Bonding With the Beast

Today I spent several hours in my new (to me) motorhome, cleaning and dreaming and scheming and trying things out.

I figured out a few things today. I'm definitely going to need some strong people to remove the charming but useless (to me) built-in bucket chairs and teeny game table.

Then I'll need someone to help me build more practical seating and a table (booth style, with storage benches and convertible to an extra bed), plus a worktable/storage unit to replace the couch. This arrangement seems (to me) like it would be pretty simple to build--almost all straight lines--and it will give me adequate storage and workspace to continue making my living as a self-employed eBay seller and artist while I travel. That's the theory, anyway! I won't be the first to give this a try, and I'm sure I won't be the last. I just hope I am one of the folks who makes it work.

I also found out today that I'll need big strong people to remove the carpet, if I decide to have that done. It's really glued down. I tried taking a utility knife to it and pulling it away from the plywood with little success. I wanted a blowtorch to loosen up the old glue, but that's probably not the best approach to solving this problem.

I may decide to just use throw rugs, Gypsy style, over the carpet. I'll probably be giving the interior of my rig a pretty eclectic look, anyway. I'll definitely be doing away with the brown plaidness. There will be blues and greens (my favorite colors) and I'm thinking that a Toyota Dolphin oughta have a dolphin/surf/beach type decor. Am I right?

Of course, the most important part of this remodel is to get a good workable space for full-time RVing...but scheming on interior decor in a tiny space is like playing house and I love it!

A New Direction...Life in a Dolphin

I started this blog a couple of years ago when I was just beginning to experience some success as a professional mosaic artist in Edmonds, Washington.

Since then, I've moved to Eugene, Oregon. I've been doing quite a bit of artwork, as well as selling vintage textiles on eBay and antiques at several antique malls. I've gotten separated and my divorce will be final at the end of this year. I'm about to receive a property settlement...not as big as it might have been had the economy not tanked...but enough to make some meaningful decisions about what to do next.

I've considered several possibilities. One that looks particularly good is to buy a manufactured home or mobile home in a local 55+ community here in Eugene where several of my friends live. It would be nice to have an affordable place where I would already know some of the neighbors.

But, upon consideration, I've decided I'm just not ready to settle down in one place yet. I have a wanderlust that I've never been able to satisfy by just taking vacations. I've had a lifetime dream of living on the road. And now I have the time and opportunity to live that dream.

So I've been on the look-out for several months for a good RV that would serve my purposes, and last week I found it, a 1982 Toyota Dolphin Class C (mini) motorhome. It needs some work, and I need to prepare.

I'm going to need to downsize AGAIN! I've already done that twice in the past year, first moving from a 3400 sf suburban home to a 700 sf rental cottage, and then downsizing within the rental house when my kid later moved in with me. But now it's time to become a true minimalist.

I don't know when I'll be hitting the road...probably sometime in the late winter or spring of 2011. My plan is to live very frugally by camping in free or low cost campgrounds and combining camping with housesitting, park host volunteer work, and visiting friends and family. It will be quite an adventure!