The uncommon pursuit of less

When Mark and I bought our first house back in 2010 we were following a well-trodden path.  We’d both earned photography degrees and had started a business together six years prior.  Buying a house and continuing to build up our business were the next logical steps.  But soon the things we thought we were “supposed” to do, started raising more questions than answers.  We knew we didn’t want to have kids and we soon learned that house projects weren’t our thing.  Our business was doing really well but every path that would keep us on a trajectory of continuous growth didn’t appeal to us.  We owned a nice house in a desirable area, our business was thriving, we had enough money to start taking an annual overseas vacation and yet none of it felt satisfying.  Instead, we felt a nagging sense of “is this it?”.  Make money, pay bills, maintain the house, travel a couple of weeks every year, rinse and repeat ad nauseam?  I found myself beginning to reject the path that was laid out before us.

In 2012, determined to travel more for less money, we bought our truck camper.  Week-long trips turned into month-long trips and we never wanted to go home.  Living on the road full-time quickly became a dream, then a real-life goal, and eventually our reality.  We’ve now spent a cumulative total of 6.5 years living on the road.  The last five years have been spent alternating between living in our truck camper during the winter months while we explore Mexico and traveling around the western United States in a 21’ travel trailer the remainder of the year.  To anyone unfamiliar with this way of life, the vast differences between our two rigs isn’t obvious.  For us, they’ve shown us two very different ways to live on the road and the many benefits of living with less.  

Our travel trailer has proven to have everything we need and want.  It’s a well-built, sturdy, four season trailer that keeps us protected from the elements.  It has a full kitchen with an oven, three burner stove, and counter space.  There’s a full bathroom with a tub and shower.  We have a water system, sinks, and a water heater.  Both of us have desks and comfortable office chairs.  There’s tons of storage space and we even retrofitted the space to fit a portion of the sectional couch that we didn’t want to part with when we sold our house.  We owned three other travel trailers prior to our Desert Fox and this one has come as close to perfect as we could get.  What we have available to us in the truck camper is vastly different.  For starters, the space is about 40 sq ft vs the trailer’s spacious 160 sq ft.  There is no water system, instead we use 7 gallon water jugs of which we carry four.  We don’t have any sinks and use a stainless steel cake pan to do our dishes.  We take showers outside using a portable DIY shower system.  A small cassette toilet is pulled out from underneath a shelf when needed, effectively turning the entire indoor area of the truck camper into a bathroom when in use.  We don’t have a kitchen in the truck camper and do most of our cooking outdoors.  When it comes time to relax we opt for hanging out outside whenever possible, though the weather and bugs don’t always allow for it.  Inside the camper we have a small seating area that just barely fits the two of us.  

Overlanding vs. RV-ing vs. Vanlife: what’s the difference

With all the comforts of the travel trailer comes the cost of not being able to explore on a whim or the ability to access all the off-the-beaten path places that we love.  In the truck camper, we live with so much less and forego many of life’s comforts and conveniences.  In exchange we welcome the opportunity for discovery, spontaneity, exploration, and the many health benefits that come with spending so much of our time outdoors.  Alternating between the two rigs has revealed how little we really need.  

This past winter we spent five months living exclusively in the truck camper; the longest we’ve ever done so.  I was quite curious to find out if after five months we would be over it and eager for more space.  In the end, the opposite proved to be true.  We never found ourselves longing for more.  When we moved back into the trailer in May I immediately missed things about the truck camper that on the surface would be viewed as cons.  However, these cons, when you take a closer look, actually lead to unexpected benefits and delights.  For example, I’ve griped over the years about not having a more comfortable place to work inside the truck camper.  I can make it two hours at best before needing to stretch and move my body.  Then in May I returned to my comfortable desk and chair in the travel trailer and realized that my tendency to spend the majority of my days at my desk isn’t healthy and that the forced breaks when working in the truck camper keep me more physically and mentally balanced.  And while the bathroom and shower feel like a real treat in the travel trailer, I immediately missed having to go outside and brush my teeth beneath the stars.  Generally we’re indoors far more when living in the trailer than when living in the truck camper.  Protection from the elements is nice but being forced to go outside offers a connection to the outside world that I don’t otherwise get.  And that connection keeps me feeling grounded and alive.

This year we’re shifting the scale in favor of living in the truck camper more.  More than ever we’re noticing the benefits that come from living with less and purposefully deprioritizing comfort.  Yes, I miss my soft, cozy, incredibly comfortable couch sometimes.  I don’t miss sinking into it for hours and losing sight of all the things I want to learn, see, do, and accomplish because I can’t seem to pull myself away from You Tube.  

Recommended reading – The Comfort Crisis: Embrace discomfort to reclaim your wild, happy, healthy self

Making money and seeking physical & mental comfort are seemingly top priority for many Americans.  Our capitalistic culture sees to it that we remain within a perpetual earning and spending cycle to keep the machine going.  And yet, for whatever reason, Mark and I have found ourselves pulled to the pursuit of less rather than more.  Our short-lived pursuit of more (more stuff, more status, more income) led to stress, burnout, overwhelm, and debt.  Scaling down has led to peace, clarity, and a meaningful connection with the world around us.  

Living in a tiny space isn’t for everyone.  And I certainly don’t want to discredit the effort that many people put out to create a good life for themselves and their families.  But I share this little insight into our life as a way of pointing out that the well-trodden path that we’re all expected to follow, isn’t the only way.  Your life is yours to design.  And sometimes, less truly is more.