I’m going to share a secret with you.
I’m going to tell you my secret for downsizing from our 1,100 square foot home to a 100 square foot shuttle bus.
But first, you have to answer a question. Be honest, now; otherwise, well, how will I ever be able to believe a word you say in the future?
Here’s the question: Could you do it? Could you do what we are doing, selling everything, giving away what you don’t sell, and cramming all of your worldly possessions into a living space on wheels?
Could you? Better yet, would you?
And now, as a reward for answering that soul-searching question, I’m going to share that promised secret with you.
How can I downsize so drastically? How can I sell 90% of my possessions?
The secret: I simply don’t care about those possessions. They are not important to me. They once were but are no longer.
There you have it!
I once bought into the rat-race
Make no mistake about it, I was once a card-carrying member of the rat-race. I worked jobs so I could purchase more, plain and simple. And then I worked more jobs so I could buy more possessions, and if I didn’t have enough money for those possessions, I took out loans so I could buy them, and I worked longer hours to pay off the loans, robbing Peter to pay Paul, and I practiced that insanity for over fifty years.
Fifty years!
And right this very moment, some of you are nodding, because you know you’ve done it too.
A rumbly in my tumbly
There was no Evangelical moment for me. I did not wake up one day with this discovery, the knowledge that I have been chasing my tail for lo these many decades. Instead, as our old friend Pooh likes to say, there has been a bothersome rumbly in my tumbly for some time now, a nagging whisper in the dark recesses of my brain, that something was not right. Thoreau called it living a life of quiet desperation, and I was, but I wasn’t aware of why.
I knew I wasn’t happy, but I could not put my finger on the source of that unhappiness.
The Awakening
Self-awareness . . . self-reflection . . . actually taking the time to look in a mirror, study the reflection, and determine why the laugh lines were fewer, why the soul worked harder to radiate, why a once light-hearted individual had to work so hard to crack a smile on his craggy face . . . I had to be cruelly honest with myself to find the answer. Thankfully, I found it, before it was too late. At seventy-four, time was running out, and wouldn’t it be sad to die without discovering the source of that desperation?
I needed to get off the treadmill and simplify my life. I had paid my dues, played the game like a fervent, dedicated devotee, done everything I could to be a good, economic soldier, to keep the world economy humming, and I had failed miserably, with failure being measured by the level of satisfaction I lived with daily.
Stick a fork in me; I’m well-done!
Understand this well
I am not speaking for anyone else. I am not even suggesting that you do the same. I am no soapbox preacher. I have no desire to be the face of some grand movement. I am simply explaining why I am doing what I am doing. That is all! It is a full-time job for me to take care of me. It would be exhausting to take on the excrement of someone else’s life.
I simply promised you all to share a secret with you, and I’ve done that in this article.
I no longer care about any of it! I am burning my membership card to the Great Economic Movement. I am turning in my key to the clubhouse. My thoughts now turn to the basics, the foods, the water, and the shelter on wheels I am lovingly constructing. I am turning my attention to just being, to wander through this country, to take pictures, to film films, to sniff flowers and wade through streams and watch clouds drift by.
What you do with this secret I have shared with you all is your business. Laugh at it, disdain it, mock it, or perhaps allow it to sink into the soil, and give birth to a seedling.
It’s entirely up to you!
Bill
P.S. You can follow along on YouTube by subscribing to As We Wonder. I would love to have good company on my journeys. And, if you have a hankerin’ to support our efforts to create entertaining content, you can support us for as little as $3 per month on Patreon, also under As We Wonder.
Thank you, Irish. We are adjusting, and making it up as we go along, but so far, so good. I hope you and the Mickster are doing well.
Hi Bill,
Have a truly epic trip with bev and the four legged buddies, no doubt your stories, discoveries, ups and downs will all be wonderful memories and moments to savour. Your decision is truly inspiring and I applaud you 110%.Changing your life, lifestyle and downsizing like you have done is something more of us should take stock of.Having moved our lives in Dublin into a van and horsebox and driven to Southern italy not the same as we moved to a home but it did make us both question our need of so many material things and made us appreciate the simple things in life more like heat, a roof, water ,nature and having a simple coffee on a piaza watching the world go by.Happy travels and will be tuned in!!
