Meet Murphy’s Law, our new house on wheels. This is an Airstream Trade Wind and has some really incredible options that called to Aaron and me like a siren of the sea. Without getting too technical, I will go into some detail about why this camper became our must-have home.

One of my favorite options is the hatch. This opens the back of the camper completly for views, airflow and a greater connection to the outdoors while Aaron is working, I am blogging, or we just want to enjoy an al fresco dinner without all the bugs that usually accompany such things.

I am also a huge fan of the flooring. The floor is one piece of composite. The composite floor is waterproof, and since there are no wood components, it will not get damaged or rot due to water. It looks like stained concrete and cleans very easily. Also, it does not show dirt or wear nearly as much as our previous floor. I also love the interior colors. The wood is a bit warmer in tone, the grey is prettier than the dark brown we had before, and it comes with pretty curtains to divide the front and back if we want to create some privacy between the bathroom, the bedroom, and the living/kitchen area. The pictures were taken mid decorating, so it is not the finished look.

This is not my photo; I found it on a Google search, but this shows the solar package on our camper. This design, along with the three lithium batteries, can run the entire trailer, including the A.C. and microwave, without having to plug into a source of electricity. For us, this is perfect. We also added 2 more lithium batteries that we already had from our previous camper and a portable solar panel to boost our power supply. This will allow us to spend more time in remote areas with more comfort than before. Our roof does look a little different. Aaron added some Wi-Fi extender antennas, and our Starlink is now mounted on the roof.

When we ordered our Trade Wind, one of the options was the composting toilet. As I discussed in my last post, we did not get the trailer we ordered, and settled for one with the conventional toilet instead. We did order the composting toilet from Airhead, and Aaron did the installation himself. This saves us water and tank space for wastewater. It is not nearly as scary or gross as I thought it would be. It doesn’t smell bad, and so far, it has been easy to manage. It is just another item that will make our journeys into the more remote areas less stressful and more doable.

We added a three-phase water filtration system so that we would not have to continue purchasing drinking water. We also have a one-phase water filter that we have always used when filling our fresh water tank or anytime we hook up to a water source. The combination of both systems will save us money and reduce the amount of garbage we accumulate during our travels.

Not to leave Murphy out, we ordered him a new kennel. We removed one sofa cushion and placed his doggy room there. We had to shorten the cushions next to it a little bit to accommodate the new kennel, but it works really well. He likes his own space, and we like having a place for him to go when he is wet from swimming, dirty from playing, or if he needs to be left alone for a little while so we can grocery shop or do some laundry.

Next is the tankless recirculating water heater. This is really awesome. When I turn on the recirculating feature, the system recirculates the water in the hot water lines to ensure that when a faucet is opened, there is instant hot water. Now, the shower is furthest away from the heater, so it does take a few seconds for the heated water to get to the shower, but not nearly as long as a standard water heater takes. This helps us save water in a considerable way, once again helping us keep our resources longer, waste less, and still have all the conveniences that we want in our house on wheels.

We loved our other camper, Yurtle. If Airstream had not come out with this brand-new camper, we would have happily stayed in Yurtle for a very long time. This one just called to us and has all the upgrades we had wanted and done, but better. The Trade Wind is named Murphy’s Law after our dog, Murphy. Aaron and I both enjoy a good pun. We just hope that the camper does not live up to its name. We are both excited to see where our new home will take us. Next week’s blog will be again focused on our wanderings. Thank you for reading my blog and going with us on our adventures!

The day came when we had to say goodbye to our wonderful home on wheels, Yurtle. This Airstream has been our home, shelter, and refuge, and it is why we became wanderers. It felt bittersweet to say goodbye. We learned so much about ourselves, about traveling, camping, what we need to be comfortable, and what we thought we needed but did not. We altered her, decorated her, and loved her as a person would their home. It was a year well spent in Yurtle, and I will be forever grateful that she was our first rig, our first home on wheels, and our catalyst to a new life.

We found a Trade Wind in Tampa with everything we had ordered except the composting toilet. We then did some research and found that we could order the toilet and install it ourselves. So, we had the deposit we had put down transferred to the Tampa dealership and picked up our new camper three days later!

It had already been a long day. We were not up to driving 3 to 4 hours back to our home base, and we just wanted to play with our new toy. So, we spent our first night in Murphy’s Law at a Cracker Barrel. It was great! We got to know the new trailer, and it got to know us a little as well. Murphy (our dog and the camper’s namesake) was unsure about his new home, but he settled in well.

The blue pins represent last year’s travels, and the white pins will be this year’s travels. I can not wait to see where the white pins will land this year!

Aaron, Murphy, Lola, and I had only a few more days left at Palmetto Island State Park. Aaron, Murphy, and I were planning to head east, while Lola was going to head west with our son, Gage. We were wandering back towards our home base in Florida while Lola and Gage were heading towards Phoenix, Arizona, to start a new adventure together. Before we left to meet with Gage to hand Lola over, I thought I would check the truck’s grill for another bird’s nest. Sure enough, they had built a second nest! Fortunately, they had not laid eggs, so I could remove the nest without harming wildlife.

Lola has always belonged to our oldest son, Gage, and she loves him above all others. Gage’s career has allowed him to move to Phoenix and take Lola with him. On his way out to Phoenix, we met up off Interstate 10. Lola was really surprised and happy to see Gage! We said our goodbyes, and Gage and Lola headed west to their new home and adventure.

We hit the road the day after we said goodbye and love you to Gage and Lola. Since we planned on traveling for three days, we decided to use Harvest Host stops each night. Our first stop was a BBQ restaurant in Mississippi, The Shed. We had fantastic food, listened to a great blues band, and enjoyed the views from our parking spot.

During our trip back home, we stopped at an antique automobile museum in Tallahassee, Florida. This was an incredibly enjoyable stop! The museum had an impressive collection of vehicles, including cars from various Batman movies and the TV show, as well as motorcycles, a Steinway piano collection, a victrola, and even some Star Wars memorabilia. What made this museum even better was that it was dog-friendly, allowing Aaron, Murphy, and me to have a great time exploring the cars, motorcycles, and other collections.

Tomorrow (Feb. 28, 2023) will be our one year anniversary of traveling and living in our Airstream, Yurtle! We have traveled and camped in 10 different states and stayed at about 60 different campgrounds, Harvest Hosts, and 2 family member’s yards. That leaves 39 states (not including Hawaii) that we have yet to park our home on wheels. As I stated in my last post, we have decided to continue our journey! We have seen and experienced so much, yet we have hardly scratched the surface of what there is to explore!

This blog post is a look back in pictures of some of my favorite sights this past year.

Stay tuned! We have a brand new, customized for boondocking Airstream Trade Wind arriving soon, and another year of wandering and exploring is just getting started!