We sold our house and now we live in a campervan
Five people, 150 square feet, one shower.
Are we crazy? Possibly! We love to travel, and we’ve been trying to figure out how to do it safely during COVID. We’ve done extended airbnbs trips, weekends with family, and now… This. On August 27th, we sold our home in Somerville, and moved into a 24-foot Winnebago View. It’s small, but mighty. We’ll be living in it for 60 days, traveling to a total of 19 states.
It took 2 months of planning and organizing, but we kicked off our trip in style. For anyone thinking about joining the RV craze right now, YES, you can totally do it with kids. I have three main pieces of advice:
Go compact wherever you can
Organize everything
Really, really think about what you need
Go compact wherever you can
Every cubic inch counts! We got a compact Keurig, compression bags for gear, a small high chair that attaches to a table for M, a compact portable grill… And, a bunch of the kitchen equipment is collapsible: dish drainer, colander, measuring cups. We spent more time researching and probably more money on the specific things, but it’s made a total difference because we don’t feel squeezed on space, or like we had to give too much up.
Organize everything
Living in such a small space, we can’t just throw things into cabinets and call it a day. We have bins for every category – the kids’ nighttime bin, the diaper bin, the breakfast foods bin, the snack bin… Otherwise it would be a mess. We have command hooks and wall mounted caddies in strategic places, and we even made our kitchen drawers bilevel using drawer separators and wooden trays. Every inch counts, and being able to find things quickly is the difference between stressful and peaceful.
Really, really think about what you need
Turns out, it’s waaaaay less than I thought.
Kids toys: We slimmed down the kids’ toys to what’s small and packs well (a large Ziploc of Magnatiles, another of Squigs, a dozen books for each kid, a kazoo, some crayons and paper, a tin of Uno cards…). We figure the outdoors will be their main playground. They need things for rainy days and for car rides, but they’re actually doing fine without their train set and play kitchen.
Kids clothes: We packed enough to get them through a full week without doing laundry (which means, if I’m honest, two outfits a day for each of them). We packed for both warm and cool climates, since we’ll be in Colorado in October and that could mean anything from a temperature perspective! (I think the kids each have more clothing than I do…)
Other kids stuff: A scooter for C, a pack and play for M to sleep in, diapers, and one set of kid dishes for each kid. Really, that’s it. We’re a few weeks in, and they’re happy as can be.
Cooking stuff: We have one tiny two burner stove (though it doesn’t actually fit two pans, so not sure the purpose?). We invested in an instant pot - the insert doubles as a pot for the stove- one really good sauté pan, and a small portable grill.
Internet: This was something we had to figure out. I’m still working five days a week, and what I do requires internet. We got a mobile hotspot with unlimited data, a strong router, an external antenna, and a signal booster. So far, mostly good. It can’t handle us both doing video calls at the same time, but so far it can handle all my online work no problem.
Outdoor gear. We had to think about the kind of places we were going, and what kind of gear we would need. Lakes? Paddleboards. Hiking? Kid carrier. This is an area we decided not to skimp on, since we didn’t want to be stuck renting gear (and therefore spending time in shops with lots of people who maybe aren’t social distancing the way we’re used to).
So, how’s it going?
Actually? Pretty awesome. Despite their faces in the photo, the kids are super happy. We even convinced my father in law to buy a trailer and join us, so the kids are getting amazing time with their grandpa. We’re getting to see beautiful parts of the country that maybe we wouldn’t have seen otherwise, because we’re picking more remote areas due to COVID. And we’re definitely bonding as a family, seeing as we’re living in such a tiny space!
Is it peaches and cream every day? No, being in this tight quarters certainly has its challenges. For example: today it’s pouring outside, so there’s five people trapped in a van, and I’m trying to write this but tiny little hands keeping coming to explore the keyboard (gnkanra;ito4jwiofb - that’s Moseah’s way of saying hi to you all). But overall it’s been a joy. It’s certainly not for everyone, but for our crazy adventurous family I think it’s just what we needed.