Boondocking

Tiny House, Tiny Airstream

Richard Charpentier Adventure, Airstream, Airstream Blogs, Notes from Rich, RV, Travel Leave a Comment

Full Time RV Living in an Airstream

Oh look, another Airstream!

There’s so much press about the Tiny House movement.  You see articles popping up everywhere.  As I’ve noted before, the Tiny House movement really isn’t so new.  Full time RV’ers have been doing it for a while now.  Travel Trailers, 5th Wheels, Class A’s.  They’re all tiny homes that are super mobile.  And many people full time in them (live in them year round).

But now we’ve got this tiny house movement.  Small homes, many built to be portable.  I’ve been following along with several folks who have built tiny homes and travel around with them.  Honestly, I’d be a little afraid to pull one of these homes, they weigh a lot, and I’d feel safer just parking on a nice piece of land and calling it home.  And if you want to travel?  Yeah, that’s why I’ve got the Airstream.

The challenges of tiny homes are very similar to RV living.  A small space, limited storage, specialty appliances……the list goes on.  Beyond the practical challenges there are others as well.  Some annoying, some funny, and some that nobody likes to think about (flush that black tank already).

Interestingly enough, I stumbled across a very funny article written by a woman who doesn’t dwell in a tiny home or RV.  And she had a few questions……..starting with her title and subtitle.

DEAR PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN FANCY TINY HOUSES

Do you ever wake up wondering, “I’ve made a huge mistake?

The starting point for the article already had me giggling, but she really got a head of steam and I went from giggling to laughing inside!

You look so freakin’ happy in that Dwell Magazine article or Buzzfeed post, but c’mon, you can’t tell me that you don’t lie awake at night, your face four inches from the ceiling because the only place your bed fits is above the kitchen sink which also acts as your shower, and think, I’ve made a terrible mistake.

From there the article gets even better!  She asks real questions, and some of the items she covers are items that come up in the Airstream often.

What the hell happens when your tiny house partner farts Mexican food farts, huh? Where do you escape to? Nowhere. You have nowhere to run. All you can do is walk three feet to the other end of the house and pray.

Or maybe you can run out into the tiny forest surrounding your tiny house.

Living small is tough

Lacking dark skies

Ah the orange glow on the horizon, and a washed out Milkyway band

My Airstream is a 25 footer.  It’s 8 feet wide.  If I gutted everything out of it we could say that I live in 200 square feet of space.  But usable space is a different story.  There are kitchen counters, the computer area, the shower and bathroom, etc.  So space to move in is less than 200 square feet.  And to address the author’s question about Mexican food and the aftermath?  Yeah, that’s what the bathroom vent is for, and in worst case scenarios you do walk out into your tiny forest for 10 minutes or so!

Lauren Modery asks a lot of the right questions, and her article is a great read, so you should read it.  If you’ve ever thought of full time RV’ing, or moving into your very own tiny house I think you must read her article.  Not only is a worth a laugh, it actually addresses real questions about tiny living!

Leave a Reply