July 3rd 0002,2026

I am writing this from the comfort of my dining nook in the new travel trailer that I found on Craigslist! I never wanted an RV because I didn’t want to have to learn about all the bells and whistles that came with it. If I moved into a house, I would have to figure stuff out though. What’s the difference? She’s a 24’ trailer, queen bed and a sofa bed for company. There’s a pretty big bathroom for such a tiny trailer and I’m used to having no counter tops, so the little bit I have is plenty for me.

I’m settling in nicely at my new Campground/Work/Home. The commute can’t be beat, since I only have to walk over to the office. The only time I need to use gas is about once a week, when I go into town. And that is only 10 minutes away so when I do go, I’m not using much. I’m making friends and getting to know people. I’m always available and on-call if the manager ever needs me for anything, so he’s mentioned his gratitude for my flexibility more than once.

There is a yurt here that the owner was interested in having me live in. When the electrician came and surveyed the property, the yurt was discovered to be in a flood plain, so they wouldn’t be able to easily hook it up to electricity. That put a damper on what I was planning on doing.

A co-worker knew someone who was giving away a 40’ 5^th wheel. Just giving it away. I was interested in looking at it, but leery because 40’ is a lot to handle, a lot more room than what I would need, and why is it free? That could be a lot of problems. I never got a chance to look at it because some full hook-up spots opened up and the manager was trying to hold one for me. The spots were filling up quick and when I asked about looking at the free one, I was told they still needed to clean it up… I didn’t want to lose my spot only to look at something that I didn’t want to deal with so I went on Craigslist and looked around.

There are always some RVs listed, in various states of repair. I didn’t want to buy a fixer upper, but I didn’t want to spend a whole lot either. There were a couple that I liked, this one, and an A Class RV, which is like a big bus that you drive. I wasn’t interested in driving it at all. I still have my van, Odessa, which would get me around town. I would just (have someone) park it here. Once I saw this cute little thing in person, being in such good condition, I knew that I didn’t want the big one. I didn’t even need to go look at it.

It was an “or best offer” ad, and I was the first person to come and look at it, so that led to a little back and forth on the price. I didn’t want anyone else to buy it, and luckily, she and I hit it off. We settled on a price that made both me and her husband happy, and I was able to get my manager to help me tow it out of there and into our park! I was very lucky to get a spot in a coveted area, well shaded and near the creek. I’m far from the road and have trees all around me. I can hear the creek bubbling at night if I sleep with my windows open, though the last few nights went down to the 40s and that’s a little too chilly to sleep with the windows open. No longer sleeping in such a small space, my body heat alone isn’t enough to help raise the temperature! I can feel the difference!

So, Rex and I have a bigger bed to sleep in, and he has a couch to lounge on. I have a little yard that I am allowed to beautify, and I have already started. I bought an inexpensive but nice-looking bistro table set to go under the cabana umbrella I purchased and set up. My garden was started with a house warming present from a co-worker, sedge grass. I added two more plants acquired from the local Wal-Mart type store. I made sure that the ones I got were shade loving plants since my area is mostly shaded during the day.

There are more things that I would like to get, but there is no rush. I would like string lights to hang under the canopy, but the evenings stay light out until almost 9’o’clock. There will be time for me to get them. I want to get more plants, a whole lot more plants, but I don’t need to get them all at once. I’m day dreaming about plant stands and scoping out where I could put things and what I could do with my space. It’s a big space and I have a little trailer. I am allowed to decorate and put things around as long as it doesn’t look like garbage.

You know how there’s a thing as “the wrong side of the tracks”? Well, I guess you can say that there is something kind of like that here. I was thrilled when my manager told me which spot he was thinking for me. Not only is it a prime spot, but it’s away from the riff raff. Now, don’t get me wrong. This park is safe, with employees on site 24 hours a day. There’s video surveillance and we do our best to keep the bad ones out. But I wonder if it is, in a way, contagious. Let me explain what I’m thinking.

When I was young, I shared a room with my sister. We had it a total pigsty. Clothes piled on the floor, both clean and dirty. Dresser tops filled with random items placed down and forgotten about as other items crowded them, eventually covering them. In all honesty, the rest of the house was the same way so there was really nothing that stood out. When I was 17, I finally moved into my own room in the basement. I kept it clean! It wasn’t hard. Just put the dirty laundry in the hamper. I didn’t seem to have a problem with that. It became the room to hang out in. Even my mom would come down and hang out in my room.

Then I moved in with my boyfriend. He was your typical teenage boy, even though he was in his 20s, and our apartment quickly got out of hand with dirty clothes piled in the closets or far corners of the bedroom. Pizza boxes, soda cans, bottles of water and ashtrays with random weed paraphernalia in them. When I moved out and got my own apartment, I was able to keep that clean as well. Was I an avid every week cleaner? No. I did grow up in chaos so there was dust on my ceiling fans and if something broke, I jangled it back together with duct tape and rubber bands and lived with it. It wasn’t until living with my ex-wife, did I develop and come to appreciate having at least a dust free home. I also found the Swiffer duster and found that to be fun, actually. Before, I wouldn’t even see the dust.

So that is what I wonder about “the wrong side of the tracks.” Is it kind of contagious? If you are living next to someone who opens boxes in their yard and leaves them there, are you more likely to do that yourself? Can’t beat them, join them kind of thing?

I have a lot more time on my hands now, starting work no earlier than 11 am and my latest night being 6pm. There’s no commute time and I only work until 6 on Saturday. The rest of the week I get out at 4, 1 on Sundays. That means that I can run into town any time I need to, before work or after work. Especially now that Rex is inside an air conditioned (or heated come winter) RV. Odessa doesn’t have an extension cord hanging out of her window that I need to think about before driving away.

I am very comfortable here. I don’t regret quitting my corporate job at all. I am confident that I will be able to make enough money to cover my rent and living expenses and that’s all that I need. We are all too focused on what’s to come. I’m just going to enjoy what I have going on right now.