Long about the middle of our recent stay in New York we decided that renting places to stay in for a month at a time wasn’t going to work for us. We enjoyed visiting new places, but we didn’t enjoy the places we were living in. In New York our rental apartment fell through after countless hours wasted in searching. We then spent a bunch of time lining up our next place on the Jersey Coast, and while it was lovely, it wasn’t home. Our D.C. rental was not nearly as nice as advertised.
Basically, we realized that this wasn’t working out as planned, and it was only going to get more difficult once we hit South America.
But that wasn’t the only thing hampering our enjoyment out on the East Coast. This sounds ridiculous, but the Eastern time zone is a disaster for us. I don’t talk about it much, but for the last year I’ve been full-time trading again—running OMentoring for anywhere from 40-50 students at a time. I’m up early before the stock market opens prepping for the day ahead, and then actively discussing the markets and trading in our live-chat room—generally for the first four hours of the trading day. When we were in Mexico, and out west, this actually caused very little disruption to our normal routine. I’d work, trade, do what I needed to do, and still be done well before lunch time to travel, play, and spend time with the family.
Out east it has been a different story. I really enjoy what I’m doing—and we’re up 22% on the year, so the results are there—but in this time zone my day is shot. It’s just not fun for the whole family. And it would be one thing if we were somehow required to be out east, but when we could be anywhere in the world that we wanted to be, it just doesn’t make sense.
Now, the bigger problem is that this latest adventure was meant to take us to South America. You may not realize it, but South America isn’t really south of North America. It’s mostly east of us.
If we were to follow through with our South America plan, and I was to continue trading, I would spend, essentially, the entire day in front of a computer. Not cool. I wouldn’t enjoy my work any longer, and my kids wouldn’t get me between a quick breakfast and a late dinner.
Maybe we should have put all of this together in our heads months ago, but until we hit the east coast none of it really clicked for us. Once we hit the eastern time zone it became clear very quickly.
So what to do about it?
We mulled quite a few possibilities, and for a couple of weeks we settled on one—we’d buy a boat. We’d cruise the Great Loop, hit the Bahamas, and hang out in a few islands further south. We had a plan in the back of our minds to do this a couple of years from now anyway, so all we’d be doing is moving it up a notch. Sure, this would land us mostly in the eastern time zone, but at least we’d eliminate the problem of not having a home. It’d be easier to work a little later in the afternoon if we at least had our own home to hang out in. We even went so far as to look at a boat. Hell, we almost made an offer sight unseen—as we tend to do. But that boat turned out to have some issues I didn’t want to deal with—aging teak decks and unmaintained twin motors.
Despite having seemed to have settled on a boat—we were lined up to see three more—we both still had a nagging sense that this wasn’t going to make us completely happy. It was a Band-Aid fix.
For us to be happy, while at the same time trading, we needed to be out west. Plain and simple. Once we really cemented that conclusion in our minds we had two options. The first—buy a boat on the west coast. This would be wonderful for some people, but here’s why we couldn’t come to terms with that solution—weather. We could buy a boat in the Seattle area and cruise the Pacific Northwest, but that would mean a lot of cold water, and rainy winters. We don’t do well with either of those. Or we could buy a boat in San Diego, not cruise much, but live aboard and have surf. Felt we’d be too confined—left with too few options. We could also buy a boat in Mexico. But we’ve done that, and there is nothing fun about cruising in Mexico in the summer, so we’d be left with six months of uncertainty there. Basically, none of the boat options were adding up for us.
The second option to take us out west was to buy a trailer—an Airstream, to be exact. We’d be back in the right time zones, Pacific and Mountain. We could be where our hearts really want us to be, Mexico. We could spend a summer showing the kids around Alaska. We could boondock in the southwestern U.S. We could visit family. We could hang out in surf towns as long as we liked. And I could go back to working early in the morning, and to having the vast majority of my day free to do as I pleased.
Once that plan was set in motion it was just a few days before we found our Airstream in Ohio. It’s a 1966 Airstream Safari. It’s twenty-two feet long, and will easily qualify as our smallest family home to date. Only the VW was smaller, and that was just two of us. I’ll be converting the middle couch to a bunk bed configuration for the kids, and Ali and I will have the front dinette. We’ve got a bathtub, toilet, refrigerator, oven, stove, and electricity—so basically all of a home’s basic necessities squeezed into a gorgeous little aluminum package.
