The Campfire Trail: August 19 - DIY Homestead

August 19, 2022

Day 242 of the Adventure

Me and John Building a Treehouse

Today ended up being one of those slow, do almost nothing days. Shelley was off taking care of some grandkid business and left me with some "going to the farmers market" business. We have been pushing pretty hard through the Spring and siffling hot Summer this year and with most of the critical chores complete, I've found it easy to slip into a fairly lethargic routine. I suppose that needs to come to an end soon. This weekend will probably mark the end of our Summer break.

The idea of downsizing has been on my mind lately. Not to necessarily do much more of it. Rather, look back on the downsizing we've done over the past few years. Like most of us, I think we've had a tight grip on much of our belongings. Most of it really is just excess stuff. When we moved from a 2,800 sf, four-bedroom house, to live in a 23-foot travel trailer back in 2011, most of our things simply stayed at the house. We only planned for a three to four month stay in the camper while remodeling some little resort cabins. After falling in love with the camp and cabin life, the move back home got delayed for about a year. Then two, then three and pretty soon, we just weren't that interested in going home. We found our new home that consist of "nomad living" in a series of campers and cabins for close to eleven years. One of the interesting things we discovered was how little need we had for all the stuff we had accumulated back home.

Downsizing for us came easy because we didn't experience the trauma of making that decision intentionally ahead of time. It sort of just happened. Were it not for the number of tools we've accumulated over the years, we would be down to almost nothing but basic furnishings for our 300 square foot cabin. The tools are hard to part with since they represent all of the "Do-It-Yourself" abilities and potential we have available to us.

The results of our downsize have been dramatic. Less time spent caring for things and property. (referring to the typical on-going maintenance things) Less upkeep in general, less housekeeping. Less buying of stuff across the board, feeling like we need to fill our space and lives with gadgets, furnishings and conveniences (so called). My list of things to do is long because we are still in the middle of building out this DIY Homestead. Things related to keeping up with just stuff is a very short list any more and I'm good with that. I suppose downsizing is not for everyone, but it certainly fits with a self-sufficient, lower cost and lower impact way of life.

Carry On

Adventure Quote: “Clutter may rob us of the life we imagined or prevent us from creating a new vision for our future.” ― Lisa J. Shultz

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost on the Lake (Sumatra/Colombia blend)

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The 300 sq ft downsized cabin

Fun with the Do-It-Yourself cabin building