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117 Nights and 25 States

2012_ROADTRIP

After four months, 117 nights, 25 states (!!!), 13,000 road miles, 1 auto accident, 2 F150 trucks, 7 business trips, and an unmeasurable amount of fun and adventure (plus a ton of work, as usual), we are back home in Portland. In a house. A house with rooms, where it takes more than 5 steps to get from bed to the espresso maker.

In the few days that we've been home, we've been spending most of our time frantically getting rid of stuff, filling box after box to take to Goodwill. It's always like this when we get home. Living in a small space with exactly what you need (and a place to put those things you need) is so….well, it's peaceful. I'm never stressing about the mess in the (insert room here) and how long it will take to clean that up before dinner guests arrive. I completely cleaned out my closet and dresser and hardly kept anything that I haven't worn in the last year. This means now I have clothes that I actually wear IN my dresser, instead of on top, while the drawers serve as storage. It's amazing!

I went through the main kitchen cupboard and threw out everything that (a) was old, and (b) that I don't use, and now my cupboard is usable, with things I USE!!

We've got family coming to stay with us for the holidays and we're looking forward to enjoying the house for a bit. We plan to keep getting rid of things so hopefully, someday soon, our house can be as simple and elegant as our Airstream.

Oh yeah, and here are the states we visited, in order (duplicates in parentheses): Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado (where we'd originally planned to turn around and go home!), Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tenessee, Kenducky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, (Kansas), Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, (Idaho), Washington, (Oregon)

(Posted by Laura) 

7 Comments

  1. Jennifer Jennifer

    Love the map! That is fabulous. And what an awesome trip; it’s been fun to follow along on the blog. Also, I laughed out loud at your description of all the “cleaning out” when you got home, because that’s PRECISELY what my hubby and I did after four months living in our Airstream last summer. I went on a tear as soon as we got home, cleaning out closets, bookshelves, all the kitchen cabinets, etc. Made multiple trips to charities. And we didn’t even have a lot of clutter to begin with, compared to most people! Anyway, glad you had a great trip, and welcome home. 🙂

  2. Thanks Jennifer! Yeah I think generally our house “looks” nice and neat and not cluttered at all on first visit, but once you get down into the nitty gritty and start opening cupboards…eeek! We cleaned out the laundry room, kitchen cupboards, kitchen countertops (no need to have the appliances out that we hardly ever use), hall closet, guest rooms, bathroom under-the-sink cupboard…wherever I knew I’d be able to get rid of A LOT, that’s where I went. Feels so great.

    We have a PILE of boxes and bags in the garage now to take to charity. LOVE IT.

  3. Bob Bob

    Plans for future trips????

  4. Dave Burns Dave Burns

    With all these extended trips you take, when will you be blogging about a Portland house for sale? 🙂

  5. Haha Dave. I should post some photos of our (tree)house, so people will understand why we don’t want to sell it. 🙂 -Laura

  6. Jacquie Mason Jacquie Mason

    Love to see the Photos of your (tree) house. I have really enjoyed your trip, as I have been recovering from a head injury. You have helped me get my dreaming back. We hope to move out of the city (Vancouver Canada) to interior, and do more Airstreaming down south for the warmer winter months. So in the future if you decide to come to BC Canada, especially if we are living in Osoyoos, we would love to have you visit and camp out on our hope to soon own acreage. 🙂 Jacquie

  7. Travel in an Airstream teaches us how to live wonderfully with less stuff. We also are paring down what we have at home to make it more like our Airstream.
    Welcome home.

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