Thanks for the replies everyone! It's great to find such a friendly community and it's nice to meet everyone!
We don't have any RV experience, so we'll be going through a bit of a learning curve. Once we buy a truck (we're still working on finding one) we're planning on renting a moving trailer from U-Haul, getting the total damage waiver insurance policy, and practicing some towing. I realize that it isn't as big (or heavy) as the Airstream, but it might be good practice.
Thanks for the tip on taking an RV Safe Driver class. I'm also going to look into that.
We aren't retired, but we have an internet based business that we're able to run so long as we have internet access. I'm planning on installing satellite internet in the Airstream - if anyone has any experience with this and any suggestions I'd be very interested to hear.
We’ve done a bunch of brainstorming how to setup ergonomic mini-office-workstations in the Airstream. I like to work at a standing desk, so I’m thinking of getting something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JI6NCCK
With such contraptions we can turn the countertop by the range or the dining table into an ergonomic standing desk.
We also plan to use a screenhouse combined with a folding table and these types of tabletop standing desks to setup a mobile outdoor office.
When we first started looking at options for an RV, we didn’t think an Airstream would work as there was no “dedicated space” where we could setup computer desks. But now we’ve completely changed our way of thinking about this. We realized that when we are working at the computer we actually need barely any space - just an ergonomic setup so that we don’t get carpal tunnel, etc. In most corporations, the size of your cubicle is similarly small anyway.
I’ll let everyone know how the “mobile office” setup works. It might take some experimentation to figure out how to work at a computer for long hours comfortably in the Airstream, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out.
Our travel plans as of right now are first to head to Colorado to visit my mom and to beat the heat (we’re in Austin, Texas right now) and to do some roaming and camping in the mountains, some hiking and mountain biking, maybe some rafting. And, we’ll be able to also keep working from the Airstream to keep our business healthy.
Then, we plan to head up to Ohio to visit my wife’s dad.
Then we’ll go off into deep exploration mode.
We might make a pitstop back in Austin in between, depending on how we are feeling and how well we are adjusting to living in the Airstream. Or we might not
We sort of just have a very strong itch to explore many different parts of the country and have adventures along the way. And, to still be able to get our work done at the same time.
We actually took out a loan to buy the Airstream - and we got a decent interest rate and a 20 year loan - so our monthly payment is actually very low even though the Airstream was very expensive (we did get a good deal on it though). We are thinking of renting out our house while we are on the road, and our rental income would not only cover the loan payment but it would give us enough income on top to live off of (if we are being very frugal in our spending). So, even without having any other income source we could actually manage and survive.
In this way, we actually see the Airstream as giving us extra financial security. Some people might think this is paradoxical, since it was so expensive and it does depreciate in value over time. But, we’ve actually gone through detailed calculations around this and even taking into consideration the depreciation we believe this is a sound financial decision that gives us extra security in case something goes wrong with our business or our general careers and we go through a period of time where we are having trouble making money.
I’d post photos, but I actually don’t have any yet. The beast is still sitting on the dealer lot as we still need to buy a truck to tow it, and I didn’t take any great photos while we were at the dealer. I’ll post photos as soon as I have some.
I’m very excited and I’ll keep everyone in the loop as we head off on our adventures!
Cheers,
YB
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