Well, we are on a short trip in our little RV. I have mentioned before that it is very small - not like those huge bus things featured on TV shows about RVs or even the nice compact ones you might see on the road where the body of the RV comes over the cab section. NO, this is an ordinary Chevy 3500 van - the same as tradesmen use or are made up with seats to hold maybe 15 people at most. The van is made taller and, in part, lower to the ground, but it is no longer or shorter than van as it comes from Chevy. Over 6 feet of the length of the van (the back end) is the bed. Then there is about 5 feet coming to front which is, on the driver’s side, the kitchen, and on the passenger side, the toilet compartment and what is called “the third seat” being a car seat (sort of) behind the front passenger seat. (I say sort of as it is a car seat on top of a wooden box -the seat lifts us and has some storage.) In front of all this is the regular van front - 2 seats, dashboard, etc, though the seats are special ones which turn around to face the back of the van.
In a space this small storage is at a premium. There is other storage around the inside (and outside) of the RV than under the third seat as mentioned, but one is always looking for more. The day we picked it up - neophytes in “Rving” to make sure everything worked and we understood how to use everything as we bought the RV 2 states away from where we live. There were 3 dealers we had to choose from, each about the same distance from our home. We were not happy with two of the dealers and were with the one we chose. The RV was ordered. We loaded up our car with the stuff we had bought for it - some things we actually needed, others were excess as we over think everything - lots no longer travels with us - but other things we have found we need do.
I had tried to be very organized - all the plumbing related items were on one end of the sofa, the electric related items on the other end. The bedding was in the middle. We bought microfiber towels - recommended by many online. Sorry, they caught on everything on our hands and we have since replaced them with quick dry regular towels. Then all of this was put into our car for the trip - in large plastic bags matching the above categories.
Paying for and having a “tour” of the RV took longer than we thought. We called the campground to let them know we would be there after the office closed (unfortunately common with us when we travel, but fortunately something which most campgrounds are prepared for) and we were told where to find map and instructions for our space, how to behave (yes, each park has same apparently many RVers are not smart enough to figure out), etc. We left the RV in our space and ran to dinner. So we had planned on getting it all set up in the afternoon, but instead were doing so after “quiet time” had started (on of the how to behave instructions). In addition unlike now when the RV has everything in it, we had to keep taking items from the car and putting them into the RV. The well organized bags did not help as things were not done in the order of how items were in the bags.
We tried out putting water directly into the tanks - special hose and external water filter needed and running the water through the various sink, shower, and toilet. Worked great. We then tried attaching the hose (needs hose, water filter, and pressure regulator) directly to the RV and running the water out of the hose directly - not suing the tanks - no water. What does one do? Shut off the sink tap and then try again of course! Still nothing. Then I hear a noise of running water in the back of the RV. I go out and sure enough, there is water pouring out of the back of the RV - we found out that the hours we spent with the salesman showing us how to do things was in good part a waste - he told us to set something the wrong way, so rather than putting the water into direct use - we were filling the already full rear tank and the excess was coming out of the overfill valve!
We went on checking things - we could not get anything on the TV using the antenna on the roof. I spent hours turning the antenna knob in the ceiling of the RV to try to find where the antenna needed to face - no luck. There was no cable/dish TV at that campground so we could not check same. We later found out that the splitter for the cable/antenna into the TV was assembled wrong, so that the output was putting the signal into the cable - from the antenna and the TV - this we fixed on our own after the dealer service department, insisted it worked okay.
I made up the beds as twin beds rather than as the king bed it is made up as now. We were unable to sleep that night - well husband was, and therefore I was. The twins were too narrow. So we went to the king setup which is rather hard to make up - some post I will tell of the fun in making up the bed - talk about needing to be organized.
Well, finally we were ready to try our first real trip. We chose the area we often go to and an RV park we had checked out and looked nice - and we are here tonight. We were lucky enough to get a reservation for Memorial Day - holiday weekends often have to be booked a full year in advance - Disneyworld’s RV park is booked in full 2 years in advance for New Year’s Eve. This RV park we went to is next to a children’s amusement park (NOT Disney) and husband was told that there was a space available, but we should be aware it was under the roller coaster. We booked the space with thoughts of Woody Allen in “Annie Hall” where he says (and shows) living under the roller coaster. We were not actually under the coaster - or even in the closest space to it and we did not hear it from inside the RV.
Now we were dealing with actually “living” in the RV. There are all sorts of stuff one has with them that is not used at night in the RV and other stuff which is not used during the day when one is driving around and going out to see things. We had some items at night that were in the way - including a plastic box, sweatshirts, window cover... I realized that there were areas of the RV not used at night - so the plastic box went where my feet are during the day - the seat is turned around to face into the RV and the box goes on the floor in what is now behind the seat. There is a curtain for privacy which covers the inside of the front side windows and the windshield - Hey, stuff can go on the top of the dashboard at night! On a later trip which required winter jackets - they were added to what goes on the dashboard at night. The stuff is moved off it in the morning and the box and sweatshirt go between the seats - the box of tissues which is kept during the day on the plastic box between the seats goes on the kitchen counter at night. The laundry bag rides on the bed during the day and when we go to the bed - it goes to the third seat.
The garbage pail folds down flat and stores (empty of course) in an overhead drawer during the day. At night it sits between the front seats - it fits there as the plastic box and tissue box have been moved. (A store shopping bag fits in the pail as a liner - taken out in the morning and thrown out before collapsing the pail.)
When we take off our shoes in the evening I put mine behind the driver’s seat - remember this means they are next to the gas and brake pedals. His shoes go between the seats - in front of the garbage can.
When the bed is made up there is a space - which is the aisle between the two side bench seats which make up the bed when the center of the bed is not in place - under it in the middle. Lots of stuff fits under here - laptop computers (including this one), bag of items which are not unpacked unless needed (other items are unpacked). One trip we bought 3 wrought iron plant stands - only place to put them was in this space on an angle. When husband has mentioned this to others - they did not think to use this space!
Our RV has a small closet - it holds 12 hangers and is slightly longer than the length of a men’s shirt. So one can fit 12 shirts in it - right? No. One can fit 12 hangers with a couple of shirts on them in it? No. Forget the hangers. We bought a set of sweater shelves - you know the soft hanging units which have large shelves for sweaters to be kept in a closet. It has 6 shelf sections. Our closet is only the equivalent of 4 shelves high - solution? The bottom 2 shelves are collapsed and unused. Instead of 12 shirts I can fit over a week of clothing in it for the 2 two of us. We each have 2 shelves. One shelf for each of us holds shirts - folded to the size of the shelf (in thirds in length). The shirts alternate front to back - the collar of one shirt sits to the fold of the other, etc down the stack. This evens out the height the shirts take up. The second shelf for each of us holds a spare pair of jeans with our underwear and socks on top of the pair of jeans. So instead of 12 shirts (6 each) and having to figure out where to keep the rest of the clothes, we have clothing for 7-8 days in the same space. The tiny shelf at the top of this closet holds our slippers - easy and convenient to reach.
In the same way in one’s house one has to look at the spaces which are there and the stuff one decides to keep to match them up. Just because something is normally kept in one type of space, does not mean another type or location of space will not be appropriate - or even more so. I realize I am talking about an RV and you are thinking about your house, but it is the same idea as it just a (very) tiny house on wheels - the biggest difference - other than size - is that when you store things in your house you do not have to make sure they will not move when the house moves (as it does not). Across the opening under the bed, in front of the items store there, for example, I have 3 tension curtain rods - these help keep the items in place so they don’t go sliding out and about when we are driving.
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