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Things I love about living in an Airstream

Airstream Sovereign(Alternatively titled Things I don’t miss about traditional housing.)

I’m here to turn that frown upside down, negative Nancy! Last week I posted things I miss about traditional housing. But today, I’m here to post the things I love, which greatly outweighs the things I miss.

1. No rent! The Airstream is bought and paid for. At the moment, I have no rent and no mortgage. How many people can say that?! This no rent thing is helping us to save, save, save.

2. The energy savings. Our power bill is significantly lower than a standard apartment’s bill. That’s cash in the bank, baby! And I feel good about doing our part to save energy. Captain Planet would be proud.

3. The ability to travel. Want to head to the beach this weekend? We can do that and take our house with us! We’re pretty much turtles. Ninja turtles! Cowabunga dude! (We’re having a real early 90’s kid flashback here, if you haven’t noticed.)

4. The limited space. I know it sounds nut-zo, but the limited space is freeing. It took me about 5 minutes to clean the bathroom today. I don’t have to buy a bunch of furniture or stuff to “fill” the space. I know I can’t buy a bunch of clothes because I have no where to hang them. Less space is just easier.

5. The learning experience. Fixing up the Airstream was Renovations 101. Fixing a house. might be a Advanced Renovations, but at least we now know the basics.

6. The bonding experience. This experience is what rom-coms are made of. Newly married couple, fixes and lives in an Airstream without killing each other! They laugh, fight about something dumb and still like each other in the end!

7. We own something. Unlike renting, at the end of the day, we own this Airstream. Even if sometimes she’s a pain in the rear, we still own our home outright.

8.  The freedom. The Airstream has given us freedom in so many ways. We don’t live in debt. We have few bills and few belongings. George now has the ability to work for himself. And that, my friends, that is priceless.

love and thankfulness,
melanie

 

Things I Miss About Traditional Housing

Our untraditional home

Our untraditional home

I love living in an Airstream. It’s seriously one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, but it’s not all rainbows and butterflies either. Shelli, who blogs over at The Laughing Nanny and also lives in an Airstream, got me thinking about the things I miss about traditional housing. This list isn’t all inclusive, obv. On different days I miss different things. But here’s what I’ve been a missin’ most.

1. Long showers. The water heater in our Airstream is super small, so a lady only has time to shave one leg before the water turns cold. It’s not a luxurious situation. And at this point, a tub seems like a far away dream.

2. A big stove. We’ve made the best out of our cooking situation, but I still miss having four, fast, gas burners to heat up my food.

3. The ability to close off a space. Since we don’t really have any separate “rooms” in the Airstream, when I get up, George wakes up and when George want to stay awake at night, I have to stay awake. It’s been an adjustment to have to really adapt to each others’ schedules, but we’re making it work. (As Tim Gunn would say.)

4. House-chore free weekends. Before the Airstream, we rented, so we didn’t have to take care of home chores like painting, spraying for bugs or fixing appliances. We still have a super long to-do list and I’m pretty sure we always will have something to fix on the old Airstream. No more house chore-free weekends for us.

5. Closet space. Our closets are pretty much nonexistent. I miss being able to neatly fold my clothes and not have to fold them three times to jam them in an airplane-like overhead compartment.

I love being a negative Nancy but the things I miss about traditional housing, in no way out way the things I don’t miss.

Stay tuned for that post!

love,
melanie

 

Essential Technology for Traveling

tech setupI have to be honest with ya’ll. Technically, we haven’t taken the Airstream on the road yet. But I’m getting the travel itch bad. I think I’ve got the travel pox. That’s a thing right? Anyway, I thought it’d be helpful/mildly interesting to share my technology setup. We’re currently working out any kinks with our technology setup before we take the Airstream on the road.

Here’s what we use.

1. iPhones for hotspots
Our iPhones provide us with the Internet which is essential. I couldn’t blog and George couldn’t do his art without it. Also, I might die from Internet withdrawals if I didn’t have it. It’s been a bit more expensive to use our phones as hotspots instead of having a direct Internet connection through an Internet or phone provider. (Our phone contracts are through Verizon, if you are curious.) It’s the best option we’ve found so far because of the excellent coverage Verizon provides. And paying for extra data is still much less cheaper than rent.

