Newbies

[M&J Siegford]

Hello all!
Not sure if this thread is still current... but what the heck!
My husband and I purchased our first Airstream a couple months ago and we have been busy making it our own. It's a 1975 29' Ambassador. We plan to become full-timers this June. I think we might be the youngest full-timing Airstreamers out there - I'm 25 and my husband is 26. Been married for 6 years, no kids and lots of pets. Jared works as an armed guard for Loomis and Fargo and I just got back from working on a steamboat on the Mississippi River. Not independtly wealthy, but instead saving our pennies and hope to travel in our Airstream till the savings runs out!
Believe it or not, we actually planned to do this right out of high school - had even bought the tow vehicle! But alas, we found careers and got caught up in the rat race. Everyone thinks we are crazy and we probably are!
Hope to see you all at the rallies and on the road!

Maggie

[M&J Siegford]

Sorry! This was supposed to go under a thread that asked you about yourself! Well, anyway - any other newbies out there???? Feel free to use this thread for introductions!

Maggie

[Porky Pig]

Maggie,

Yes .. you can classify us as newbies. We have never RV'd before and just took delivery on a '34 Classic ... plan to be on the road for at least 3 years.

We're a little more than twice as old as you ... but we've been dreaming about this ... like you ... for about the same amount of time.

I remember when we were your age .. we both quit our jobs and moved so I could take a job in radio ... in a very small market .. that paid only $600 per month. It turned out to be the best move of our lives.

That's harder to do as you grow older .. so I would say that you are at that age where you could do something like this ... have an adventure ... and not regret it later.

Hope to see you out on the road!

[John]

Maggie,

It's great to read how you and your husband realize that life is a journey and life is now. You're not crazy, actually I think our Western minds are crazy. Work until you're 65 to live your life, but by that time your body is too worn out !!

There're a ton of ways of making money along the way if you happen to get low. But living life now and not being afraid of the future is true bliss. North America truly has so much to see and experience and it takes time to absorb it all in. Look at some of the facial experssion on people you'll see say in a National Park. They look as if there under so much pressure to see everything in a few days. .

I raised my daughter to follow her passion/bliss in life and that the money will follow.

So it's with a fond heart that I say, " Good for you!" ~John

[darin]

Hi Maggie,

I too am new to the Airstream. purchased my '69 Sovereign just about 2 months ago, and have been busy ever since trying to refine and perfect her. I think it is great for you to be soo young, and ready for an adventure. I too at your age wanted to live free and travel, but instead bought a photography business. That should have been the end of my free living dreams. But, as luck would have, my business recently failed as with most other small to medium sized photo-labs, and I have filed for bankruptcy. Now at age 33, I have a second chance to be "irresponsible", and do the fulltiming thing for even only a year or two. In my opinion the craziest, and most irresponsible thing to have done was to have purchase that business, and obligate myself to an indefinite period of daily responsibilities, while still having so much wander-lust running through my veins. Even if I had been successful, and made a ton of money like I had hoped, I still wouldn't have been as satisfied as if I were poor and free. Besides, as an Airstream owner I am automatically a 'millionare'.

Darin

[Stefrobrts]

Hi Maggie,

You guys are doing what everyone else dreams of - good for you!

My husband and I both went to college and had the potential to make gobs of money in computers, workjing in the silicon forest in Portland, but instead started our own collectible toy business. We bought a small house on an acreage in the country. Our college friends and our families thought we were nuts, but we love it. At first it looked rediculous, as our friends were buying fancy houses and expensive new cars, but then the recession hit. Now most of our friends have been laid off, moved around the state or country trying to chase down jobs, sold those fancy cars and houses. Meanwhile we are just plugging along with our business, making enough to live on and free to take time off and travel a bit in the airstream as well. We found we don't need to make gobs of money to be happy, just a little money and some free time is far more rewarding. All the other stuff comes and goes, but the time you spend together is the stuff you'll remember later.

I figure if you're going to do something like this, you should do it while you're young. You can always rejoin the rat race later! So enjoy, and be sure to let us know how it goes

[norbert]

hey kidz,
you gotta grab all the gusto while you can...go for it....you can save for retirement later.....
norby

[whistler]

I am a newcomer to AS. Recently purchased ours. Prior to that 15 years ago we had SOB trailers and a few SOB motorhomes. Always wanted a AS but other things always got in the way. We're not as young as you guys are, but we're planning for the day we can go FT. I say go for it, we have no promise of tomorrow. One of my closest friends was killed on his motorcycle, when a drunk driver hit him head on. He had plans he'll never complete. He was in his early 20's. Enjoy life while your young. Right now we are lucky enough to enjoy two grandsons and we're both in our early to mid 40's. Good luck and may you always find internet access.

whistler

[05ModPod]

We are some what like you but just did it a little later.

Instead of waiting till we are retired - we bought our retirement home now in our early 40's so we can enjoy getting it ready for when we do retire.

We just bought a back up Waterfront lot - to build a small "home base" and a lovely spot to keep our new V-AS.

Just yesterday we purchased our very first AS and will start our adventures in the "elite" Land camping scene. We have and still do experience the Water Camping Scene - however now we can say we own a "Yacht" LOL whereas our 20' Cuddy Cruiser does not quit fit the class of a "Yacht".

I like whislter - lost my "best" friend in a car accident when I was 16 - and I have lived life exactly how it should be - with no worries and with my motto above.

We have been married for 20 years and can't wait for the next 20! out on the roads Streaming!!!!

[Davydd]

And then Maggie came along and dispelled that notion. Yeah Maggie, go for it. You have plenty of time. And don't stop when you get older.

