Urge to Build & Yearning for Freedom

kitchen-sm

This photo is from a UK Small Van Campervan Conversion Project website. http://www.campervanconversion.co.uk/projects/small-van/tin-tent-2

 

I’ve been chasing another dream.

A dream of building an absolutely minimal camper and heading off by myself — or camping with a few select women friends — and just feeling free — for days or even weeks at a time.

The header photo shows exactly what I was looking for.  A place to sleep, a minimal kitchen and a place to store a porta pot.

So I’ve drawn plans and have how I would do it down to a Tee.

But then I realized.  The van wouldn’t do it for me.  It’s the place.  The openness and spaciousness.  The freedom implied by the photo.

And even if I had the van and took off in it, I would take me with all my emotional baggage along with me.  So the sense of freedom would be fleeting.

So I’ve quit drawing mini van plans.  But in the back of my mind, these images linger.  🙂

NOTE!!! It took over 5 years, but I finally built my microvan inspired by these photos!

Tall Pines RV Park, Shreveport, LA

We got to Tall Pines RV Park in Shreveport around 4:00.  What a great place to overnight!  Clean, quiet, extremely friendly office staff, and a small, well-behaved office dog.   Well behaved dogs are welcome.  They even have a fenced area where dogs can run free off leash.  Badly behaved children are not welcome.  Ahhhh!!!  Overnight heaven!  🙂

Ron said the bathrooms are spotless and smell good.  I prefer to use the little bathroom in the Aliner.

The weather here is gorgeous.  I had all the camper’s windows open catching a balmy breeze earlier.  I plan to leave one open all night for the fresh air.

The park is packed, but it is blissfully quiet.

We paid $10 less than the going rate because our rig is so small.  What a nice surprise!

It feels good to settle in for the night.  Instead of going out to eat, I just opened cans of Chunky Clam Chowder and melted cheese on Rosemary Olive Triscuit crackers.  A nutritionist’s nightmare, probably, but easy, and it leaves us a little more money to spend on fun things with Mike and Gail!

I plan to tat this evening.  Have one more Christmas gift I’m trying to finish.  Then I’ll surf a little while, get a shower, and crawl between the sheets.

It was a strange discovery to realize that a nice RV park with parallel rows of rigs a few feet apart can be much quieter and more restful overnighting than a beautiful state park–with rude campers.

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