"Experiences vs. Things"

This is one of the mantras of the full-timer. You'll often hear the guideline: For every item you buy, one item has to go.  For very real, practical reasons living in an RV limits the amount of stuff you can have. But once you've let go of all the stuff you used to have, you discover there are more existential reasons for not having stuff: You don't need it, and experiences are a lot more fun than your stuff ever was.

Now science has caught up with what we already knew. Experiences make you happier than things, and they last a lot longer. Strange but true. How can an experience stay with you longer than a material possession? Well, Dr. Thomas Gilovich of Cornell University claims that the happiness of an experience has a longer feeling life than the shelf-life of an object. It seems that we get used to our things, or adapt to them, and lose our feelings for them sooner than we forget the pleasant memories associated with our experiences.

I think there are some folks for whom this choice would be more difficult than for others: serious collectors and artists for instance, like Ross J. Ward who built Tinkertown in Sandia, New Mexico.  

Ross J. Ward in a photo from Tinkertown

They collect and create with stuff, so I don't have to. I can appreciate their's, and I do. Clearly, making art, creating, is an experience of the type that brings tremendous fulfillment. And it often requires and produces more stuff. What a dilemma.

Here's me enjoying someone else's stuff.

A great question we're often asked: "What did you do with all your stuff?" In our case, we gave away and sold everything that we couldn't digitize or fit in our 5th wheel. (Some folks retain some stuff and keep it in storage for when they might need it in the future.) The process took us about 18 months, and was at times difficult, but once we were done, we were grateful. 

Another question: "What about souvenirs of your travels?" Two things we do about that. Magnets on the fridge and photographs. Pictures really help me retain the memories, and I love looking back at them. And I write this blog to help me recall the experiences we have. Occasionally we also just happen to need something that ends up being a souvenir of sorts: the cowgirl hat I just bought in Santa Fe, the fur slippers from Alaska. 

And another: "What about books, and movies, and music?" Digital entertainment: I-tunes, Kindle, Amazon, Red Box and Netflix are the standard answers.  I have to confess that I don't like to read digitally. I do pick up paper books at book exchanges one often finds at RV parks, or at library book sales (really cheap good quality books). But I pass all those on. I have room for a rotating collection of about ten reading books, max. 

Now before you get the idea that we are impervious to the temptations of the material world, let me share a story. I was walking on a beach in Florida with my good friend Cindy, telling her all this bologna about not needing stuff and letting photography satisfy my craving to hold on to beauty, when I look down at my feet and see the most beautiful, perfect shell I'd ever seen. I passed it by . . . and then went back and picked it up. I now carry it around to remind myself to be humble and not get all preachy about this stuff vs. experiences idea, and to remind me of that day on the beach with Cindy.  

We have not taken holy orders. We do not live a completely ascetic life of material deprivation. But we are not prisoners of our stuff.  We do look for new or interesting experiences. Next week we are taking a glass-blowing class. Do we need the little baubles that will be the end products of our experiences? Absolutely not, and we'll probably give them away. But we'll keep the experiences for as long as our memories can hold on to them.

Things We Can't Do Without - 1 Again.

Funny, I forgot to mention that I also use a yoga mat for yoga. Imagine that. Getting exercise while living full-time on the road is not always easy. We walk/hike and ride our bikes as often as we can, given weather and environment, and we even kayak now and then. Before starting our adventures I had been practicing yoga for about 9 years and intended to continue to do so on the road. I brought along my yoga mat, a couple of yoga blocks and a bolster, and some yoga videos. It's very hard to practice yoga in our RV, as space is limited and I can't quite create the same ambience as a yoga studio to support a meditative and motivated state.

Luckily, there are many fine yoga studios across the country and I have been fortunate to find some excellent teachers. But this goes in fits and starts. I'll go for periods of time without finding a studio as well.  (Right now I'm in one of those long stretches - and not the yoga kind.)

Here are a few of the best places 'cross the country that I've found to practice yoga:

Gaea Yoga in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina 

Living Yoga in Temecula, California

The Ocean Resort in Campbell River, British Columbia, CA 

YogaHeart Montana in Polson, Montana

Bodhi Yoga in Bee Cave, Texas

Things We Can't Do Without - 1

Today I thought I'd start a series of posts in which, over time, now and then, I'd share some of the things that we find so helpful, so often, that we consider them indispensable.

Three years ago, our decision to lead a full-time life in a 39 foot fifth-wheel trailer sent us on an anti-stuff campaign, starting with getting rid of everything we owned except what we could carry with us. When you live in 400 square feet, you have to be very selective about those things. There's no room for stuff that has no purpose. (In all honesty, I should do another series of posts about the things that we carry even though they have no purpose at all.)

Today we have the first of the maintenance and repair triumvirate: the yoga mat, cable ties and electrical tape.

Yoga mat

No particular brand is necessary, in fact the cheaper the better (try TJMaxx, Walmart or Target) because this yoga mat does dirty work. When I first met Rick he was using an old camping mat that would normally go under a sleeping bag -- same difference. It just has to be compact, foldable or rollable, and wipeable.

As I've inferred above, this is Rick's invention, and I thought it was weird at first. But over the years it has proven itself to be one of the single most helpful tools in dealing with indoor or outdoor repairs and maintenance that require one to get down on the floor or the ground to work. It provides cushioning for the knees and a barrier between one's butt and the ever-present dirt, sand, pebbles, mud, moisture, grass (stains), cold, etc.

Here you see the yoga mat in action for changing the generator oil.

(Another personal disclosure - it's Rick who does all these repairs. 

Thank you Rick. You are really the one I can't do without.)

Coolest Bike Carrier Ever!

While visiting Padre Island National Seashore and driving on the beach we encountered a French Canadian couple with this great addition to their travel set-up.  It's the KOMO Multi-Purpose Bike Carrier.  Not only does it protect your bikes from the salt, sand, road dirt, rain and theft, it provides additional storage for adventure equipment.

The bummer for us is that it is mounted on a double trailer hitch - one on each side of the vehicle's rear.  Who the heck has those? Both Ms. Subaru and our fifth-wheel already have single hitches and we can't see switching them out. But it's tempting.