Minimalism vs. Hobbies. Can't make up my mind.

[Day Dreamer]

Minimalism vs. Materialism is a daily struggle for me. I want to be a minimalist but my many interests require gear. I also love sporting goods and tend to be a gear head (fishing, skiing, kayaking, backpacking, etc.) and buy way too much of that stuff. I purge and then end up with more stuff later. I'm down to 3 kayaks and 4 pairs of skis.

I never "collected" anything until I got (back) into listening to vinyl and vintage stereo stuff a few years ago. Now I have about 2,000 records and 3 vintage stereos.

 

[Wabbit]

... I purge and then end up with more stuff later...

Hi Me!

 

[RoamerRV428]

I hear ya Day Dreamer. I've told him many times if he wants to keep breathing don't push me HA HA

 

[RoamerRV428]

Day Dreamer
I am so opposite of you and my hubby in that my kayak....I got a paddle and nothing else
my hubby has a fishing kayak and it has every bell and whistle known to mankind you can put on this thing, and then he has a gazillion rods he brings...….me I want no extras on my kayak. I bring one rod and one small fishing gear box with me and fish. Hubby has the entire line of Bass Pro etc. fishing gear with him on every outing. ugh

I can keep any and all things I love to do down to the bare minimum and love it.
hubby must have the entire line of all products to do what I do with almost nothing.

like hiking. I got one great mid sized pack with water filter in it etc. carries it all I could ever require on a hike to survive for days.
hubby has a giant pack, brings 2 walking sticks, has a belt thing that hangs/holds more junk and outfits with hats, sunglasses, wick-sweat free clothes and all that crap and I am out there with a pack and shorts and tshirt and away I go. It is like he walked out of a catalog carrying every single product they sell for hiking

how we do get along is amazing actually HAHA

his stuff requires time to handle and adjust and ugh.....I just grab and go. He wastes so much time on his junk and that drive me batty also LOL

 

[B and C]

Roamer, if it really came to survival on that hike you would probably be glad he had all that junk with him. I am in kinda the same mindset, be prepared (scout motto) and the other is I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it (my motto).

 

[RoamerRV428]

oh what I fit into my smaller pack is all I need to survive a few nights out there if alone

but you are right tho, someone carrying extra junk comes in handy if needed.....you are right, I will keep him as the pack donkey on all my excursions LOL, no wait, he is a pack mule cause he is stubborn HA

 

[IGBT]

See, when we do a hobby we go full bore, so it requires a lot of stuff.

Take snowmobiling.   We pack a chainsaw, tent, extra clothes, 200 feet of rope, tarp, block and tackle, 5000 calorie energy brick, extra fuel for both sleds, fire starting materials, two handheld ham radios with slim jim antenna, paracord, hand saw, first aid kit with splint, two flashlights, two gps devices, compass, maps of the area, two snow shovels on AV backpacks with locator beacons and 3.5 meter probing rods

(that probably isn't all, but just off the top of my head)

Only thing we have had to use is the chainsaw and that was mostly being nice and clearing downed trees on the trails so other sleds didn't have to figure out a alternate route.

 

[B and C]

...he is a pack mule cause he is stubborn HA

Sounds like we are a lot alike.  Gotta meet you guys one of these days.

 

[RoamerRV428]

B and C when we hit the road I will definitely cross your path at some point come hell or highwater LOL

one thing I cherish is knowing I 'kinda know' others and when that freedom hits I would love to run across other great people on this forum, you are one of them

 

[B and C]

Thanks Roamer, likewise.

At least you have a target date. This seems to be the only social interaction I get anymore short of the kid and grandkids. I don't even get a lot of interaction with them either as I am generally stuck back here in the addition we built. Just trips back and forth to the patio. On occasion I do get to go on an outing. Thursday, the son and I are going to Costco. It seems my only outings are to spend money. I do call a few people now and then but don't want to burn out the few friends I have left. Just bored almost to tears. Well, enough about my woes.

 

[bullfrog]

I'm getting so old and slow by the time I pack everything it is too late and I'm to tired to go so I'm thinking a multi-tool, some water and a hat and I'm ready to go any way, any time. As my Home Depot 5 gallon bucket say's "Let's do this!" Which brings up my point I've started using that bucket to downsize my hobbies like fishing, no more ten rods with two huge tackle boxes. Just a rod, rag, few extra hooks, bait, ice and a bottle of water in my bucket and multi-tool I always carry with a folding chair on my shoulder for extended trips.

