… when you live full time on the road..
That’s right.. There are hundreds of web sites telling you what you need.. Nearly all of them, written by people that has never been even camping in a tent once in their life…
But they need money, so they create sites affiliated with amazon and then make gigantic list with names such as: “50+ Must have items” or “55 Ultimate RV Gadgets” and “RV Must Have Accessories“, that it is a contradiction in terms, as how can an accessorie be a must have? It can only be one or the other..
You have website listing from 11 to 100s “must have” with several options in between.. Which one is the correct number? Someone must be wrong.. What a pile of rubbish!
In all honesty, those sites are designed with the typical one month every year holiday maker in mind.. Most of the gadget listed on those site, also don’t normally last any longer than 12 months of continuos use.. It does make sense, as, if you are using those gadget only for a month every year, you will get ten years of use and you will think that you got a good deal…
When I started travelling, or perhaps I should say before I did start to travel, like everybody else, I was always interested to see new accessories or gadgets, and only I, knows how much money I have wasted in buying lots of what it turned out to be a useless accessorie or gadget…
There are several factors that are not that obvious or apparent at first, when you are about to embark on this adventure. However, as you start to travel it does become quickly apparent and sometimes even painful, that all those gadget you bought thinking that they were going to be very useful (Must Have) are just part of the same trap, that you were trying so hard to escape in the first place…
The first and most important thing to remember is that you are now a minimalist!
noun
- One who advocates a moderate or conservative approach, action, or policy, as in a political or governmental organization.
- A practitioner of minimalism.
- One who believes in or seeks a minimal state; one who seeks to minimize or reduce to a minimum.
You have made that choice, indirectly if you wish, when you decided to live on the road in a confined space that is your RV. And again, because you are full time, it is also no longer a R (recreational), it is just a V or an HV. You don’t use it to go in holiday one month every year in summer. Your entire life and every possessions you own are within your vehicle’s walls..
Can you fit your entire house content in just one room? Welcome to our world!
The second most important thing you will learn, as you start to travel, is that being comfortable in life, is actually quite easy and simple, especially once you understand the true meaning of your adventure.. This, absolutely doesn’t mean that you have to suffer or feel bad about yourself while fulfilling your dream..
It just mean that you have now learn new skills and are far more capable of adapting, improvising, creating and therefore reaching that comfort level, than ever before…
So here is the list of the “Don’t Really Need in your vehicle” and therefore in your life…
- Anything that runs on batteries! (Fans are an example…)
- Anything “Cast Iron” Too heavy and too expensive to carry around the country…
- Anything “Space Saving”. You are a minimalist.. If you need a space saver product, it means you got too much crap or you are willing to take more than you need..
- Bear Spray… (sorry I couldn’t resist)
- Tyre covers… (You are not supposed to stay parked in one spot for that long)
- Large Pressure cooker.. (Not really an item that gets used that often to justify the loss of space)
- Dehumidifier.. (are you using your vehicle only one month every year?)
- 1kg Fire extinguisher (too small, get real and get at least a 2.5kg)
- Special RV Toilet paper… (The biggest joke ever devised.. Best way to convert money into pure crap)
- Chinese noisy and powerless (small) generators… (don’t work well, don’t last long)
- Sewer gloves.. (Are you using gloves when you clean your bum?) (Are you familiar with soap??)
- Cutlery, plates and glasses for 6 people… (You don’t have that many friends travelling with you)
- A Trailer (You have missed the point about the adventure, unless it is for a daily commute vehicle)
- Compact portable washing machine… (we found out this the hard way; they simply don’t work and cost a fortune) (Hi Ali..)
- Expensive TV Aerial.. (Vinegard comes to mind) (again, is that part of the adventure???)
- Electric space heater… (Useless on a solar system)
- Ice Maker.. (What’s wrong with the ice from the freezer??)
- Folding Clothes Line… (the one that looks like an upside down umbrella) (they are useless!!!) You can easily find a broken one in every rubbish bin in most Showground.. (this is also a tip if you need spare parts for yours)
- Portable Air conditioning… (cannot be used properly unless you are willing to do some serious damage to your vehicle)
- Anything electrical above 2000 watts hour of consumption.. (only usable on very sunny day and for very short time)
- Dryers… (Waste of space and 2.5kg dryer for $1863 ??? Are you out of your F%$^&*$ mind???)
- Portable Projectors… (They are a joke… Like watching a 1920 movie as video quality goes)
- Flexible Solar Panel… (You are better off to buy a box of candles for the same value)
- $35 dollars Camping Chair… (Please stop polluting the planet with that crap…They last a weekend if you don’t use them! Again plenty spares available in most rubbish bin Australia Wide)
- Metal Detectors… (You are searching an area where a billion people have searched before you, probably even yesterday.. But they are fun to watch…)
- Caravan Club Membership.. (Oh Jesus) (Only kidding… Am I ?!?)
I will add more to the list as I learn along the way…
We need to keep the weight down, and the idea here is to find multipurpose uses for the same item… There are plenty of site of people that do actually travel, where you can get great ideas on multipurpose items… Practicality and functionality are the key words here..
One last thing I would like to say is that, if you can, stay away from any product with the word RV in their names.. Try to buy instead standard homeware for conventional shops. They are far cheaper and last a lot longer.. This especially apply to the hardware in your vehicle as well..
To be continued…
Leave A Comment