The Weight of the World

We are officially one month into this grand adventure. I can’t believe it! So far, we have seen some amazing landscape, met incredible friends, eaten delicious food, and learned so much about our rig and RVing in general. The big challenge we are currently facing has to do with weight. And no I’m not talking about the weight of Britney Spears’ conservatorship on the soul of humanity, I’m talking about the weight of our RV. Equally important for society as a whole if you ask me. 

When you purchase an RV, they tell you the rig’s empty weight and the maximum weight it should be when filled with all your shit, I mean worldly possessions. And why is this one of the most important numbers to keep in your brain? For a few reasons actually.

First, the heavier the RV, the more pressure it puts on your tires. You want those puppies operating at maximum capabilities at all times. Second, the lighter the vehicle, the better gas mileage. And the better the gas mileage, the better we feel about ourselves as we destroy the environment. Baby steps people. 

Third, the heavier the RV, like in all vehicles, the longer it takes to break. Remember way back when you were taking your driver’s lessons and you learn about stopping distances. I just looked it up on the Google and for a regular car going 60 miles an hour, it takes about the length of 18 cars to come to a complete stop. Now I’m no mathematician, but imagine a giant Dodge Ram 3500 Dually truck towing a 42 foot RV behind it and I’m pretty sure it will take farther than 18 car lengths to stop. Just guesstimating here. So the heavier the RV, the longer it will take to stop. And obviously this whole adventure thing is all fun and games, but we do want to ensure that we are being as safe as possible on the road. Don’t want to intimidate all the tiny plebeian cars out there, ya know. 

And fourth, if you, god forbid, get into an accident and are overweight, you can be in big trouble. And also hurt others if it happens to be a multi-vehicle collision. We obviously would never want that, but this is just another reason for us to stay at or under our maximum weight. 

Our truck is already about 9,500 pounds. Our RV’s max weight is 17,000 pounds. So when we were driving to Boise, we decided to weigh it to see where we were. Turns out, we were 1,000 pounds over! Can you believe?! After all the donating, Facebook Marketplace selling, purges, and blog posts, we still had too much stuff! 

So we decided to start going through things like you go through your luggage when you’re at the airport and the ticketing agent looks at you with disdain that your bag is 11 pounds over their limit. It couldn’t possibly be the 4 bottles of wine I’m trying to bring back, could it? 

We went room by room and really asked ourselves if we use certain items. Kitchen wise, I decided to sell or donate my 11 cup food processor. In the month we have been on the road, I haven’t used it once. I use my instapot and airfryer multiple times a week. It’s also 13 pounds. And I know 13 compared to 1,000 isn’t a lot, but it’s all cumulative and every pound counts. 

Jerry also got rid of even more of his tools. He gave a bunch to the manager of the campground we stayed at in Boise and he was so excited and grateful that he gave us our entire 3 day stay for free. But we still have more to do. And of course we forgot about the added weight that our washer and dryer would add. But it’s not like I can live without those. This is my house after all. 

What’s frustrating is that we don’t want to get rid of stuff just to get rid of it. What I mean is that before we even left California, Jerry sold all of his drills. But when we got to Oregon, he realized he actually needed one and had to go out to the Home Depot and buy one. So we want to make sure everything we get rid of is for a purpose and we won’t need it in the future. 

We have lived by a 1 year rule during our marriage. If we don’t use or wear something in one calendar year, we get rid of it. The problem with that here is that we have only been on the road for a month and we don’t know what we will need for a full calendar year in an RV.

I have to be honest here and tell you that I have really been struggling. I have already donated, sold, or gotten rid of so many things that I really don’t know how much more I need to do. It’s been a really frustrating process but I know we’ll make it happen. It will just take some creativity and compromise, even if that means I have to get rid of my shoes. Can you imagine?

Just One More…pound to get closer to our RV goal weight. I feel like the rig is in training for a big fight. 

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