Walkabout
I've
been preoccupied with cashing in, selling out, packing up and
shoving off and haven't had much time for writing until now.
Here's a quick catch-up::
I
bought an RV, a 24' Tioga "Walkabout" Class-C motor
home, from a rental place in Peekskill, New York. It's built on
a 1995 Ford 350 truck chassis with a powerful, 460 HP engine and
boasts all the modern conveniences - generator,
refrigerator/freezer, 3-burner propane stove & oven, hot
running water, bathroom with separate shower stall, comfortable
double bed, convertible dinette, lounge chair, and good lighting
throughout.
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I
searched long & hard from New York to New Hampshire
to figure out and then find the right RV, the best
combination of size, layout, price and availability. I
started out thinking I'd get a bigger rig, 30' or more,
but soon realized that would make it harder to maneuver
into the off-road places I most like to visit with a
camper. (My golden rule is never to stay in RV parks.)
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Besides,
I don't really need big accommodations. Having spent so much of
my life living aboard boats, I'm comfortable in relatively small
living spaces - as long as they're mobile. Hell, I once lived
aboard a 14' motorboat in the Virgin Islands for a couple of
months, with a girl friend! So even a modest size RV can easily
be made to feel like home.
I
finally found what I wanted, but it needed (and still needs)
some alterations to suit me. The seller had a big repair shop on
premises, so I had them make some of the improvements to the
Walkabout before I picked it up. This included a complete
tune-up, new tires, batteries, belts & hoses, and a dozen
small repairs & upgrades. I also had them rip out the old
carpet and lay down a new tile floor, the first step in
converting the original, tacky blue-green interior color scheme
to something I can live with. I expect you'll be seeing further
improvements in updates to this travelogue. Here is what I
started with:
click to enlarge |
click to enlarge |
Moving
Out, Moving In
Moving
out of the house I have occupied for the past 5 years proved to
be a bigger task than I had anticipated. It took a couple of
weeks of very physical effort. At the same time I was juggling
multiple business and personal chores, all geared towards
getting me out of here on schedule. Finally, I signed over
ownership of Anchor Yacht & Ship Sales to my successor and
joined the ranks of the blissfully unemployed.
Now,
dealing with possessions can be onerous in general, but rarely
more so than when moving. Because I'm drawn to a nomadic
lifestyle, I have packed up and moved more than most people. As
a result I've accumulated fewer "things" than most of
my peers. After all, in my adult life I've never lived in one
location for more than 5 years and usually spend much less time
than that before uprooting and heading off to new places. In
addition, my preferred abode is a mobile one, camper or boat,
neither of which allow me to accumulate lots of
"stuff."
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Still,
like most people I tend to fill up the space I have and
when I live in a house for a while things seem to pile
up. During this record-setting 5-year stay in
Barrington, Rhode Island I've enjoyed the luxury of a 3
or 4 (depending how you count) bedroom home all to
myself, so you can imagine how much stuff confronted me
when it came time to move into a 24' camper van. I
didn't realize just how much until I started packing and
moving it.
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click to enlarge
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Actually,
this weeding out and whittling down of possessions is an
exercise I cherish. I've been looking forward to and even
fantasizing about this round pretty much since I moved into the
Barrington house on New Year's Day, 1999. Getting rid of stuff
is a discipline that tests and hones my ability to unattach
myself from material possessions, which I find tend to bog us
down and possess us at least as much as we posses them. So, even
though it was a considerable amount of physical and mental labor
to sort, discard, pack & move this houseful, it was also fun
and uplifting, and for me a special part of breaking free.
I
boxed and stored what I wanted to save, sold several old cameras
on eBay, had a weekend-long tag sale at which I made about $500
selling junk I didn't want anyway, put the best of what remained
in a couple of consignment shops, and had the Salvation Army
come and cart away everything else. Free at last!
Next
Entry: 03/14/04
