The Traveller Family: Week 2

Sorry - I can't remember with which expansion pack this house came to our games, but it is definitely Maxis-made, like all the houses and community lots in New Maximiliania, my special neighbourhood where ALL Maxis-made Sims have found a home. This modern "shoebox" belongs to the Traveller family. They were added to the family bin with "Bon Voyage", I know that much :-) They have already spent a whole Sim-week here in their new surroundings, but due to the problems we had with uploading our stories to the exchange, the chapter I wrote back then does not exist anymore.

Therefore, let me quickly remind you of who is who in the Traveller family. This is Trisha, a Popularity Sim who, strangely enough, has the lifetime want of earning 100.000 Simoleons. She has 3 bolts for Carlos Contender and Chester Gieke (well, she is certainly not alone there!), and only one for her husband...

...Trent Traveller, whom you can see here working away at his pottery wheel. Trent shares his wife's lifetime want but has the Knowledge aspiration. His relationship panel shows no 3-bolt-attraction. Both husband and wife have maximum enthusiasm in arts & crafts and have spent almost all of their first week working on their creativity skill, selling paintings to get started on their lifetime wants. Trent now has the Bronze Pottery Badge, which allows him to make not just plates, but also small vases and tea sets.

They have a daughter, Tina. She won't be a child much longer! Unlike normal Sim-children, she already has a lifetime want (a bug that has appeared in my game only with one or two other Sim-kids): to have 20 best friends at the same time.

Trisha is determined to get rid of the few extra pounds she has gained since they moved to New Max. One of her turn-ons is fitness, and what she likes in another Sim, she does not want to lack herself.

Trent would like to spend ALL of his time painting (so that he can sell the paintings and make more money) or at the pottery wheel (so that he can sell what he makes), but some other jobs need doing, such as raking the leaves in their yard.

Today, Monday, Tina brings home a friend from school, Jacqueline Jacquet, Gilbert Jacquet's half-Alien daughter.

The two girls get along well and play chess all afternoon. Tina is most interested in Jacqueline's Alien heritage and asks her which planet her "other dad" comes from.

Later that same day, she turns into a pretty teenage girl - still wearing her sunglasses and her braids, and finally getting to choose her aspiration. The lot falls on "Pleasure", and pleasure it is! Her lifetime want of having 20 simultaneous best friends is not affected.

Finally, after a lot of work-out in front of the telly and several jogging rounds through the neighbourhood, Trisha gets fit! Will she be more attractive to her husband now? Fitness is one of his turn-ons, too.

On Wednesday, Tina gets her membership card to the My Muse II - Art Studio. Her parents have received theirs already last week.

Trisha is so happy with her new-found self confidence that she invites everyone who happens to be there to go jogging with her - even poor Hermia Capp who is suffering from a cold and really should NOT be doing anything strenuous.

Well... it seems to be working! Trent finds his wife a lot more attractive with her lithe figure.

He can't stand back now, can he? And so, after going for a nice long jog himself, he increases his fitness, too.

Trisha's other turn-on is formal wear, and Trent's other turn-on is swim wear. In the privacy of their bedroom, the couple change into each other's preferred outfit, and indeed manage to get their mutual attraction up to 2 bolts. No 3 bolts, which I found a bit disappointing after all the hard work those two have put in! Never mind. They are very much in love, and even when they change back into their normal clothes and their attractiveness goes back to one bolt, their love does not diminuish.

Something odd: one of Trent's wishes has been to sell a masterpiece for a while. He paints this... which is usually what our Sims do when their creativity level is not very high yet - Trent's is at 10 ! And yet, when he sells this, it is indeed a masterpiece and his wish is fulfilled.

Friday afternoon, after she has done her homework, Tina invites one of her male friends over. Marcus Baldwin is a nice enough guy, and Tina hopes for some sparks to fly between them, but they remain friends and nothing more.

Her parents follow the meet-and-greet policy almost all New Maximilianians have adopted, and Gunnar Rocque is invited in. "How come you are all wearing your sunglasses even if there is no sun?" he wants to know. Sadly, I do not understand enough Simlish to find out what Tina and her dad answer!

On Saturday, Tina gets her membership card to the Platinum Gym.

It is spring now, and with her new slim figure, Trisha can certainly afford to change into a short skirt and get rid of the cosy jumper she was wearing all throughout autumn and winter.

Tina has just made her 7th best friend in Jacqueline Jacquet - 13 more to go!

Trent starts writing his first novel - another big wish on his list.

Tina is invited to Games of Glory.

very now and then, all three Travellers make sure they sit down for a meal together. While her parents talk about the weather and how good some rain will be for their newly planted orange tree, Tina thinks about how well her mum looks these days.

On Sunday, Trent becomes a member at "Desirable Discourse", the secret hobby lot for all literature and film fans.

Late in the evening, he finishes his first novel and gets more than 2.000 Simoleons in royalties. Well done, Trent! Both he and Trisha have not made much money this week; yes, there were some paintings they sold, plus the novel, but if they really want to reach their lifetime want, maybe they should consider getting jobs. For Tina, I do not foresee any problems in reaching her goal of 20 best friends. We will find out how the Travellers are doing... in some months :-)

[When I played and wrote this in 2009, I was convinced it would take me only "months" before I was going to play this household again, but what with one thing and the other, it took a bit longer, as you'll see at the start of the next chapter.]