We’ve updated a few accessories over the past few months, and it’s time to share some of the changes we’ve made. These are all items that we use regularly and love. All links are affiliate to Amazon (where we buy A LOT of stuff). You pay the same, but we get pennies for our Percy Jackson addicted children to buy books. Total win-win.
Jambox
The Airstream has a cool built in sound system that even came with an external speaker. The tech is firmly rooted in 2005, however. The remote speaker is Mono, and requires either an AC plug or a zillion D batteries. We ditched the external speaker for a Jawbone Jambox, and it serves the need nicely. This also saves the power draw of the main sound system in the Airstream. We’ve had other bluetooth speakers before, and nearly anyone would work. The rubber top and bottom of the jambox make it not slide around, because sometimes we get lazy and don’t put it away during drives.
Kitchen Trash Can
Under the sink, there is a built in garbage can. Over the first few months of travel, we decided we didn’t like it, and Jess came up with this Simplehuman Brushed Stainless garbage can. We place it in front of the pantry drawers, and it is short enough to fit under the drawers as they slide open. And of course, it’s silver! This is also nice and stable during drives, as it lives on the floor. In the space opened up by not using the under-sink garbage can, we hide an electric heater, an outside tablecloth, and an athletic roll.
Reading Lights
Our bed reconfiguration left us without reading lights in convenient locations for the kids. We found some cheap reading lights as replacements, and they have been perfect. In addition to saving battery life while boondocking, the kids have better light and can read without keeping each other awake. Better yet, these were cheap, and we can stuff them with the same rechargeable batteries we already keep on hand.
Wall Clock
This clock was actually our first Airstream customization, way back in Virginia. The real magic of this clock is how I mounted it to the wall. I cut a piece of a plywood to fit just inside of the round clock. I used command strips to stick this to the wall, and the clock friction-fits right to it! Battery changes are easy, and we’ve never had a problem with the clock while driving.
We did modify this clock by cutting the tick marks in half, and cutting the hand wands a little shorter to fit in the space above our television (you can kind of barley see it in this post here). We love it, and I’d buy the same clock again!
Eneloop Rechargeable Batteries
Jess has over fifty of these AA batteries from her wedding photography days. We’ve had to add a few more Eneloop AAA batteries for reading lights, dream lights, toothbrushes, and other kid’s toys. They work great, don’t loose their charge, and store easy.
Battery Charger
To go along with batteries we needed something to charge them with. Jess also picked this Titanium Fast 16 Bay Charger up from a photography friend, and it works great. You can charge the batteries one at a time and it holds both AA and AAA batteries. Best feature? It also has a DC plug so no worries if we aren’t plugged into shore power.
These are all some additions we’ve made since we bought the Airstream. You can check out the kitchen post here as well. Happy shopping!