I had that dream. You know the one? The dream of heading off into the sunset on our first trip away in Dwti, all organised and sorted? Smugly looking around our completed truck, nodding with appreciation at how well we’ve done. 

Yeah, right! That’s not going to happen like that. We have a tentative date of just over 2 weeks to depart, and we have had no shake down trip like we wanted to test things out. As it stands right now we still have no waste water tank fitted (although I have 2 tanks sitting proudly in my conservatory). We have no eberspacher diesel heater plumbed in. We have no table pedestal mounted, and no beautiful resin table top chosen, bought, taken to Birmingham and finished. We have flooring still to put down. We have a toilet and toilet fan  to install. We have shelving still to put in cupboards. We have storage items to measure for, buy and try out. We have drawer plinths to install. We have lockers to prime and paint and install. We have routes still to finalise and ferries to book. We have no decal graphics on the outside of the truck. We have scaffolding around the house to fix a leaking chimney before we leave. 

We have, of course, made some progress. (And by we, I mean the Royal We of course, as Lyn has worked like a trojan getting everything ready). I have played my part by making lists, packing clothes, sorting menus and buying bedding and cushions and second hand books. All important stuff as you’ll agree, I’m sure!

So it’s certain that we’ll be leaving in a state of unfinishedness. It’s really hard to reconcile that with the Insta Overlander dream and face the Evans Reality. We will have to have a water tank, a working water heater, and a diesel heater. We will have a toilet. We will have to have the table pedestal fitted, but it will probably be topped with a make do piece of ply, not a resin table. The flooring will not be complete. The lockers may not be painted. The truck will be bare of decals. 

But, we will have a truck with a comfy bed, seating and a working kitchen and bathroom. We will have food, books and cushions. What more could we want? Finland and hopefully Northern Lights await and we could take forever to get ourselves in the perfect state. I suspect this truck will be a never ending journey in so many ways and we have to simply “let go of perfection.”

“Persistence. Perfection. Patience. Power. Prioritize your passion. It keeps you sane.”

― Criss Jami, Killosophy

(Photo is of Lyn chilling on his home made boogie board on wheels he invented, to slide under the truck!)