2. iPhones for photos
Sometimes I don’t feel like lugging around my giant Nikon for photos, so I’ll just snap a few pictures with my iPhone. It’s lazy and the photos don’t look quite as sharp as with my “real” camera, but it’s convenient.

3. Nikon D5000
My “professional” camera was a gift from George and it may be the best gift I’ve ever been given. It has been worth every penny. My pictures with this camera look sharp, professional and are a much higher quality than any iPhone pic.

4. MacBook Pro
For most of my blogging and writing, I use a MacBrook Pro. I’d love to try out using an iPad for blogging, but currently, the MacBook is working great. I don’t want to throw down the cash for an iPad without knowing if it will fit all my needs.

5. iPhoto and Photoshop
In terms of picture editing, I use both iPhoto and Photoshop. I think iPhoto is easier and less time-consuming than Photoshop, but it isn’t quite as customizable. When I have time, I love to throw my photos into Photoshop and play around. The pictures always look so much better.

6. Kindle
I could probably cut down on my devices if I just bought an iPad, but the $600+ price tag is painful. Reading is still super essential to me and on the road, libraries will be hard to find. I also can’t carry 100 books with me, it’s just not feasible in such a small space. For now my Kindle is taking care of my reading needs.

That’s my tech setup. What are your favorite techie tools?

love,
melanie

How to Cook in an Airstream Trailer

Airstream Hot PlateBefore we remodeled, we had a sketchy gas stove in the Airstream that was home to a full apartment complex full of mice. Seriously, those things had made a straight up, 1970s NY high-rise in that stove. I’m pretty sure those mice were the mice version of The Jeffersons. (Insert Jeffersons theme song here.)

We couldn’t use the old oven and cooktop. It was gas, there were no indications that the Jeffersons had ever turned it on, and it was just too risky. I like my eyebrows. I have no desire to singe them off. I didn’t want to be scared every time I needed a grilled cheese– which is all the time. So we started looking for RV oven/cooktop combos, and just like everything, they didn’t come cheap. In our true cheapo live little fashion, we started thinking about alternatives.

Could we make it with just a microwave and an infomercial burner? Could we just use a toaster oven and a coffee maker? How about two sticks and panini press?! After much Amazon research, we settled on a double burner and a small convection oven. It hasn’t been the easiest change. I had an amazing four burner gas stove and oven in my last apartment, but I’m learning to be more mindful of my timing and I’ve been making things in smaller batches.

The biggest change has been the no microwave situation. It has forced me to slow my cooking down, but I didn’t want to sacrifice the space for a microwave. It also freaked me out to have all that microwave radiation bouncing around in my tin can of a house.

Airstream CookingIn terms of appliances, we also have a blender, a french press and our biggest unnecessary space hog, an electric food dehydrator. Our blender is a Blendtec and it’s pretty much amazing. It was a total splurge from before I went on a saving spree, but I love it and it blends like a dream. The french press is a total necessity. It’s smaller than a coffee maker and makes a delicious cup of joe. Coffee is my life blood. I sing a song that I used to sing in church as a kid when I make coffee. Not kidding. It’s a religious experience for me.

And then there’s the dehydrator. It may seem kind of ridiculous to have a food dehydrator when you don’t have room for a microwave, but George and I got as a (joke) wedding gift and we love jerky. At least I know when the zombie apocalypse happens, we’re going to plenty of dried food to subsist on. Just keepin’ it real.

love,
melanie

How I Pared Down My Stuff to Live in an Airstream

My teensie closet.I’ve never been the kind of person to ho-hum and dwell over whether or not I’m going to need that second vegetable peeler or if I’m ever going to wear those stupid-high clogs  (newsflash: I won’t wear them!). I usually just get real with myself and sell my unused junk or donate it.

But when George and I moved into the Airstream, I knew I’d have to take parring down to an all new level. The closets in the Airstream are New York City apartment tiny. And let’s be real, my first priority is food storage. This girl loves to eat. So when it came to choosing which “things” were essential and which I got the ax, I had to make some pretty tough guidelines. Here’s the questions I asked myself:

1. Have I used it in the last three months? If I haven’t used it in the last three months, it’s probably not very useful. Unless…

2. Is it seasonal? Is it something I can put into storage until next season? Winter clothes and boots mostly fell into this category.

