We have already spoken about how we can easily live without stuff….things that don’t make us happy, things that take up a house and fill up with dust. But did you know that there is one thing that I can’t live without, and one thing that David can’t live without!
Living The Simple Lifestyle
We love living the simple Lifestyle….actually I wonder if that should be our new tag line? “New life on the Road – Living The Simple Lifestyle“? We have sold of so much stuff that we don’t need in our life. I am sure that once we return to our shipping container we will be stunned with how much stuff is still stored in there….I guess there will come a time when we can either give the rest of the stuff away or maybe pass it off to our sons!
All That Is Really Important Is Family!
Sharing The One Thing That We Wished We Had!
When we renovated our Motorhome, David and I spoke to so many people – other Motorhome owners, to see what they thought was important in their bus, and what they could also live without. We wanted to make sure we were living with “Less Stuff” and travelling Austraila with the simple lifestyle, but still have the important things in our life. One of the things that we took out of the motorhome, and sold off, was the oven. It was almost like a brand new oven, but it was placed next to the Bunk Beds.
Our Bus Before Renovations – See What I Mean…The Oven Was right next to the bunk-beds!
No More Oven – More Bench Space!
It was actually making a burnt mark up the Bunk-beds and we thought it was far too dangerous. David wanted to keep the oven, but I was told by a few friends, that the Motorhome would become too hot with an oven inside. So we decided to sell it, and instead have a stove cook top on the bench. Seen as how I am not the cook in the family, I am happy with no oven. After all many years ago Australians cooked without ovens all of the time…they used outdoor fires!
David really misses having the oven to cook with – he makes the most yummiest meals, desserts, biscuits and slices! Maybe its a good thing….I don’t like to cook, but if someone cooks yummy food, then I am happy to taste it 🙂
What About The Countries Who Dont Have A Kitchen?
What about those countries/towns/cities/third world countries who don’t have a kitchen? They don’t have the means, the money, the equipment to cook the food. Actually sometimes they don’t even have the food ….so we are very grateful for what we do have. We have our Motorhome – a roof over our head. We also have the Convection Oven which cooks our food…and we have it set up outside so that our bus does not become too hot with cooking meals.
Did You Know What I Miss The Most?
It’s so funny – Living The Simple Lifestyle But Still Would Love One Thing……
Here is what we can live without….
- The biggest Fridge in the world – with five boys we used to have a huge fridge!
- Our three-piece lounge chairs – the ones with the recliner chairs!
- Our massive big king size bed
- Our gorgeous outdoors table setting – we loved sitting on our back veranda to look out over the back yard
- My Ikea book cases – I so love Ikea furniture!!
- All of my dresses….I have a limited amount of wardrobe space so most of my clothes went to lifeline 🙂
- My shoes – I love shoes – but I have no-where to wear my shoes, so again they went!
- All of our books…we are a huge book loving family – we actually had two big Ikea Bookcases, and then two smaller bookcases full of books!
- A big house to spread out in!
But There Is One Thing I Do Miss…..a Bath Tub!
We don’t even have a toilet in our bus, yet I don’t miss that!
We have a shower….but I so would love a bath tub. If we were building a Motorhome from scratch, and it was longer than our 9m bus, then we would have put in a corner spa….not that we have the water tanks for that much water!
Our Water Damaged Lounges – They were so dangerous but good for storage space!
New Lounges Made of Stronger Material – but less storage space!
In our motorhome we made some changes when David renovated. We got rid of the microwave – we never ever use one because they are so not healthy. We took out the small caravan fridge, and put in a bigger fridge – still not as big as our one we used to have in our house! We also had to replace the water damaged lounges. We had to put in steel lounges, so that seat belts can be added. Yes they look good, yes they are safe, but again we lost storage space.
Our Kitchen and Motorhome Before the Renovations
Our way of cooking simple meals 🙂
That is what happens when you live the simple lifestyle…you get used to the space you have, and you only take what you need.
When you think about it we can all live happily with less – but I wonder where I can find a place that has “Hot Spas” to fill my need for a bath, and I wonder where David can find an oven to cook something yummy in!!!
Do We Really Need A Household Full Of Stuff To Make Us Happy?
Cheers
Lisa
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Todays Blog post was linked with others – other travelling families who all live with less stuff!! Please check out how they live….
1 Dad 1 Kid 1 Crazy Adventure – Living Better With Less
Tripping Mom – Less Stuff More Life
Living Outside of the Box – Living Without
A Kings Life – Living With Less Spoiling Ourselves
Global Trotting Mama – Living Without The Staff
With 2 Kids In Tow, Its Backpacking We Go – After 10 Months Living With Less
Family on Bikes – Living With Less What Can You Ditch
Raising Miro – Living Without the Norm
A Minor Diverson – What Weve Learnt To Live Without
The Nomadic Family – The Ying Yang of Living Without
Bohemian Travelers – More Experiences Are Easier To Collect
Livin on the Road – Livin Without
Carried On The Wind – Living Without
Tell David when I was single I used to use the oven to store stuff in (not a cook clearly) so he is welcome to come to our house and cook away in our big oven anytime (we have a bath as well ha ha).
