Blog
I was answering some interview questions with Mr. Bill Richardson this week and we touched on what it's like living in a trailer. We did a little "Whale Sacs Cribz" segment. I then realized I hadn't yet posted about all the perks of my RV life inside Elizabeth Trailer. It's something dolphinately worth touching on!
Affordability Affordability is pretty self explanatory I think. I used to rent a $750 apartment to myself, with $120/mo in utilities to heat and light the place, etc. and that was CHEAP for Portland. I gave up apartment life and got myself a 15 year "mortgage" with an insanely low interest rate and monthly payment. I don't mind telling everyone what kind of money I'm saving by owning an RV. YES, I do have debt on my house, though I'd always suggest buying with cash if at all a possible. Elizabeth Trailer is a brand new $33,000 27' Travel Trailer that I paid $19,000 for (I'll help you negotiate if you ever get yourself a trailer!). But the payments are nothing like what you'd pay on a 19k car loan. I pay $150/month, most of which goes directly to principal. There are other costs of course, mainly finding somewhere affordable to park it. In Portland, I had a friend that let me rent their driveway for another $150/month, still keeping my living expenses down. The sky is really the limit for where you can park your house. If you're willing to spend the time searching, you might even be able to find somewhere you can work off your lot rent. Affordability 2.0 This second form of affordability came as a pleasant surprise to me. Although my house is probably too big for just me, I still have very little space compared to your everyday apartment. I'm also annoyingly organized, so clutter just isn't an option. What does this translate to? I never go shopping. Ok, ok, I buy food, and business items (and occasionally dresses) but other than that, I don't need anything because I don't have room for it. It's a blessing in disguise, but I've grown to like it. It saves your family and friends money too cause they KNOW you don't have room for things :D Mobility/Freedom My house is on wheels. That's the whole point, right? I can move it wherever I want. What I didn't fully understand until committing to this life is that it plays into every big decision I have to make, but makes it a much smaller, less stressful decision. "Could you move to California?" of course I could. "Could you spend a few months in Tucson?" sure thing, be right there. "Don't like Arizona?" Nope, just gotta pull my big suitcase/house somewhere else.* I can take a job anywhere, or not take a job, in the middle of nowhere for a month or for a year or anything I want, with little hassle. That kind of freedom is immensely liberating. I'm a much happier, much less anxious person because of it. *I actually love Arizona, point is that if I didn't, I could leave in a heartbeat. Simplicity Although this word simplicity could apply to everything I've written prior, what I mean here is the fact that I have purged my un-needed belongings. I've purged a few times since originally moving in too! I feel like "things" really do become such a focus for humans. You have a big place, you fill the big place with things and that's supposed to make you happier, right? I certainly went the other way with this, and am much much happier now. I got rid of all the doo dads and thingers and fancy whatever's and I now have what I need. I have dishes and food and clothes and toiletries, a practice basket, too many frisbees, a few things for entertainment and that's about it. No clutter. It's actually a freeing feeling getting rid of all that stuff you thought you needed, and I could probably get rid of more and be just fine. I realize this life isn't for everyone, and that families might complicate the system (though I think a traveling family is about the coolest thing I've ever heard of) but I think there are a million keys to my new happiness that all dwell inside Elizabeth Trailer and the life she's given me. I seriously encourage every one of you to at least consider what a more simple life could do for you. If it's not for you, I get it, but I truly believe a large part of my undying happiness comes from my lifestyle. The beauty of it all, you can always go back... Love, simplicity, frisbees, Tina I'm behind! Mostly because I've been having too much damn fun!
life is good. Really good. I spent a week in Portland surrounded by my favorite friends and disc golf courses and some pretty cold weather. I think I somehow managed to bring the sun with me from Arizona though! It only rained the night I got in, then blue skies the rest of my trip. I was able to play a handful of Portland favorites: Blue Lake Pier Trojan Lunchtime Champooeg All of which I played pretty poorly I might add but I am still recovering from my back injury. It's getting better slowly...and thanks again to everyone who has reached out, thank you for caring!!! :) I'll likely have a few weeks of "rehab" before I'm back to my normal self. This one really did a number on me but I'm determined to get back to healthy as quickly as possible. My Thanksgiving, although completely unorthodox was pretty perfect. I played a round of golf in the morning with great people, then hung out at my friend Mat's house by myself, re-watching about 20 disc golf videos from past tournaments. Specifically 2014 Disc Golf Pro Worlds - Portland - the footage that changed my life. I was watching Ohn Scoggins make every. single. putt. and remembered I drive through Los Angeles (where she lives) to get back to Tucson so I shot her a message to play a round. It didn't hit me until later, but she's a huge part of why I decided to take this living-for-disc-golf path, only 1.5 years ago, and now I'm playing casual rounds with her in California. I can't tell ya'll how happy that makes me. Anyhow, later Thanksgiving evening, my good friends brought me turkey and a bunch of pie and we watched MORE disc golf videos together and it was completely perfect. Thanksgiving successfully spent with family. I left a little early from Portland and spent a few more days in California on the way back home. Also... Perfect. The weather is stellar, the people are amazing and the courses are a blast. I'm playing with some new Discmania frisbees from Eric and I'm REALLY impressed. I haven't dabbled a whole lot outside of Innova and a few latitude discs but I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. I got to play the world's first permanent course Oak grove in Pasadena, CA with Ohn , Erin White, Jamie Hadley (see photo and video) and a really cool guy I forget the name of. It was such a fun crew to play with. Also, after sunset, I got to play a completely lit 18-hole disc golf/ball golf course near Los Angeles. We need one of those everywhere for winter golf! I am back home now grinding away on charity and Whale Sacs items that have fallen behind in the last two weeks. But speaking of both, Women's Disc Golf Outreach AND Whale Sacs were featured on the PDGA women's Facebook page last week! They were generous enough to do a fundraiser for WDGO, and then featured Whale Sacs for their "by women for women" disc golf companies segment. Everything else is just as good as it has been not a lot else to update but it sure has been a fun two weeks fun and much needed. **Side note. I wrote this yesterday while in Tucson, but somehow found myself in San Diego for a day. My life is crazy and I like it that way. |
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Author
Tina Stanaitis - Professional Disc Golfer (#68076), Entrepreneur, Full Time RVer, and Dream Follower Extraordinaire!
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