House-Hopping, and an Appreciation of Dish Sets

My friends are amazing. They’ve emailed me out of the blue many times in the last month and a half to say, “Hey, I’m gonna be out of town for X number of days, do you want a place to stay?”

When you’re wandering around your hometown unsure of what you’re doing next, this is invaluable. Seriously. Just in case you ever find yourself with an open couch and a wayward twenty-something wandering around nearby. After this, my couch is always open.

I know I’m home-free and job-free by choice, but people are kind anyway, and it’s made all the difference.

So I’ve been traveling light (i.e. with what I can fit in my car) and house-hopping (even teepee-hopping, at one point!) across the East Bay for the last six weeks. I’m not ready to settle just yet – off to Russia and China after Burning Man, if the visa gods permit – but I started thinking about all the things I love about having a house, and a few of the things I don’t miss.

Stuff I love:

• Dish sets
• Duvet covers and matching pillow cases
• When everything is put away – I know, my former roommates and my mother are probably laughing at this one, but now that I neurotically organize my four bags I always carry with me (which means I can always find my phone charger and my computer charger, not to mention my deodorant), I appreciate the virtues of everything in its proper place.
• Quirky collectibles – when you’re living out of a suitcase, you can’t just carry your hand-built Lego Star Wars X-wing thingies around to display to your hosts
• Framed art – like my astronaut poster, looking down on Earth, which is saying “Welcome home”
• Workspace – as in, the same place to put your computer and write, every day; ideally, a place with a door
• Walk-in closets – because a closet means you can wear something other than the same four shirts and two pairs of pants in your suitcase
• An open couch – because a place to sleep is the best thing you can offer a home-free friend
• Creaky wooden floors and wide mouldings
• Bright colors
• Clean lines on furniture
• Kitties!

Stuff I don’t miss:

• Food that goes bad – because that means you’re buying more than you need
• Clutter and unnecessary trinkets – I should know; my clutter and unnecessary trinkets are in storage, not being missed
• Storage – because that just seems to prompt the accumulation of unnecessary trinkets to deal with only when you move houses