Books are the one thing I can’t give up, even though we will have to travel light I hope to get some of them sent over later.
Now shoes on the other hand…I own two pairs
ciao and happy travels
lisa
lisa chiodo | renovating italy recently posted..Sambuca and Salvatore – the bottle won
Hi Lisa,
Oh we are so coming to your house!! David will never ever want to leave (if had an oven to cook with!) and a bath…..gosh sounds so nice!
Funny what we can without and what we still love!
Cheers
Lisa
Oh dear, I don’t think i could live without my piano – not sure that’s going to fit into a motorhome. It would be fun though, playing the piano all around Australia 🙂
Jan Littlehales recently posted..How to Defrost Chicken – Handy Hints
Hi Jan,
You could always put your piano in the Motorhome as the dining table/chairs instead of lounges!!! 🙂
Love your idea of travelling Australia, playing music as you go!
Cheers
Lisa
Hey Lisa, give me a campfire and I’m happy 🙂 Will have to wait till next winter now though. I’m sure you will be able to find many day spa’s on the road, now thats travelling in style. As for an oven…well…a job in the local resturaunt haha and I thought you were going to say David couldn’t live without his man-shed 🙂
Jody Chambers recently posted..Wicked Harley Davidson Motorbike Hire Adventure
Hi Jody,
Ha Ha – his man-shed……um I dont think he has ever had one of those!!
Yeah, now you are talking – Day Spa all around Australia, and restaurants in every town!!
Cheers
Lisa
I would find it hard to live without my FDR. Although, as long as I could listen to Don Tolman online I guess I’d survive :).
Hilary recently posted..Could You Go Vegan, Even Just For A Day?
Hi HIlary,
David loves his FDR – he reads all of the time!! We can live without a lot of things…but we really would love an oven and bath tub! Maybe in our next bus 🙂
Cheers
Lisa
HI Lisa,
I think I could very easily get used to Living The Simple Lifestyle as long as I had my computer, But Reg now that’s a different story he likes his comforts so he would want the biggest Winnebago he could find 🙂
Rita recently posted..Wildlife In Australia
Hi Rita,
I love the simple lifestyle 🙂 So much easier to clean the bus….but Dave would love an oven in the bus:) Maybe its a man thing…..having all of there comforts!!!
Cheers
Lisa
Hi Lisa I would love to still have my convection oven but it died 🙁 There is an oven in the caravan but like you said I try not to use it too much because it makes the van hot. I am still trying to work out what I can use to replace it while on the road.
As for the spa well you could get one of those outdoor ones, get David to set it on a trailer and pull it along behind (there used to be a gold lotto advertisement similar to that with the lady in the spa sipping champers while the husband fished from a helicopter)!
Jenny Johnson recently posted..Our Backpackers Experience
Hi Jenny,
Dave so misses his Oven, and I so wished we had a bath!!!
I reckon that it would be brilliant to have an oven in the bus in winter time, but not in summer time 🙂
Hey thats a perfect idea – taking a spa in a trailer as we travel Australia!!
Cheers
Lisa
I absolutely agree with so much of what you have said here. Just because it is a great lifestyle doesn’t mean it is perfect. The bathtub and a recliner chair … oh, and yes, the big fridge … how I do miss thee…just not enough to settle down 🙂
I don’t know how I’d cope without my bath either. Or a big fridge. Or an oven! LOL! To be honest, if I didn’t have them, I know I would cope. I guess that doesn’t stop you still pining for things.
Gorgeous photos too! x
Kellie recently posted..My Tasmanian Backyard: The Devonport Bluff
It’s funny isn’t it? For me it was the shower. Make no apologies! I think it’s great that we are able to realize how much we DON’T need. 🙂
Lisa,
What a great post. Oh, I miss my kitchen counter, and my backyard and it’s view of the mountains to the East and the sleepy town we live over to the West. Thanks for an honest post, that reminds us all that living with less, has it’s challenges.
In “The Ying Yang of Living Without” I shared all we lived without in order to make our travel dreams come true. And here, you remind me all we are ‘living without’ on the road. I just love that.
By the way, I also love the inspirational words scattered throughout the house: family, believe… good stuff.
Much love,
Gabi
Hi Gabi,
Thanks for stopping by here and sharing your amazing thoughts about Living the simple lifestyle! Its amazing what we can learn to live without, and still be happy! I love being free of the stuff that ties us down, but at the same time travelling with simple style 🙂
I love my inspirational words – they keep me going!
Cheers
Lisa
Lisa,
What a great post. Oh, I miss my kitchen counter, and my backyard and it’s view of the mountains to the East and the sleepy town we live over to the West. Thanks for an honest post, that reminds us all that living with less, has it’s challenges.