It’s been fun showing them the big cities, but this is where our kids are in their element. They played together outdoors today, without any adult intervention, for eight hours. While we did our thing, they were off in the woods building tents, squealing over slimy bugs hidden under bark, swinging from vines, setting up spy cameras, and a million other things we didn’t see on our own.
We’ll have lots more pics of the Airstream interior in a few days—right now we’re in the process of cleaning and making our new home our own.
Retrieving the bedding.
Hard for me to believe it sometimes, but a couple of thousand nights have ended just like this.
So, could we have just kept the Travco? Yeah, we probably could have. But, as you’ve probably realized by now, we also like doing new things. Much like the catamaran to a monohull, this is our motorhome to a trailer. We’re excited to be able to unhitch the Airstream at camp and take the Travelall off on adventures. There were countless places we didn’t visit in Mexico simply because we didn’t want to, or couldn’t, drive the motorhome there. But I’m not particularly excited to be towing around a 22′ Airstream trailer all the time either. I’ve never done it, but it’s never looked very enjoyable to me. So we’ll see how it goes. Right now, we’re all happy.
64 Comments on “Up in the Air… Airstream.”
Best of luck with this new adventure. Love your ability to assess and adapt!
Airstream also makes, or made, motorhomes. Like the inside, very retro. Safe travels and have fun.
WhooHoo! Welcome to our vintage Airstream world. Ours is a 1969 Carvel. ?
Wow. What a beauty. I love the flexibility your life offers. Excited for your family and the adventures to come.
Looks pretty great guys. Hope to meet up sometime on the road.
Congrats! It’ll be fun. It’s nice to be able to park the house and still get around anywhere if you want. That’s a great way to spend a thousand evenings.
Woot! Idaho!
I like the reasoning. You have comfort in the zone of choice and can change that anytime. Bums and gypsies you are. A thousand serendipities to youse guys.
Sounds like fun! Hope to see you again if you happen to swing by Puerto Vallarta.
Congratulations! I love it. I think you’ll find it very easy to tow. We had an old Silver Streak about that size and towed it for a little while with a newer Land Rover through the very hilly, windy Sierra Nevadas with no problems.
Awesome! I have a 1960 22′ Astream Starliner that is a Safari with a different interior layout. It’s been in our family since 1965. Good job finding one that’s already polished I’ve been polishing mine for the last 2 years, not a fun job. I’ve towed mine with a ’64 chevy 1/2 ton pu, an 83 s10 Blazer, and a 2004 dodge 1 ton dually. With the chev 1/2 ton I use a load equalizing hitch and that helps but with the big single axle trailer you really need to make sure you have enough tung weight or they become real unstable. I’ve had to stop a few times on the side of the highway and move some gear up to the front of the trailer to stabilize it or I would be swaying all over the place. Good luck and welcome to the Silver Twinkie club.
Wise move, relax and enjoy!
Why not trade european stocks or FX? Instead of moving the family for time zone, move the market.
I’ve known a lot of guys who have traded FX, maybe 100 of them, and not one of them has made money. It’s a market ruled by bots with billions of dollars behind them. Not conducive to retail traders in my opinion, though the millions of online sites pumping their trading systems would have you believe it’s easy, and free! As for Euro stocks, it doesn’t really fit in with my trading “philosophy” of trading what you know. It’s a bit much to go into here, but basically, it just doesn’t work for me.
The van looks amazing! A lot more comfort than living out of the car.
Nice change – you guys have this uncanny ability to sense out what seems to be the right move. I can’t wait to come along.
Sigh. A trailer?
In case of reconsidering going to South América, you may have the opportunity of trading on those markets, Brazil for example, and your timetable can fit on It…it’s just my oppinión. 😉
Amazing new chapter in your adventure called life
Great idea, tent camping can be miserable in the winter. Soon you’ll be able to write a book ont different camping options.
Hooray!
We just launched our catamaran and are living aboard with our two Smalls. Nevertheless, I cover the Airstream – makes my 1962 Sunliner pale in comparison.
Travel well.
While I understand that your work hours aren’t working for you on the East Coast, I’m disappointed that you won’t be exploring the middle and southern Atlantic coast. I live in North Carolina and I believe we have some of the most beautiful coastlines and I hate that you won’t get to experience them. But happy travels to you…I’ll still be following your adventures.
We will be seeing a little of your area next week as we will be in Asheville for a family visit. And we might head over to the coast and down to SC for a quick visit as well. It won’t be thorough but a bit will have to do for now.
Trial. Assess. Adapt. Love it.
