What Are We Doing Now?

  Hey Y'all!

As I mentioned in the previous blog closing happened on the 5th! Yay!

However we have to wait for the check to be cut, about a week- so not too bad... But that means all the van fixing plans are on hold until then.

So what have we been doing?

Enjoying the weather, rearranging the van, watching YouTube, reading, and cleaning. Doing all the things we can do for free in the van. Visiting local parks on days we have other errands to run as well.

How are we?

Excited to begin this next chapter! Planning, and planning some more- van layout, trips, budgets, returns to TN, etc.  A bit bored, we really can't start traveling until the check clears, and we get the van squared away. 

Other than that we're doing well. The van is more than comfortable enough and plenty warm on these past few nights when it's been in the upper 20s. The days have been in the upper 50s/lower 60s so I'm sure that helps.

We really have rearranged things a couple of times, and are getting it all figured out. Today we painted the rear tire mount, and then attached it to the rear drivers door. Next up is running lighting, and laying down the "area rug" now that we're sure on the layout.

What are you working on? Share in the comments below.

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Not Monday, Not Craft Related

 Hey Y'all!

So things actually turned out well, and closing happened yesterday (Monday the 5th). We finished moving out Saturday morning, and filmed our "Final Day" video:

They had their final walk through early Sunday morning. We spent that time making more decisions on van layout... and moving things around yet again. Thankfully the weather has been beautiful and we've spent a good chunk of time cleaning and rearranging the "garage" as well as getting our makeshift window coverings cut and in place. 

Monday we went for a walk at a park, killed some more time running a few errands, then at 3pm went to the closing on the house. That only took about an hour total, and was pretty uneventful. Just signing a million documents, and letting the buyers know a few last minute details. (Small details like trash day, the app for the thermostat, the main water shut off location, etc.) 

After closing we returned to my Mom's where we're parked until we can get a few things on the van squared away.

*I will probably change the blog schedule one last time, going back to the original plan (mostly).

Any questions about the selling process? Leave them in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

February Blog Schedule

 Hey Y'all!

January went extremely slow for us. Between the massive snow storm that shut everything down for over a week, plus waiting on the confirmation that closing is happening on Feb 2nd it really drug on & on.

Things are really moving ahead, and changing here in February, and the blogs will reflect that moving forward. Your input is important too, let me know what you'd like to see in the blogs. You can leave your suggestions in the comments below! Thanks!

I believe I'll still follow the Monday = Crafty, Wednesday = Beauty, Friday = Anything Goes

 format, but I'll await your suggestions for March's blog schedule.

Blog Schedule:

I had this schedule ready to go early, everything was set. It was ready to post. Then...

Therefore the closing isn't happening today and we've heard nothing (about anything really) from the buyers side... 

So things originally scheduled in this blog have to change, because we aren't saying good bye to the house today.. we're here still, until who knows when. Our assumption is the whole deal will fall through and we'll be relisted come Monday. Extremely frustrating. Also, we really don't have the money to keep this up and were heavily relying on the sale to go through. We were assured less than two weeks ago everything was good to go on both ends.... We're irritated, but we'll just keep on keeping on. Not much else we can do right now.

FINAL UPDATE:

2/5/24 CLOSING HAPPENING TODAY!!! YAY!

2nd F- Blog Sched.

5th M- Saying Good- Bye To Our Home of 9+ years! (Not Crafty, but fit best here) 

7th W- Almost One Week In... How's the Storage in the Van Working Out? Life in Limbo, How are we?

9th F- Music Blog (from phone saved meme)

12th M- How To- Crafting in the Van  

14th W- How We Do Hygiene, Van Life Current Skincare Routine

16th F- Our Favorite Things To Do, Daily Life Living in a Van

19th M- Color with Me, Favorite Coloring Books

21st W- Makeup Routine

23rd F- Books! What I've Been Reading

26th M- Design Space Updates, and News

28th W- Feb Looks

March:

1st F- Blog Sched.

Remember, please share your suggestions/ideas for March blog topics!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Ask Me Anything!

 Hey Y'all!

I got one question, from twitter:

"How excited are you to start traveling?"

Extremely ready, however I was glad to still be in the house during the most recent cold snap (and snow)!

Since there was only one question I decided to answer these:

https://www.wayfaringkiwi.com/10-common-questions-i-get-asked-about-living-in-my-van/

• What made you decide to live in a van? I've shared about it before on the blog, so long story short- We've always wanted to travel, after much research this seemed like the perfect option.
• 
  
• How long are you going to be living in your van for? 2-4yrs is the plan.
• 
  
• Where do you pee? In the bathroom, lol. Public bathrooms, campgrounds, and when needed we have a portable toilet.
• 
  
• Don’t you get lonely living in a van by yourself? We have each other, and neither of us are big people person(s).
• 
  
• How much money are you saving by living in your van? Unknown, some of what was our monthly expenses will transfer over, instead of a house payment we'll have fuel, instead of electric bill we'll have the occasional campground, instead of internet we'll have maintenance, we'll still have phones, insurance, food, etc. We'll know more as we get out there, we do have a rough estimate budget and that's significantly less, but we're paying off everything when the house sale is finalized. 
• 
  
• How do you cook your meals? We have a 17in Blackstone for most all our needs, and a single burner bottle top propane stove for anything else.
• 
  
• Where do you park your van? Here, there, anywhere. We've stealth camped, campground camped, public lands, and family mooch-docked.
• 
  
• Don’t you get scared living in a van by yourself? We're a couple, so not alone. I find I'm more scared in heavily populated places that we'll get "the knock"... other than that, nope. We're pretty aware of our surroundings, and have cameras.
• 
  
• Where do you shower? We plan to get a portable, so far we always stay places with a shower (or skip a day or 2). We also plan to utilize Planet Fitness.
• 
  
• What’s the worst thing about living in a van? It feels really small on crap weather days, and we can kind of get in each others way a bit. A trade off we're perfectly okay with.

Do you have any questions for me? They can be about anything- not just van life. Share them in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Van... Snow Storm...

Hey Y'all!

We got a little bit done in the van...

...and then...

We got quite the snow storm for NE Tennessee, right at eight inches in less than 24hrs. TN is not equipped for that. The roads are finally pretty clear in most places, however it is frigid cold (like highs in the 20's and lows hovering around 0F).

So needless to say, we haven't been doing anything in the van this week. We did post a few shorts on YouTube and TikTok:

linktr.ee/outlandadventures

Chris did a bit of filming outside the other day, here's that video:

We'll get back to van "stuff" next week when the weather breaks, until then here's what we've been doing the past couple days:

We're just beginning season 4 of The Middle. We've also caught up on all the cleaning and laundry. (That was easy, lol.) We've read, and played a few switch games, jokingly turned the LR into a walking track, and y'all we are bored!

Did you get that winter storm too? What's it look like where you are? Share in the comments below.

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Just a reminder:

House Update!!

 Hey Y'all!

It was a shock to me, but we were under contract within a few days of being an active listing. (Chris said it would go that quickly, I was skeptical.)

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/128-Reynolds-Ave-Surgoinsville-TN-37873/41534706_zpid/

We had soooo many showings in the few days, and a couple offers. It was crazy!

Inspections and appraisal were finished by Monday, and I assume all went well, because we haven't heard anything, and the realtor is very on top of things. Closing is set for February 4th!!

We fancy.

It went so quickly it was a whirlwind of activity for about a week and a half, and now it's jarring. Just sit around and wait. 

Any questions about the selling process, feel free to leave them below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife