Why Wandering? Part Two - Getting Ready for the Road

 

Once we decided to live in our motorhome full-time, our wanderlust fever began to grow. We informed our Apartments that we would move at the end of July and set a whirlwind of activity in motion.

 

We had downsized once when we sold our home in 2018. But, in many ways, this second downsizing was even more challenging. We went from 2,400 feet and a full garage to our 1,300 sq ft apartment with a garage. The sheer volume of stuff we had to give, donate or sell made this problematic. With this move, we had to make even more painful decisions about things we had chosen to keep in 2018. This meant getting rid of things we had an emotional attachment to and things we believed we could not live without. 

 

Koko, our motorhome, had limited storage space. We knew we wanted to keep most of our furniture from the apartment because we expected to return to a new apartment or house when our wandering days ended. Anything that did not fit in Koko, Nakai (our Jeep), or the storage unit would have to go. This led to some tough decisions. We located a 10X20 storage unit on the 3rd floor of a storage facility in Houston.

 

We also started changing our domicile from Houston to a Full-time RVers mail service in Livingston, Texas, Escapees, Inc. I did not know there was a difference between the home address and the domicile. They were the same as long as we lived at a physical address. But voting and other legal requirements require a domicile address where we are considered legal residents. The physical address is where the Post Office delivers our mail. The mail service allows us to use a mailbox as a physical address and domicile.

 

I contacted Escapees and started the process of changing our address and domicile. Since we had already established a domicile in Texas, this process was easier than for people who needed to change the State of their domicile. They would also have to establish legal residence before their domicile could be recognized. We became "residents" of Polk County, Texas. We would be subject to call for jury duty in Polk County, and our insurance rates would no longer be based on a Houston address. These changes presented their own unique challenges, but Escapees helped us through all of them.

 

Next, we started working our way through the stuff in the garage. We packed what we wanted to keep. Then we found a Resale shop in Houston that would take some of our stuff. We were thrilled because it would use the proceeds to fund meds for AIDS patients. We also gave some things to the resale shop in Stafford, where I had volunteered when I served in Sugar Land. We sent much of our stuff from the apartment to our daughter in Galveston. But, as always, some stuff would not find a new home.

 

I grew up in a family that did not like to waste anything. It is not that we were hoarders with narrow trails through our house, but I do not like to get rid of things that "might come in handy." We also had some large appliances that would not be needed and some items of furniture that held special meaning to us. We found homes for the appliances, but the furniture had to be tossed. That was very hard. We grieved as a family for a few of the items. By the middle of June, we were getting down to the last bit of stuff that needed downsizing. We started moving things into storage, one carload at a time. After several weeks of constant activity, we knew we needed one last push to get on the road. So, we did what any reasonable person would do. We took a vacation!

 

We took a week-long trip in Marlene's car to benefit from the 50 MPG. We went to NW Missouri and visited an old friend from Seminary. Even though we had placed our wanderlust in the back seat, it was still with us, pushing us to get back to Texas and finish our preparation. It was a welcome and enjoyable respite from all the planning, sorting, deciding, packing, and hauling. It was time to relax before the final push. Dale and Terri offered us that breather. We wandered our way back from Missouri and talked constantly. Along the way, we saw places we would want to return to when we hit the road.

 

When we got back, Marlene researched and sold her car on Carvana. We started packing up the apartment. Marlene had already scheduled a mover to help with the furniture and heavier items. We had already moved the bulk of the other stuff with daily trips to the storage unit. We did Target and U-Haul Store runs to buy packing and storage supplies. This broke up days of packing and hauling boxes to the storage unit. As the unit began to fill, I grew fearful that the 10X20 would not be big enough. I set up spreadsheets that helped us estimate how many cubic feet of space we would need and had already used. We knew that anything that did not fit in Koko, Nakai, or the Storage would have to be tossed. The next four weeks were very stressful.

 

We moved Koko to an RV park next to the storage unit and started getting Koko ready for full timing. We traded out some of our small appliances and kitchenware. We now had a week before moving into Koko and another week before we would need to be out of the apartment. It was crunch time.

 

As I look back, that period was a blur. We spent time with friends and family that we would not see as often once we hit the road. We took stuff to Galveston for Melissa and did our best not to kill one another in the chaos. The occasional wounding was inevitable, but we could forgive and forget for the sake of the road. Surprises popped up and reminded us that life on the road was not about being in control. The RV Park where we were staying "fried "our surge protector with a cross-wired pedestal. The Resale Shop refused to take some things they had previously agreed to take. In many ways, we realized our new adventure had already begun. However, instead of sucking the energy from me, these little reminders energized me. They invited me to look ahead at life's unknowns on the road. It was all part of the joy of wanderlusting.

 

Finally, the day came to take our last bit of clothes, etc., into Koko and start our lives in that 175 sq. ft. The apartment held the last of the boxes and the furniture. When I closed the door, I felt something very different. I was closing the door on a lifetime of living in a settled place. For the foreseeable future, our home had wheels. We would shop in strange grocery stores and adapt to a new climate and environment every week or so. When I heard that door catch and the lock engage, I felt free to live a life that had only been a dream a few months before.

 

For the next week, we settled into Koko. We moved the last of the boxes to storage. Met the moving truck and oversaw moving our stuff from the apartment and garage into the storage unit. The picture above is a testimony to the power of an Excel Spreadsheet to calculate Cubic Feet. We got everything into the storage. Two very professional movers made sure we could close the door on the storage unit with a whole inch to spare.

 

When we returned to the apartment to do one last cleaning, we felt like we were sweeping away an old life. Relief and excitement bubbled up inside when we returned to Koko after everything had been done and the checklist was complete. All I could think about was, "The adventure begins. It will be what we make of it." All that remained was to prepare Koko for the road and make our first trip as full-timers. It was time to start scratching our wanderlust with every mile of the open road.

 

Bob