One thing I love about being on the road and having our location constantly change, is that there is no “typical” day. There are a lot of similar things we do everyday, but no two days have been exactly alike so far. I love it. Our days vary quite a bit too if we are…
Its been a really hard week. We’ve been in a city at an RV Park, its been raining, and we’ve been desperately trying to convince Cara she wants to be potty trained. All three have just really drained me in ways I didn’t expect. This week has also made me feel…normal. Which is weird, I…
Dude, I am ALL about waiting until they are ready, on that potty training business. Diapers are just so much easier than trying to get a kid to do what they don’t feel ready for. It took 3 tries with Grace before she was really ready, and I easily gave up the first 2 times because that is one battle I hate facing. Good on ya for sticking with her for this long Jess! And it’s ok to feel like a normal, mean mommy, we all feel that, probably more often than we admit. 🙂 I LOVE San Diego! Glad you guys had fun! ReplyCancel
All right! We have officially been on the road in the Airstream for 3 months and 15 days. We left Utah for our house swap in Virginia 7 months and 15 days ago. INSANE. Wow. Time flies. We LOVE that you come and read our blog, but now we need some input. When we envisioned…
Living in Europe, it’s such a treat to follow your blog and see the states through your eyes.
Our family also have a camping trailer, which we manly use during our summer holiday. Your adventures are fueling our dreams of traveling around Europe for a longer period of time, so I’m also all in for learning about not only the places you see, but the day to day life and practical issues with living in a trailer.
I would love to read more about your day to day activities. How do you do laundry? Dishes? How do you decide where to go? What do driving days look like? Where do you keep toothbrushes or brush your teeth? What are your kids favorite things about Airstream life? What do you do with their toys or souvenirs?ReplyCancel
Day to day life for sure. As well as day to day emotions! pros and cons list – from traveling, to cooking, to mothering, to … all of it.
Also your technology. What do you use, how do you keep it all charged? How much does it all cost? etc
What you miss the most about “house living” and what you don’t miss at all.ReplyCancel
If you guys do some kind of budget every month, that could be informative to read about. Love reading day to day posts. And I’d like to point out that your photos are some of the best that I’ve seen of most of the airstream blogs that I follow. Also a video every now and then could be fun if you guys have that capability. Hope this helps!ReplyCancel
Back in 1985 we took our three kids on the road for 6 months. We both took leaves from work (I was doing bookkeeping and my husband taught elementary school), after spending months planning the logistics of how we were going to travel, pay our bills, “camper-school”our kids, get a house-sitter, keep in contact, etc. It was much more complicated since the age of instant communication and electronic banking was not even dreamed about. Phone cards, forwarded mail to my mother-in-law to pay our bills, and a weekly call to our housesitter and mom to troubleshoot problems were just a few issues that would be less complex today. Our kids were 5,9, and 10 when we left home in our cabover camper with very loose plans to circumnavigate the country (clockwise). We hit 3 provinces and 32 states with not a single campground reservation.
I enjoy comparing our circumstances….lots of junior ranger programs, lots of hikes, museums, waterfalls (my son said “too many”), two hurricanes, not enough people we knew east of the Rockies, journaling, the Smithsonians and Washington DC, and field trips at camper school. Kids got to alternate being the “navigator” learning to read maps, and bookkeeper who noted all of our expenses on a ledger sheet.
