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Why we sold our 5th Wheel and bought a vintage Airstream - Part 1

Jonathan Longnecker / October 24, 2016

We’ve had a ton of people ask us why we sold our brand new, 37 foot 5th wheel and bought a 1972 Airstream that needed a complete overhaul. I mean, if selling your house and almost everything you own to travel around the country in 300 square feet with your family of 6 isn’t crazy enough how about buying an even smaller 44 year old Airstream that needs a complete renovation and crashing at your wife’s parents until it’s done?

Zum Clean Laundry Soap

Ashley Longnecker / October 22, 2016

Guys! I have to tell you about our favorite laundry soap!

Do you love essential oils? Me, too! And my favorite scents are found in this laundry soap and it's making laundry day so kick awesome! If it didn't cost so much to wash blankets, I'd was them every single week so that I could smell that scent when I climb in bed. 

When we would have guests over in our RV (our 5th wheel that we recently sold) often they would comment about how it smelled so good. And usually that was due to our laundry. I absolutely love it. 

I found ZumClean Laundry Soap on Amazon after I had purchased a bar of their soap at Whole Foods. It was love at first smell. I picked out 4 scents to see which one we liked the most. I started with Sweet Orange, Frankincense and Patchouli, and Patchouli, and Frankincense and Myrrh.

My top two favorites are the Patchouli and the Frank and Patchouli. The Sweet Orange comes in close 3rd, though. 

So, if you're looking for great natural laundry soap that comes in small containers - us full-timers need small, concentrated detergent bottles - then this is the soap for you! Give it a try. You will love it!

Airstream Renovation: Weeks 5 & 6 - Installing Vents, Air Conditioner, Solar Panels, and Internet Antennas

Ashley Longnecker / October 19, 2016

It’s coming together guys... We are finally starting to move forward! In some ways it feels like we have been working on this beast FOREVER, and then I realize that it's only been one and a half months...it's actually pretty exciting how much we have accomplished. As we finish up weeks 5 & 6, we find ourselves with just 2 of the interior walls (panels) left to remove the vinyl, and 2 panels that have the vinyl off but still need to remove the adhesive and get them all shiny. Wahoo!

Rivets. We have spent so much time replacing rivets. At first we thought we would replace them with Olympic Rivets, but after much research we decided to order the Buck Rivet System since we have the interior walls out. (still keeping the olympic rivets for replacing them on the road, when we have walls up)

Dentophobia

Ashley Longnecker / October 17, 2016

It’s real, and I have it. 

I have horrible childhood memories of going to the dentist. The sights, sounds and smells are burned into my memories and it sends chills up my spine. I even have horrible nightmares about my teeth falling out! The kind of nightmares where you wake up from a dream, but then your teeth fall out again and then you’re having a dream, within a dream, within another dream. It’s terrible. 

I don’t have the best teeth. I have more fillings than I care to count and just talking about this is making me feel like I could throw up any minute.

Long ago, before I could have braces, our dentist pulled FOUR of my teeth - none of which were loose - and from then on, I have panic attacks about going to the dentist. I avoid it like the plague.

I have tears rolling down my cheeks at this very moment. Goodness. Horrible memories.

Then, in college, I had to have my wisdom teeth removed. The pain, the blood, the medicine. It was awful and it was the day before Thanksgiving which meant I had to miss out on all my mom’s delicious food.

Before we started traveling last year, we made dentist appointments for all of us. I had panic attacks and have trouble sleeping the night before. Jon prayed with me before I left for my appointment. I start shaking as soon as I pull up to the place. It was all I could do to walk in. They saw the tears in my eyes when I signed in and they know how hard of a time I have in there. Thankfully, they are usually very patient with me.

Guys, it took them TWO HOURS to clean my teeth because I couldn’t stop crying. I tried everything. I tried music and headphones and watching TV on the screen above me, they even gave me laughing gas. It was HORRIBLE. I could tell they were all so annoyed with me but I just couldn’t help it. I would rather go get another C-Section than go to the dentist. When I left that appointment, they told me that when I come back, they’ll have to put me to sleep so that it doesn’t take so long. Needless to say, I haven’t been back. I know I need to go but I just can’t.

My kids are at the dentist (Jon took them) as I type this. I’m a mess and so nervous for all of them. Jax is having to have 2 teeth removed due to an infection and it’s all I can do to stay calm. Jon dropped me off at the local library because I just can’t even go with them. I took them to their first appointments a couple years ago and I got so light headed, almost passed out, and cried most of the time. They had to tend to me there...at the children's dentistry. It was horrible. So, Jonathan has to take them now and I don’t even set foot in the place. 

Does anyone else have this fear of the dentist? Or am I just super messed up?

Airstream Renovation: Weeks 3 & 4 - Removing Interior Walls, Checking Wires, & Installing Vents

Ashley Longnecker / October 02, 2016

Goodness. How has it already been 1 whole month that we have been here in Indiana? The days and weeks are flying by. We are still a bit overwhelmed with this whole renovation. Perhaps we were a bit overly optimistic with our budget and time frame, but let me catch you up to speed on where we are now.

We removed the bathroom floor back in the 2nd week and it hasn’t changed since. We are still waiting on our repurposed black tank and new additional gray tank to get made and shipped here before we can put the floor back in and seal it all up. So, we moved on to the next phase.

We bought ALL THE THINGS! Seriously, if you are planning a renovation project and you think you have a budget, just go ahead and DOUBLE IT! Holy Smokes! We have purchased so much I think I'm just weeks away from serious ulcers. Also, know that you'll spend close to half of your time researching.

We removed lots of vinyl from the interior walls but we really needed to get into the walls to have a look at wiring and find out where some leaks were coming from. So, we removed all of the interior panels and the pink insulation which was surprisingly in great shape.