3. Am I really being honest about whether or not I’m going to [insert your own hobby here]? Book collecting is a tough one for me. (And I think everyone has that one “thing” that contributes to clutter.) I always get super ambitious about how much I can read. I’m only one person, I can only read so much. And there’s always the library. I made myself get real about my book collection.

4. Does this item have more than one use? I’m big into things that have multiple uses because they take up less space. For example, my blender also food processes. It’s magical.

5. Does it need fixing? There are so many things (clothes especially) that I was hanging onto because they just needed one little thing fixed. This shirt needed a hole sewed up, these pants needed to be hemmed up, etc. If I have had the problem for over a month and I still haven’t fixed it, I let it go. Be real, it’s never going to get fixed and it’s just taking up space.

So that’s the harsh criteria I went through when I pared down my life to live in the Airstream. It was hard emotionally, but I’m done. *Angels singing* Now, the hard part is going to be not bringing any more unnecessary junk back into the Airstream.

How have you pared down?

love,
melanie

The Refrigerator of Unfun or Why Saving Money Isn’t Enough

The New Fridge

Last weekend our Craigslist refrigerator died. We were so proud of the thing. It was only $75! The perfect size for the Airstream! And we could even spruce up the dents with a DIY project! But on Saturday night it started leaking and by Sunday morning everything in our fridge was warm.

We threw out our perishables and we knew we’d have to buy a new fridge with a warranty. 3/4 size fridges are hard to come by on Craigslist and we couldn’t afford another lemon. We were grumpy all day. It feels as if every time we try to save money, bam! something happens and our teensie savings are whisked away into working appliances or dental procedures.

As much as I budget and roll my change and squirrel away any extra pennies, it seems like we just don’t get anywhere. I’ve been reading quite a few rich-people-secrets books and blogs lately. (Ugh, yes, I’ve become that person.) The common, unfun advice is: get a second job. Ok, so the majority encourage you to become an entrepreneur on the side, but let’s be real, it’s a second job.

I’ve been reluctant to take on a second job because I value my free time. I value the time I get to put into this blog. And as an introvert, I feel that I need that time to relax and recuperate so I can be a functional (nice) human being.

Do you think the Rich Dad, Poor Dads of the world are right? Do we all need second jobs? Is it a reality of our economy? What is your best money saving/money making tip? I need answers, people!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

love,
melanie

Unconventional Lifestyle Blogs

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

I get periodically obsessed with things. I’ll only want to eat mushrooms for two weeks or I’ll want to obsessively learn about making soap. Anyone else the same way? No? Ok. Just me, eating mushrooms and making soap for two weeks until I’m on the the next fascination.

Anyway, this past week or so, I’ve been doing a lot of personal research into alternative or unconventional ways of living. I hope it’s not just a passing phase because unconventional ways of living are fascinating– especially since I live pretty unconventionally, myself. It’s got me dreaming of becoming a full-time traveler or homesteader or a traveling homesteader. Can you be both?!

Here’s a few of my favorite resources I’ve found so far:

The Art of Nonconformity
On the Art of Nonconformity, Chris writes about about personal development and life planning, with the conviction that you don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to;  entrepreneurship and other kinds of unconventional work, with the belief that the work we do should be both fun and meaningful; and  international travel, travel hacking in general, and his journeys to more than 25 countries every year.

The Modern Nomad
Gustav Andersson worked a 9-5 job for five years and realized that he was slowly stagnating into a comfortable routine — a personal nightmare of his. So he quit his job, sold his flat and walked away from the well-trodden streets of London to begin life as a modern-day nomad.

Nomadic Matt
Matt’s story is similar to most of our stories. We have the 9-5 with the 2 weeks of vacation per year. But a trip to Thailand on his measly 9-5 vacation changed him. He met five backpackers who showed him that he didn’t have to be tied down to a job and that he didn’t need to be rich to travel. After that trip, Matt went home, finished his MBA, quit his job, and set out on an adventure around the world. Matt is one of the foremost experts on travel hacking.

The Prairie Homestead
Jill ‘s journey with homesteading started with a compost pile. She currently lives on  67 acres of Wyoming prairie and blogs about returning to your roots of self-sufficiency and simple living, whether you live on a sprawling ranch or in a high-rise apartment.

Wayward Spark
Camille lives in Oregon with her husband and two little kids in an off-the-grid, tiny cabin. On her blog, she shares her honest experiences of modern day homesteading.