I did do something crazy. After graduating from college, with our first child on the way, I voluntarily joined the US Navy and eschewed an enticing corporate job offer. That was my life rebelliousness in a much more conservative era. Three years later on discharge with 2 children and a third on the way we left Newport, RI in a van and ended up in Minneapolis with about $500 and no job. Before that in our first five years of marriage we moved 11 times, lived in 4 states and had children born in 3 different states.

I worked for others for 10 years and then made the self-employment plunge for another 9. About that time we built a timber frame home and went heavily in debt. Now that home is paying dividends in appreciation. That story is at: http://hometown.aol.com/davydd/House/TF_00.html

I can take solace in knowing I raised a son doing more venture than I. He has already spent a year primitive camping in southern Utah guiding juvenile deliquents and next year he and his wife will live in a dirt floor hut high in the Bolivian Andes for a year while she fullfills her doctorate thesis in Anthropology.

Now I am in my salary drive to seal a comfortable retirement as an employee again with all the trappings of corporate success. I've got a challenging job but it nags at me that it is not _MY_ job and choice. My self-employment years were my most creative years.

I did buy a vintage Airstream more out of the desire for it than knowing what to do with it. I've towed it for a total of 8 miles and have never slept in a trailer in my life. We always tent camped. That makes me an Airstream Newbie.

So hopefully Maggie the challenge of living life at its fullest will never end for you. This Airstream venture will be something for you to look back on with fond memories and hopefully it will not be the only one.

[joshua32064]

Have fun on the road. I am interested to hear about your adventures.

[59toaster]

More power to you. I been in the rat race since age 11. Had a paper route. I'm ready for a break and cant wait till we have our coach restored and out on the road.
My poor family doesn't know what they are in for. I have 38 days of vacation this year and I want to do a couple 2 week tours. That's how it was when I was a kid with much less of a fancy mobile digs. We were doing trips out of a tiny Montgomery Wards Tent trailer that was pulled by a VW station wagon. hahahaha My kids and wife have it easy....big old Suburban and coach with a bath room. TV is still up in the air if it's coming LOL

[panub]

Hey Maggie!
We are five months new to the a/s world! Although we are not full timers yet, we are in our early(ish) 30's. Why wait until we're retired to start hitting the road!? This is an awesome way to see the sights of the country that you cannot see from a hotel room. Good luck to you and keep us all up to date on your travels!

-Gina

[Stefrobrts]

You bet! I don't know why RVs have such a rep as being a thing just for retired folks - I think it's a great idea for adventuring around and seeing the sights. Way more fun than staying in hotel rooms! We used to have such fun on trips and then I'd dread finding a half-way decent place to spend the night. No worries now that we just bring our room along with us - wherever we go we've always got a home

[tin can luv]

Hello!

So glad to see other people in their twenties here, although, I will NEVER maka a comment about the older folks in this forum. Anyway...

I think what you have done is fantastic. I am a painter, and my partner quit his job making high end draperies and upholstery to start out on his own. Now he's 41, but I've been pushing him since I met him almost three years ago. Point being, we have a lot of free time, and, well, I often live on credit. That way I can work on what I like, pursue (sp?) my dreams, and ambitions, and sell my house if I get into trouble.

We jumped on the chance to own an airstream a couple of weeks ago, and bought a second a week later. We want to rehab these beutiful babies on the side.

I don't know what my original point was, but i think it's great what you're doing. I hope to get accross the country before I go broke, or turn 30whatever comes first.

THis forum if so full of the best friends I beleive you will ever find. A few people have latched on to us, and have given us more valuable information than we would have ever have found anywhere else. Just when I think they are tired of all of our questions, someone comes through with the right answer, and a reasuring statement on the side.

I look forward to all that Airstreams will bring Tony and I, be it adventure, friends, memories, ( and hopefully a few bucks for the rehabs on the side.)

Last night instead of watching the super bowl, I created my first website, not bad for someone who is nearly computer illiterate...

www.tincanluv.com

check it out...we'd love to see some pics of your rig.

Good luck, and keep us all posted, there are so many of us that have to live vicariously through those that aren't snowed in, or stuck with rigs that need to much work.

Ron & Tony

[M&J Siegford]

I can't tell you all how happy I am! Everyday I check my e-mail just to see if anyone has added something to this thread!
I knew when I first started participating in these forums that I had found a community to share the love of Airstreams with. And now I see that we also share the desire to truly live life rather than letting it just pass us by! Everyone here is such an inspiration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!

Maggie

[fabofabo]

Ditto!

[Big Dee]

You guys are great! I mean, I feel like I've known some of you for years and are close friends, But I 've only been on these forums for a few months.

And it's great to chat with such young 'Streamers (or young at heart).

Just goes to show, 'Streamers are the best darned group you'll ever meet on the roads (virtual or real)!

See you guys tomorrow night in the chat room!

[ginger126]

I've learned from folks in my parents generation that you have to take advantage of the opportunities now and not wait. My hat's off to you guys!

I would dearly love to do the full-time thing now at 36, instead of waiting until I retire. I've even considered work-camping as a compromise. We haven't purchased our AS yet, but plan to by the end of the year. Perhaps I can convince DB that we should take the plunge after we get that baby home!

[Streamsaver]

Speaking of young!! My girlfriend and I are only 23 and are dreaming of the day one of the the Airstreams gets completed.
I have always been a tent camper since I was young with my family. We love the outer banks of North Carolina. Okracoke is our home away from home. My father bought the Airstreams for a projects we could do until he retires. Then he is taking off in the 63 Tradewind and leaving me his kitchen counter top business. We also have a 68 Overlander that is almost complete. Restoring VIntage trailers has given me a new found passion for dedication and hard work. The harder I work now, the less I will have to do later, and the sooner I am in my own Airstream on the beach.
We will only be able to get away for weekends until I can build the business up and get a crew or two doing the hard work for me After that, Open road watch out!!!!