journey of "gypsy" the retro airstream
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I hit the “buy now” button on eBay - something I had never done before for even a small purchase - let alone a vintage Airstream RV. An Airstream that was in California (and I was in Vermont). When I had never towed a trailer in my life. Oh, and I didn’t have a truck…yet. What could have been a recipe for a disaster ended up being one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.
For years I had dreamed of creating some sort of retreat center - a place for people to just come to BE. I believed for a long time that I didn’t know HOW to do it, and that that was the problem. I continued to work for other companies and organizations in roles I was good at, but didn’t really love, until I finally decided enough was enough. I didn’t have a formal business plan, I just had a dream. But I knew it would stay just a dream that would eat me alive inside if I didn’t finally work up the nerve and DO SOMETHING to make it happen.
That’s what buying Gypsy the Airstream meant to me. It was a total leap of faith. It was me telling the Universe, “I’m going for it. Follow me.” Even though it was scary, it was a heck of a lot more freeing that worrying and doubting if I could do it. There was relief in the action.
I went and bought a truck. I really didn’t know diddly about trucks. I knew I wanted to be able to tow a tiny house as well down the road, and I knew that tiny houses could weigh over 10,000 pounds, so I knew enough that I needed a truck that could tow over that amount. I ended up at a dealership where they told me the truck I was looking at could two 13,000 pounds but when I got there they had made a mistake, and it couldn’t tow nearly that much. So I chose another - a Chevy Silverado 2500 - the biggest pick up truck I had ever driven. I got in the drivers seat and was on my way.
I embarked on my trek from St. Albans, Vermont to San Diego, California. It seemed fitting to me that I was getting my first “tiny house” from San Diego, where I had lived before. It took me a little over a week, since I stopped in several places along the way and visited family and friends.
I arrived in San Diego, met the sellers, stayed in the Airstream overnight in their driveway, and the next day I was off again - this time pulling a 7,000 pound, 29 foot home on wheels behind me. It was intimidating to drive at first, but the thing with trailers is - they follow you. I also had prior experience driving a large transit bus before, so that helped me get my bearings with using my mirrors a lot and how to make turns.
It was actually a pretty uneventful trip to West Virginia (my home base). One time I did get caught in a pretty torrential downpour, pulling off at an exit where I ended up needing to back the airstream up to turn around. That sucked, but I did it.
I learned three big lessons from that trip:
A) When you get in the drivers seat, the Universe WILL follow you
B) Backing up sucks, so go forward as much as you can.
C) Trust yourself + Take Action + keep your eyes on the road and you will figure it out.
Now, over two years since I picked up Gypsy, I have also had the blessing of being part of my dream of Tiny Haven coming to life and getting to share this adventure home with our guests.
Come stay in our first tiny home, Gypsy the Airstream, our 1976 Airstream Ambassador, at our Tiny Haven Harpers Ferry location!