On the Road with David

I’m surrounded by junk. And some of it is pretty good stuff. But it has become junk to me. And it is all about to leave my realm – replaced instead by a life of high tech minimalism in our 38 foot motorhome, a Class A diesel-pusher.

Why am I doing this?

Why am I selling my 5 bedroom house on 1/3 acre of prime California soil, with a swimming pool and a hot tub only a second away?

To live in a bus?

Heck yes!

You see I have a picture perfect life as a self employed ad executive. I didn’t know what I was missing out there – but I knew I was missing something. It gnawed at me inside – but it took going to one of those RV shows at the local fairgrounds to really drive the point home to my soul.

Looking around the family room, it is almost empty. The TV and TIVO and surround sound system we already gave away to one of the kids.

I make a nice buck – no Bill Gates, mind you – but the suburban dream has been attained and mastered. The kids have all survived past their twenties – so that job is done. My wife and I are still very hot for each other – which is so awesome.

But here we were empty nesters in our huge house, still jamming at the business – paying a huge mortgage and other home expenses like the gardener and the pool & spa service. Lookin good – but going to bed at night with a “Why are we still doing this?”

The extra bedroom is loaded with boxes of books. Some I read, many I have not. We could store them but the storage unit we rented is starting to fill up. So they are earmarked for the garage sale.

Last year – while we were on deadline for our next round of advertising publications – my wife, Louise says, “We need a few hours break. There’s an RV show at the Pavilion. Let’s go check it out.”

A few months earlier we had spent two nights in a 30 year old rental trailer at a nearby campground. The smell and the dust were still fresh in my memory. “Sweetie, I thought we talked about that – I’m not the camping type.”

“I know, but let’s just go look at them – just to see what new RVs look like”

So we did and I have to tell you it is pretty amazing what the absence of 30 years of human waste processing can do in the presentation. The first coach we saw was one of those luxury mammoths with stone floors and counters and I found myself saying “I could live like this.”

We decided to search for a really clean 5 or 6 year old model first – just to make sure we liked it for real. We bought a 2000 Fleetwood Southwind and called it “Harvey” Harvey the RV – get it?

The next year we got out as often as we could. We loved the coziness of it. Found ourselves wanting more and more get-aways. Really liked all the quality time. It felt like we were kids ‘playing house’ instead of the established adults we were.

One day Louise asked me, “Can we run our business from the road?”

So I set about the challenge of seeing if that was possible. I love technology and being on the cutting edge and within a few months I was able to set up our entire office onboard.

For the next few months we tested our systems within a day’s drive of home – just in case things fell apart. They didn’t fall apart. Instead we were able to streamline our workflow and actually become more efficient. The challenge of adapting the business to the road led to greater productivity!

Suburban reality set in like a cold shower every time we came home to our beautiful house filled with beautiful furnishings that just didn’t feel like ‘it’ for us anymore. One night she asks me, “If we did move into the RV – we can’t keep all our stuff. Look around this bedroom and tell me what you would want – really want in the RV.

I scanned the room. Surveyed the paintings and the knick-knacks. I could do without all of it. The various furnishings held no meaning. My eyes rested on the nightstand and on it was my cell phone and I declared that it (the phone, not the nightstand) was probably the only thing I would really need from this room.

So we made the decision. Let’s sell the house. Let’s fulfill her dream (which by now I shared 100%) to travel the USA in a motorhome. Let’s not wait until we are retired. Let’s do it now and run our business as we go.

We put the house on the market and took off for a few months while the realtors did their thing. Along the way, we traded Harvey in for Harvey II, a 38’ Holiday Rambler Endeavor. Three slides. Deisel. It actually feels spacious to me because I had become accustomed to the smaller Southwind.

The offer for the house came in while we were driving through the desert. We actually pulled off the road – set up our systems and faxed and emailed papers back and forth.

Now we’re back at the house getting ready to transfer it to the new owners. Most of the furniture is in the garage – ready to be either picked up by friends or sold at our garage sale next week.

As I survey the piles – I’m almost in disbelief at how much we have accumulated over the years. The past several months in the coach showed me just how little we really need to live quite nicely.

The really nice paintings are already in our rented storage unit. The rest are either for garage sale or just to give away. The two bedrooms that had served as his and hers offices are already empty. The office furniture is in storage.

Half of our wardrobe we donated to charity. Most of the remaining half is in storage.

What is so strange is that I don’t miss any of this stuff when I’m on the road. Even the stuff that is in storage – you know the stuff that survived the toss, sell, give away or keep process – even that stuff is pretty meaningless at the moment.

So it seems like the answer to “Is there more?” is yes. There is more in less. Less stuff. Less clutter. Less space – but mobile space. Space that drives. Space that facilitates the dream of constant travel.

Locking the door on the storage unit one more time – then back to the house to sort some more. Maybe one day we’ll even ditch all the stuff in storage.

I can’t wait until we’re back on the road. In two weeks the new owners move in to our ‘former’ house and we are vagabonds again – only this time for the long haul.

We just want to be driving off to another adventure. With only the little that we really need with us. Like our computers and cell phones and wifi cards and of course, credit cards. And most important – each other. Wilder and crazier and younger than ever.

So I’m surrounded by junk. Junk, at least until I pick up this one souvenir and it evokes that memory of ‘then’ and ‘I can’t sell this’ – this goes into our storage unit.

Gotta be careful – that storage unit is getting pretty full.

I'm Alive, Alert, Awake - Enthusiastic!!
Thanks Unity Center of Walnut Creek. Ever since our visit on Sunday - that song has been going on in my head - over and over again. It is 5:30 AM and I can't sleep so is that a good thing?
I'm Alive, Alert, Awake - Enthusiastic!!
Daisy (our Golden Retriever) woke me up to go take care of doggie business. We walked along the grass of the Pleasanton Fairgrounds. All the time I'm humming...
I'm Alive - Alert - Awake. I'm Awake - Alert- Alive.
Then I plopped my head back on the pillow. Waited for the drowsiness to settle back in.
I'm Alive, Alert, Awake -
The wind kicked up kind of fierce and I knew I had to get up again and retract the motorhome's awnings.
Enthusiastic!!
Well, I knew I wanted to share on this blog site and it has been a while - so I handled the awnings - made some coffee and now - here I am.
I'm Alive, Alert, Awake - Enthusiastic!!

So on this site you may scroll to view my videos. You really don't have to watch them all - unless you are a close friend or family member and then you really might want to watch us standing on line for 'Pirates of the Caribbean' at Disneyland and our visit to Joshua Trees National Park. Otherwise - my two favorites are "The Love and Sex Life of A Date" and "Here I am getting the coach ready to go:". Enjoy...

I promise to add more videos and maybe some reflections here - so feel free to visit now and then.