Two newlyweds, one big dream, and an Airstream we bought before we even owned a truck.
The day we picked her up…and realized we were now officially Airstream People
The parking-lot pep talk before our very first tow. Spoiler : we survived, and Sylvia did too
The Story of Sylvia:
How Our Little Airstream Adventure Began
When Ross and I were newlyweds, life handed us one of those big “hold onto your hat” moments: we found out we were moving to San Diego for four years with the military. Instead of stressing about the distance, we immediately thought about how to turn those 30 days of cross-country travel into an adventure we’d never forget.
At the time, we had our dog Mac—our first baby—and the question hit us fast:
How on earth were we going to road-trip across the country with a dog and stay in hotels, explore new places, and still keep some sort of sanity?
That’s when the spark happened.
Some of our friends had been talking about buying an Airstream, and suddenly everything clicked. We started researching RV life, campers, and especially Airstreams. The more we learned, the more obsessed we became. They were built well, held their value, and didn’t feel like a gamble. If we got on the road, hated RV life, and needed an escape plan—we could sell it and move on.
Spoiler: we never wanted to move on.
We drove all the way to New Jersey to look at Airstreams in person, and the moment we walked inside one, we were hooked. It felt like a tiny, cozy cottage on wheels—our cottage. That day, we found the Airstream who would become Sylvia, the silver girl who’s now been part of our family for over a decade.
And because we’re apparently the kind of people who jump first and figure it out later…
we bought Sylvia before we had anything to tow her with.
Fast-forward and enter Bessie, our Ford F-150, who proudly took on towing duty like she was born for it. Together, the four of us—Ross, me, Mac, Sylvia, and eventually Bessie—started the first chapter of a story that would shape so much of who we are today.
That 30-day military move didn’t just take us to the West Coast. It took us into a lifestyle we never expected to fall in love with.
And Sylvia? She became home in every possible way.