Operation: "Shrinkage" is a success!Oct 30, 2011
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Bikes are loaded
A garage full of tools, reduced to this.
...A little briefcase.
Well, we spent the day fine-tuning the organiziation in the camper. The thing about going from a house to a camper is, you've got no room to just put crap "any ol' place... everything has to have a place, and if possible, be compact to save space. Rule number two: you've got to pack from back to front, things you won't use often in the rear and frequently used items up front when possible. It's really becomes like a giant puzzle game once you get started, the goal: get everything in, while keeping everything easily accessible and easy to find. It has to be organized in a common sense way, otherwise you're always looking for things and digging them out. To save space, a shed full of tools became a briefcase of commonly used tools, with a drill added. A 20' aluminum ladder that used to hang in the garage was replaced with an amazing "telescoping" aluminum ladder from Europe called "Telesteps" (they extend to 14' depending on the model, that only takes up about 3' of space when collapsed, and lays flat). Everything in the camper is stored near the point of use. This prevents us from needing to constantly walk past each other in the narrow hallway. For example, all the towels are right across from the shower and all the food is above the counter near the sink, or above the microwave. All in all, it was alot of fun "putting the puzzle together." One thing I noticed as we went through the process, is that we haven't really given up many of the things we had in the house, we just reduced the number of steps it takes to get to them. We still have all the kitchen appliances, a bedroom and dining room, each with TV. Still have a kitchen, bathroom, "garage", hot water heater, a/c, fridge/freezer, entertainment system, patio, patio furniture, most of our clothes,a vacuum cleaner, a kayak, computer, and a truck, among other things. I think the only thing we'll miss, at least in the near future, is the 42" plasma screen, and streaming video service from the internet. Otherwise, our "backyard" has gotten alot bigger, house cleaning easier, the yardwork is gone, paying for water and garbage is a thing of the past, and paying for electric is optional (solar panel/generator/LPG). Granted, those rooms are smaller, and we won't be doing jumping jacks in the bathroom... but, small price to pay to always be home, home is where we are, and we're never more than a few steps from whatever we need. (And for maybe the first time in 20 years, I know where all my tools and flashlights are!)
