Here is a short Gilbert family update as stated in the title, we are indeed living in a camper. My husband moved out here in January and the kids and I joined him in February. Our home here in North Carolina is just about ready to go on the market. The final destination is West Virginia where we will jump into farming. The “in-between” is a season of camper life while we save the necessary funds to make this leap.
A couple of things I’ve learned: I will not be touching the awning again for a long time, and camper ovens are really good at only baking the bottom of your food. So far, we’ve been navigating this small space living transition pretty well over the last two months.
Between having a baby in November, packing up our home to move, and downsizing to a camper, this past winter has been a bit of a blur. The dust is starting to settle, and I’m trying to figure out some sort of normalcy and routine for this new season.
I’m starting to get back into making nourishing meals for my family more regularly. I’m working on revamping this blog without worrying about what it’s “supposed” to look like and just writing and sharing. I’m still homeschooling, and I’m still a special needs momma. We are finding our new rhythm with this new living situation and our new little human.
When I think about our current situation and how we got here, I’m really thankful for the growing pains and growth that came from it over the last several years. While it sounds almost romantic and fun to do something like this, the logistics are not easy. Most evenings are pretty chaotic between dinner, clean up, our sweet 8 year old’s bedtime routine (which is very involved and time consuming), and a very clingy baby boy who is all about mom right now. My oldest described it best after a particularly challenging evening as “sensory overload.”
Still, if you come into it with the right mindset, it is really fun. This season is going to be challenging and fun. I can pull from all our experiences thus far to say that with confidence.
Challenging and fun things so far have been learning to use a dutch oven on a charcoal grill since the camper oven is best for storage. Learning to contain my inner chaos goblin because there is absolutely no room for clutter corners. Learning a completely different way of grocery shopping and meal planning since there is no room for keeping a stocked pantry and freezer.
So many families have started this journey into more simple living and opted for camper living as they build their own homestead or farm. I hope that by sharing our experience, we can learn from people that have already done this. This space will hopefully leave some sort of road map for people coming up behind us with our successes and mistakes all rolled in together.
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