Van Dwelling

It hasn't really sunk in yet that van dwelling is more than a set of tasks on my to do list. This time it's just about the van. It doesn't need anything done to it or for it. It just "is". This one isn't about how many generators I can get into it, or when is the vent getting installed, or covering up metal walls. This is a passenger van with two bench seats and carpeting, and is fairly finished inside. The doors are conveniently arranged and the windows are darkly tinted. So even curtains aren't absolutely necessary. I'll check that out later tonight.

I've let my mind go in circles trying to decide what this trip to Pennsylvania means for me. It was mainly about seeing my son and his new baby that is due this week. And secondarily it was about the lawsuit and the trial scheduled for the 31st. The job is out there, too. Though I wouldn't have to be tied to the job. The freedom that is all tied up in that van is something I just can't comprehend the same way I accepted the shackles of restricted living. I can come and go, with or without stuff, really I can.

I've mentally explored endless possibilities in trying to decide what to take, what to leave behind, and how I will live out there. I still have a lot of stuff and if I wanted to stay in Pennsylvania for a month or more, then I don't want to be thinking I'd like to make some soy milk then remember the soy milk maker is in Missouri. I might want to work on craft projects, but the same condition applies. Where is all the stuff? Then what happens if I lose my stuff? This is a George Carlin schtick if I ever saw one. Stuff, stuff! Everywhere and nowhere is the stuff!

I did shop a little for the new van: big toolbox, large rectangular zipper bag to organize van dwelling stuff, a port-a-potty for those nights or days when I'm too shy to go into a facility, LED lantern, and some camping cookware. I have stuff all over the living room of the RV as I'm trying to organize before loading the van before my trip.

The priorities are work (PC, hardware enclosure, laptop, printer, scanner, camera, software), personal (clothes, shoes, toiletries), paperwork (consolidate even more!), memoribilia (scanning project), camping & hiking gear, garden & sprouting stuff, kitchen gear (if I decide to get a place). Nice-to-have would be all the jewelry supplies and tools, and my dolls and crafts. And then there are the cats, Spike and Kristi Belle Belle. My head is spinning.

Do I go ahead and take out the bench seats then put in the living space, which means storing the bench seats in Missouri? Or, do I leave in the bench seats and take all the above items, leaving the cats and the crafts? I don't really have time for crafts if I'm going to visit my son and the new baby, hike as much as possible, finish consolidating the paperwork, and further consolidate memoribilia in the scanning project. If I'm going to stay in Pennsylvania I don't necessarily want to drive all the way back to Missouri to get the cats and the crafts, but I would have to come back anyway to sell the car. Argh! See why I can't stop the voices in my head?

OK, calming down a bit. I'll take the bench seats, work stuff, kitchen stuff, paperwork, memoribilia, and hiking & camping gear. I'll take my air mattresses in case I want a real bed. I'll leave the Spike and take Kristi Belle Belle. Marie will take Spike if for some reason I can't get back here (I hope, he's her cat!). I'll stuff other things into the van, things I can't easily or cheaply replace. Then I'll rent a storage room in Pennsylvania to hold the stuff while I leisurely go through it. This is really, really ridiculous! I'm really not all about my stuff, but I do have some hobbies and I haven't had a chance to work all this out.