We have four dogs and we are new full-timers.

[bambibooth]

I've been a member of AirForums for a short bit. I've owned a 1963 Bambi, still own a 1966 Globetrotter and now own a 2012 International.
I've slowly gone bigger and bigger.

Last summer, after restoring the Globetrotter (mostly) and taking it out on a two week road trip, we got the bug to go full-time.

But, we aren't your typical full-timers. We are a family of 6. Yes, 6. Four dogs, a man and a woman, picked to – OK, WE VOLUNTEERED – to live and work full-time in an Airstream while seeing what the road has to offer. The trailer is where we work, eat, shower, and sleep. All 200 SQFT of it.

We've been at it for a few weeks and have been posting on our website. I plan to update this thread with photos for any other AirForums people who would like to see what we're up to.

I don't plan on this being a Gone with the Wynns thing but it's fun to post about the adventure nonetheless.

www.tincanplan.com

[Hittenstiehl]

Welcome, sounds like fun and a beautiful photo.

[KJRitchie]

Looking at your latest post on your web page its time to switch to the 16" rims and Michelins.

Kelvin

[bambibooth]

Just a few photos of our recent places: more photos and blog at tincanplan.com
Marfa, TX



Junction, TX (Free Camping Spot along the Llano River)



Catalina State Park, Arizona





Yuma, AZ

[Hittenstiehl]

Sounds like you're doing well. Nice writing style on your blog. Enjoy your travels.

[bambibooth]

I've done terrible at updating this thread! Ha. SO, I'm going to just start posting our old blog entries into this thread.

We Welcomed a New Family Member

When we first decided how we were going to travel up the west coast we determined our current Airstream was just too old, I mean small. It is 19ft of Vintage awesomeness that we decided we would leave back in Texas.

We started our search for a 25′ newish Airstream and quickly realized these things are flying off the market, kind of like houses in Austin. And the kicker, they were getting scooped up by all the folks out in California. Urgh. Anyway, we searched and searched and searched, finally Mr. TCP suggested we look at other travel trailers. Not going to happen. There isn’t a travel trailer or RV on the market that compares to the quality and craftsmanship of an Airstream. And WE ARE AIRSTREAM PEOPLE. So searched on.

The other kicker was were going to have to drive cross country to purchase some of the Airstreams we found which wasn’t sounding too appealing. Finally, we found one in our hometown, Austin. We went to see it and decided it would be the one, if we could agree on a purchase price.

After some back and forth, we were able to agree on a purchase price and we started the process of bringing her home. Mr. TCP had the honor of getting to pull her on the inaugural drive to our stick build house.


After searching, I came to the conclusion that we couldn’t buy an Airstream that had a corner bed. Why you may ask? Well, because I am certain I’d be the one crammed in the corner and that just doesn’t sound like any fun.

And now we have a “walk” around bed.
I also wanted to have panoramic windows on the front and back which is something you get when you don’t have the corner bed. I am sure there is a specific model or name that those Airstreams are called, but I just can’t think of it off the top of my head.

Photos at http://www.tincanplan.com/airstream/...family-member/

[bambibooth]

When we tell people what we are doing our friends and family always ask, “Well, what are you doing with the dogs?” We are bringing them with us. All FOUR of them. Not only are we crazy for opting to live in less than 200SQFT of space with no dishwasher, laundry room, or dog door, we are doing it with four dogs.

We’ve had our parents offer to take a couple off our hands which, in reality, would be nice but it’s not fair. It’s not fair to do that our parents, they aren’t the one married to a crazy lady who keeps bringing dogs home, and it’s not fair to the dogs.

Let me introduce our four legged kids.

Lucy is eight going on eighty. She enjoys lounging on the couch, sunbathing, and eating any food that falls on the floor. Mr. TinCanPlan inherited Lucy when we started dating so there wasn’t really any convincing with her. She’s a doll.


George is our spunky adventure loving kid. We got him as a wee pup, from what I say was a meth lab, about 30 miles east of Austin, also known as Bastrop. I had told Mr. TCP that we were going to “look” at a puppy and before he could object we were headed home with a puppy. He’s our most sociable kid with a big personality and he draws a crowd everywhere he goes.


Serendipity is our seven or eight year old boxer we foster failed with through Austin Boxer Rescue. They posted something on their facebook page about how they desperately needed fosters so I convinced (or tricked depending on who you ask) Mr. TCP to go with me to meet the boxers that need fosters. When we met Serendipity we knew she would fit right in. We had her for six months before anyone was interested in her and at that point she was already a part of our family.


