The hunt for that perfect home

I have to say, looking for what we need at a price we can afford is not that easy. There are a LOT of RV's for sale that are basically weekender models, and then there are what we would like, but it's not a four season model (meaning that there isn't any insulation or heated tanks).

We're not really planning on being up here in Canada during the winter, but there will be times that we'll need it anyways. I once was camping, went to bed in 25C weather, and woke up to a foot of snow around my tent. Was not pleasant...

The journey continues

We have been selling off our "stuff" for a bit now, and we have a few hundred dollars in a jar now. We're still selling stuff, and we're not in any rush. We've had people contact us looking for a 75% discount on what we are selling, and we don't even need to respond. We are not in any rush.

Getting rid of "stuff"

Today I posted about 20 ads on kijiji.ca (Canada's version of craigslist, only way better) of stuff we are selling. Occasionally, I'm sure that we will start to get emotional over certain "stuff", but right now, we're getting rid of a lot of stuff that we either do not use or won't once we move.

Dealing with the stress of wanting to go NOW

Yesterday, I worked from home as I do twice a week and I was sitting out on my deck while my daughter played in her little kiddie pool. It was a great day. We played, and cleaned and I was just happy.

It made me really want to get going now, not next year, and now today I have some anxiety about having to stay for at least another nine months in one place. Aside from that, we're making sure to budget and get our bills paid and that is making me think about all that money and how it could actually go to us instead of others. Seriously, rent, utilities, assorted bills.... Rent could be our monthly payments on our trailer, utilities could be filling a propane tank and the sun giving us free electricity. Water is typically free if you fill up somewhere with a hose. Then there's gas for the vehicle.

Selling your worldly possessions

One part of getting ready to live full time in any RV is the downsizing of your possessions. The first time I did this in my van, I was pretty certain that I wouldn't be staying in it permanently as my son would be coming back to me. So I rented a storage unit and stuffed it full of everything but the very few essentials I needed. Even at that, I ended up putting more stuff in the unit after a week in the van. Believe it or not, I didn't actually miss anything I put away, but that may have been because I knew it wasn't gone forever.

Dealing with naysayer family members

I expected that some of our family would be resistant to this whole idea, and it's expected naturally. We're planning on something that is outside the norm.

However, today was something special. Nothing can prepare you, not a single thing that anyone, including myself can say to help prepare you for some people's reactions...

Time to really look into solar

Last night we had a rain storm roll through and we lost power at the house as the sun was setting. What a pain! This happens more often than we would like, but we're out in the country and well, apparently it happens a lot according to the neighbours.

I was heading outside to the car in order to charge my phone and my garage light turned on. It's solar powered, and the only thing that was providing light. We couldn't cook dinner, and had no running water either as we're on a well system, and it requires power too.

These are issues that I will not miss when moving into the RV. We will need to have a source of power though that is reliable, and as we're not always going to be in areas where we can plug in during our travels, we need to get power another way, and that way is solar.

Today's outing

Today, the wife, Princess, and I went out to look at some RV's. Minion was dropped off to head out to his cadet camp. We first went to the RV lot in Balzac to look at the RV I previously mentioned. It's great!

The size is quite nice, and we think that we could do quite well with the trailer for a few years.

 

First thought on a new home

While we're looking, I think I'll post the one's that we are considering.

Currently, we are going this weekend to have a look at some trailers around the area. One that we like is the Forest River Rockwood Signature Ultra Lite 8312SS.

It's 34 feet long, and has two rooms, as well as a bathroom with a tub! The pics below are from the 2014 model, and there's only one bathroom, but the 2015 model has two.

What we need in a home

While we're in the process of looking for a place to call home, it occurs that I should write down what it is that as a family, we will require. This is a very important part of trying to find something.

So, what do we need? Keep in mind this is now, and needs may change.