Maybe you guys will end up back in Bellingham some day and we can get those kiddos milking goats! 🙂
Katie, Mark and Finn
Congratulations on the new direction … and what an AMAZING tow vehicle/trailer package! The aesthetic glory make the whole plan come together. Enjoy your new digs!
So is air conditioning going to spoil you? Is there a massive solar panel/lithium battery/inverter install in your future?
Way to go, Bums! Always keeping me guessing. Can’t wait to see where you go this winter. And I really love your Mexican adventures. ?
Greetings BF from UT/AZ- We favor the PT/MT too and understand the time zone challenges with our corporate HQ and largest clients in ET. We just returned from Overland Expo East in Asheville at the Biltmore and plan on going to the West expo in Flagstaff next May. So cool to meet up with so many transcontinental travelers. Congrats on being up 22%. We look forward to meeting up and buying you tacos. Cheers, Jeff and Deb
It’s a cute little Airstream 🙂
We are packing up our 34′ diesel pusher and selling our house after realizing we enjoy traveling and exploring more than we enjoy being at and taking care of a home. Good luck out there!
Very happy that you all will be heading west again! Always liked it when you were in Mexico and telling of everyday events with the kids south of the border.
You bought this Airstream from my mine & my wifes best friends!! I watched them completely redo the interior to its current retro look and enjoyed 2 music festivals in your new airstream!! So glad I get to watch her furture adventures thru the eyrs of you & your family!!! Congrats and remember…”Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile!!”
I think you made a great move!
Love the Airstream. Still dreaming of one myself. Having lived on both coasts and currently on the East Coast (sorry we missed you guys when you visited the DC area) I completely agree with the time zone issues. Visited family in the PDX area last month and it was so much easier to work the markets early and then have so much of the day left to play! Enjoy the airstream until your next decision! We’re hoping to move back West too! Maybe we’ll see you again on that coast sometime.
Still keeping the tent?
No, hoping to sell it soon.
Sweet airstream. It’ll be interesting to hear how you like managing the maneuvering of it in tight spaces.
The only constant in life is change. I love the trailer and if this change makes your life better then it’s the right decision. Safe travels. We will be reading…
I’m so impressed with your ability to think forever about a plan, set it in cement and then when you realize it’s not perfect, to be able to shift on a dime.You have your priorities straight, time with the family. And I was wondering how long it was going to take you to realize that you belong in Mexico (except for the summer as you point out, although Mexico has mountains as well). Face it, it’s home, AND you do have two Mexicans aboard that Airstream! 😀 Fair winds regardless, and please don’t give up on the boat thing! As we say here, Imua! (Forward!)
Wow! What a great little Airstream you found! It has ‘Bumfuzzle’ written all over it!
The whole time I was reading I was thinking Travco, Travco, Travco! But change is good right? Congratulations!
My husband is a sailor from way back. He’s been looking at boats for months and hopes to buy one in the next year or so. He doesn’t make quick decisions! We would like to do a trans Atlantic with our kiddos for a year, while keeping our house here in Maine. You’ve certainly inspired him. I’m not so sure yet!
Awesome! We’ve often thought that a trailer might be best – so you don’t have to ‘break camp’ for every taco run. Can’t wait to hear how you like it. I’ve been following since early in your catamaran days. Completely regret not contacting you when you were near us at the Goldfield town in AZ. Now maybe you’ll be back soon…
Hey Pat & Ali, We met at Totonaka back in March and being a long time reader was totally surprised to see the big blue bus when we pulled in. My wife said that I was stalking you guys as she knows that I’m a long time fan but it was totally happenstance as we were on our way to ride the Copper Canyon rail. Anyway love the Airstream, looks like the mac-daddy king suite and glad to hear you’ll be heading back West. Keep on keeping on, Jim
I’m super curious about that rooftop tent. Please share your experience with it! We camp in a Boler (13 ft) and our kids just keep growing. Thought it might be a good idea to add a tent atop the roof. Love your blog btw. Been reading over a year now!
The tent is great and fun. I think it was a little snug with the four of us in there and with Pat being 6’2″ – but it worked. It would be perfect for a couple of kids needing their own room/space. We know a family of five that have a camper truck where the mom/dad/daughter sleep in the camper and the two teenage boys sleep in the tent. They love it and have been at it for over a year with that set up. Not sure if we are near you but you would be welcome to test ours out.
Love it! Now we need to know the details; Hows it tow? MPG’s? Good power on the highways? When you get a chance of course…Glad to see you guys with a great new plan.
