Is my dream crazy?

[p_flamingo]

Hello kind and knowledgeable people, I am trying to find out if my dream of Airstream life is feasible or crazy before I go any further. I am looking for a trailer and spending much of my scarce free time reading and researching. I find the "streaming" lifestyle very appealing in the abstract and it has become my dream. I am considering moving to a new job near Palm Springs with my husband and pets, but for at least the first 6 to 12 months, my husband can only be there half time. The new job would require me to be on site for standard business hours. There are RV parks near the job site. My dream is to buy and live in an AS during the transition period with at least one of our two small dogs, and then keep the trailer for exploration and vacations after the family completes the move.

We currently live in a house. The dogs are crate trained for car rides, when we leave the house for several hours, etc. Currently, either a family member, or rarely a dog walker, takes them for potty breaks when we are at work and we walk them before and after. I would want to keep a similar schedule in the new location. Questions are as follows - and please suggest pitfalls and questions I have not considered!
- is it safe to leave the AC on for pets and go off to work a standard, 8 to 5 work day?
- does anyone do this? I could certainly buy monitors for temperature and CO and maybe a pet camera.
- would parks allow this?
- are there people who work as pet sitters or dog walkers in parks whom I might hire to help when my husband is not there?
- other ideas?

THANKS so much for reading this long thread. This community seems incredible and I really hope I can join it.

[kscherzi]

Palm Springs can get pretty hot. I think an Airstream trailer is more like a car than a house regarding interior heat build up. If the power were to go out, things could get out of control pretty fast for your dog. Typically, in my experience, parks have rules against leaving pets unattended (though many people do, but probably mostly for short periods). I suggest leaving the dogs at your home with your husband until you figure things out in Palm Springs.

[Fly at Night]

Dreams should not be thwarted. There is always a way. The comfort and companionship of your dog(s) will lessen the angst of such a dramatic change.

I think doggy daycare would be best. Some will even pick-up and drop-off at a designated time.

[AWCHIEF]

Welcome, Crazy as a fox. Go for your dream.

[SteveSueMac]

Love the dream!

You got some good input already. A couple other things to consider.

We sometimes board our girl at Camp Bow Wow. They're a chain. Boarded for the day they get to play with other pooches, have adult supervision should anything go wrong and you can watch them on camera throughout the day.

They also have a home-sitter option. I'm not sure what that costs.

Personally, even with AC, I would never leave my dog in the trailer for such a period of time. You can never control the electricity at a campground (or home for that matter) and an AS would heat up pretty quickly. Most campgrounds won't allow it anyway.

But there are a couple other options that might be of help.

Good luck!

[streaminwild]

Go for it. Do you have a family member that can watch your furry kid as a backup plan?

[InsideOut]

It's HOT in Palm Springs...even if the A/C is working in your trailer.

I second the doggie daycare suggestion...you won't have to worry about your fur-baby left in the trailer alone. Not to mention, at the end of the day "a tired dog is a happy dog"...especially in the confined space of a trailer after a hard day at work.

Shari

[TG Twinkie]

Without A/C in 90+ temps the trailer would become deadly for pets in less than 2 hours.
Pet sitter or day care is about your only options.

[dlkershaw]

We recently returned from 2 weeks in WV and Maryland. We travel with our two year old sheltie, Sadie, she never leaves our sight. We have adjusted our travel to keep Sadie with us at all times. We returned to our AS after a day at Antietam Battlefield, we took turns in the Visitors Center with someone in the car with Sadie at all times. It was 99* when we returned to the Trailer, the State Park had lost all power and the temp inside the AS was in the 90's. We had discussed this before we purchased and agreed we would not leave Sadie unattended in the AS. We always have a plan before we travel for the day to include Sadie. We take her on hiking trails and she is always part of our travel adventures, just part of having a dog as a family member. I'm sure if you plan for your pets welfare you will find a solution for their safety. Good luck with your adventure. Dave

[kb0zke]

Once in a while we've had to leave our cat in the coach for a couple of days. In each case we had someone who checked on her regularly and could call us for instructions in case of an emergency. When the temperature is on the warm or hot side a window is open and a fan is running, even if the a/c is on.

[kdickinson]

Boy this is a hard one and it is one that every full-timer faces down when they own pets. For some it is the single reason they decide they cannot full time. The issue is, to the points made above, a trailer spikes up in heat very quickly if the A/C stops working for whatever reason. Even if you knew it happened the second it went off you still may not make it back in time to retrieve your pet to a safe environment. We avoid taking our pets with us for camping trips for this reason and all the other obvious reasons but we can do that since we have a pet sitter that comes to stay at our house while we are gone. When we have to take them we just stay around the trailer most of the time, take turns doing things, and otherwise have them with us all the time and figure out how to do that. It comes down to balancing risk and cost - but you can make it work if you have to

[Chaplain Kent]

You may not realize this but your dogs could bark all the time you are gone. Some day stop about two blocks away and sneak up to your house. If they are barking I promise you they will bark in the trailer all the time you are gone.

[Boxite]

Look for a RV park which allows pets, and has a small, outdoor penned area for your fuzzy family member. But don't leave him/her alone in a trailer for long periods.

[LBOskiBear]

I think the biggest issue may be how hot it gets in the desert during the summer. I believe the a/c in the trailer is only able to get it somewhere in the neighborhood of 20-25 degrees cooler than the outside. Given that it can regularly be 110F or more in the desert, your a/c will not be sufficient.

As much as I like hanging in Palm Springs, I've avoided it in the summer for exactly that reason.

[Bill M.]

I would not do it with the pets. Airstreams are ovens with an AC.

[TBRich]

We do leave our Standard Schnauzer Abbey in the Bambi sometimes, but never for very long. If it's so warm that AC is required to keep it livable inside we don't leave her, period. Even in cool enough weather, we always leave the fantastic fan on to bring air in. Even when it's cool enough without the fan on, the vent is open.

We do a lot of rallies with friends...at those times, if we need to be gone for very long we either leave Abbey with friends or leave keys and ask someone to check on her periodically and/or take her for a walk. We do the same for them. Because we often camp with friends, we happen to know that she doesn't bark excessively when we are gone...but like when we are home, if someone knocks on the door, etc, she will "acknowledge" them. (She's our doorbell and intruder alarm. )

If you are a long-term resident in a park you may be able to make arrangements with the management or someone you know in the park to check on your dog periodically if necessary...some will do that and some won't but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Good luck...the fact that you are worrying about your dog in advance signals that you are a good pet-mama!

[ldireland]

My wife and I travel with two Schnauzers and have never left them alone in our AS. To us they are like kids and we seldom ever left our kids with anyone else either. We are to be the responsible ones so we plan our trips around having iur kids with us.

[cameront120]

There's a reason that the summer months are the low season in Palm Springs. Do your pets a favour and rent a place with air conditioning.

[cazual6]

I'm glad you care of your dogs (pets).

There was a previous thread that stated the AC can fail. However, with that kind of mentally, ANYTHING can fail then. The sky could be falling.

I travel with pets and when we have to go places, we do leave the AC ON for the dogs.

Having a camera would be a great idea. But you'll need some tech know how to pull that off. I would recommend putting one of those balloon strings by the AC vent so you can see that it is blowing in the camera.

[p_flamingo]

Originally Posted by streaminwild

Go for it. Do you have a family member that can watch your furry kid as a backup plan?

No, unfortunately, there is no one who will be there reliably with me.