On Moving

I miss having a desk.

It’s been almost a month since we purchased the truck and trailer that will be our home on the road for the next year, but so far I think we’ve spent less than 8 hours inside the trailer, and 0 hours actually towing it.

Based on my extensive experience watching YouTube, I can tell RV living has plenty of challenges. I did not expect the moving out part to be quite so strange. Nobody makes thrilling videos with the scenery of empty rooms, moving trucks, and storage units. As the stock music swells, and you dream of home contractor bids and beautifully clean carpets, the dream of travel... is far from your mind. This week I'm working, as usual for the most part, but having sold or stored so much furniture, I have few places to sit. Today is rainy, so I'm working in my bedroom on a folding camp chair. It's not very comfortable, but it's warm.

Moving out is good for you, I think. It's hard. I had a manager once who was totally unflappable. He was moving one weekend and I asked him on Monday, how'd it go? "It's hell for breakfast. Never move." That stuck with me. I thought it was just me that hated moving. I grew up in the same house since I was like, 5, and didn't move until I left for university at 20 years old. Turns out it really is that hard.

But it forces you to look at all your stuff and go, "really?" I mean, you can do that anytime according to Marie Kondo, but moving really forces your hand. Plus you're looking not only at your stuff, but the house you have it in. Why is this door handle so ugly? When were we going to paint this trim? Well, everything else is moved out, so I might as well...

It’s a long list of moves that make sense, but all end up happening at once.