Letting life happen

Being a nomad, a vagabond, a hobo with an education is not easy. The whole world expects you to be invoved in a career, a family and a society. I spent my life moving around when I was young with my dad being a military man, then, to add insult to injury, I moved all over the US as an employee of Johnson and Johnson. When moving has been your life you learn to love lightness. You learn to love a lack of posessions. You learn to love being able to relocate quickly, unencumbered by furniture, knick knacks and even personal attachments. I have now almost totally done away with everything. What I cannot fit in my van, is in a small storage bin.
In my van I have the following: 5 shirts and 3 pair of slacks, 2 pair of pajamas (one fleecy for winter and one cotton for summer), a light sleeping bag and a medium sleeping bag (combined they make a winter sleeping bag), a propane infra red heater from Cabelas, a backpackers propane/isobutane stove, 2 LED lights mounted overheaed, a bed that I built and fastened to the truck so it does not become a projectile, pillows, canned food, long shelf life non-refrigerated meals, one jug of water, a bowl, protein powder, oatmeal and Oil of Olay clean up clothes. I have 2 towels and 2 wash clothes that hang on hangers with my clothes for good drying, my coat and my 2 wool sweaters. This is not a motor home. If it was I'd be in heaven.

My system in the morning for getting up when it is cold starts with reaching over to the infra red heater from the warmth of my bag and holding the ignite button for 30 seconds. Once lit, I get cozy again (making sure i don't fall asleep and kill myself with CO) until the frost is at least gone. I sneak out of my bag one body part at a time. As each part emerges I clothe it. Hat first, sweater second, pants third and wool slippers fourth. Once out, I fire up the cook stove, heat up some water in my coffee pot and make what I call coffee-gruel. Coffee-gruel is an adaptation of oatmeal that makes life easy. I put a few ounces of oatmeal, sugar, instant coffee and protein powder in a metal cup. Once I have added the hot water and stirred it all up, I have a hearty start to the day with enough caffeine to invigorate me and enough protein to make sure I don't look like a scare crow.

The beauty of this system is that there are no pots to wash. With the left over hot water, I soak a washcloth, wash all my private parts, pits and feet again (I always do them at night with the Oil of Olay clothes as well) and proceed to get dressed, ready to face the day.