There we were, trying to cook breakfast together in our 200-square-foot toy hauler. It was an anomaly. Most of the time one or the other of us is in charge of the meal. Even before we became full-timers. But we’re a good team and we do sometimes create meals together, which usually includes laughter and dance breaks.
Baby, it’s not even a one-person kitchen.”
On this morning of teamwork, we were indeed laughing as we stumbled over each other. We simply weren’t as graceful about our tiny-living rhythm as usual. I commented “This is just not a two-person kitchen.” To which he replied, “Baby, it’s not even a one-person kitchen.”
We chuckled about the painful accuracy of that assessment as I moved to the dining room/living room/office/dog den area to chop, leaving J the space he needed at the sink and stove. Our solution worked and breakfast was on the table shortly thereafter.
Many months later, I saw a review of a trailer with a very similar set up to ours—a microscopic refrigerator, a miniaturized stove and oven combination, a sink, and a token bit of countertop—all crammed into 90 linear inches. They didn’t call it a kitchen. They called it a “meal prep station.” I nearly snorted coffee out of my nose. Laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe, I simply turned my computer screen towards J so he could read it himself.
We know this rig is not the ideal tool for what we’re doing. But we’re making the best of it and it’s what we had as we started our unintentional journey. The only thing to do at this point is reframe our situation with humor.
So in our ever-so-efficient toy hauler design, we have created our own marketing lingo. This Swiss Army knife recreational vehicle has such desirable amenities such as a “meal prep station,” a “hygiene zone,” and a “sleeping pod.” Because none of our spaces can claim the title of “room” with their tiny capacities. The ultimate feature, though? That would be the powerhouse of our rig, “command central.” Because yes, our living room, dining room, office, and dog den are in fact, just one space. All 52-square-feet of it.
But wait, there’s more! Command Central also converts to a mobile garage when necessary—our own personal Bat Cave.
The obvious question probably rattling through your mind right now—what do we do when we need to utilize all of Command Central’s purposes at the same time? Well, that’s a story for another time.
Is it happy hour yet?
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