Finally realized the dream!

[dreaming big]

Greetings!

Bob and Cindy Knoll here, we just realized our grand dream of traveling this beautiful country in an Airstream. We have both worked in pharmaceutical research for over 25 years, I retired last year, and my husband Bob, retires this May. We bought our Airstream (2021 International) and are getting ready to hit the road. We pick up this beauty in early June and will be traveling to Maryland soon afterwards to start our adventure. Planning to spend as much time as possible "practicing" close to home (Greensboro NC) before heading across country. We are looking for any tips from the pros out there to make things easier. I am specifically looking for "organization" tips for storage. Trying to get creative with the little nooks and crannies! Pouring over all the posts, pictures and leaning so much. Hope to see some of you out there.

Cindy and Bob

[GetawA-S]

Congratulations! Welcome to the freedom of camping.
You’ll find all kinds of checklists, which taken in total would match the mass of a battleship. Plan a trip or two to home in on the type of camping you want to do, and tailor your take with list to that. The packing strategy will follow.
As I’ve said elsewhere, leave some room in terms of weight and space, to avoid groaning axles and a husband’s groaning back from his creating compartment-side rummage piles each time you need something.

[Dennis C]

Congrats! You’ll learn lots of things when you practice. It seems like we learn something new on each trip.

[Bcc75]

Congrats on your retirement and the new Airstream. We too have a 2021 International and love it. Storage can be tricky but you will find that there is more storage than you might think. One thing that we did that works great with the overhead sliding door cabinets in the International is get these little soft sided basket type containers from Target. They are flexible enough to squeeze in the tight spaces and can be used to separate items and the soft sides project things from banging around while traveling.
Great advice from Don in the previous post. Make short local trips to learn the trailer and figure out what you need(and don’t).

[Bubba L]

Congratulations and Dennis hit the nail on the head. Short trips will straighten out the learning curve. You’ll realize what you’ll need to pack next trip and the things you don’t need that you packed. We went to Walmart and bought some of the small (8” and 12”) stackable plastic crates. We take a lot of plastic utensils and paper plates. I hate washing dishes. You live in a great area to hit campgrounds nearby. Good luck and welcome.

[Hans627]

We found that joining the Airstream Club further enhanced our enjoyment of having an AS. You might as well because you can learn so much on a first hand basis. Plus make some good friends.

Congrats and safe travels!