Inventory Swap for Post-vaccine Life

I know I’ve mentioned this a thousand times, but when we packed up the trailer and took off on March 20, 2020, we had no idea what the world would look like in a few weeks or months—let alone a year. This old tune probably sounds tedious to you because you were in the same boat: we were collectively making sure there was at least one thermometer in our medicine cabinets and cases of tissues and Tylenol in our linen closets.

Why this affected us differently is that we have such a small space to store emergency supplies along with our everyday possessions. And we weren’t going to add to them; we had no intention of going into pharmacies or hardware stores or even grocery stores (a commitment we’ve pretty much kept this whole year).

So, the cab of the truck, the bed of the truck, and every inch of the Airstream have all been packed to the gills with tools in case we break down, meds in case we get sick, canned and dried food in case we run out, etc. It’s been like living in a cold-war bunker on wheels.

With our second vaccine doses scheduled, though, we can see light at the end of this long hunker and we’re able to rethink what we’re hauling around. Tracy went through his tools he had stashed in the bed of the truck, for example, and gave a huge bag of extras to his sister. Yes, there’s a small chance he might need a hex fitting for our plumbing one day down the road, but by then we can (man oh man, I hope) walk into a hardware store and buy one.

I’ve taken a similar inventory of our medicine cabinet. I used to have all the first-aid, cold and flu, and allergy meds right at eye-level in plain view, in case, you know, one of us were sick in the middle of the night and forgot how to turn on the light or how to open the cabinet or something, I don’t know. Somehow it made me feel good having all that stuff within an easy grab.

But now I’ve gotten bold. I put that stuff behind a sliding door! Now I don’t have to look at it every time I step into the bathroom! No daily reminder that we have a thermometer if we need it; no medicinal clutter.

I even put tiny fake plants in the space that used to be crammed full, and I left some space open. Look at me go!

For some reason, I had the same “shove-it-all-in-plain-sight” thing going with the built-in spice rack beside the stove top. So I culled our spices there and … *drumroll* … added cute fake plants! They serve no purpose and probably drive Tracy nuts, but to me they symbolize the nearing end of emergency mode.

What am I doing with all this extra space, you might ask? I’m working on my equally impractical model house, of course. Here I have my tools and itty bitty supplies boxed up and stashed where I used to have a case of NyQuil.

And here is my progress: the main walls and flooring, wiring for one lamp (that works!) and an incomplete staircase. (That blue rug is not glued down at an angle—don’t panic.)

Aren’t you thrilled you clicked on my exciting travel blog today to read about how I rearranged my medicine cabinet and spices and to see miniature house walls? We are indeed in a cold snap, and I haven’t been sleeping, and we’ve been running more errands than going on exciting outdoor adventures.

But hang in here with me—one day we will actually travel out to parts unknown, and I will post travel-related content in my travel blog. In fact, this is one of my final entries from Florida, where we’ve been for four whole months, the longest we’ve been in one state. Florida has been varied and wild and warm, but it’s definitely time to move on.

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Edited to add this picture of Tracy and Darci from the lovely evening she spent with us at the campground right before we left.