Why?

Just few months ago, I found myself simultaneously overwhelmed and underwhelmed with my daily grind. I was in over my head with responsibilities around the house and juggling too many jobs at once. I would often lay down at night feeling depleted and confused. I had everything I needed: a beautiful house, plentiful workload, supportive friends and family... So why did I feel this way? I was going through the motions just fine but my soul was desperately in need of something I couldn't quite put my finger on. Soon I recognized an accumulation of material clutter and a sense of anxiety building around my relationships. I realized that I was getting swept up in a fast-paced, consumer-based lifestyle that I didn't want any part of. I was doing what I was "supposed to" and ignoring what spoke to my spirit. All the while I had been reading books written about adventurous women like Anne LaBastille (Woodswoman), Clarissa Pinkola Estes (Wild Women Who Run With Wolves), Cheryl Strayed (Wild), and Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) and watching shows about living in Alaska and following blogs about tiny houses and off-the-grid living.  I knew what I needed to do all along.

 So when it came time I opted for a lay-off from work, made all the necessary arrangements for my home, and started planning my big move. I had been saving for a vacation so I when I knew where I wanted to go, I began figuring the cost of lodging and travel in the Southwest for a 3 month period of time. It turns out that standardized travel is EXPENSIVE. Even considering resources like AirBNB and Couchsurfing, with my budget I wasn't going to be able to stay as long as I wanted to. At the time, my mother purchased her second RV, a big thing with extensive amenities. I really enjoyed taking RV trips with my mom but it seemed excessive for me. I began to research vintage campers, van conversions, and tiny homes on wheels. I turned up nothing within my budget... Until my mother showed up with a 5x8 stealth cargo trailer and a brilliant idea. So we read up on cargo to camper conversions, watched youtube tutorials, stalked RV forums, and scoured ebay for materials like used RV windows. 3 months and a couple trips to the hardware store later, a 4 season off-the-grid cargo-camper was born! In my next post, I will reveal my cargo camper, "Gypsy Queen", and share the details of the conversion process.