I am not a hippy. I’m not a crusty. I’m not a gypsy. I work for a living. I pay my taxes and I am a responsible citizen. I believe in recycling. I do not litter. But I want a simple life and so with my husband I’m moving into a van. Maybe we will hate it. Or maybe this is the beginning of a new life.

In search of another life

"They danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn..."

Jack Kerouac

Monday 14 June 2010

Stuff and Nonsense

"It is not about having what we want, but wanting what we have."

The Dalai Lama

Living without clutter has made me think about ‘stuff’ and its impact on our lives. Running a Google search on clutter I am overwhelmed by just how many sites and blogs there are dedicated to how to de-clutter our lives so it seems that I am not the only one who is bothered by ‘things’.

Having lived in east and west I am always shocked at the sheer amount of things people collect in the west and feel they cannot live without. I do not mean to preach. Everyone should be free to live how they choose but I cannot help but think that people are more able to appreciate things when they have less.
I do not want to romanticise poor nations. Everyone always wants more. I believe it is a human condition rather than a western one but it seems that the more we have the more we want, so perhaps it is better never to have that desire satiated in the first place?

All I know is that it is inexplicable how much I love van life. I thought that we would travel every weekend and spend every other night in a different place and that’s what I was looking forward to. But because of our gargantuan van we hardly ever move. It is the having nothing that I love.

5 comments:

  1. I admire your life choice and hope it works out for you. I live close to a big city and there is little community spirit here, people do not understand me or my ways and I long for a different life but with my now disabled hubby our life choices are more limited but in my mind I am still free to dream and ponder - no one can take that away from you.

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  3. Thanks for the message Vixen. I know of a man in Brighton who is wheelchair bound and has a lovely big van. He and his wife don’t live in it but they seem to get away lots. I know what you mean about lack of community spirit. Having lived in Asia and seen how people look out for one another there I can see that it is massively missing in our society. Such a shame. But if enough of us hope for a better way, perhaps we can make it happen.

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  4. Well done in doing what lots of us can only drean about.I too wish that I could persuade my hubby to sell this house of ours,pack in his job,hitch our car up to our caravan,pack it with the essentials,{Cats} and spend our twilight years travveling round this beautiful country of ours,but alas he says that it is ok when we are youngish{54 & 59but not when we get elderly and starting to have health problems...

    I have your blog in my favourites and will be a regular follower of your new life...

    Good Luck to both you and Reg...

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  5. I have met a lot of people who have done just that! (Cats included). They often spend time travelling around continental Europe which is much better set up for mobile home travellers. There are beautiful sites on beaches, in the mountains...everywhere. You could always move into a static caravan when you got older...you can buy one outright for £8000!

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