In “The Ying Yang of Living Without” I shared all we lived without in order to make our travel dreams come true. And here, you remind me all we are ‘living without’ on the road. I just love that.
By the way, I also love the inspirational words scattered throughout the house: family, believe… good stuff.
Much love,
Gabi
Gabi Klaf recently posted..The Ying Yang of Living Without
We have had no bathtub for 5 years now, and I also miss it! When I had my last baby I was so distressed and worried about how I would bathe him without a tub, so funny now. It always works out just in a different way I guess. It does make it a real thrill when we stay at a hotel with a pool. Even that is a rarity! Hope you get a bath soon, at least for 1 night;)
Lisa – funny we both wrote about shoes! Wow, 5 boys… I am overwhelmed with 2 most days! Good thing Ikea makes stuff for small spaces, hopefully you were able to squeeze a few things in. No matter how much stuff I see around the world, I still love Ikea! Thanks for sharing, the pictures gave a great feel for what you do have.
Diya recently posted..What We’ve Learnt to Live Without
Hello Diya,
Too funny – we both love shoes! I love Ikea furniture, accessories and everything that they sell – they rock 🙂
So good to see other families lifestyles, and how they live!
Cheers
Lisa
I miss my oven too…
And surely it´s probably cheaper for you to indulge every now and then in a spa instead of owning a bath tub and all the big house that comes with it 🙂
Hi Marilia,
So very true – its way cheaper to indulge every now and then on the finer things in life instead of owning a huge house!
Cheers
Lisa
I have to laugh about the bathtub. We are remodeling this house and decided to ditch the bathtub and put in a shower instead. That’s the one thing hubby will miss tremendously.
Nancy from Family on Bikes recently posted..Living with less: What can you ditch?
Hi Nancy,
How could you take out the bathtub for a shower…..please put it back in!!! I am on hubby side..bath tubs rock!! Especially after a stressful day, and running around after everyone, nothing beats a bath tub 🙂
Cheers
Lisa
haha–great post! an overn is one thing we definitely don’t miss, at least while backpacking in SEA anyway! don’t need or want to cook!! but even at home, we are not that big on baking. just goes to show how different families live and what they deem ‘needs’ vs ‘wants’. We don’t miss our tv or mobile phones though.
So true – you wouldnt have to cook in SEA…gosh maybe we could move our bus to over there!!!
We havent owned a TV in a very long time…and we only have mobile phones for staying in touch with family! Still a bath tub at the end of a very stressful day…now that would be nice 🙂
Cheers
Lisa
Hey Lisa, living with less can take some getting used to.
I remember when I started travelling around Australia… I got as far a Mildura, and had to send some stuff home on a truck, simply because I packed to much.
These days I’d be happy with my swag and a camp oven in the campfire, not sure Gert (Belinda) would agree though.
Have you thought about putting the Spa on the Roof…that way you’d have a view while you sipping on your champas 😉
Cheers,
Cade
Hi Cade,
So funny that you had to send some stuff home because you had too much with you!! I love your idea of a swag, and a campfire! Perfect way to travel 🙂
Now I like your idea…a spa on the roof…wonder if Dave would build that one for our family!!
Cheers
Lisa
Hi Lisa
Oh, I would love to spend a few nights in your home! I know you couldn’t fit me in, but I would still love to!
Tell David you might win a gourmet cookie hamper, to make up for the oven!
LOL!
Lina@MothersLoveLetters recently posted..WIN: $50 Hamper Gourmet Cookies, Made With Love.
No toilet, but a bath, huh?! Wow! Well…one is easy to do outdoors, and the other is a little trickier…so I guess if I had to choose, a shower would probably be my priority, too! But I hear you on the water tank issue, not to mention a hot-water issue. We could fill about half of a mini-size tub in our travel trailer before it turned ice cold (fresh Alaskan glacier water)! Oh well! Some things you have to save for luxurious getaways to a hotel (or relatives’ homes)!!
Hi Living Outside of the Box,
Yep – I like your suggestion..using a luxury getaways, hotels or relatives homes…as long as they have a spa bath tub!!! Oh and an oven for Hubby to cook in! Gosh that would have been cold – having Alaskan glacier water for showers 😉
Cheers
Lisa
hi lisa! so, we meet again, and again, and again. just read this post AGAIN. the pictures do it for me. to see your life. i love it.
just wanted to let you know that your link to my article “The Ying Yang of Living Without” does not work with my new template. The new link is http://thenomadicfamily.com/2011/11/the-ying-yang-of-living-without. I’d love it if you could a minute to update that. Also, which plug in gets that ‘you may also like’ at the bottom of the article. i love it.
so, technical comments also have a space, no?
gabi klaf recently posted..After the Accident- When Mom Feels Guilty for Not Keeping Her Baby Safe
Hi Gabi,
I have changed your link so I hope its now all good (if not let me know!)
We use the Plug in called “LinkWithin” – such a great plugin!
We love the plug-in because our readers can keep on reading posts that relate to what they are already reading!
Cheers
Lisa