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Some Nomadic inspiration.

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Gypsy Caravan-Flooring

Where did June go?! We have been pushing so hard and putting in such long days getting the basics taken care of on the gypsy caravan that reliving it all via a blog post is usually the last thing I want to do. But we officially moved in July 1st! No. We are far from done....so I will back track a bit over the next week or so on what we've been up to to get us up to speed.

We left off when we opened up one of the slides and a bit of the floor to check out what we thought was pretty minor water damage from a leak that the previous owners had caught early on. The floor wasn't terrible. It was just some rot in a small corner of the plywood floor near the sliding door that had been installed incorrectly and caused a tiny but consistent leak all last winter. Tim and my dad pulled back the linoleum and a small bit of the carpet and said "Hey we can just patch this up and fix the leak and replace the original flooring and you'll never know." I said "While you're at it I want hardwoods!" LOL. So we ripped up the carpet which is just in the living space and under that the entire thing was linoleum so we ripped that up.( I say "we" but I really mean Tim. I was busy packing our entire lives into a 25 foot landscape trailer that we bought and Tim fixed to store all the things we didn't want to part with yet but that couldn't come with us to the caravan.)

They cut out the rot in the floor and let it fully dry out for several days before replacing that bit of floor and then Tim laid down beautiful blonde bamboo hardwoods to mimic the color of the wood cabinetry. I was insistent on something sustainable and turns out this option is durable, light weight and cheap too which were all factors. I can't believe how great it looks and how much it opens up the space. Tim had never done ANY flooring before and he did an amazing job. 

There are sooo many cuts to be made when flooring a small space like this because of all the built ins so it took about 4 days of after work labor on it. We need to do a few final pieces around trouble spots like in the bathroom and add some trim to polish it off but we had to move in before it was complete. It's exciting to see it all start coming together. I will post a before and after picture when it's all done but here's a sneak peek.

I'll leave you with some Pro tips if you ever attempt this yourself. (Yes we are pros now).

Tip #1: Choose a durable flooring that hides dirt. I sweep this place every day because it's so easy to track in leaves and dirt.We originally chose a very dark wood to contrast with the cabinets and not only did it look jarring when we laid a few pieces but I immediately realized it would show up every hair or speck of dust. 

Tip #2: Whatever material you choose, make sure the height won't interfere with the function of any slides outs or vents. Luckily we ripped up a layer of linoleum and a layer of carpet so we had some wiggle room. It also wouldn't be a bad idea to put a layer of insulation of sorts down if you have the space. It's been somewhat weighing on my mind how little of a thickness is between us and the outside world. We plan to insulate the bottom but I can imagine this floor getting pretty chilly come winter. 

Till next time!

Peace,

Amber Joy

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Make magic under tonight's #strawberrymoon and have a lovely weekend Gypsy dears! #moonmagic #rosemoon #fullmoon #fridaythe13th #gypsywitch

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Meet Our New Gypsy Caravan!

I'm finally updating you on project wanderlust! We found our "dream" trailer about a month ago and it has been sheer chaos ever since. Wahoo! I don't want to sugar coat this journey and make everyone think it's been easy-peasy. This path is NOT for the faint of heart! In the past few weeks while attempting to even get the trailer to a point and a place where we could start working on her we've had 2 vehicles break down, money lost, broken fingers AND toes, hospital visits for dehydration and numerous yelling contests to name a few of the challenges!

With that being said we are so excited about our new project and with A LOT of work we finally were able to start remodeling!

A little background: TIm and I currently live in a small apartment with 2 other room mates. We decided to look into our own place several months ago and started saving for first, last and security and became very jaded with the crummy, over priced apartments available and are both fed up with sinking all of our income into renting something that will never be ours. Even painting or updating an apartment is a loss of money and energy.And ultimately I wanted to throw up thinking about handing over our hard earned $5,000 to another lazy land lord and feeling like we got shafted. Buying isn't quite yet an option for us and we really want to do things differently without having to settle on exorbitant loan rates and a mediocre starter home with no land. 

So.....we decided to take a risk and put every penny we had saved into purchasing a trailer and attempting to live in it for the next few years until we had a sizable down payment. At first we looked into shiny new trailers and RVs with beautiful hardwood, flat screen TVs and central vac and told ourselves that if we were trading in our rent we could afford a loan payment. Then we remembered that our goal was to do things differently and prove that we could make this work without owing anyone a dime. Plus if we can do this I want to show people how it can be done realistically. Much of the the info or blogs I've seen have been about people who have had assets to start out with and sold a home and downsized etc.. So we STRUGGLED to find a trailer that was within our measly $5,000 budget. We considered trailers that were completely gutted, trailers with collapsed roofs, trailers from 1982 (older than both of us) and trailers that were literally growing mushrooms. We talked to so many swill merchants trying to pawn off their lousy, falling apart tin cans. AND we did our research. I now know so much about trailers it would make your head spin. 

We lost most of our hope and Tim thought maybe we should just start the apartment search again since we have already given our notice for July 1st. But I am WAY too stubborn for that and told him I'd live in a tent before moving into another apartment. Just when we were ready to give up (and kill each other) we checked out one more and thank the universe we found one! 