 

[RoamerRV428]

I understand your situation B and C. You are caught in that tragic rock and hard place and what life is throwing at ya is rough right now. I have empathy for it and I know I am close to those types of situations with my mom being 91 and my hubby's mom is like 80 but with a lot of diabetes related troubles with circulation and stuff so I absolutely understand what is going down for you and I applaud you BIG TIME for giving loved ones the time required to make their journey. Loving patience is one of the biggest gifts we can give someone in our lives.

I hope I didn't overstep in any way

Yea I hear ya on outings being about spending money. It seems while 'I wait til college kicks in' we at least do the trips we can while we can thru a school schedule, but I have a target date that should literally be something we can hit and sell it all and go for it. But as we all know life can throw us big curves so most I can do is hope everyone does well, all goes to 'my plan' which is won't LOL and just keep day dreaming of what ifs sometimes

 

[RoamerRV428]

bullfrog
love your post!

yea I am the same. Older I get the more I want lighter, easier, no hassle, no junk, no gadgets, no crap weighing me down cause older I get the less power I have to deal with such junk.

I am the type to walk out into the unknown with nothing extra, but luckily (I think) I do have the hubby so far that carries all the 'what if necessary' crap with him HA

 

[bullfrog]

What really made me rethink how I did things was when I thought I had bought and packed things which I could no longer remember where I put them and by the time I found them I didn't need them. I now just dump out my bucket on a rag to find what I packed. If it doesn't fit in the bucket it doesn't get to come!

 

[RoamerRV428]

you will have all ya need in that bucket and if ya don't, then so be it!
I have that attitude, if I don't have it then why bother worrying about what ya don't have.
hell others have survived on less in super horrible situations in life and I figure I will survive or die trying at some point down the line...it is what it is.

buckets unite!! and heck a 5 gallon can squeeze a lot into it

 

[Cammalu]

I’m in a 23’ class B plus and it was ok when I was solo but has been a royal pain with two people. We both have hobbies and want our toys so we are going to trade up to something larger.

I really want my sewing machine and fabric stash and he wants lots of tools and his sticks he makes walking sticks out of. We tow a trailer with a UTV and stash extra stuff on that also.

I don’t know where it ends but I never thought I’d want to go bigger. I’m looking on line for something everyday but the prices of anything I like are sickening. I love the RV I have. It’s the best floor plan I’ve ever seen.

 

[RoamerRV428]

that is hard Camm
needing more room but ya love what you do have. a good floorplan is just so darn good when it suits you so right!

for us personally we have to have room for each of us. We don't do well in very small space but if we have that bit of extra space where we both function well we do very great on the road together.

We realized we can't go under a 30 foot box. Right now we got a 34 ft toyhauler (4ft of tongue on that)

We want to go smaller when we hit the road full time but know it won't happen. If anything I was thinking we might have to up a bit. Like a 34 box and make it a 38 total length....I am so hoping we don't have to do that. Bigger isn't better in state parks etc. Smaller length makes it so much easier for all traveling for us.

 

[bullfrog]

We are to the point we move between two home bases winter and summer which has helped as I can have some storage in both but our goal is to be down to a 24" toy hauler or a truck camper pulling the 4x4. Only problem now is what I need is usually at the other place!

 

[RoamerRV428]

I like that bullfrog. I think in the end we might do that or just have one home base when we are done full timing on the road and just travel from it. Go out 2-3 months at a clip and enjoy but have that base to settle down when wanted.

 

[Cammalu]

Well we do have a house we are at in the summer months but stay in the RV in the drive. We have a few rental houses and I had a brain spasm or something last year when a place down the road came up for sale and I bought it. That brought the workload up with three more rentals on that property needing to be renovated. It’s not little things either. We did the 80-90ish mobile home last year and got that rented and now have the house to renovate this year. The whole foundation is kaput. At some point someone tried to dig a basement out under the house and the house didn’t like it. They went down past the water table so we have had to pump out water. All the beams need replacing and some of the concrete blocks.

We will be digging around the blocks and pouring a whole new footing under there and then put blocks next to the old ones and after all that we can start replacing the joists. Since we are both old and crippled as crap we have to rely on my nieces hubby to do all that in his time off on the weekends. Going to be slow going. Then we have to fill in the giant hole.

Once that is done the rest should be a piece of cake. Should be.... but it never is.

Then next year we will start on the old gas station that’s also on the property.

I lost my mind when I bought this place but it’s on five acres and was SUPER CHEAP