This post begins our “Townie to Traveler” series where we share the journey we took to transition from a house to a van.

The process of downsizing from a classic New England town center Victorian circa 1900 to a 2019 Winnebago Travato 59GL was a lengthy one for us. You can refer to the fit test series for the details on choosing a van. To review our timeline, our initial probes to check out vans began in the fall of 2016. Our first rental campervan trip was the fall of 2017. Greywacke arrived November of 2018. Our house went on the market the week in mid-March that sports, Massachusetts, and the US started to change nearly hourly in response to the novel coronavirus. The house became another family’s home in June of 2020. It shocks me when we run into folks who have jumped into a campervan due to COVID19 with little or no experience beyond research online. We are … deliberate.

I think it doesn’t matter what your mode for decision-making is, so long as you don’t get paralyzed by the process.  And for me, there were plenty of moments that could have overwhelmed me along the way. But it wasn’t the van life or the selection of the van where I got bogged down.  It was making Graywacke my home and more to the point, letting go of the house and its contents. The house, its stuff, it nearly crushed me. That’s why I am grateful for my partner in life as he was so energized by the prospect of campervan travels that it kept me going in spite of my own inertia. I hope there were times along the way when I did the same for him. He is nodding his head yes – dutiful husband that he is. Good man, good man Rob.

The hardest part of downsizing hands down for me was the careful review required of all of our papers. Boxes and boxes and more boxes…seemingly endless boxes of papers – mine, Rob’s, our kids, our families…My apologies to all the trees removed to have made this possible. We admit, we were doomed by our genetics to be dutiful keepers of nearly all that crossed our threshold.

The sheer volume of boxes in the attic alone induced paralysis in me. Having to go through every sheet of paper in the attic boxes (and some in the basement too) took tremendous fortitude. I’d say, give yourself time.  Don’t rush it.  Savor the memories as they surface.  Have a camera handy to record the treasures and then either let them go, pass them on where appropriate, or separate them into categories and collect them into labelled binders – tactile or digital – where they can be viewed, shared, honored and not left to rot as they collect dust. 

Having a partner to share the precious moments that come to light and also one who is less attached to the contents are good ideas. A shredder is key especially if you are of a certain age. Rob and I were shocked at how cavalier the use of our social security numbers used to be.  Even the most inane missives had our numbers written out for all the world to see. We were grateful for large scale shredder events that took place in our town especially as we hit upon the piles of less meaningful but dutifully stored papers. Having one handy as you go is a critical tool to keep the piles disappearing.

Now full disclosure, we still have some paper based organizing projects awaiting us at our short-term storage location when longer breaks from the road occur. At least the items are grouped now.  Yes, I am delighted that we found long stored but exact storage location unknown for many items not seen since we left Alaska including our diplomas, marriage license, toddler masterpieces, letters from departed loved ones and many photos.

I have wondered since then, how much weight was removed from the house? The burden lifted from us is immeasurable.  I had to do this work when my father was failing.  It was a painstaking, heartbreaking, and backbreaking duty. I still wonder what to do with the photo albums of people I have never known. I have kept them just in case some insights come to pass. In lighter moments, I wonder how much insulation was provided by the endless boxes of papers hidden away in our attic’s storage eves? Was there a silver lining to having kept all this paper stuff through the many years? The emotional toll of going through every sheet of paper and the memories each had the potential to evoke took a tremendous emotional toll upon both of us.

Note to self: purge papers routinely, save a tree and print less, and honor important moments no matter the medium used in an open fashion – storing whether in a box or on a device is a dead end. Here’s hoping geomeandering.com will serve to honor our explorations openly. Just two geologists in a van with no deadlines less weighted down by paper.

OK a confession. The boxes of rocks in the basement brought us both joy at the careful preservation of some of our favorite fossils, traces, and rocks…but I digress.  Now to store with a plan to someday display those in a meaningful fashion. That’s a subject for another time.