In terms of upkeep, the trailer has held up pretty well. We’ve had some bumps along the way. (See: our leaky hot water heater.) We need to repaint when it warms up a bit. (See how our paint has held up.) But overall, the Airstream has allowed us to save money to travel and to build up an emergency fund. We’ve been to Austin, took a roadtrip to Florida, Charleston, Memphis, Portland and most recently we went to Iceland! And most importantly, we’ve built up an emergency savings and another savings account. And I know it sounds cryptic, but we’re trying to decide what to do with our other savings account. What a wonderful problem to have!
Let me explain a bit: at this point we’re getting the itch again. The itch to do something different. The itch to be brave. And if we’re being honest, we don’t know if we want to live in the Airstream forever. It’s wonderful and our home, but is it our forever home? We don’t know. We’d love to have some land of our own one day. (I want animals! And a big place to grow our own food!) We’re also really interested in other alternative dwellings, like tiny houses, cordwood cabins and shipping container homes. And we love to travel! So much so that we bought a van to convert into a super tiny home. We aren’t moving out of the Airstream yet, but maybe. One day. Sometime.
Are we indecisive and insane? Maybe. I truly don’t know what the future will bring, but I am excited to find out.
love,
melanie
Wow!!! I’m very happy for you, any single word of this balance sounds positive and joyfull. Thanks for your effort in sharing your life in the airstream with us, you’re a great guide on living simple and I’m sure this balance will help many people evalueting a free life in a tiny home. (Your reader from Italy 😀 )
Wow 2,5 years! Well it is gorgeously remodeld and connected to sewage, so that makes it perfect 🙂
I want animals too..and land, and a container home, but my husband doesn’t like the idea of a tin! So we’re looking in the mini-eco-prefab options.
We are looking to the future but also lucky enough to have an ideal situation right this moment. We co-habit a very small house (old, moldy and un pretty) with another couple (we have a floor each), a big garden, fruit trees, proximity to bus stops, shops in walking distance, enough outside space for the cat, and two ducks! The ducks (I call them penguins) are our downstais friends’s, but we co-parent them, as we take turns at going away and staying home with the animals. That’s the issue about having them..vacations need a lot more planning and expenses.
Yeah it can be tough, our situation is really good, I’m not going to deny that. And I am super thankful for it. I think we’ve just got to the point where we want a slightly different situation? 🙂 I’d love to hear more about your pre-fab options. Are they affordable? The ones I’ve seen seem to be just as expensive or more expensive than an already built house– at least where I live.
Well here in Switzerland the greatest cost is the land. There are prefab companies who have great mini-options (usually thought as guest “shed”) at the price of a very-VERY old house in bad shape..and those are usually right by a street, and hard to come by in nice places.
Still worlds apart from the prices you have in America..or Germany for that matter. If we left the country we would be able to afford it all.
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Love your blog!
Fascinated by this lifestyle and hope to be able to do this one day in the near future!
What do you think was the hardest adjustment when you first moved into the airstream? And now that some years have gone by, what do you miss the most about non-airstream living? 🙂
Hey Britt, thanks for reading! I actually wrote a post about that a while back. Here it is: Things I miss about traditional housing
I just stumbled upon your blog, it’s so informative. I am planning for the future… the plan is to buy some land in Hawaii and live in an airstream. I’ve vacationed in one before and my husband and I found we really liked it.
Also wanted to ask if it makes sense to buy land and live in an airstream? Would that be cheaper than building a home?
It could be! You just have to make sure everything is legal and/or ready for power and sewer! My guide (available here) goes into more detail about that. Thanks for reading!