Thursday, February 18, 2010

Confessions of the Happy Camper, Day 0

One of the ways I am becoming just like my mom, along with every other young woman ever, is that I have to have my house immaculately clean before I leave on a trip. When we were growing up my mom always said, “Do you want to come home to a dirty house?” As kids, the answer was, “Well mom, absolutely, especially if it means that getting ready for this trip can be way more fun and way less work. Oh, and while we’re at it, tell me again why I can’t bring the whole Barbie mansion and my American girl doll’s bed and dresser with us? Where on earth are these ladies supposed to stay while we’re away?”

Now, as an adult, and having formerly lived in an apartment that would fill with roaches if so much as a crumb was left on the floor for .23 seconds, I am very much in keep with the clean house rule. It just feels GOOD to come home to a clean, pretty house.

Which is why I was mopping my floor at 11:00 Thursday night, clothes still unpacked, when we were going to try to hit the road at 5 am.

Everything else was packed, though, including all that we might need for a comfortable stay in a camper and a road trip that, all told, will probably be over 35 hours. The rest of the house was beautiful, too. That day seemed full of unending cleaning, packing and errands, just like any day before a huge trip. I got lots of odds and ends of “necessities” at the dollar store, like little salt and pepper shakers and an air freshener; things that come in handy when you’re camping.

One trick we did that I’ve really liked was we brought a big, plastic, three-drawer storage unit with us, propped up in the back seat. It is so awesome to be able to just pull out a drawer and find a snack or travel book or battery without having to rummage around in unending little boxes and bags!

So there you have it, a trip-prep post turned T’s Tips: Clean your house before you leave and put your crap in a plastic drawer. Brilliant.

1 comment:

  1. haha! I do the exact same thing! There is nothing like returning to a clean home!

    ReplyDelete

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