Ann, I’m having internet connectivity issues on the road, so it takes me awhile to respond to comments. Be patient with me, as I know you will be, while I get the hang of this traveling lifestyle. Thank you for loyally following along, my friend.
Lil Sis, you are a piece of work, an original sculpture, and I love you for your individuality and your heart. I have nothing to add to what you wrote, only to say you wrote my story, as you always do.
Hurry up and get back on the road so we can meet up somewhere. I would love to make that happen somewhere in the fly-over section of the U.S.
Toby and Maggie send their love, from Bend, Oregon.
Ah Big Bro. When I left that teaching job in 2012, I left “regularity” as I knew it. And I never have known much money in my adult life. As a kid, I wanted for nothing: my parents worked so hard and so many jobs that I ached for them to be home more and so that we could do more together. I understood that to go to the school I wanted to and to have nice things, my parents would do that no matter what. But as an adult, I have pretty much eschewed the feverish work pace. On the one hand it’s freeing: occasionally since 2012 I’ve worked full time, to “catch up” and pay off my student loans and such. But mostly I’ve freelanced, getting by. It’s a harder road: there’s less security and at least for me, more worry about where the next gig will come from. But I actively choose it. Why? Because I get to choose. I get to make my schedule. I have two special needs kitties (definitely something we didn’t plan) and I find myself at odds with trying to hustle while making sure I provide all the prescription food and vet visits they need. I had a lightbulb moment the other day that even if I wanted to get a regular job, I would absolutely have to do it at home – because of our animals and because we like to do things during the week together when there are less crowds, like skiing. (And as my parents get older, I may be called upon to care for my special needs brother). If I did try to do a full time gig, I would have to sacrifice all the things I love doing: playing the piano, hiking, walking exercises, taking courses to improve my design skills, etc., etc. Why am I telling you this? Because when we’re true to ourselves, and we know what we need/want, we go after it. It’s not easy. It’s not always pretty. But it is always worth it. And with that, I will sign off saying that one of the reasons I have so much respect for you is that you get it. There are too few people who do. I’ve lost friends because they don’t think I “work hard enough” or that “I don’t have enough money.” To that I say, to each their own, but at least I’ve taken myself out of the Joneses race. I’m not immune to wanting things (itching for some new skis and a mountain bike currently) but eh…why can’t eBay work? Haha. In any case, keep on keeping on. Once we get everything figured out with the cats, we’re going to get back on the road (with two cats and a dog, yup) and it’ll be a moving circus. Such is my life 😁 and we’ll meet up with y’all and have some hot chocolate.
Thank you, Liz. It means a great deal to me that you are following along with our adventures. I hope this finds you well, my friend.
As ever, I appreciate your creative written style, especially the Winnie the Pooh link. I also admire your ability to ditch so much and downsize so drastically. It has been fascinating to follow your progress so far. I look forward to reading about your adventures.
I completely understand that, Bill. I wouldn’t mind doing it either, in fact Arthur would love to do just that. But I have commitments to my grandchildren at the moment, who are more important for a few years yet. That doesn’t mean I won’t do it when they are all just a little bit older. Many’s the time we think about a little plot in the countryside – but still a ‘pied à terre’. We wouldn’t want to do it in a camper van. Arthur needs space to ‘do’ stuff; projects for making or experimenting etc., and I would love a quiet space to infuse nature and to write with that inspiration. We might – we travel around quite a bit and have a big trip planned around Britain this year (nothing to match yours, a mere 3 weeks!). If we see something that appeals en route, then maybe we’ll uproot (pardon the pun! only just realised).
I have the feeling that it’s liberating, doing what you’ve done, getting rid of ‘stuff’. I’m waiting to see the finished article – or are you doing a progress report as you fit it out etc? I must have a look at your pics.
Keep safe and well, both of you! You are often in my thoughts.
Ann