So, now we are nearly retired, just bought a RV/camper van and plan to take one grandkid at a time out for adventures. I enjoy reading your logistics of using skype, internet hookups, cell phone issues and other communication modalities that are pretty easy at home, but more complicated technologically on the road which I find somewhat daunting. Our kids still have great memories of our trip and we are excited to build wonderful memories with our grandkids. So keep those kid activities coming!ReplyCancel
We really enjoy seeing the places you have loved along with the things you love doing as you travel around. I personally also enjoy the more technical posts covering many of the moving pieces that make your air stream life possible. It has all been enjoyable and has inspired us to make small changes in our life here locally.ReplyCancel
Dido the day to day stuff questions, and question on where you store everything!… do you have a schedule on days you aren’t traveling? It sounds like you have to be pretty flexible, but is there anything that is stable in your lives right now? 🙂 I’m curious to know your thoughts on handling church and callings… seeing how you are not really going to just one at the time… which ward family do you technically “belong to” right now? Maybe no one else cares about the LDS aspect of this, but I am curious. 🙂 Also, love the financial posts, as they show my husband that it is fiscally possible to do something like this. Keep the details on the funds coming. Also, you mentioned there are many jobs out there that you’ve ran into while meeting other wanderers as yourself… so what do they all do? What other jobs are out there that make this lifestyle possible? Also, unless I am missing it, it seems you need a map tracking your stops and maybe showing where you’re headed? I know you may not have it planned out far in advance, but it’d be cool to see the places you’ve been (and especially the referrals for the favorite places you’ve stayed on that maybe? When you do talk about finances, I’m curious to know how that differed from your life at home- for example, did you spend the same amount on food before you left? More or less? etc. Any unexpected costs? And do you ever get any “me time” mom? How? Who does most of the blogging? When do you find time to do that without the kids interupting? OK, as you see I have many questions, but I’m also curious about the ages for your kids. Why did you choose to go at this time in your lives verses later or earlier? I know it was meant to be this time, as you mentioned, but did the kids ages have anything to do with it? I think that’s all for now. 🙂 Love everything you are doing, keep up the inspiring work! 🙂ReplyCancel
OH ya, a few more questions for ideas to post on… 🙂 What gear did you decide to bring, where do you store it? Did I see a fishing pole in one picture? Do you rent gear/borrow gear along the way for some of your adventures? How many outfits did you pack for each person? How often do you have to do laundry, etc. I know you have bikes for all, where do you keep those? ReplyCancel
Ok, believe it or not I actually thought of a few more comments. 🙂 I realized that you already have a map of those favorite places you’ve stayed, awesome! Also, I love the faith promoting comments that keep you going through the hard times, since doubts and fears are many of the reasons why don’t take risks, like wandering. 🙂 Keep the posts about the conflicts, the problems and the ways you’ve overcome them coming, they are really motivating. Maybe even a post on top 10 things you miss most about having a home, but top 10 reasons why it’s all worth it? Also, I asked about mom’s free time… also curious how you guys get time for adult conversation and quality time/date nights? And one last thought… you say you meet people all the time with their own amazing stories, I like to hear about those stories/people that inspire you too. Thanks again for taking the time to inspire and motivate the other dreamers like me out there!ReplyCancel
I love reading about your adventures. I love weekly roundup s of events, funny stories with links to places. Maybe we are headed here and a follow up post to why you liked it or didn’t like it. Maybe ask your kids questions and put their responses. I love everything you have done so far. ReplyCancel
I’m so frustrated. Those that follow us on Instagram know that we are trying to finish off potty training with Cara. She’s been pee trained for months but the other one… well. She just hasn’t figured that out. I couldn’t stand the thought of buying another box of Pull-Ups so we told her that was…
Hi,
I had to post because I can feel your frustration and just wanted to tell you it will be okay. It sounds like she is just not ready yet. Let it all go and come back to it when you all are more calm. I’m guessing there is a fear there and talking about it and understanding why she won’t go may be helpful to you both. But for now, I would put the whole potty situation on hold, and leave the trailer. You will feel better and you know from your other two that eventually your youngest will master this too. She just needs more time.
PS. Love your blog. I have 3 kids and an airstream trailer too. We are newbies, only owned it for 6 months now and are using it when we have the time. I’m impressed how you are able to live full time in it. We just got back from a week in it and I’m a little happy to take a break from it. Still need to figure out the battery life as we tried to dry camp for 2 days and were not too successful in our first attempt of dry camping as we froze at night. Hang in there. Thanks for letting us all follow you. Much to learn still.ReplyCancel
Thanks so much for your thoughts! We took a step back, and although we are leaving big girl undies on her, we are not stressing about being home. This led to a giant accident at a National Park, but my husband was awesome and cleaned her up. We are still struggling, but I feel less cranky, more loving, and more optimistic!!
We are working on the battery too! If we are careful we maaaaybe can go 2 nights. We hopefully have a generator coming this week which has us really excited! Should open up more possibilities for places to go. Where are you guys located?ReplyCancel
I really don’t understand why. She seems to understand what is going on, but then she’ll say that it “takes too long” to go in the potty, or she’s afraid that it will hurt (although she HAS gone before and we keep reminding her she told us it didn’t hurt). I think she is just intrinsically motivated. Nothing we do seems to get the right response out of her. 🙁ReplyCancel
One of the things I think my kids & I both miss are play dates. The kind where the moms get to sit on the couch and chat while the kids run around and play like cray for hours. There are a few friends back home where life is easier when they are over. The…
It always amuses me how much I like seeing what peoples days look like 🙂 The zoo always wipes me out. The boys get a second wind in the vehicle and I just want to curl in a ball and sleep!
I love this post! It’s so fun to see how other people live. I can totally relate to the part about the refrigerator puzzle. I pride myself in how much I can fit into that tiny space.
I am constantly amazed at how much we can fit. People wonder if I have to go grocery shopping every other day, but I really feel like I don’t have to shop more often than at home. Maybe we just eat simpler?
Awesome. Love the details and the photos. Looks so do-able! 🙂
Totally do-able, and even a little normal, right?
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