I finally began my RV inventory list.

I knew that this would be an excruciatingly anal process because absolutely everything needs to be accounted for, from me to the lowliest paper clip, because I’ll have no carrying capacity to play with.

In order to do so, I turned to my favourite electronic tool, Excel. I made tabs for all the areas in the RV.

Living room is the the room where I’ll live; surfing the web, watching a DVD, or reading a book. Dining room is where the dinette is located and refers to the overhead storage in that area. Basement is the bays under the RV. No matter what RV I get, these areas will exist in it, albeit in different forms and locations.

The ‘total’ worksheet is a grand total of the totals from all the other sheets.

The ‘extra’ worksheet is for the stuff I feel guilty about not taking or that have sentimental value but no practical value or that I’d miss terribly. In this, I’m putting a lot of the recent kitchen stuff my mothers gave me as well, toys handcrafted just for me by my late uncle, and just about the entirety of my kitchen. It’s the worksheet for all the things I’d like to bring should I end up having extra carrying capacity (ha ha ha).

Finally, the ‘give’ worksheet is for keeping track of what I need to get rid of and who has dibs on these items.

This is proving to be extremely illuminating… and terrifying. The only amounts I have so far are for a few items in the living room and basement… and I’m already at 269lbs. That’s more than a third of the lowest number I calculated for the class C I’m eying and doesn’t include additional batteries, solar panels, or a satellite dish. It does, however, include at least part of a trailer hitch as well as a generator.

What amazes me as I go through my house is just how much stuff I have that doesn’t really have a purpose; how much is there ‘in case I ever need it.’ Sometimes, I have wound up needing it, but, in a lot of cases, I’ve just been dragging it around for a decade. This RV plan is going to force me to really identify what’s important and needs to come, eliminating a lot of what I call the ‘flotsam and jetsam’ of a life. That said, I’ve budgeted for one crate of ‘miscellaneous junk.’ 🙂

What I’ve envisioned doing at the end of the summer is to hold a giant sale during which I would invite people to just walk through my home and offer me whatever they thing is fair for anything that strikes their fancy. I would have, by this point, transferred the stuff I definitely want to bring into the RV and given away furniture and sundries to family and friends. I’d hold that over a day and the following week hold a ‘just come and take it’ event for anything left over. After that, I’m pretty sure that anything left would be trash. It’s unbelievably difficult to get rid of things that aren’t trash, don’t have monetary value, and aren’t of interest to charity shops.

I continue to be amazed and astounding that this is where my Path has taken me. So much of the past few years make sense to me now.

The more I look at buses and class As for sale, the more I ache for a Class C model. Even though they are smaller (although some do go up to 30′), the ones with a rear bedroom layout are much better suited to my lifestyle. I could sleep in the cab-over bunk and dedicate the bedroom to being my study. With the buses and class As, there would be a huge chunk of living space that I wouldn’t use much. I mean, how often do you go into your bedroom for the day if it’s a place dedicated to sleeping?

Some people do full-time in class Cs, but weight and towing capability is such an issue. I did get wind of diesel Cs and that’s what I’m investigating now. I could probably get a nearly new class C diesel for the price I’m willing to pay for a very used A or bus.

A friend offered me a corner of her basement for storage if I want it and I’m beginning to think that I’d be best to take her up on her offer. What I’d have to store is going to sound silly since it’s made up of items one would not associate with sentimentality: dishes, mixing bowls, serving utensils, and the like. These are items that have been passed down through several generations on both sides of my family and are not replaceable. Whether I got a C or an A (or a bus), I’d still have to divest myself of these items. So…

Going through the house, I see so much that I use daily or that I would use daily that I’m not sure would fit in a light A, much less a class C–tools, the iMac, the laser printer, the artwork, the two cases of DVDs… I know it’s just ‘stuff’, but it’s the 20% of my life that means something to me, that is me, that I am not willing to give up.