- Oh thank God, it’s Friday. I worked on Sunday at my full time job on Sunday and it’s been a super busy week for all of those in my department so I couldn’t find a day to take off to use my comp time. So I’m taking it this Monday and am going to rent a zip car and check out RVs at the dealers near me! I’m super excited! Going to do some searches of their inventory this weekend so I can plan out my route, and also not drive more than 180 miles in the process. After that, I have to pay extra.
- The weather this week in Boston has been pretty similar to what I think it will be like in the pacific northwest. Lots of rain and grey skies. It was very eye opening. Between the realization of the past few weeks that the scooter was not right for me, and the weather being kind of cold and raw, at times, I realized I really do need to go the travel trailer and crossover/small SUV route next year. I also realized it was very worth spending about $80 (on sale) for a rain jacket from Eastern Mountain Sports about a month ago. Riding a bike in the rain with the right gear is so much better than wearing just a windbreaker which, while it breaks wind, isn’t even water resistant.
- As I’ve been thinking more and more of what I want in a travel trailer, I’ve also acknowledged the fact that I really don’t want to have to buy some large honkin’ truck. A smaller one, maybe, or mid-size SUV, but I really don’t want something like a Yukon Denali, or Chevy Suburban, etc. So, I need something very light-weight, but still with enough room for all of my animals to be comfortable. I also need a tow vehicle in which I can let them out of their carriers, but still keep the vehicle organized in such a way that there can be barriers between the groupings of (1) Max and Sebastian, (2) Callie and HoneyBun, and (3) me, Osito and Bonkers. Osito insists on being on my lap, and Bonkers doesn’t travel so well in a carrier, so I want him to be close to me in case he gets sick. We’ll be like a traveling zoo!
- The realization in number 3 has reignited an interest in me to minimalize, minimalize, minimalize! In so doing, I’ve come across some pretty good youtube channels including this one, Unconventional Living.
- Take a look at the photo above. Aren’t they both beautiful?? Max is the one who is sort of facing the camera, and he’s the diva. You’ve seen pics of Bonkers before with his cute little ears. 🙂 I’ve NEVER seen them sit this close together before, and not have one growling or afraid of the other (that’d be Bonkers being afraid of Max in case you’re wondering.) Seeing this made me feel hopeful that maybe I can really do the RV life with all of them and not have hell breaking loose all the time! I know that when you put animals in different physical situations, the hierarchy between them can change over time. So maybe there will be peace on earth, ta da!
Today is a day when a big payment will be made to my LAL loan. As you may recall from an earlier post, October is one of those amazing months where I get three paychecks, yay! It allows me to make a big payment since the other day I realized that on a normal month of just two paychecks, I lose about 28 or 29% to taxes and other costs, like retirement deductions, etc. So that brings me down to about 70% of may paycheck being my take home pay. Out of that amount, I live on about 52% of it. So really, I’m living on about 1/3 of my gross pay!
How much do you live on out of your gross or take-home pay?
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Chasing Simple Dreams 
Good lord you have a lot of pets =) You are probably going to need to create a bunkhouse in the rear of the suv for the pets. You can create templates out of cardboard then trace onto plywood. Bunks on both sides and open space in the middle. That would make good use of the space. I would also look at pet barriers that would be connected behind your front seats. The pets would not be able to jump into the cab at will and stuff wont come flying at your head if you had to brake suddenly.
I don’t have any pets so I don’t know if they would agree to bunks, but maybe you can make one now and get them adjusted to living top of each other. Place each of their food bowls in the bunks?
Why not buy the SUV now if you have the means? That way you can be familiar with the vehicle, the animals can get familiar, fix anything that needs fix’n and be sheltered from the elements during the winter. You can place ads around campus stating you’re looking for an SUV when you’re ready. You might catch some good deals that way.
Hi Ramen, it doesn’t make sense for me to buy the car right now because I’m in the city and don’t need it to get around. I have the T right out front, and a bus a few minutes walk away, plus my bike. And in Boston, they have something called zipcar so I can rent a car when I need it (or a van, etc.) And for the times I have to haul things, there is a uhaul not too far from me. Certainly within walking distance. That and I have to admit that last winter, as the snow fell, and fell, and then fell some more, it was nice to be inside my apartment and know I didn’t have to go out and shovel it off of my car. Or deal with the snow emergency parking situations. If things work out and I end up living at my best friend’s place for a little while with a trailer, then I will definitely have the SUV/car, to get around. She is out in the suburbs, too, (but not too far away suburbs) and so the insurance will be cheaper. I’m so close to the city of Newton but my address still falls within Boston, so I get the Boston insurance rates. Nice, huh?
I like the idea of the animal bunks, but somehow, I don’t think they would be too thrilled…..lol
Oh, the joys of city life with snow as a bonus, wonderful combination =) I’ve been spoiled rotten all of my life having been raised in the Northern Cali suburbs. No one walks anywhere, bicycles are for leisure and I will jump in my car to go 2 blocks. Don’t judge me =) We even had a mini heatwave this week, temps in the 80’s – 90’s.
Hopefully you won’t run into any problems with living in the trailer while in the suburbs. Most cities are not too cool with that and you might get an angry inspector or an angry bylaw person coming around. I think they seek out angry people for those positions as all of my encounters with those folks have not been too pleasant. If you have a big back yard and high fences, you could pull it off.
The suburb where she is is nice – it’s an older neighborhood though. Some of the others on the street park commercial trucks or vans in their driveway, so we think it will be ok. Plus, I will be there for a defined time, so they can always say that to the neighbors if there are complaints. They’ve talked about me maybe being in the backyard too. Thing is, I know it’s not level by a long shot so that woudl be interesting..
Sounds like that suburb plan is doable. What is the planned duration? I don’t know about the backyard on a grade though. It probably will not be fun living in a mystery spot like setting.
The plan would be to be there from about April to August, or mid September. You cannot park on the street overnight in her town until April 1st.