Assimilated into Airstream life

It has been three months since Big Blue went into storage and I officially moved into Kerri’s Airstream. Even though we both spoke of the transition as “just the reasonable thing to do since we are both going to Alaska” it has quickly become reality that this living situation may not be changing anytime soon. Moose and I moved from a 90 sq foot van to a 200+ sq foot Airstream. While small compared to a house, it is huge for someone accustomed to the space of a van.

Moose has had to make some adjustments. He has a fellow dog to contend with and the trailer is his domain. Byron (a 10 year old Springer Spaniel) was not happy with the changes. He lost his sleeping space beside a beautiful woman and had to share the rest of his living space with another dog, who was both younger and faster than him (a major blow to the old guy’s ego). He has been very vocal in his outright hate towards my showing of any affection towards Kerri. It is not easy being romantic when you have a large dog barking in your face. Nonetheless I persist.

I still have refused to call myself anything but a Van-Guy, but the reality of the situation is quickly changing. With Kerri’s Instagram name being “asolojourner” (solo) and mine as “van_tramp” (van) – neither of which are accurate any longer – we both are having a semi-difficult time with the lack of honesty. Our close group of friends, many are other Airstream couples, have even been offering new names such as, Air-Tramp, VanTrampStream, and even JourneyWithTrampiness, but to date neither Kerri or I have changed our online aliases. However, I do feel I have lost all cred’ with my fellow van-dwellers who outright ignore me now.

Over time I have begun taking on the hitching and unhitching of the trailer as my normal work, and recently the dumping of the tanks was added to my honey-do list. Previously, when pulling into or out of a camp location, it was Kerri who did that work while I stood there watching. I may as well have been holding her purse while she chopped wood! Other men would actually approach her to see if she needed help while I stood there. It was a big blow to my manliness… so she let me take over those tasks. The manliness ratio is back to an order again.

After 3 months of Airstream-life many little things in my life have changed;

• I stay put longer (usually a week now, three days max when in the van)
• My back feels better as I can stand all the way up in the trailer
• Black tanks sure come in handy
• I have been sleeping extremely well (yea, duh)
• I have begun to appreciate the light and breezes of the large open windows this trailer has
• Fantastic fans are… well, fantastic!
• A whole different crowd of people approach me to discuss the trailer as opposed to my van
• Kerri and I aim to park the trailer in beautiful places. I aimed the van at secluded places (not always different, but sometimes it is)
• Packing up on travel-day takes waaaaay too long
• I’m sure I can go on and on, but you get the point.

I was recently asked about what sort of adjustments were necessary now that we are a *couple* living in such a small space. We both did came from years of living on the road in tight spaces before meeting, and she had done so as a couple prior. I have always traveled alone. While the shared experience of living in small spaces made it an easy transition right out of the gate, there were some adjustments that were made from both of us:

• Kerri had to adjust to having guns in her trailer – something she was not 100% comfortable with but has worked around well. Not only did she have to accept them, she had to learn about those guns, how to ensure they were safe, and how best to travel with them. On the flip side, I had to accept that there was another person around and that my guns were not just laying around as they may have from time to time when I was solo.
• I had one and only one issue; it was of the number two variety. Even in my previous relationship (of 20+ years) I was never very comfortable dropping a deuce in close proximity to my significant other. Here, in a 27′ trailer, I was left with no choice but to get over that issue. No matter what, the dirty deed would need to be done and she would never be more than a dozen feet away when it was being done. I’m over it now. but it was a few months before I was forced into it.

Beyond those two things, everything else has just kinda fit right in, most likely thanks to both of us being experienced at living in such tight spaces to begin with.

PS – I still do not own or use an iPhone or Mac. I’m sticking to my guns even under the unbearable pressure of fellow Airstream travelers.