“I’m a ‘wannabe’ chef,” she said. “And there’s nothing like settling down in the comfort of your own home (van), with a beautifully and deliciously cooked meal on a decorative plate. I enjoy my meal twice as much, then.” Knowing the road might get bumpy, she tried to wrap and secure the porcelain dinnerware, but they were no match for a pothole. After the third piece broke, she realized she’d made a mistake. “I regret buying them because I live in a van. I drive. And things break.” Now, Target is her new best friend as she’s on the hunt for a set of unbreakable, yet beautiful dinnerware that can be easily maintained. This was true for their portable RV washer and dryer. Smaller than a standard machine, they bought it as a laundry option that wouldn’t take up too much space. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for them to figure out it wasn’t going to work. “Because it was so small, we were doing laundry every day,” she said. “Even then, we still needed to go to the laundromat to wash larger items like sheets, blankets, etc.” After a couple of months, the machine broke and they didn’t bother to replace it. Instead they continued to use laundromats and an on-site laundry at their parking spot. They intend to buy a combo washer-dryer unit, but aren’t in any rush, she said. They tried using outdoor cushions, which went flat after a few months. Then they tried five-inch thick, heavy-duty foam from a crafting store. While more comfortable, it was expensive and they never got around to making covers for it. Instead, they used an old bedsheet. “Three years later and several hundred dollars wasted, we decided it wasn’t worth dealing with anymore and ordered an Ikea couch—easily one of the best purchases we made!” “I bought it because my intention was to be as off grid as I could until I purchased my own land,” she said. “That meant collecting rainwater and recycling it, using a compost toilet, etc.” Unfortunately, it didn’t work as she hoped. She’d get floaters in her drinking water, faulty filers, egg water smell, and cloudy water, she said. Time after time, she’d have someone come fix it but to no avail. After about six to eight months, she’d had enough. She had the builder remove the system for a full refund and switched to city and well water. “Looking back I would have simply not gotten the water system and just hooked up to regular water,” she said. “It would have saved me a lot of money and stress.” “Even though it is lit by a skylight, many plants have died when placed there,” she said. First, she purchased a fishtail palm to achieve real jungle vibes, but the palm suffered transportation shock and turned brown within a week, she said. She returned it and bought a mature bird of paradise instead. But even with regular rotation, it leaned so heavily toward the skylight, she was afraid she’d find its pot completely shattered on the ground one day. Twice defeated, but determined to achieve her dream, she finally settled on a less fancy, but more stable, dracaena marginata tree. “It cost waaaay less than the other two, and has transformed my “corner of death” into a tropical and happy corner,” she said.