I’ll share some of my favorite Airstream travel blogs soon. I want to hear about your favorite unconventional lifestyle blogs in the comments!

Obsessively researching until then.
love,
melanie

 

Cheap DIY Curtain Rods

dowel rod curtains

Have you shopped for curtain rods lately? No? Well, they ain’t cheap. (But I am! Yack, yack, yack!)

Even the cheapo rods were out of our price range. I’ll be honest with ya’ll, we’ve gone over our renovation budget a bit. We had eight windows, two cabinets and three doors to cover with curtains in the Airstream! George’s ingenuity once again came to the rescue. He’s pretty much an artsy super hero.

Instead of buying curtain rods at a minimum of $5 a pop, we bought dowel rods at $1.50 a piece and 7/8 inch cup hooks for less than $4 for a box of 40 hooks! That’s a savings of $41.50. And to think, I failed College Algebra. Take that math!

dowel rod curtains 2

All you have to do for this DIY is:

  1. Saw down the dowel rod to fit your window.
  2. Drill a pilot hole if necessary. (It’s necessary in the Airstream)
  3. Screw the hooks into the wall.
  4. Make sure the hooks on either end are level, and hang up your curtain!

Not to mention, I think they look really modern and chic.

What’s the best thrifty DIY you’ve finished lately? Tell me in the comments!

love,
melanie

 

The Hazards of Owning an Airstream

I thought it might be funny (and informative?) to detail some of the unexpected and slightly expected hazards we experienced when fixing up the Airstream.

My hand swollen to about double its normal size.

My hand swollen to about double its normal size.

1. Relentless bug bites

When waxing the Airstream I forgot to put on bug spray and got 4 mosquito bites on one hand. It swelled up like a ballon. Tip: Keep bug spray in the trailer while you are working on it.

Sad because he's itchy.

Sad because he’s itchy.

2. Severe Poision Ivy

George had to clear some land for us to park the airstream on for the time being. He got the worst case of poison ivy I’ve ever seen. Seriously, it should have been in a medical book. Tip: Work in an area without poison ivy or get a goat to gobble up the poison ivy/oak/sumack.

Wasps in a frenzy3.  The critters

So.Many.Spiders, (several) mice, wasps. We pretty much saw every critter possible either in the trailer or make an attempt to infiltrate the trailer. The wasps particularly loved trying to make a home in the trailer’s little openings. Tip: Spray all the Airstream’s crevices inside and out with bug spray or use homemade remedies as soon as you. It’s easier to prevent the critters than clean them out.

Airstream

4. The inescapable heat

Working on or in a reflective surface in July in the south. You can imagine. Tip: If I had all the time in the world, I probably would have worked on the Airstream in the fall. If I had all the money in the world, I would have worked on the Airstream in a garage. Climate control.

 

One of the best purchases we made.

One of the best purchases we made.

5. The mold

Airstreams and RVs in general are notorious for leaking and getting moldy. Even the walls in trailer were covered in mildew. Tip: Make sure you get to the bottom of the mold. It may require ripping up floors or furniture. It’s worth peace of mind to know it is clean and mold-free. Also, make sure you reseal all the windows and the door. Since we live in the humid south, we also took it once step further and bought a dehumidifier to keep the humidity down inside the trailer.

The Porcelain Throne

The Porcelain Throne

6. The poop

Let’s just say I’ve learned more about plumbing and septic in the last two months than I learned in the last 27 years. Tip: Read forum advice and (although I kind of hate saying this as a librarian) Google it!

Owning an Airstream isn’t always glamorous, but it’s an education. And it’s fun.

love,
melanie

Airstream Update

To do list

We’ve been in the Airstream about a week now. In some ways it has been seeing a dream come true. In other ways it is the never-ending project. I’ve been super impressed about the progress we’ve made in only two and a half months. But I also made another dreaded to-do list and the projects seem never ending. We found a lot of things we needed to fix once we moved in. The hot water is (still) stinky. When we first turned the hot water on, it smelled like a dead possum. I literally gagged. Now it just smells like a dead baby possum– i.e. slightly less smelly. And we’ve of course, got some beautification projects to do. I think I just need to accept that this will be an ongoing project. Maybe ongoing forever. But that’s ok. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, right?

What did you all get up to this weekend?

love,
melanie