Marie Kondo is best known for her tidying up tips related to household organizing and getting rid of things that don’t spark joy.

Her website describes her approach as, “The KonMari Method™ encourages tidying by category – not by location – beginning with clothes, then moving on to books, papers, komono (miscellaneous items), and, finally, sentimental items. Keep only those things that speak to the heart, and discard items that no longer spark joy. Thank them for their service – then let them go.“

Having moved a few times during our 10+ years of being together, we’ve grown accustomed to each other’s habits and styles. His being minimalist (save for the hat collection and the mess he call’s a desk) and her’s being artistic and a lover of all things knick-knacky. Example: See her colored glass collection

You can see where this is going…

Once we chose the RV Nomad lifestyle we knew we would have to ‘Marie Kondo’ the shit out of, well, our shit.

Did that process spark joy? Hell no.

Did getting rid of stuff (like, a used car part he’d been moving from one dwelling to another since 2001 because it was in a ‘special memories’ box) spark joy? More like relief.

The stuff we’ve boxed up for the time being? Most of it sparks a joyful memory or helps create new ones. (Hello holiday decorations!)

Choosing the RV Nomad life requires you to look at your entire existence and go beyond ‘tidying up’. Ms. Kondo has six rules to follow when adopting her approach. So we’ve recreated those to reflect the decisions we’ve had to make in order to fully embrace this lifestyle.

Let us know in the comments if you have some other points you would like to share!

The six basic rules of choosing the RV lifestyle.

RULE 01

Ask yourself if you really meant it when you said you’d love to travel more often and experience new places. Then go learn from those who are doing it.

We recommend following Facebook groups like Xscapers. Hate the Faceplace and don’t have an account, get on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and follow hashtags like: #rvlife; #travel; #remotelife … you get the gist.

RULE 02

Get ready to change everything: your house, your job, your vehicle, your daily routine. All of it. In exchange for doing what other’s “always dreamed of doing”.

RULE 03

Save the memories, sell the rest. (Basically, does it spark joy?)

RULE 04

Buy the RV and then see what fits.

(Even after a year of decluttering and downsizing to an apartment we can see how much stuff we have lying around which we don’t need.)

RULE 05

Take your time. No one way, or pace, is the same for those who go remote. Don’t stress yourself by going to fast or getting in a rush.

RULE 06

Get organized but be open to serendipity.

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What we’re listening to:

• Sirius XM Yacht Rock Radio
  • Come Sail Away STYX