It’s the little things.

I’ve been home from my winter travels for nearly four full days now. The initial euphoria has worn off, but I’m still thankful for the little things that make being home such a joy after living in a truck camper in the desert (and beyond) for three months. Here’s a quick list:

Water that I can use freely, without conserving every drop. I don’t generally camp in campgrounds with hookups, full or otherwise. That means that I have to haul water when I need it. Needless to say, the less water I use, the less work I have. I’ve gotten very good at conserving water when camping — my 30-gallon fresh water tank can last a week or longer if I try hard to make every drop count.

Heat. Yes, my camper has a heater, but the heater requires propane and battery power to run. Battery power is usually only an issue in December and early January — or on cloudy days — when there’s less daylight per day. My solar panels do a good job at keeping my battery charged, but running the heater at night can really suck those levels down, potentially damaging the batteries. Since I also use propane to power my fridge, heat my water, and cook, I like to minimize its use for heating. As it is, I burn through about 4 1/2 gallons of propane a week. Refilling a tank requires me to remove it from my camper, get it filled, and then reinstall it. (I have two tanks.)

Hot water all the time. To save propane (see above), I only heat the water once a day, in the morning. I use it to wash myself and my dishes. If there’s any left, it’ll stay warm until evening.

Clean clothes every day. In an effort to minimize trips to the laundromat, I will often wear t-shirts and always wear jeans more than one day in a row. (I brought along enough underwear and socks to last two weeks, so I wouldn’t have to double up on those.) Getting clean clothes meant a trip to the laundromat, which isn’t a terribly pleasant place to hang out. The only benefit to using a laundromat vs. doing your laundry at home is that you can do it all at once, using as many washers/dryers as you need.

Washer/dryer on the premises. See above. If I spill coffee on a white t-shirt, I can throw it right into the wash to get it cleaned before the stain sets.

Shower every day. My camper does have a shower and I’ve learned how to shower using a minimal amount of water — I estimate about 3 gallons per regular shower and 4 gallons if I’m also washing my hair. As I mentioned above, my goal is to minimize water and propane (in hot water) use so if I wasn’t dirty, I didn’t shower.

Comfortable places to sit. My camper is small — after all, it sits on top of a pickup truck! It has limited places to sit; basically I can sit at the table or prop myself up to sit up in bed. Neither is very comfortable. At home, I have sofas, a recliner, stools at my breakfast bar, and chairs at my dining table.

Here’s my truck camper, squeezed into a tiny spot in the Arizona desert. It’s the ability to get into tight spots that made me choose this kind of camping setup, but it does have its drawbacks.

Microwave. Simply said, you do not realize how much you use a microwave until you can’t use one. My camper does have a microwave, but the camper needs to be plugged into power to use it. Yes, I have a generator and yes it was plugged in full time when I was parked at my main camp over the winter. But I didn’t run that generator unless I needed to. After all, who the hell wants to listen to it? I don’t. So I went without one for most of my time on the road.

Dishwasher. I’ll admit it: I use a lot of paper plates when I travel. Regular plates mean more dishwashing which means faster water consumption. (See above.) I got a real satisfaction out of loading my dishwasher and turning it on this week — even if it did take three tries to get it running.

A television (or two). I don’t watch much television, but I do admit that it’s nice to be able to sit in front of one now and again to unwind, kill time, or just catch up with the latest episode of the Mandalorian or British Baking Show. Or even to watch a movie or documentary recommended by friends. My camper does have a television — and even a DVD player! — but it was seldom worth firing it up, via 100w inverter — to see what my antenna could pick up. When I had an internet connection, I often watched videos on my iPad at bedtime. I much prefer the 65 inch 4K Samsung in my living room, or even the smaller, older, seldom used HDTV in my bedroom.

Indoor space. When it all gets down to it, there’s nothing quite like home to give you the living space that makes you most comfortable. While I really enjoyed the outdoors during my travels, I still spent a lot of time in the very limited space of my camper, especially when the weather was bad. It’s nice to have to walk more than three steps to get to the bathroom or bed or kitchen area.

Recycling. I’m a big proponent of recycling and I just can’t seem to do it easily when I’m on the road. At home, I’ve got a big recycling bin that gets emptied every two weeks. I make more recyclable garbage that regular garbage. On the road, it’s sometimes a challenge to find a place to dump the garbage I make.

My winter travels are comfortable enough, but not nearly as comfortable as being home. I travel south every winter to get sun and (slightly) longer days and I’m glad I do. But I’m also happy when I get home and back to the comforts I really appreciate.