the joys of packing

i have been clearing out our clothes.... i started with various boxes; one to take, one for storage with family (mostly maternity clothes), one for winter clothes to store on the truck, and one for the garage sale. In the end i had one box for storage, two boxes worth for the garage sale, one box to store in the truck, and two boxes worth for in the van with several items that i'd add in to the van if there was room.

Then i started on the kids wardrobes and did the same.

Then i had another look at how much storage room we actually have in the van!!!!!

ok. Slight problem. I need to condense the wardrobes of four people into this much space.

Two thirds of the stuff i wanted to put in the van for me has gone back into the garage sale box and winter clothes have been reduced to bare minimums. Same with Jordy; out of a bedroom where he had three large drawers and hanging space Jordy now has one little drawer for ALL his clothes! Wow! Darcy has one little drawer. Singlets that the boys are sharing and everybodies pyjamas goes into another drawer. Cloth nappies & wipes will go into the other main van drawer.

Then inside the robe doors i have a stack of four plastic drawers. I have one for warmish clothes and one for regular clothes. I suppose i had best leave two for Tim. Everything else has to hang. I've triple-hung my clothes so that each hanger has three items on it.

I'm yet to pack my swimmers or socks or undies.... or shoes!!! i wonder where we will put our shoes... ?

ideas for van modifications

Amazingly enough there is a Yahoo! group just for people who have Expanda vans! I've been having a read through old posts and i've seen a few things that other travellers have done to make their Expandas more comfy including fitting washing machines and dryers in the wardrobe, dishwasher under the breaky bar, complete home entertainment systems in the cabinets etc!! and i think WOW! While that's not something we need i've also seen some other little alterations that look handy. Although i admit the washing machine in the wardrobe is tempting but i think we need the clothes space.

• Removing the table leg and making it a drop-down table with a much smaller support.
• Putting slideout baskets in the wardrobe.
• Door mounted baskets inside the sink cabinet.
• Stainless steel splashback behind the sink.
• External PVC pipe storage containers for tent poles and bed flys etc.
• Hanging racks in the shower cubicle.
• An elbow on the shower to turn it sideways near the taps (have to see if that suits our model).
• Towel airers mounted on the external body of the van.
• Sludge hose carriers under the van (no idea how this works! but i'll pass it on to the sludge expert!)
• Little wheels under the rear of the van to help with reversing up curbs.

a whole world of great little ideas to make life easier on the road.

packing, packing, packing...

there is so much packing! we are boxing up the past. We have hoarded so much rubbish and stuff over the years that it is liberating to just clear it all out. A little sad sometimes but this is a big change for us so a few tears as i clear out baby clothes is to be expected.
Our house goes on the market early January and we hope to partially move out once it is listed. We'll live in the van but still use the laundry, clothes line, back yard and pool etc but i would go insane trying to keep the kids happy while keeping the house looking like a display home.