Wandering Thoughts of a Writer: #alternative

Showing posts with label #alternative. Show all posts

Sunday was an awesome day to work on renovating our RV (Aesop) because the weather was cool enough for us to get shit done.

-And we’re making progress!

We’re not finished yet, but check out what we’ve done so far inside the RV . . .

Kevin had to install the padding and carpet in the cockpit area.

I think he did a fine job.

-Then we painted. We still need to finish painting the bedroom and part of the bathroom.

The booth cushions will be covered in a mandala pattern, and the couch will have a brown slip cover with bohemian type pillows. The two windows you see will have patchwork curtains and blinds or a shade.

This is a closet and pantry we redone.

I love the vintage look.

I showed you the following in another post, but I'll show you again.

Kevin distressed this bottom cabinet to give it that vintage gypsy theme we wanted. It was one of the first projects we'd done.

Anyway, I wanted to share our progress with you. I know I love seeing before and after pictures because it shows me what a difference paint and new fixtures make to a boring cabinet.

If you want to continue reading about our progress on transitioning from a conventional lifestyle to an alternative one and about my books—which I need to write a post about in the near future—you can subscribe to this blog on the right-hand side here under "follow me".

Have a wonderful week!

#alternative, #blog, #book, #future, #gypsy, #love, #paint, #progress, #RV, #RV #renovation #installation, #vintage, #weather, 5 Comments

We’re all about simplicity and being as self-sufficient as we can.

When the concept to be digital nomads and travel the U.S. came into fruition in our minds, I discovered the composting toilet. I mentioned it to Kevin, but he wasn’t onboard with the idea right away.

(This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission if you use them, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I love.)

During the months of watching Youtube videos of other full-time RVers living the lifestyle we were working towards adopting, Kevin warmed up to the idea.

At first, he thought about building one for us.

Thankfully, I talked him into getting the Nature’s Head composting toilet. https://amzn.to/2PIxC4v

It’s all about embracing the minimalist’s mindset.

With a regular toilet in an RV, we’d have to deal with the black water tank, putting chemicals in it, attaching a hose to dump, and finding a dumping station. Not to mention, the possibility of having something go wrong while dumping our waste and having it spill all over us.

Nasty.

That happened to a fellow Rver, and he was not a happy camper. No pun intended.

With the composting toilet there are no chemicals, and it’s good for the environment.

Here's what ours look like and an explanation of the simple mechanics behind it.

We're still in the process of renovating our RV (Aesop), and we haven't worked on the bathroom yet, except for tearing out the carpet.

We bought this CoCo Coir to put in our composting toilet.

It’s all-natural.

Your poo turns to compost, and instead of your toilet smelling like shit, it smells like damp earth.

-So, with a composting toilet, we won't be reliant on the sewer system, and it's good for the environment.

It is costly, but worth it in the long run. If down the road (again, no pun intended) we decide to get a new rig, van, or a cabin, we can take the composting toilet with us.

The next thing we had to think about was our refrigerator.

I briefly talked about it before in another post I wrote:

-It's not a 3-way fridge

-3-way refrigerators are expensive. They cost between $1,500-$2,000.00.

We pondered over this situation for a while, and then one day it hit us.

We were thinking from a sticks and bricks mindset, not a minimalist one.

We don't need a big fridge.

All we need is a week's worth of food.

. . . Let's be real here. Most people buy too much food and waste it.

I'm guilty of that, and I hate wasting food.

-So, yeah, at the beginning we weren't thinking correctly. Our thoughts weren't aligned with the minimalist lifestyle we were embracing.

One night, Kevin came across this little badass refrigerator.

The Dobinsons 4X4

https://amzn.to/2odoJmQ

When it arrived at our house, at first I was like: I don't know about this. It's small.

. . . But, after examining it and putting some food in it, I realized it's perfect for our needs.

It'll totally hold a weeks worth of food.

No problem.

-And it runs on solar power as well as 110, and it's portable.

Here's what Kevin did with the space that the original refrigerator was in. He's not done yet, but this is what it looks like at the present moment.

He made shelves for our books or for whatever.

I have to say, the more we embrace this alternative lifestyle, the more liberated we feel.

#allnatural, #alternative, #compostingtoilet, #liberate, #lifestyle, #minimalist, #nature, #nomadiclifestyle #insecure, #refrigerator, #renovation, #RV, #self-discovery, #solar, #travel, 2 Comments

If you had the chance, would you backpack around the world?

I was telling Kevin I want to backpack across Southeast Asia, and I’ve done some research on it. It’s totally doable, and the cost would be relatively low.

To my delight, he was open to my suggestion, and then we talked about doing the same thing across Europe. I would continue with my freelance writing and writing books as well as creating a documentary of our journey and sharing it with the world.

. . . But, I will not leave this guy behind. So those plans are on hold for now.

I’m cool with that because currently we’re in the process of becoming minimalist and preparing ourselves to travel the US as digital nomads.

That’s a huge undertaking that one shouldn’t do on a whim.

Don’tcha agree?

-So we’re taking our time and going with the flow.

I have to be honest here . . . since we’ve decided we want to live an alternative lifestyle as minimalist to where we’ll be living in the now, discovering self and no longer just existing, I've had a strong feeling of liberation and a happiness I’ve never experienced before.

-However, my happiness is not wrapped up in the RV (Aesop) or the idea of all the adventures Kevin and I are going to have or us backpacking across Southeast Asia.

My happiness derives from answering this simple question last August 2017:

Who was I before society told me who I should be?

After honestly answering that question and realizing I don’t need all the stuff I have, I got busy changing my life and returning back to who I truly am. I’m still working on it, btw. Fortunately, Kevin is on the same page as me, and he’s doing his own work beside me.

I’ve learned, though from past experiences that I’m the only one that’s going to make me happy, not another person, and not material objects.

Happiness is a choice.

. . . But this post isn’t about happiness. I already wrote an article about that topic. Hereà https://medium.com/@authorrebekkahford/fifteen-things-you-can-do-to-make-yourself-happy-27612f0f9027

Anyway, I know this path we’re going to embark on will be a challenging one and there will be sacrifices, but I also know for me personally, if I were to continue on with the life I have now, I'd be just existing instead of living. Ten years from now, I’d be living the same life.

I don’t want that.

Yes, I’ll be totally stepping out of my comfort zone, but that’s okay. Growth happens when you step out of your comfort zone and you open yourself up for new opportunities that would normally not happen if you didn’t step out of your protective bubble.

Backpacking across a country or even your own, would be an experience of a lifetime and totally stepping out of your comfort zone.

-However, it’s not for everyone, which is fine.

I have no judgment here.

Do what makes YOU happy and live your life the way you want to.

. . . But, if I ever have the opportunity to backpack across Southeast Asia or Europe, I will, and I’ll share the experience with you. For sure. :)