Penelope comes to us from the Austin Animal Center. She was surrendered by her owners because, well, they suck. I saw that there was a French Bulldog at the AAC and that the rescues wouldn’t take her because she was aggressive. I thought, what the hell, I love a good challenge so I left work and headed over just to see what all the fuss was about. When I arrived I was ushered to a back room to meet her and goodness gracious she was so sweet. I knew she had to come home with me. I sent a very convincing (sense a theme yet?) text to Mr. TCP alerting him of the possibility of a new family member. He rarely says no, so next thing I know Penelope and I are headed to her new home.


Each dog has their own issues which I don’t feel comfortable off loading on an un-expecting grandpuparent which is why we will be hitting the road with four furry kids.

Stay tuned to see if we ship one back to Texas.

Post and Photos at
http://www.tincanplan.com/airstream/...with-the-dogs/

[rmkrum]

We traveled extensively with 5 pups a few years ago. Now it's up to six, assuming the old lady senior dog stays alive through the summer. She's getting very frail.

We have a similar 'problem' in that we rescue dogs too often. Could have worse issues, I suppose.


Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums

[GoWhereTowed]

Living the dream. Have a blast.

[bambibooth]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

We traveled extensively with 5 pups a few years ago. Now it's up to six, assuming the old lady senior dog stays alive through the summer. She's getting very frail.

We have a similar 'problem' in that we rescue dogs too often. Could have worse issues, I suppose.


Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums

6! If we had two more, I don't know what we do!

[bambibooth]

As of Friday, April 15th, we are officially “homeless” but in a fun way. Not a sleep under the bridge, just yet, kind of way. We hustled until the wee hours of the night on Thursday to finish up what we thought would be a few things. Every time I turned around, it seemed like something new would pop up. Just another reason to love the “minimalist” lifestyle we are embarking on.

Our first night in the Airstream was a bit, um, cramped I guess would be the word. We literally just threw the things we were taking with us into the Airstream and said we’d deal with it over the weekend, which we have since done. Over the last couple of days we have learned what we need, what we don’t, and what we may have forgotten.

One thing I realized is our comforter was a bit too big. If it’s too hot for a full comforter then we push it on the floor, which I don’t love. We are going to pack our comforter and use a blanket we purchased instead. I think this will be good for when it’s cool but not hot.

We realized that we aren’t going to be able to ride around with a smelly generator in the back of the Tahoe so we purchased a Thule Cargo Basket for the top of the truck. The fun part is going to be getting the generator from the ground to the top of the Tahoe. We plan to park to close enough to the Airstream to hook up so we don’t have to take it off very often. Wish us luck.

Thursday night, while we were playing musical Airstreams, Mr. TCP may have dented the bumper of the Tahoe. It was dark, we were both on edge with all the things that still needed to be done, and he left the front cargo door open. As he was backing the new Airstream into the driveway he cut it real sharp, while the cargo door was still open, as a result the bumper now has a new ding. And the front cargo door has a bit of damage, nothing too serious. Lesson learned, everything must be closed when backing up.

For now, we are parked at a good friend’s home. She was kind enough to let us post up for the weekend, which has been quite nice. We have been cheating by taking showers in the house with amazing water pressure. Tomorrow we will be moving to a fun RV park right in the heart of downtown Austin.

Oh, and I haven’t combed my hair in about three days. Things are already looking up!

Post and photos:
http://www.tincanplan.com/airstream/setting-sail/

[bambibooth]

I actually cannot believe it’s been three months since we set out on this journey. Time is flying! In just another short three months we will be back home in the great state of Texas. Thinking of that makes me happy and sad at the same time.

It makes me happy knowing that we will see all of our friends and family that we miss dearly. It makes me happy to know I will be able to condition my hair every night. It makes me happy to know that I will be able to use a washer and dryer that only we have used.

On the flip side, it makes me sad to know that our journey has come to an end. It makes me sad that we will be spending much less time in nature and in small town America. It makes me sad to think that we might not ever get another chance like we have right now. I have a feeling that when we get home and unpack all of our things we will get the itch to hit the road again (and we just might!). There is something truly freeing about being able to pick up and change your location. To see parts of the country only accessible by foot. To not know what tomorrow holds is beyond exciting. For some, that would give extreme anxiety, for us, it’s fantastic.



