"Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default," is a phrase that overrides my every thought and most of my actions which, of course, are driven by my thoughts. It means many things, but essentially it relates to possessing a deep understanding of what's important in life (to oneself) and taking the ownership and responsibility to make those things happen rather then floating through life being nudged here and there by external forces (media, friends, family etc). It will bring greater happiness, less regret and a more engaging life. well, it does for us, my wife Faith and I, anyway.
One of the elements we have both embraced in deployment of that design and create ethos is the importance of experiences over things. We have and do things of course, but it's the experiences, the emotions, gained through them that is important, not the thing itself. Anyway, one of those is our love for the outdoors. We go off-roading, camping, hiking, kayaking, star-gazing, shooting, hunting (I do, not Faith) and pretty much love anything that gets us out and about. To do so we need things and we have a lot of them including two off-roading vehicles, kayaks, guns, camping, navigation and safety equipment and a very capable off-road camper trailer that we have used extensively on our adventures. We are lucky to have similar interests and the ability to support the other in their own so it's a situation that fits well with us as a couple and within our design and create ethos.
Alas, there is a problem. Recently Faith (my girl), has been talking about wanting to sell our camper trailer. Yeah, I know right? WTF! For the last month or so we have been debating the pros and cons back and forth with no clear resolution or decision forthcoming. That's right, I do not want to sell it.
Here she is with the camper trailer in question...Smug, "I'm going to get my own way" look and all! π³
Faith has compelling reasons for wanting to sell it and I actually agree with them completely. They revolve around us not really having the time in the next 12-18 months to make use of the camper trailer coupled with the fact we have not used it in the last 12 months either. (We travelled 4 times in the last 12 months and flew each time.) So, it's not getting used. "OK, wifey, I get it. Good point." But here's the thing, once it's gone we don't have the option to use it and so will we regret it? That's my point.
So we're at a stalemate to be honest. Whilst she makes a great point about the non-usage issue and the fact that the money recouped from it can be utilised in a more productive manner than sitting in my storage facility in the form of my camper trailer I am still reluctant. I think it stems from the fact that I recall how hard we worked to save up the money for it in the first place and how many good times we enjoyed with it.
We have discussed it from every angle over the last month or so and try as I might I can't seem to sway her. Don't tell her, but I know she's right and I'm just being a stubborn idiot, however I will be really sad to see it go and so I'm digging my heels in. She makes such sense (damn her) about what the $20,000 we will sell it for will do for us and I actually agree yet still hold out like a fool. I can be stubborn sometimes. I even tried to use mathematics to sway her by breaking down the amount of loss we'd wear ($10,000 loss) between the original purchase price and our sell price of $20,000 when divided over the amount of times we'd used it...But we used it that many times that number was insignificant. Oh well, so much for mathematics.
So, we are still undecided but I have a sneaking suspicion that Faith's logic is going to outweigh my stubborn idiotness. (Yes, that's a word.) I would love to see that sale money go to that greater cause to be honest and over time I think I'd be glad we made that move. All it means is when we go out into the bush camping we'd have to take our swags. That's not all that bad of a thing really: It's just not as comfortable I suppose.
If you don't know what a swag is go find out from this post I wrote about my swag.
I read a post by @chrisrice yesterday about financial decision-making in relationships and how it may be weighted based on who has the better head for it. Some may weight the decisions more heavily to one partner over the other I guess. For us though, we make joint decisions and each of us carries equal weight certainly when it comes to large financial decisions like this camper trailer thing. I'm not sure how this will play out although I know we will reach our decision after careful consideration, debate and much heel-digging on my part. Once the decision is made we'll be content with it because of the process.
Living with regret is something we both work hard to avoid as part of our design and create ethos and so the decisions we make, the large ones, need to be weighed and measured.
Note:
Here's my (our) camper trailer pride and joy! π¬
Here's my face thinking about selling it. π
120L plumbed/pumped water tanks, 120Ah on board power (solar input), plumbed gas for cooking, hot water shower, stainless kitchen with plumber water, sink, storage, burner and BBQ, 85L fridge/freezer, LED lighting, USB and 12v power sockets, queen sized bed, full-off-road design and ability, lockable storage boxes, mounted axe, shovel and hi-lift jack, chainsaw compartment, rear recovery point, under-bed storage, etc. and so on.
I can have this erected and ready to sleep in (a basic set up) in under 10 minutes and a full set up with the annexe and walls included in about 40 minutes. It will go anywhere my vehicle will go and in any weather. It will comfortably sleep 4 people although ours just sleeps me and Faith.
The longest we have lived out of the camper is 18 days and we encountered both very hot and cold weather on that particular trip including 3 days of bucketing rain! The camper weathered the storm though, and we stayed dry.
Some of our camp sites above and below, one including another smug image of my wife because she know's she'll get her way. You can see how the camper opens up into a very large living and sleeping area with an annexe over the kitchen area.
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By the way, please go and check out @chrisrice and his blog. I only started following him yesterday after he reached out with a comment on one of my posts. He seems legit so far. Give him a go.
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Poor camper. But don't be sorry :) There were good times and change is always a good thing because it leads to the next thing in your life, who knows what that will be? :)
You're right of course and yet I'll miss it. We had some great times with that camper and went to some amazing place. I guess the constant there is that it was Faith and I together, not just the camper you know?
The decision is pending, although I'm pretty sure I know which way it'll go. The funds from it will be intelligently allocated so it's not all bad.
Thanks for replying HD. Much appreciated.
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Well, you and Faith are still together so the constant still exists :)
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True...Although I am hard work sometimes. He'll knows why she puts up with me! πππ
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If you sell it look forward to other adventures.
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I know, I'll lament it's loss if it goes but I tend to look forward through life, not backwards. I'll miss it though, and knowing it's there waiting for me to hook up and disappear. π
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Looking forward most of the time is about the only way through life I think.
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She's only doing it so she can buy you a proper caravan. It's obvious, isn't it? :)
Imagine how much more pirate treasure you could add to the stack with the money you sell it for!
You're right...I've already ordered silver to the value of whatever I get for the trailer... :)
I'm sorry you're not going to have your camper. It looks sweet! Although your Swag doesn't look too bad either. I guess it makes sense if you haven't used it, aren't using it, and won't use it for a while. And hey, maybe you'll be able to get some silver with the proceeds. I'm just saying. :D
It's lamentable however my wife makes a compelling argument for the sale to proceed. I get it I guess. We used it so much the few first years we had it so it's not like it hasn't been used.
You reckon I'd get away with buying silver with the proceeds? I think I'd land myself in a lot of trouble! π
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