She's a 38 foot long 2001 Sierra by Forest River with 3 slide outs. The original owners were a lovely couple who kept her in immaculate shape and were very honest and real with us about any damage or repairs. The kitchen is teeny, the decor is outdated and there is some water damage on one of the slide outs and the floor by the door but the pros far outweigh the cons. 

We decided on this one because of the amount of storage, The potential to winterize and insulate it. The layout allows us to make our own updates and like I said everything was so well taken care of we thought it might minimize our chances of having too many surprise problems. Plus it has surround sound, central AC and an ice maker...that's more luxury than we have in our little apartment now. This is definitely a park model trailer because of the size so there won't be much travel with her which is a bit of a bummer but livability is most important to us right now and that meant more space. Our goal is to have a semi permanent spot to park her and get somewhat settled so we can simplify and save anyway.

We left a down payment that day and lined up our friend to help us move her out to my father's with his landscape truck to start renovations. We paid a total of $5,500 for a beautiful trailer that is appraised at more than $7,000. It's a week into June and we FINALLY have our trailer parked and have started this crazy process!

Our first order of business is opening up the floor and slide where there was some known water damage and see what the extent was. MUCH worse than we thought and if it weren't for TIm I probably would have had a panick attack but he's amazing and fixed up a very ugly problem VERY quickly and basically for free. More about that in the next post. Second step is replacing the ugly linoleum/carpet mix on the floors and painting (the fun part!).

Next post will be about the first updates and the first problems! Hope you follow us on this insane adventure! Would love to hear your comments and ENCOURAGEMENT! :) 

Peace,

Amber Joy

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Hope everyone is enjoying tonight's full Flower Moon. A do-or-die moon and a time to release that which no longer serves us. #gyspy #flowermoon #freespirit #karmic #bohemian #moonmagic #lunar

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Wanderlust and Rebellion

Ohmygosh! So sorry we've been MIA for a bit! LOTS has been brewing in the gypsy cauldron as of late. We've started new classes and projects but most importantly my boyfriend T and myself have decided to pack up our kitty cat and all of our worldly possessions and move full time into a trailer!

I expected this to come as a shock to our friends and loved ones however when I looked more closely at my lifestyle I suppose I can see why they were unphased (dating a guy with dredlocks was a red flag. Running a business called The Gypsy Cart was the real tip off). We've toyed with the idea since we met and there have been a few recent events in our lives that have made us realize we are spending far too much energy and money on things that are not fulfilling us, are not conducive to sustainable, green living and ultimately are not helping us reach our end goal in life (which is to own land and build an eco-home and farm..or a bed and breakfast....or travel the world...well maybe the end goal isn't set in stone).

Without getting overly political, we've become frustrated and jaded by society's "correct" way of doing things and realize that its nearly impossible to live the American Dream and own property without taking on an unrealistic amount of debt and commitment through loans and interest and red tape. We've come to the conclusion that we are young, capable and intelligent people and there has to be an alternative, less detrimental way of fulfilling our dreams. We have decided to take destiny into our own hands! We hope this new adventure will help us to simplify and appreciate more, keep us out of debt and help us save cash without having to rely on "the system" and sink more money into rent and finally to reduce our carbon footprint among many other life affirming, blissful things! We are just open to whatever life may have to teach us on this path and what transformations this may mean for The Gypsy Cart and our lives. We've got an incredibly tiny budget so this means we will have to get creative too which is what Gypsy gals do best!

All that being said....we are totally clueless as to what we are doing and I'm sure it will be one hell of a ride so I hope you will join us! Whether to be inspired to "go gypsy" yourself or just to laugh your asses off at us silly hippies, please check back for updates and antecdotes! I leave you with a pic of our hunt for the perfect gypsy trailer and a promise to fill you in on which one we chose! 

Peace,

Amber Joy

P.S. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GypsyCartShop and on instagram @gypsycart

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In the market for a cozy new sectional but don't want to lose that boho vibe. Now if only I could afford that Missoni *sigh*

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Making today as productive and creative as can be! 

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Ridiculously amazing antique screw tokens. All night brass saloon tokens on brass patina chain...all different unique phrases. Sassy gift idea for the hard to please Valentine ;) For sale now at our shop at Crompton Collective. 

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Inspired by this quote. What would you wear to Jimi's funeral? Novella Royale, Free People, Vintage?

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Doing some work from home, cozy in bed sipping tea. Loving these cozy bedroom ideas and dying for that "What would Neil Young do?" poster.  

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The Pierces are a group of two sisters whom Amber and I love and joke are ripping off our gypsy swag. Their style, music and even cinematography in their videos is how we like to picture ourselves in our heads. This video in particular reminds me of summers taking artsy photos in the woods or drinking champagne and doing spells by a bonfire. The perfect inspiration to combat a blizzard in New England. Check out their NEW video, Kings as well. They're just so lovely: http://www.thepiercesmusic.com/

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Inspired by my dream last night. Running through a valley at sunset wearing a flower crown. Yes I dream in gypsy. Photos via billedwards.photoshelter.com and Pinterest.com

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Welcome to our little corner of the internet where we will share what inspires us to create via quotes, photos, music and stories, recipes and more. But first a quick look at what we do!

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Blessed are the gypsies. The makers of music, artists, writers, dreamers of dreams, wanderers and vagabonds, children and misfits: for they teach us to see the world through beautiful eyes.