and space movement.

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This article was originally published on Medium and CrystalsWritingRoom.