Swing by La Playita in Los Cabos. We have level parking galore. Been a bum from the start. We moved here a year ago. We’ve got some awesome spots right down the road on East Cape. We look forward to hearing from you.
Jason and Kristina
Hey guys. Come visit us in La Playita , Puerto Los Cabos. We have a great spot to park the Airstream and some awesome places to camp just down the road on East Cape. We have been bums from the beginning and just missed you in the SF bay area before we moved down. Thanks for the inspiration.
Jason and Kristina
That you’re happy is all that really matters. Excited to see more happy posts and happy pics of the Bums!!!!
Do you need Asheville campground recommendations? We’ve stayed at many of them. Campfire Lodgings has a breathtaking view of the city. If you spring for one of the premium sites, it’s the view from your trailer. We’ll be down in Marion at Tom Johnson RV getting our RV refrigerator repaired. Asheville is a fun, artsy community that has many good restaurants and art galleries.
Thanks Maureen, but we are renting a house for a family visit with cousins. We just might have to stay an additional night to check out the view at Campfire Lodging though. Thanks!
And you now have a guest-tent! Interesting to hear your comment about FX trading. It does seem relatively easy and the upside potential could be awesome, but I never got past paper trading, the mental game and the best trading times at 2AM or so in the Midwest.
Dearest Bums:
Just showed Mike your latest set up. He thought it was just great, as do I. You guys always bring a smile to our faces. Adventures–one after another; each a little different. Way to go. Mike had a 1978 Suburban years ago, loved it and used it to tow a 23′ boat. He said that the long wheel-base on your TravelAll will serve you well towing the Airstream. You’ll get used to backing it up; even I can back boats into spaces, etc. We’ll leave for FL soon, towing the bass boat to Okeechobee, and we’ll “follow you” on your latest adventure. Safe travels, and fun, fun, fun…… Love Mike and Lorraine (Coventry, CT and Okeechobee, FL)
Cool airstream, it’s funny that you’re converging with one of the other blogs I follow, advodna.com. They’re a family with 2 small kids who went up to Alaska and all over the US, often on the adventurous back roads, though they’re settling part time back in CA soon. But they have tons of photos and ideas, from destinations and spots to DIY solar and kitchen remodel–and puns in the comments.
We’ve known Dave and Ann for years. Maybe you didn’t realize that after our Travco fire we stayed with them for a week on their farmlet. Best “garage” we could have hoped for. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/petaluma/
Duh, my bad. I probably started reading their blog after you met them, but you guys both had so many adventures since then I had forgotten. OK, now for a real coincidence: I just saw pictures of you in Annapolis on a sailing blog. I’m a beginner sailor and read a few cruising blogs (and now a few overland blogs) for inspiration. Thanks again for all the photos and stories.
Swooooon 🙂 🙂 🙂
Does the TravelAll have a transmission cooler? If not, they are easy (and inexpensive) to install.
Wow, interesting shift of plans. I remember seeing the trading stuff on your Patreon campaign but didn’t realize it was that intense of a time commitment on your end. Nice returns though 🙂
I’m really happy for you all! Thanks for sharing a little insight into the decision-making; I’m always wondering how people land on their chosen plan. 🙂
If you guys make it to NorCal, let me know! Although, we may be moving to an island in the San Juans <3
LOVE IT! And I love how you guys go with the flow, making adjustments as you experience different adventures. The interior of that Airstream is sweet! I’m curious to see how you like pulling it. A vintage Airstream has been on our radar for a while. It looks classic with the truck.
awesome Pat! and up 22% very nice, Ive been doing well too! The truck and trailer package is sooo sweet!
I’m in Bluffton, SC. If you get this far, let me know. I’ve enjoyed living vicariously through your adventures!
Zip Dee makes a awning for that, though you might have a hard time getting that cool fabric, like the Travco.
The trailer has an awning with it, but not the nice Zip Dee type.
Pat, I totally understand about timings for the market. I once spent tons and tons of kiwi money on a computer driven option trading system and when it wasn,t working that well for me my “mentor” couldnt understand why I found it difficult to monitor the NYSE throughout the day …… big long silence when I explained in simple words that it opened at 02:00 hrs local time ….. “Maybe its not suitable for your country” So I asked for a refund …… even bigger silence!!!
I know this is an old post but I just have to say, Holly Beach is actually not in Texas (where I live currently), us Coonasses of Louisiana actually will claim this brown water beach as rightfully ours!! lol