Still Happy two years later in our Airstream - the two-year experiment is complete

New Experiences living the RV Life 

It was two years ago last month, July 23rd, 2016 to be exact, that we picked up our new Airstream in Tampa Florida.  With two years to experience the RV lifestyle on the road and living out decisions made before and after that date, we are both very happy we decided to do this and we are exactly where we want to be.

The trip back from Tampa, our Maiden Voyage, our first time to pull a large trailer, was an experience in itself.  We began learning what living in an RV would be like, how it would permanently change our lives and cause new and exciting adventures in our lives every day.

A Comfortable and Happy Life 

We approach life as if every moment is a lesson, an opportunity to learn.  And we have learned that we can be comfortable and happy living in the Airstream.  It was definitely not like that at the beginning.  Over these two years, we've learned that a propane detector going off at night is not an emergency; it means we check the propane appliances (stove & refrigerator) for problems and leaks, and then turn on the exhaust fans and reset the detector.

There are innumerable small issues with RVs that come up and you learn to solve them yourself or you go to an expert to get them resolved.  They are all problems that can be dealt with and very few are life-threatening emergencies like they seemed at the beginning.

In 2016 when I retired, we had a 2-year plan, an agreement, to try out RV life.  We bought a trailer that we believed would keep its value for the long-term.  The 2-year experiment is complete and was a success.  We're continuing with the RV life and expect to do this for the long-term.

Looking back at our dream

Some of what we've learned 

Things happen even with a brand-new RV

'Airstreaming' I believe is similar and different from traveling in any trailer.  How would we know?  I'm just guessing, but one thing I do know is that Airstream trailers come with a 2-year warranty.  That warranty is really important; luckily we got most of our out-of-the-factory issues corrected in the 1st year. In the second year, we've used the warranty on smaller issues that we could resolve but needed a part or assistance from Airstream.

Many people may think a new trailer would come off the factory floor perfect, without flaws, and trouble-free (for a while at least).  That is simply not true, even for an Airstream, or a 2-million dollar class A motorhome.  I've heard story upon story about every version of RV and their (major and minor) problems the first year.  We had ours too, and I could list them, so everyone would really appreciate the work it took the first year, but I won't.  The point is we have them fixed, and that was the focus of all that work.  Get your RV working and continue on your adventure.

Schedule as little as you can, keep it flexible

It's obvious, I think, that as we travel we want to take advantage of where we are and where we want to be, right.  When we are working and on a tight schedule, we plan a trip end-to-end,; we book hotels, RV parks, and events and we go do that.  Great trip but not a lot of flexibility built-in.

We'll the new point-of-view now for me is not to do ANY OF THAT.  Flexibility/agility during a trip is key to taking advantage of what's in front of you and what you come upon next.  So, as we relocate ourselves, we don't plan much, leaving the agenda completely open.  If we plan to visit a park we'll go in the first day and check things out, hit the visitors center and THEN plan the next day. It may be that there's not a lot to do in that particular park at the time (like we though while visiting Mesa Verde NP in 2020).  As it happens, the more you explore the more you find in front of you that is also interesting.  So, plan as little as possible to get in the most impact.  In Mesa Verde, it turned out that even though the ranger-led hikes into the Cliff Dwellings were not operating when we were there in February, we still found a week's worth of valuable and exciting things to do in that park.

Slow and easy vs. fast-paced is a no-brainer

Similar to the above point, when we get to a location we plan to stay for a while. Since we want to get the most out of our visit we usually don't plan an end date.  We stay as long as needed and leave when ready for the next adventure.

A system the Living in Beauty blog talks about is the 4-3-2 rule!   That is: drive no more than 4 hours, stop by 3 pm and stay for 2 weeks.

Expand your horizons as you travel

The idea is that we try different types of stays, including boondocking, state/national park campgrounds, using private parks, Harvest Host wineries, and moochdocking at Walmarts and Cabelas.  We have RV friends, for example, Xscapers, that like to boondock all the time.  They love that experience of being in the desert on solar.  Other's we met, like some Escapees, like to stay in RV parks all the time.

We've found that changing things up from time-to-time can really make full-time RV living work and keep us happy.  Hey, we've even looked at the beautiful Fort Wilderness park at Disney World in Florida as a place to say.  That experience would be wonderful and (finally) get Lupe to Disney World so he stops complaining :)

Working together (at paid or volunteer jobs) will grow your relationship

We CAN work together at a real job, we hadn't done this before and have learned so much about each other and our relationship by doing this at Big Bend.  After a few weeks of figuring out who is in charge (no one as it turns out), Lupe and I have settled into our jobs and understand each other just a little bit better.

What we're doing now and why it works

We are currently in Big Bend National Park working for Forever Resorts.  As I'll post in the future I bet, this will be one of the best experiences we've ever had.  Not only have we learned more about each other with our relationship growing by leaps and bounds, but also we have learned that we can do things that we never thought we could.

I didn't think I would ever do retail in my life.  But, I've learned the price of EVERY ITEM in our store at Rio Grande Village, and I found I love working with people and making their park experience a great one.

Of course, this works because we are willing to make it work.  We had no idea what this job would be like, or what we would face during the job, but we were willing to try it and work as hard as we could to make it work.  So, to me that is a work ethic and why we can workcamp now and in the future.  We can get through almost anything if we are committed to the job.

even when it's 94 inside and 113 outside, in the shade

Bert