Like many drivers these days, we live in our truck. We had a place of our own but had to give it up for financial reasons. I don’t say this to be complaining. It’s just how it is.
In our case it was easier because of several factors:
First, we have a super sleeper. The extra few feet of space we have over the typical five-foot condo sleeper is enough for us to be more comfortable than the average team.
Our daughter is grown and out on her own, so we weren’t displacing others.
Finally, and most importantly, we weren’t forced to walk away from a long emotional association with a family homestead. We gave up a two-bedroom apartment.
It started when we went on the road with the expeditors. At the time our legal residence was in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company we contracted to warned us we “wouldn’t get home much.”
They were correct. After spending less than a week in town over the course of six months, we decided to give up our apartment.
We contacted a neighbor who had a key (we were in Vermont at the time and had no foreseeable chance to get back to Nevada) and told him to sell what he could, give away what wouldn’t sell, and throw the rest away. He had a list of the “family heirloom” items and they went into storage.
Our lease was paid up and we were done.
Now we were free to find a new home. We had several things to consider as we looked, and we weren’t in any hurry.
That was four years ago, and we have finally nailed down an area. It is still a work in progress.
Through all of this, we discovered a very basic fact: Very few of our possessions aren’t replaceable. While I still mourn the loss of my stainless steel electric fry pan and my sewing machine, when the time comes, I can buy another of each.
Sometimes I feel disconnected. Then I remind myself, we are making the best use of our current assets and saving money towards a better future.
In these hard economic times, we are taking advantage of an option that not many folks have, with a steady job and minimal unnecessary expenses. It will get better, and in the meantime we are together and happy.