Living Between Two Homes

Living between two homes is not a new idea by any stretch of the imagination.  Many North American native tribes had a summer and winter homeland.  During the Victorian Era those living in urban settings would head to their summer homes.  Summer cottages have long been a tradition along with camping and RVing.  I can recall my best friend in elementary school always leaving the day after school got out not to return until the day before school started.

Last March we purchased our vacation home which effectively meant we would be spending time between the two homes.  We are not new to having a vacation home but we are new to having a stationary one.  Our RV sat in the driveway when not in use which meant I could equip, load and unload it quite conveniently.  Our vacation home on the other hand involves either a long commute by car or air and an International border.  This by default creates a logistical problem for equipping, loading and unloading the vacation home.  We ended up stocking the vacation home from empty to livable with mostly new and some used items.  We were very limited as to what we could bring from our primary residence.

Food becomes a huge issue because I am used to a well stocked pantry and taking food from home.  I am limited in what I can bring from our primary home to our vacation home not only in space and customs restrictions but when traveling through the colder weather the threat of food freezing.  At the same time I am restricted as to what can be kept in the vacation home when we aren't there.  If we are planning on returning within a month or so without renting it out then the food can stay in the refrigerator and pantry but if we are gone for a longer period of time with renting it out we have to remove everything.  Some pantry items can stay in our special locked closet but all refrigerator items have to be removed.  This actually presents quite the challenge.  More on that tomorrow...


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