On Sept. 28, 2014, we became the proud owners of a 25-foot 1985 Airstream Sovereign travel trailer. It was the start of our dream of traveling the country, visiting family and friends, and living a mobile lifestyle that was light on the land and let us appreciate the little things.
Flash forward to today, four years later. We have been in New Mexico for a few weeks now, working our way south as the weather gets colder up north, and it’s been cozy and comfortable in our renovated Airstream. We are celebrating this anniversary (which we didn’t know about until Facebook told us!) by staying at the Cochiti Lake Recreation Area, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a 35-mile trip south from Santa Fe.
When we drove the Airstream home, it had all the original fittings, which included a plaid Herculon nylon sofa bed in the front, wall-to-wall carpeting, and a double bed in the back, and one major upgrade: two solar panels.
John worked hard that year and in the intervening time to make it into a home that fit us perfectly. A master electrician, carpenter, and problem solver, he removed the couch and cabinets to refit the entire front space with a desk with storage space for me and a long sofa with storage underneath and a clever pull-out shelf that lets it become nearly a queen bed.
He also designed a queen-sized bed for us that converts to a sofa with the push of a switch. Since then, he’s replaced the hot water heater, fixed a broken weight distribution yoke up by the hitch, installed four new solar panels on the roof, and found out how to fix other problems that have cropped up.
As for the decor, we got help from two sewing geniuses: Heather made all the curtains and Charlotte sewed the cushion covers for the new sofa.
As for me, I washed and painted the inside walls white, decided on the fabric for the drapes and sofa and pulled up all the tacks on the under-flooring so John could install the Pergo wood floor. My biggest job was to organize and pack the trailer’s cabinets and storage spaces with everyday necessities. I also used bins, drawer units, and other containers to corral the food, linens, toiletries, cleaning supplies, cooking equipment, and, of course, my jewelry-making and art supplies. Clothing is easiest: we have two closets and four overhead storage cabinets in our “bedroom” area. Off-season clothing gets put into a bin in our Yukon’s trunk, along with other stuff we don’t use on a daily basis. Frankly, if we didn’t have the large SUV, we would have stuff piled up to our ears in the trailer. Not a pretty sight.
A Day in the Life
When we tell people we travel full-time, most say, “You’re living the dream!” We agree, but it’s not as dramatic as that sounds.
We live a low-key life, despite the glorious scenery that changes with each new park or campground. The days run pretty much like any other for people who work from home. An early start and hot tea let me get cracking early with my writing projects since most of my clients are on East Coast time. John and I usually have two meals a day: a late breakfast and an early dinner. The rest of the time includes the usual — working, meals, cleaning up, and relaxing by reading or streaming shows on our computers. On the days when I’m in between projects, I’ll set up my art supplies at my desk or outside on the picnic table. Art keeps me sane.
While I’m working at my desk, John sits on the sofa behind me, editing his photographs on his laptop, which sits on a foldable table that doubles as a desk and our dinner table. He also works with a few website design clients so updates to those sites take up time.
When we come into a new area, we visit museums and historic/natural sites. We both love archaeology, anthropology and nature. And rocks… We frequently can be seen walking through the campground fields looking for a piece of quartz, mica schist, or jasper that strikes our fancy. Some make their way into my jewelry while others are stored with my craft supplies, waiting for a purpose.
On days when we don’t have work to do, there’s still work to do. Living in beautiful wilderness areas usually means we have to travel a bit to do shopping and errands. The fridge and freezer are small, so I buy groceries a couple of times a week. We refill the two propane tanks every month or so. We keep a careful watch on our waste tanks; they have to be emptied when they are full and that means hitching up, which takes time. The Yukon needs oil changes every few months since we travel so far every year pulling our 6,000-pound Airstream. We’ve also had to get repairs done on occasion. The most dramatic was when we broke down in Altus, OK, with a busted water pump right after a Thanksgiving Day 2015 ice storm.
That was our first — but not our last — experience with the kindness of strangers and the importance of passing it on.
All this is to say that a mobile lifestyle is NOT like being on a vacation. Yes, we still work. We have chores and projects. We have days when nothing exciting happens at all.
We also have ordinary days that turn into extraordinary experiences in just an instant.
A couple of days ago, it was cloudy all day long. Just before 7:00 p.m., we looked out our window and saw a slash of golden amber light from the west cut underneath the storm clouds to illuminate the mountains all around. We ran outside and joined our three next-door campground neighbors to watch the light show change minute by minute.
We saw western clouds with salmon pink underbellies. A stubby rainbow rose from slate-grey clouds over the rocky hills to the east. Feathery torrents of rain fell onto the mountains to the south.
Almost as soon as it started, it was over. But, we stood in the fast-fading light, learning each other’s stories. John and his wife Wally are retired and are full-time travelers. Her sister Linda, who has a home back in Connecticut, joins them for their trips as well. Wally and Linda are Austrian. They travel in a 45-foot Class A RV (aka a really big bus) with slide outs that give them more room inside, including enough space for grandkid sleepovers. They tow a small silver car to do local sightseeing. They enthusiastically tell us about the lunar eclipse they saw in this park in 2015.
Yes, sometimes we stay in a place where we never talk with anyone else. In others, we meet people who have become not just friends on Facebook but also friends in real life.
Most people hear about our travels on Facebook but that just mostly shows the spectacular views we’ve seen or celebrated the experiences we’ve had. This blog is taking a while to get up off the ground, mostly because we’re too busy living every day to update every day. As we go forward, we hope to share more posts more often with you, dear reader.
One thing we’ve learned, though: Life is an adventure, if you want it to be.