When I decided to live RV life with three other women, I already knew there were going to be big sacrifices. One of the young women traveling with me, my daughter, was a vocal performer. She needed her everyday outfits, but also needed to travel with performance costumes.
With the exception of my daughter, each of us were allotted a single drawer for our underclothes, very limited hanging space in the closet, and one overhead storage cabinet for all the rest.
Now, if you use your RV for camping on the weekends during the summer, that amount of space is probably just fine. But, when you are living in an RV and have to plan for four seasons of clothing, this amount of space is scarily inadequate. Because outfits also have to have the right accessories and jewelry too, right? And do not get me started on the issue of shoes!
As I began my RV life, I also didn’t thoroughly think through what life would be like. My wardrobe was a direct reflection of the type of work and lifestyle choices I had made over the past few years. As I didn’t know what I would be doing for work, I had some business casual outfits, plus an interview outfit. I didn’t know if dating was going to happen while I was on the road, but I hoped it would. So, I had a few going out outfits too. And then, I had a ton of: jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts, long underwear, socks, panties, scarves, gloves, and workout clothes. Oh man, where was I gonna fit all this stuff?
Here are a few of the ideas I came up with for solving the wardrobe dilemma.
- Layering in light flexible clothing is the best. I use tank tops, t-shirts and sweat shirts on top and leggings (which could be covered by sweats/windpants for warmth), and shorts for my bottoms.
- The interview outfit is not really necessary for work camping or gig positions. Consider throwing out the traditional interview outfit.
- Adopt a 1 in 1 out rule, especially for things like collectible t-shirts.
- Choose a color scheme. Something like black, white and red as an example. This allows all your layers and options to go together giving you a complete “look.” This also helps with saving the budget!
- Use vertical hangers to make the most of your closet space and group layers together.
When I started my RV life, I had too much of everything. Too many clothes, too much camping gear, too many kitchen gadgets, and too much wrong thinking. My stuff owned me. As I released more and more stuff from my life, I made room for more and more experiences. It was the most freeing experience of my life.
For more tips and ideas, check out A Gal’s Guide to RV Living available from Amazon.com.
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