As you can imagine, we have a learned a lot in these past three months. We have learned that you need to make sure the front compartment door is shut when backing in, or you will dent your bumper. We have learned that you have to run the A/C on HIGH or it will freeze. We have learned that Google Maps is a big fat waste of time and that real maps have proven to be very useful. We have learned that we have a leak somewhere, but don’t know exactly where. We have learned that just maybe we should have started with a diesel truck…or much smaller rig. We have learned, that in reality, you need very little in life. We have learned to love and respect nature even more than before.



A side note that is really irrelevant to this post, we have noticed a TON of truck campers. I mean a ton! Mr. TCP has fallen in love with the idea of traveling full time in one. There are people that do it and that love it. There are some people who started out full timing in an Airstream to then downsize to a truck camper. They make some pretty sweet ones. I can see why these are appealing to him. He doesn’t have to pull them, back them in, and then dump the tanks. From his point of view, it makes his job much easier. However, wow, what a tight cramped space. I could see this working if we had fewer dogs and were traveling south of the border. Now that sounds fun!



Over the last three months we have visited seven states, over 20 different towns, and over 20 state and national parks. Here is a quick snapshot of the journey as of today.



In the coming months we will make our way over to Montana from Idaho and then head into Canada for a week. Our plan is to be across the border by August 1. Canada is going to be a challenge for us for a few different reason but the first being, we have had a harder time than expected finding a reliable internet source for that week.

Once we leave Canada we will make our way back through Montana and then into Wyoming. We do have Yellowstone on our radar but dealing with crowds isn’t our cup of tea so we might take a day off work and head in on a Tuesday morning. I am excited to see the Grand Tetons and I have heard about some great off the beaten path camping options around that area.

We do understand that we are incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to see this great country and all it has to offer. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t thank our lucky stars. And when we do have a moment of annoyance (which is mainly just me being annoyed with things back home or me annoying Mr. TCP) we step back and recognize it’s a lot easier to deal with those things from afar. And in the mountains. And with craft beer.

While our journey might be half way over, the old man and I have some pretty exciting plans for when we get back to the motherland so while we will be very sad to end our journey, there is a lot to look forward to.

[Hittenstiehl]

Never followed blogs before but follow several now, all Airstreamers. Sometimes you get your people confused as they don't always go by the same names here and their blogs.

It's fun when you make the connection and go oh that's Mr and Mrs TCP.

Thanks for the great read.

[J. Morgan]

A little over a year ago, the wife and I traveled from Little Rock, AR to AZ, with 9 four week old pups, mom, and their great uncle Tank.

This year we only have mom, two of the pups, and great uncle Tank....


Gradiens super tenui glacie.

[bambibooth]

Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl

Never followed blogs before but follow several now, all Airstreamers. Sometimes you get your people confused as they don't always go by the same names here and their blogs.

It's fun when you make the connection and go oh that's Mr and Mrs TCP.

Thanks for the great read.

Thanks for reading!

[bambibooth]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

A little over a year ago, the wife and I traveled from Little Rock, AR to AZ, with 9 four week old pups, mom, and their great uncle Tank.

This year we only have mom, two of the pups, and great uncle Tank....


Gradiens super tenui glacie.

If it were up to Mrs. TCP, we would have 9 dogs...!

[J. Morgan]

We have been in our Airstream with our four Boxers since the first week in May..

It is interesting at times, but since we have been stationary for most of this time, we made a yard so that we can open the door at first light to let them out and grab a few more winks..

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/g...pswyt8uycc.jpg


Gradiens super tenui glacie.

[duncans]

J Morgan-

I love that name-great uncle Tank! Is that him in the yard? He doesn't look like a Tank..

Susan

[J. Morgan]

That is one of the youngsters!

Here is great uncle Tank,,,, looking for a bite..

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/g...psmfia1ojf.jpg

(He is a tank) old and lumbering, but surprisingly (and amazingly) athletic at times...

Gradiens super tenui glacie.

[bambibooth]

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

We have been in our Airstream with our four Boxers since the first week in May..

It is interesting at times, but since we have been stationary for most of this time, we made a yard so that we can open the door at first light to let them out and grab a few more winks..

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/g...pswyt8uycc.jpg


Gradiens super tenui glacie.

That's awesome. Back home we used a doggie door and we are missing it a lot.

Waking up to take the dogs out is not something we had done in a few years..

I'm loving your little setup you have there. The USA flag awning is great! So is your Airstream paint job.